finally got rid of the Universal Annual passes and went back to Disney annual passes....went to Epcot a few days ago and did Guardian of the Galaxy for the first time, FUCKING AMAZING
Did my day trip to Universal. Got a late start on the road and hit bad traffic on I4 (shocker) so got to the park later than I wanted. Could not have been more stoked for velocicoaster. Express wait was 45 minutes. Finally get on, on the launch pad, sound effects loud, heart racing,and....ride shutdown. Even before we found out we had to sit there for 10 minutes enduring the loud sound effects. Was a major buzzkill. Silver lining is we got single ride passes that we were able to use to ride Hagrids. No chance we were waiting the 100+ minute wait it was all day. Ride was pretty damn cool. Planning to go back again soon with the kiddos since our tickets included two bonus days to return before end of June I think it is. Hopefully get to ride Velocicoaster then.
This sucks so much. I don't know why they got rid of it (or were forced to get rid of it), when I bet that was one of the highest traffic items on their website.
The change disney made to their reservation system broke their software and they haven't been able to find a new way to make it work.
Tucking in at the Grand Californian for the night. Hit the parks tomorrow. Shit ass travel day to get here but we shall persevere.
Did CA so far today. Did Cars, Guardians Tower, Soarin, River Rapids, Incredicoaster, Spider-Man. Don’t think there’s anything else worth doing there. The little Spider-Man show where he flings all around was neat. Kid absolutely HATED Guardians, can’t say I blame him. Well relax a bit, eat, and then hit up DL for a few rides tonight. We’ll LL Rise tomorrow. What ride should we do first thing tomorrow with the early access? Big Thunder Mountain? Someone canceled their Lightsaber reservation for tomorrow so he’ll get to do that and tomorrow is his bday.
Is Frontierland even open for early magic hours? Last time I went (Dec 2022) I think it was only Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.
Well if it's still operating that way, I'd bang out Fantasyland. They're all 10 feet from each other and Peter Pan has some of the worst lines in the entire park.
Space Mountain is a good one to jump on early. We typically go to Indiana Jones first though to beat that line.
It’s not, only Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. For early entrance do one of 2 things: Fantasyland for Peter Pan/Alice in Wonderland or Tomorrowland for Space Mountain. If you have little kids, do Fantasyland because you won’t see Peter Pan with less than a 45 minute wait the rest of the day and that line SUCKS to wait in. Same for Alice but more like 30 minutes. If your kids prefer thrills, do Space. It’ll be long all day as well but you can always use your Genie+ to skip most of the line later in the day.
Such a better experience here than DCA. Walked onto Space Mountain, Thunder mountain, Mickey’s railroad, pirates with 5-10 minute lines. LL’d Rise and Star Tours. Had a LL for Indy but it’s down so whenever it opens back we can redeem it. Then a LL for Matterhorn after lunch. I think that about wraps it up unless I’m missing something.
10. We might pop into there, we’ve done it at DW so it wasn’t on my list. Got a call that our reservation was screwed up and they asked why we still had our stuff in the room. Called the travel agent and she has all the confirmation emails showing Disney screwed up the dates and not her. They already told her they’ll fix it but she’s seeing if we can get something comped as well.
Welp. Have to head back and pack our shit up because we’re in a joint wheel chair accessible room and they have it booked. It’s all good though. They said they’d find an upgraded room and applied 4 LL Multiple Experiences passes. They said it’s basically 4 LLs we can use on any ride at any time in either park. Edit: Also the when the travel agent called to tell me everything she started full on sobbing. Lady, you didn’t mess up and you’re 10000 Xs more upset than us.
Used the line skips to re-ride Rise, did Buzz Lightyear, then did Indiana Jones. That was a mistake. It had been shut down most of yesterday and all day today till 7. Everyone had a saved up lightening lane so even with the pass we had to wait about an hour to ride. The new hotel room is facing the park though so we said screw the 4th pass and went back and watched the fireworks from the balcony. Anyone have any #protips for Universal? I think their rides are a bit more intense so they might be too much. Mario and Harry Potter are the main draws.
the studio tour is a great nap time. Takes like 45-60 minutes and we always use it to get a nap for the kids
Head straight to Super Mario World. Make sure to get some Power bands for the kids. Knock out as many of the mini games as you can before the sun gets up too high. Standing in those lines in the beating-ass sun sucks.Spend as long as you want in there doing everything you guys can/want to. Then head over the HP land. I wouldn't bother eating in Marioland or even in Simpsons land, I'd eat at the 3 Broomsticks or whatever it's called in Hogsmeade. The food there was good
Skip the ride. It's not that great. Stationary vehicle that is made to move like a rollercoaster, but in reality it just jerks and bangs you around. Same thing as the Transformers ride
Star Tours is how I realized that I was getting older. Rode it a few years back and felt awful afterwards. I can do roller coasters and all the other rides, but being bounced around with just a screen seems to make me nauseous these days.
You’ll be able to get out of the VIP tram and walk around the backlot as well (as long as there’s not filming going on). Secret Lives of Pets line queue once inside is very creative, keeps young kids occupied some. Then the Irish pub is right there if you want a shot, cocktail, beer.
Yeah, that was pretty great. Bae Bae Janae was awesome. Walked us up to the front of every line. Still some waits like the rooms leading into MarioKart or Harry Potter Flying one. Got the high score of the day on MarioKart with a 137 it was pretty sick. Couple things, I wish the turning played a bit better and my heads too ogre-like so the AR visor only covered 1/2 my field of vision at most. The studio tour was really cool, getting able to get out and walk on the sound stages, sets, prop rooms, etc was neat. The only shows being shot were Lopez v Lopez and the new Quantum Leap so that was lame. After the tour we still got unlimited access to VIP line skip and the kid did the Harry Potter ride 3 more times. Kept asking if he wanted to go back to MarioKart but nope, he loved the Harry Potter one.
I really don't understand the thought process behind making Magic Kingdom even bigger when it is already a two day park for most guests. Meanwhile AK and HS are half day parks, but I won't say no to new stuff.
Gotta think the rumored Encanto and Indiana Jones attractions will be part of this Dinoland conversion.
I don’t think I ever mentioned it but the rooms at the Riviera in DW were much nicer than the Grand Californian. GC reminded me of the last time I stayed at the Bellagio, you could tell they were nice but about 10 years overdue for renovations.