Good luck tomorrow Pelican. Hope your BIL sprung for the express passes! Random ride tips that come to mind: - Bourne Stuntacular and Universal's Horror Make-up Show are solid shows if you have the time. - You and your BIL would probably get a kick out of the E.T. Adventure ride if you grew up watching that movie. - You probably won't get THAT wet on the Jurassic Park River Adventure. But you will get soaked from head to toe on Dudely Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls and Popey & Bluto's Barge - Every major ride at Universal & IOA ranges between good to great and should be experienced if possible. Except for Fast & Furious, which should be skipped. - Your nephew will probably really enjoy the Olivander's wand ceremony (especially if he gets selected) and the Hogwarts Express, so don't miss those.
Would add Simpson ride to skip category. That one fucked me up pretty good and I thought my lunch was coming up. Everyone in our group said it made them nauseous.
yea, that one just isn't a good ride and by this point, it's so old that the jerkiness has to be even worse. That one hurt my back as a kid, can't imagine going on it as a 35 year old
Jolly was better ride wise. Was able to do all the major rides minus rocking rollercoaster (it was down but would have easily had time for it). My gf and her sister liked Christmas more but I felt that jolly was more of a party. Christmas felt like they dipped the park in green and red and charged you more for it
Epcot festival was interesting. My stomach was very unhappy with the amount of holiday grub I inhaled
I don't recall having a problem with it and I've got a pretty weak stomach. Back to the Future was a better ride though (RIP )
My back has become bitchmade in the last year, so I'll probably be avoiding that one from here on out then.
To be clear, I was not calling your back bitchmade. I was having life altering issues from March-July that I hope to avoid happening again at all costs, so just knowing it bothered someone else's back means I'll probably never go on it again.
I get you. I more felt bad that me saying it hurt my back 20 years ago meant someone else was not going to do the ride ever again.
I’d give Universal/IOA a 10/10. We loved everything about it and are already planning on going back when Epic opens The Harry Potter shit was awesome and going through that little brick wall area and then suddenly being in an HP world was sweet. Nephew loved all the wand shit and using his virtual one in the HP sections. I’d say Velicicoaster, Gringotts, and Forbidden Journey were our favorites. We did have express passes. The only thing that kinda sucked was that Hagrid’s motorbike thing isn’t included in the express pass. So we basically had three hours last night before we left and the line for Hagrid’s was just over two hours. We told my nephew we could ride Hagrid’s and then maybe have time for one other ride before the shuttle came …. or we could ride a dozen or so other rides w express pass during that time. He chose to ride as many rides as possible. We had just gotten off Velocicoaster and I think he was a little shook up and needed a break from anything too “scary.” He had never been on a roller coaster before this weekend. Everything is ridiculously well done and I have no idea how the architects and whoever else pulled it off. Looking forward to going back. Also the butter beer was legit good.
Man, Hagrid's is such a good coaster too. Especially as a intro for a little person because it goes fast but doesn't go upside-down or have crazy twists. Sorry you missed it. You should give a HP review in the HP thread, because us nerds would eat it up. What non-HP things did you enjoy at Universal? Spider-Man, MIB, and Mummy were always my favorites, but I haven't been in forever.
My nephew is big into Spiderman so he definitely liked that ride + anything Marvel. MIB was really good and the atmosphere for all of the Jurassic Park stuff was great. I'm a huge Jaws fan so it was cool to see where the ride once operated. I don't know a ton about the Simpsons but that area was alright even though the ride has definitely aged compared to the other newer ones (the donuts were good). We go to Cedar Point fairly regularly and have gotten so used to doing the traditional roller coaters that it was nice to experience other stuff. I don't think I'd ever really done one of those indoor ride things like the two Harry Potter ones we rode, Kong, Spiderman, etc. Not sure what the technical term is for those rides but I came away a big fan even though the feeling is obviously way different than what you get on a true coaster. We dug the Hulk coaster too of course. The app said there was an insanely long line for The Grinch thing all day. Tis the season I guess but we didn't do any of that and couldn't really tell what was going on. Probably just families taking pics of their kids with him or whatever.
The Grinch thing is just an interactive meet and greet. It's fun in that the character can talk and acts like Jim Carey's version, but not something I'd ever wait more than 15-20 min for.
My boys got super pissed at the dipshit sitting in front of us on Jurassic Park River Adventure. The guy had his phone out recording, so they stopped us at the top of the last drop. We sat there for a solid 45 seconds - 1 min while they kept telling the guy to put his phone away. I gave him a “yeah buddy, he’s talking to you” when he turned around cluelessly looking at everyone else.
Just signed up for a 5 night Disney Cruise on Fantasy March 2 - March 6. Stops are at Nassau, Castaway Cay, and Lookout Cay. Any must-do excursions or other advice for a 5 year old and 3 year old? I am super excited even though I have no idea what to expect.
I had a post a couple of pages ago about Disney cruises in general you could find. But consider staying in the ship in Nassau and just enjoying the private islands with the younger kids. Unless you want to go to another beach or one of the aquariums or something.
Thanks! My wife brought up some kind of pirate excursion last night. It looks like that might be only in Nassau.
my 6 year old LOVED that show when we went in july. it’s pretty funny as an adult too. that’s really disappointing tbh
When you learn that it’s Jim Henson’s last work. It becomes infuriating because the show absolutely holds up
I grew up loving muppet babies vhs tapes, muppet christmas carol is one of the first movies I remember seeing in the theatre. When my kids were laughing at Muppet Vision it felt like a full circle moment that was really nice. They did however insist we turn off Christmas Carol about a half hour in when I tried to show it to them last Christmas.
Wife and I are heading down to Disneyland for a long weekend in January. We got tickets to the sweethearts night. Limited guests in the park for about 4 hours, sign me up.
I think I said it earlier itt but my son was loving Muppet Vision a few weeks and it made me incredibly happy
I always ask when it’s brought up but that’s the one with Sesame Street and the Fraggles right? If so it’s one of the all time bests. Swedish Chef is constantly trying to cook Big Bird .
Yep, he absolutely loses his shit at the first sight of Big Bird. That and everyone eats shit on the icy patch. Good tweet
Went to see the Grand Floridian tree and gingerbread house yesterday for the first time this year. Man those things are absurd.
I am going down for a week starting tomorrow. Staying in the new island tower at the Poly. Excited would be an understatement. Since it was already insanely priced, splurged for the 1 bedroom villa with theme park view. Fireworks are gonna be pretty sweet to take in our balcony.
High roller! seriously that’s going to be awesome, was monorail hoppin’ yesterday but didn’t go take a look at that yet.
Have not been over there yet, went up to sorcerer pass but still blacked out until a week from today.
We're spending a weekend at the Swan at the end of January. We've never stayed there before but have always wanted to try it since it's within walking distance to Epcot and the Boardwalk.
Great hotel. Just no Disney touches in the lobby/rooms as it is a Marriott property. Highly reccomend eating at il mullino
We did Swan our first trip with the kids and it was great. Long time Marriott guy, so getting the whole stay on points was a huge plus. Really enjoyed taking the boats to Epcot and HS. Easy process. Was fairly quiet and laidback when we went. Had the pools/arcade/restaurants pretty much to ourselves.