The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
FutureCEO said:
Universal raised ticket prices a few days ago but Disney gets the most noticed.

PS - The tickets I bought two years ago and never used is now $90 higher for the same amount of days.
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Yah, more than anything, it's the rapid rate of increases, that are the toughest to deal with. Even last year when I went, I had to cut back by one day (including the hotel as well). My money only goes so far . . . :(
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Goofyernmost said:
And now for the next to the last installment of Orlando 2017: (A little long... I apologize)

My two day awesome adventure at Universal was very nice. Partially because of the great weather, but, also because I really like Universal Florida and always have.

I have to admit that my first day was not all that enjoyable because of a number of reasons. It started out alright and kind of fun when I pulled up to the toll booth for the parking garage. I nice young lady there looked at me and said... “I'd like to inform you of the preferred parking option”, to which I replied, “You can inform me if you want, but, I'm not old enough, rich enough or disabled enough to pay that much extra to save a couple hundred steps. She just stopped and started to laugh. Turned and told her helper in the booth what I had said, turned back to me and said... Thanks for making my day, that is the first time that I have heard it stated that way. Have a great day in the parks.

Anyway, they have a really extensive security set up mid-point on the walk from parking to the parks, one entrance covers all. Lines and lines of detectors for bags and pocket items, no exceptions. A minor inconvenience, but, understandable.

Back a few years ago I wrote about how Universal had actually acceded WDW for customer service in the lines of team members, smiling and helpful. That has changed. This year it was like they were all missing whereas, Disney seemed to have a lot of CM's everywhere. Even in parking there was hardly anyone around to direct you and the cone placement was anything but helpful. But, I digress!

I went in and went to IoA because I wanted to ride Spiderman, which I did and then made my way up to Harry Potter to ride Forbidden Journey. Last time I was there I couldn't ride it because I was just a little to big around the middle. I thought that I had lost more weight since my last visit, but, alas I was still unable to ride. Now I know and admit to being overweight, but, I am not a lot bigger then a athlete or just a big, non-fat person. They are only going for the skinny I guess. Kind of disappointing. So I went and drowned my sorrows with a mug of butter beer (flat cream soda) and headed for Hogwarts Express to London. What a great, novel thing that is. The detail in the station (both ends) the illusion of riding through the country side, the phantom characters shadows on the inner window looking for Harry and eating spiders and frogs. I can't even express it in words. Great ride and so original. I know a lot of the folks on the boards hate the use of screens, but, I cannot understand why. Great show, great story telling.

Upon arrival in “London” I went to The Escape from Gringotts and once again checked to see if I fit. I didn't, but, the TM told me that the measuring sample is set up for the first row and is the tightest and that if I went in and requested row 3 or 6 there was more room and I would fit alright. So, I got in line. One thing that Uni has always been good at is hiding lines, they still are. I walked for what seemed like miles and found where the bulk of the people were hiding out. We waited and waited then they made an announcement that the ride was having technical problems but was expected to be back on line soon. After waiting a total of 35 minutes (from the entrance) they finally announced that the ride was operational again. So with happy anticipation I stood in line and waited another 15 minutes and had only moved about 10 feet. I was currently at the 30 minute wait spot and and hour and 20 minutes is just to much. So I left thinking I would try again first thing the next morning.

I left there and jumped in the single rider line for “Men in Black” and then wondered over to the Simpsons area. I had ridden the ride before and really didn't care for it so I just looked around at the stuff that had been added since I was last there. Nicely themed but just a comical version of the much loved road side carnival over in Animal Kingdom. I did have lunch there and tried a chicken and waffle sandwich. (mmmm)

From there it was off to Shrek 4D. I enjoy that movie, and was even enjoyable after a relatively heady wait to get in. I hate to admit it, but, even though I enjoy the theme park experiences I feel that I am getting too long in the tooth to get the same enjoyment I once did. My feet hurt, by back aches and frankly, I get tired out so much faster then I used to and I don't like it. Not much I can do about it though except be thankful that I can still go at least. Anyway, I headed over to the gift shop and used up a Gift Card that someone gave me at Christmas time plus more for a couple of T's and some trinkets for the kids at home. Then headed out, determined to Aleve OD, to the point that I could get more stuff in the next day.
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Sounds like you had a good time at Uni. I've held off going there, only because I'm not a huge fan of Harry Potter, Men in Black, etc. One thing about WDW is that (IMO) they have more variety in what they offer--not everything is so movie-related.

I thought your comment to the parking lot person was hilarious!! :hilarious:

As for not having the same stamina that you did at 21, just try to pace yourself a bit. Sometimes, too, I think about the expression, "less is more" and it can be enjoyable to (somewhat) trim back the attractions, and avoid standing in lines for too long. :)
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
MinnieM123 said:
Sounds like you had a good time at Uni. I've held off going there, only because I'm not a huge fan of Harry Potter, Men in Black, etc. One thing about WDW is that (IMO) they have more variety in what they offer--not everything is so movie-related.

I thought your comment to the parking lot person was hilarious!! :hilarious:

As for not having the same stamina that you did at 21, just try to pace yourself a bit. Sometimes, too, I think about the expression, "less is more" and it can be enjoyable to (somewhat) trim back the attractions, and avoid standing in lines for too long. :)
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They have an animal show you'd love and the food is for the most part as good as Disney's and cheaper and in some cases much cheaper. The Seuss area is on par with Disney theming if not better (runs and hides under large rock) it even has a people mover:joyfull: You don't have to be a HP fan to enjoy both areas. Royal Pacific runs about the same as the Swalphin per night and staying there gets you unlimited express pass as well as emh. It's like fp but you don't have to book it you just get on the line. The other thing I liked is even though there were gift shops galore they seemed more like an after thought
 
Mr Ferret 75

Mr Ferret 75

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
MinnieM123 said:
Sounds like you had a good time at Uni. I've held off going there, only because I'm not a huge fan of Harry Potter, Men in Black, etc. One thing about WDW is that (IMO) they have more variety in what they offer--not everything is so movie-related.

I thought your comment to the parking lot person was hilarious!! :hilarious:

As for not having the same stamina that you did at 21, just try to pace yourself a bit. Sometimes, too, I think about the expression, "less is more" and it can be enjoyable to (somewhat) trim back the attractions, and avoid standing in lines for too long. :)
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Whaaaaaatttt ???? You mean @Goofyernmost isn't 21 ???

That's upset my reality :(
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
figmentfan423 said:
They have an animal show you'd love and the food is for the most part as good as Disney's and cheaper and in some cases much cheaper. The Seuss area is on par with Disney theming if not better (runs and hides under large rock) it even has a people mover:joyfull: You don't have to be a HP fan to enjoy both areas. Royal Pacific runs about the same as the Swalphin per night and staying there gets you unlimited express pass as well as emh. It's like fp but you don't have to book it you just get on the line. The other thing I liked is even though there were gift shops galore they seemed more like an after thought
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No need to run and hide because whether other Disney fans refuse to admit it, Universals theming is superior to Disney's in many ways. You are completely absorbed in illusion, Disney has for the most part only partially done that. Granted walking along from one area to another there are distractions that you don't see at Disney. Things like the huge external roller-coasters and so on. However, once in the lands it is completely and thoroughly themed. Seuss is one, but, the all are quite impressive. Potter, Simpsons, Hollywood, Jurassic Park and so on, as well as the internal attractions. Many are just comfortable with WDW or Disneyland, had a lot of great memories and don't want to be unfaithful to the Fatherland, but, everyone needs to go to Uni and see it for themselves. Go with an open mind and they will find out that there is more then one way to build a theme park (not a six flags) To me Universal took Disney's play book and improved on it (plussed it as Walt would have said.) Some of the attractions are mind boggling in detail. To me there is more to see and do in WDW, but, two days will pretty much cover, for now, the Uni touring and with the express pass, nothing should have to be skipped unless you want to skip it.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
MinnieM123 said:
Sounds like you had a good time at Uni. I've held off going there, only because I'm not a huge fan of Harry Potter, Men in Black, etc. One thing about WDW is that (IMO) they have more variety in what they offer--not everything is so movie-related.

I thought your comment to the parking lot person was hilarious!! :hilarious:

As for not having the same stamina that you did at 21, just try to pace yourself a bit. Sometimes, too, I think about the expression, "less is more" and it can be enjoyable to (somewhat) trim back the attractions, and avoid standing in lines for too long. :)
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To me, I don't have to be a huge fan or even a fan to enjoy it if it is done well. One of my favorite attractions is Terminator 2, and I have never seen the movie even once. I have never seen a Potter movie or read a single book. I have picked up the general idea just from bits and pieces of things that I have seen. It is still incredibly interesting and well done. Men in Black is really just a variation of Buzz Lightyear or Toy Story Mania. Same exact pretense but well done and fun to ride even at my advanced age. The one noticeable flaw that I have seen with Uni is that they tend to repeat stories. They are the same story line with different characters. For example, I wouldn't be surprise to find out that the track for The Transformers is exactly the same as Spiderman. Same story different characters! Even the same ending just slightly altered to be the ending of Despicable Me. Still well done and fun, but, they could have done better I think. Also Uni does use 3D a lot, but, I like that so it's not a problem for me at all.
 
Mr Ferret 75

Mr Ferret 75

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
Goofyernmost said:
To me, I don't have to be a huge fan or even a fan to enjoy it if it is done well. One of my favorite attractions is Terminator 2, and I have never seen the movie even once. I have never seen a Potter movie or read a single book. I have picked up the general idea just from bits and pieces of things that I have seen. It is still incredibly interesting and well done. Men in Black is really just a variation of Buzz Lightyear or Toy Story Mania. Same exact pretense but well done and fun to ride even at my advanced age. The one noticeable flaw that I have seen with Uni is that they tend to repeat stories. They are the same story line with different characters. For example, I wouldn't be surprise to find out that the track for The Transformers is exactly the same as Spiderman. Same story different characters! Even the same ending just slightly altered to be the ending of Despicable Me. Still well done and fun, but, they could have done better I think. Also Uni does use 3D a lot, but, I like that so it's not a problem for me at all.
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I don't think the track is the same but the basic ride vehicle is identical.
 

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