Trip Report Using Our Golden Ticket: A Poly, MK, and Universal Trip Report (October 2018) [completed]

DRD · Oct 25, 2018

Back!Elbow!Shoulders! said:
Total agreement on The Mummy. What a delightful ride. I’d say easily my favorite at either Universal park.

Also thanks for the great TR so far.

I had zero expectation for the ride and actually thought it was probably going to be more in line with a traditional indoor screen ride like Spider Man. I've actually never seen the movies either. Still, I thought it was a great ride experience and wish I'd ridden it more than once.

And thanks! Thanks for reading along!

DRD · Oct 26, 2018

Day 5: Islands of Adventure

We woke up fairly late, packed, checked our baggage, and headed over to breakfast at the Islands Dining Room which offers both a buffet and menu items. We wanted to get a more hearty breakfast with the late start so that we wouldn’t have to stop for lunch in the parks.

Once again, we walked right on to a river taxi to take us to the parks. I don’t think we ever waited longer than 3-4 minutes for a boat the whole trip.

We decided to go to Islands of Adventure first and work our way back to Hogsmeade to take the Express to Diagon Alley at Universal. First order of business was for my wife and oldest to ride The Hulk.

While they were facing the gamma radiation in the Express Pass line, my youngest and I walked through Marvel Super Hero Island. I really loved the theming in this area. Lots of vibrant colors and artwork everywhere.

We saw loads of characters. First up, Green Goblin, who had no one around him aside from one family he was interacting with. Now, I’m pretty sure my daughter only has a passing idea of who Green Goblin is, but she said she wanted to meet him, which surprised me. It was a great character interaction! My daughter produced her wand, which didn’t impress him too much:

He finally snagged her for a picture:

About 20 feet further down the path, I spotted one of my all-time faves: Wolverine. My daughter certainly knew who he was and we grabbed this shot:

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t get a selfie with Logan myself:

I asked him if he wanted a cigar. He said “Not now, bub” which cracked me up.

We stood in line to greet Captain America and I was surprised there was a line for Cap and not for Wolverine. We waited for a few minutes and Cap’s handler informed us he would have to leave in 5 minutes. There were only about 3 people in front of us at that point, so I figured no big deal. Well, about then the father in front of me yelled at his family in another language and all of a sudden six children magically appeared and jumped in front of us. Grr… My daughter said she was tired of waiting in line (it had only been about 5 minutes) and I figured that was enough reason for us to leave rather than saying something to this jerk.

It was probably for the best, as we found out that Spidey was also doing a meet and greet just across the way:

By this time, my wife and oldest had conquered the Hulk and Spiderman both. They urged me to ride Spiderman as well, but first I wanted my youngest (and oldest too but she refused) to meet one of her favorite characters: Storm! (and Rogue too)

These character interactions were exceptionally well done and I was surprised there was so little wait for them.

After riding Spiderman (fun ride…I can see why it was such a groundbreaking experience), we decided to head further into IoA. But first, my wife and I split a Blue Moon, which is her favorite.

We walked through Toon Lagoon, which again was uniquely themed. But my kids had no idea who Blondie, Dagwood, or even Wimpy were. Though they knew Popeye, no one seemed interested in getting soaking wet on Bilge-Rat Barges or Ripsaw Falls knowing we’d be getting on a plane that evening. We also took a pass on Skull Island so that we could spend a little more time in Jurassic Park and Hogsmeade.

I was surprised, but no one really wanted to do too much in Jurassic Park. I’d hoped we would at least ride Pteradon Flyers, but neither kid wanted to. No one would take me up on riding Jurassic Park River Adventure either, not wanting to get wet! Everyone was ready to go back into the Wizarding World to buy souvenirs rather than stay in Jurassic Park. I was a little disappointed and if I had it to do over again, we’d have done Jurassic Park the previous day when getting wet didn’t matter.

Back to Hogsmeade we went. More spellcasting attempts (no more successful than yesterday). More souvenir acquisition. As we headed closer to the Hogswarts Express, everyone but me grabbed their first frozen Butterbeer of the day while I stepped into the Hog’s Head to sample a HP themed beer. The crowd at Hog’s Head/Three Broomsticks was fairly light considering it was: a) a Friday and b) peak lunch hour. While waiting in line for my brew, I soaked in the ambiance which was really cool. I grabbed a Hog’s Head Ale (red ale…more on that below) and met the rest of the family outside.

We decided to finish our drinks in the ample and shaded waiting area outside of Dervish and Banges then head back to Diagon Alley/Universal on the Express. I snapped this picture of the ride construction for the new HP themed ride while walking to the Express:

The wait for the Express was much better than the previous evening and I think we only waited 5-10 minutes.

Beer review: Blue Moon is always a refreshing summer beer. Great introduction into the world of more yeasty concoctions in the Hefeweizen family. IoA didn't offer an orange with the beer, but I was okay with that. Hog's Head Ale was a pretty good red ale, though I can't say it was terribly memorable. I'd get it again, but only after trying the other HP themed beers first. More on that in my next TR post. A thoroughly fine red ale akin to Killian's, but definitely a step below Bass. The bartender, rather than calling them by name, called out the HP themed beers by their style: "hoppy red", "dark porter". All are from Florida Beer Company, the same brewery who makes the Duff lineup.

Next up: Diagon Alley, how would we like the famous Flaming Moe?, and we wrap up our final day in Orlando.

DRD · Oct 29, 2018

Day 5 (continued): Universal Studios

The crowd wasn’t as bad as we expected in Diagon Alley. My wife and oldest rode Escape from Gringotts once again while my youngest and I continued to explore Diagon Alley. We tried to get some ice cream at Florean Fontescue, and apparently half of the crowd at Diagon Alley was in there as well. We decided to wait until later (which turned out to be never).

My oldest wanted to try Butterbeer ice cream and with Florean Fontescue not an option, I expected we would have to miss out. I stopped by a stand to buy the other HP themed beer (which actually turned out to be the same beer I had at the Hog’s Head) and I noticed they had Butterbeer ice cream too! Thankfully, my wife and oldest returned at that very moment and we were able to eat the ice cream without it melting too much. Verdict: eh, not bad but still didn’t hold a candle to frozen Butterbeer.

Each of my kids wanted one more souvenir. My oldest, still stung that she wasn’t able to get a Fred Weasley wand the previous day, decided she wanted it even though it wasn’t interactive. She’d been saving her money for one major souvenir and this was it. So we ventured into Ollivander’s and apparently everyone from Florean Fontescue had migrated over to the wand shop…yikes:

But we successfully acquired Fred’s wand and she was a happy muggle:

Next, my youngest wanted a Pigmy Puff from Weasley’s Wizarding Weezes. We also grabbed a couple jars of U-No-Poo (mint chocolate M&Ms) to take back home. She found her Pigmy Puff and the clerk asked if we wanted to participate in the naming ceremony. ??? She asked my youngest what name she’d picked out for the Puff and when she couldn’t quite think of anything, the clerk gave her a few ideas. “Fluffbutt!” my youngest announced, which was certainly not one that the clerk suggested, but it seemed to work. The clerk rang a bell and loudly pronounced to the rest of the guests that Fluffbutt had been adopted. That was a nice little bit of extra magic that we had not expected.

We bid farewell to Diagon Alley and went off to check off a few more boxes before leaving. My youngest wanted to ride the Simpsons Ride since she didn’t do it the previous day. She absolutely loved it so when she asked if we could ride it again, knowing how much she generally hates rides, we all agreed and got back in the express pass line to ride it again. A few days later I asked her what her favorite ride was…without hesitation she said it was the Simpsons Ride!

My only other “must do” was to get another Duff and a Flaming Moe at Moe’s. Since the lunch rush had already passed, we were able to squeeze in and find a table at Moe’s. After waiting a few minutes at the bar for service, the bartender told me they’d just ran out of Duff Lite and Duff Dry. Oh, and also Flaming Moes. What?!? How do you run out of your signature drink at 2:00 in the afternoon? I guess you do when the park closes early at 5 for HHN. I was disappointed but enjoyed my Duff anyways.

I took a poll and my wife decided she changed her mind and didn’t want to ride the Mummy. No one really wanted to ride The Tonight Show ride either. Transformers? Eh…after riding the Simpsons Ride twice, no one really wanted to do another similar style ride. My youngest definitely wanted to do Minion Mayhem again, but didn’t want to do Woody the Woodpecker. Since everyone seemed kind of apathetic about the rest of the options in the park, and were beginning to get a little hungry, we decided to hit Minions and head on back to the resort to eat, cool off and clean up, and head to the airport. I’d hoped to cram a little more in before we left, but there was no sense in doing so when we all felt like we were ready to start winding the trip down.

Back at Royal Pacific we ate at Jake’s American Bar, which I’d read was one of the best options at the resort and one of the better selections across Universal. I definitely agree that it was what we needed. They serve upscale bar food with plenty of options. Decent beer selection and a good bar too. We ordered the pretzel rods for an appetizer. My wife got a pineapple margarita which she actually didn’t enjoy too much. I ordered the High Stepper IPA and later an O-Town Brown. For our early dinner/late lunch my wife ordered a burger which was huuge, and I got the Fish and Chips. Both of ours were excellent. My youngest ordered a pizza she barely touched and my oldest got a quesadilla which she enjoyed. Overall, Jake’s was a great choice for us but I have to say it was a little on the pricey side. I would go back for lunch rather than dinner to catch a little discount on the prices.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. We freshened up and caught a Lyft to the airport to catch our flight home. It was 92 degrees when we got to the airport. It was 52 when we landed in Nashville. Brr…. Welcome back to reality!

Beer report: Apparently the Hog’s Head Ale (Hog’s Head) and Dragon Scale (Diagon Alley) are the same beer? Maybe the bartender at Diagon made a mistake and gave me the wrong beer? High Stepper IPA, Crooked Can Brewing (Winter Garden FL). 7% ABV. A little too overpowering even for an IPA fan. Very floral. I’m not a huge fan of floral IPAs. Not bad, not great. I didn’t order it for my second round at Jake’s if that tells you anything.

Instead, I ordered the O-Town Brown instead which I thought would go better with my fish & chips (it did). Made by Orlando Brewing. 5.5% ABV. Good take on the style, certainly comparable to Newcastle, maybe a bit better actually. Would definitely order again.

Next up: comparing Disney to Universal, is Universal a one-day park?, what we’ll do differently (and the same) next time, and other concluding thoughts.

lebeau · Oct 30, 2018

DRD said:
We observed that Hulk is one of the handful of rides that Universal restricts to just one express pass use per day (courtesy of an upset family who were in front of us and none too happy about this policy). So we tried to do a rider swap; however, since my wife wasn’t there, they wouldn’t let us do that. Looks like she was going to have to ride it solo.

Enjoying the TR. I wanted to comment on this before I forget. Universal offers different levels of EP. It can be confusing. As a hotel guest, you had unlimited EP so you weren't limited to one ride per day. The guest you observed must have bought the limited EP.

Oh well. You'll know for next time.

lebeau · Oct 30, 2018

DRD said:
I had zero expectation for the ride and actually thought it was probably going to be more in line with a traditional indoor screen ride like Spider Man. I've actually never seen the movies either. Still, I thought it was a great ride experience and wish I'd ridden it more than once.

And thanks! Thanks for reading along!

For my money, the Mummy is one of the most underrated rides in Orlando. So much fun.

DRD · Oct 30, 2018

lebeau said:
Enjoying the TR. I wanted to comment on this before I forget. Universal offers different levels of EP. It can be confusing. As a hotel guest, you had unlimited EP so you weren't limited to one ride per day. The guest you observed must have bought the limited EP.

Oh well. You'll know for next time.

First, thanks! I referred to your TR more than once as we were planning the following day's activities.

Ah...that's good to know about EP. I guess I misunderstood the issue then. The unlimited EP for resort guests was such a valuable commodity. I guess if you've got tons of time or are there for a week it might not be worth it, but for our family it absolutely was worth getting the better accommodations that included EP.

lebeau said:
For my money, the Mummy is one of the most underrated rides in Orlando. So much fun.

Absolutely! So well done and thrilling.

lebeau · Oct 30, 2018

DRD said:
Ah...that's good to know about EP. I guess I misunderstood the issue then. The unlimited EP for resort guests was such a valuable commodity. I guess if you've got tons of time or are there for a week it might not be worth it, but for our family it absolutely was worth getting the better accommodations that included EP.

For a family of 4, free EP at the deluxe hotels is a steal! A single night's stay nets you two days of EP. That's a value of around $700 depending on the time of year. The room will cost a lot less than that. Depending on how you look at it, it's like Universal is paying you to stay at their best hotels.

I have a buddy to travels solo. For him, it's not such a bargain. He'd be better off staying at Cabana Bay and buying EP out of pocket. But if you're packing the room, it's a bargain!

Oh, I also meant to comment on the character interactions. Lots of fun, aren't they? There isn't the demand for them at Universal that there is at Disney so lines are almost always reasonable. I have never waited more than 5 minutes to meet a Universal character and often there is no wait whatsoever. Lots of times, you can just interact with them on the fly as they walk around. That never happens at Disney anymore. And they will spend time with you because they don't have to hug 20 more kids before break.

Shame about Cap though. He's my favorite. I think his popularity has spiked in recent years thanks to the movies, but I was a Cap fan way back before Chris Evans was playing Johnny Storm.

I wouldn't mind seeing Marvel Superhero Island get an updated look. The art is very Marvel 90's. But I do appreciate the kinetics of the area. Standing on the bridge, you see the Hulk swooshing by and Dr Doom Fearfall bouncing up and down. And the art (by Adam Kubert) conveys comic-book style motion. Very eye-catching if a bit dated.

DRD · Oct 30, 2018

lebeau said:
For a family of 4, free EP at the deluxe hotels is a steal! A single night's stay nets you two days of EP. That's a value of around $700 depending on the time of year. The room will cost a lot less than that. Depending on how you look at it, it's like Universal is paying you to stay at their best hotels.

I can't remember the mental math I did when booking Universal, but my takeaway was the difference in cost for us to stay at Cabana Bay and pay for EPs or stay at Royal Pacific was only about $100. And, thus, an easy decision. If we'd added on another day, you're exactly right...it'd have been a no-brainer.

Oh, I also meant to comment on the character interactions. Lots of fun, aren't they? There isn't the demand for them at Universal that there is at Disney so lines are almost always reasonable. I have never waited more than 5 minutes to meet a Universal character and often there is no wait whatsoever. Lots of times, you can just interact with them on the fly as they walk around. That never happens at Disney anymore. And they will spend time with you because they don't have to hug 20 more kids before break.

Yes they really are! They do an exceptional job of both crowd control and making it a "real" experience. While my youngest kinda clammed up around each of them and was never quite sure what to say, I enjoyed chatting with them a little bit. I will say Spiderman did a wonderful job of engaging my daughter. He was probably the one she interacted with the most, even though Storm is her favorite.

Shame about Cap though. He's my favorite. I think his popularity has spiked in recent years thanks to the movies, but I was a Cap fan way back before Chris Evans was playing Johnny Storm.

Yeah, I figured the movies had made him really popular. Growing up I certainly knew who he was but I don't think I ever read any of his comics. He also seemed to be a really good character to interact with. He took his time with each guest.

I wouldn't mind seeing Marvel Superhero Island get an updated look. The art is very Marvel 90's. But I do appreciate the kinetics of the area. Standing on the bridge, you see the Hulk swooshing by and Dr Doom Fearfall bouncing up and down. And the art (by Adam Kubert) conveys comic-book style motion. Very eye-catching if a bit dated.

I think that's a fair critique. While I enjoyed the theming, it definitely reminded me of the comics I read growing up (late 80s/early 90s). It also kinda worked with the neighboring Popeye area in that they both made you feel you were inside the print medium. That area definitely could use some more shade though. Maybe it was just the time of day, but it seemed like the benches and seating areas were all exposed to the sun.

I also really enjoyed walking in a few of the shops in Marvel Superhero Island. They've got some amazing artwork for sale and displays. While I'd never personally pay $120 for a statuette of Wolverine at a theme park, it was fun to look at it and lots of other artwork.

DRD · Oct 31, 2018

Concluding thoughts:

It’s natural to want to compare experiences at Magic Kingdom and the Universal parks. I’m not sure it’s fair to either to do so, but since we’ve returned I’ve had a number of friends ask me which we preferred.

I answer it by saying right now at this moment I would go to Universal and Islands of Adventure over Magic Kingdom. In a year when the nostalgia of MK returns, I could easily change my mind. MK was more about experiences and memory-making. Universal/IoA was about creating fun and joy.

Expanding thoughts to WDW as a whole, clearly WDW has the edge as there are just so many wonderful things to experience at all 4 of the parks. However, therein lies part of my problem I had on our last trip: its so tempting to try to fit it all in on one trip and thus overdo it.

Is Universal a 1 (or 2) Day Park?

One of my biggest trip-planning questions was can we fit everything in at Universal/IoA in 2 days? The short answer is yes, if you have Express Passes and don’t mind your schedule to be a whirl of activity. We certainly could have pushed more into our days to really maximize the parks, but honestly we wanted to take it easy instead. We spent a day and a half in the parks and I felt like we needed at least another half day to truly say we checked off all the boxes Universal/IoA had to offer. When we go back (and I think it’s certain that we will) we will plan on at least 3 days, perhaps 4. I also will not go during Halloween Horror Nights again. I feel like we missed out on seeing Diagon Alley at the rest of the park in the evening when HHN had it shut down.

What would we do differently?

As far as the Magic Kingdom portion goes: try to schedule it so that we don’t have to choose between MNSSHP or leaving the park early. While I don’t think we really missed out on anything, and there’s an argument to be made that being forced out at a certain time made us enjoy our time at the resort more, I’d like to have the option to go back later in the evening. Otherwise, I think we covered MK sufficiently in our 2 days.

I’d love to stay at the Poly again (of course), but as I said before, I am not sure it is worth the cost for a casual fan.

For the Universal side of the trip, I learned a lesson about wasting time at the Springfield food court. I wish we had tried one of the HP themed restaurants, but I don’t have a ton of regret about that. Really wish we’d spent more time in the Jurassic Park area as well, and my wife wishes now she’d ridden The Mummy.

Apps:

Both the Disney and Universal apps were unreliable at times. We used the Disney app more than the Universal app, but found it to be less reliable and overall more problematic that Universal’s. The mobile ordering thing still ticks me off that it wasn’t discernably different than simply waiting in line. Universal’s app didn’t seem to have the bells and whistles that Disney’s did, but we also didn’t seem to use it as often either. Having unlimited express passes made checking wait times unnecessary. Slight edge to Universal due mostly to reliability of the app actually working when needed.

Transportation:

Using the monorail will likely spoil us to all other WDW transportation services in the future. Such a breeze and stressless.

On the Universal side, we had such an easy time using the river taxis. We never seemed to wait for one longer than just a few minutes and it was a relaxing way to go to and from the parks. We also liked having the option to walk to the parks if we wanted to, which you don’t really have at most of the WDW resorts.

Fastpass vs. Express Pass:

Again, this is another unfair comparison in reality. I can’t imagine how Disney would ever implement Universal’s Express Pass in their parks…it would create chaos even if there were extra charges involved. The express pass at Universal was superior in nearly every way to the Disney fast pass. It applies to every ride in the park and you’re not limited in any way to how often you can use it. And, though limited, Disney’s FPs are included in the cost of admission where Universal’s EPs are extra. Finally, our experience was that lines were slightly longer in Express Pass lanes than Fast Pass lanes at Disney.

Alcohol in the parks:

I expected to see a few folks who'd had a few too many at Universal/IoA since they allow alcohol sales. Admittedly 2 days is a small sample size, but I didn't see this at all. I'd read (I think in a guidebook of all places) that Universal had a reputation of being a "party park" due to alcohol sales. Um, no. I would venture a guess that Epcot's Food & Wine Festival has many more intoxication issues than Universal/IoA. Where there's a will (and a wallet), there's a way I'm sure...but I didn't think wide scale alcohol sales were an issue at the Universal parks.

amjt660 · Oct 31, 2018

Great report!
Loved the pic of the rainbow
I agree that waiting a long time for any ride takes away from the experience
We did a few nights at the poly in 2010 and then finished at hard rock - this was the week leading up to Christmas- the only reason we did was we had free dining so we rationalized going all in and staying there

Max

DRD · Nov 1, 2018

amjt660 said:
Great report!
Loved the pic of the rainbow
I agree that waiting a long time for any ride takes away from the experience
We did a few nights at the poly in 2010 and then finished at hard rock - this was the week leading up to Christmas- the only reason we did was we had free dining so we rationalized going all in and staying there

Max

Thanks! That sounds like a great trip and great time of year weather-wise to be there.

Trip Report Using Our Golden Ticket: A Poly, MK, and Universal Trip Report (October 2018) [completed]

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