If Grandma's riding it can't be too bad... 12/20 Wrap up: Travelling home, souvenirs
- Thread starter -Hope-
- Start date
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
You had me at apple fries. Uh, yum! Ok, I'm ready for some Hogwarts!!!!!!!!! 
-Hope-
Always dreaming of adventure...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
-Hope-
Always dreaming of adventure...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
You had me at apple fries. Uh, yum! Ok, I'm ready for some Hogwarts!!!!!!!!!
They were pretty good. I'm glad I don't know how to make them!
I haven't sifted through my pics yet but as soon as I do I'll update again...
Tinker326
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2006
Great day at Legoland! I love the city builds...very cool....
We live about 5 minutes from the legoland in Chicago...never been there though- my kids have through summer camp field trips. I really need to try it out. We always talk about it but we can only ever go on weekends & it's mobbed so we opt out of it... as we don't like crowds!
That sleeping guy also used to be at the old Downtown Disney I think....
Great update! \
We live about 5 minutes from the legoland in Chicago...never been there though- my kids have through summer camp field trips. I really need to try it out. We always talk about it but we can only ever go on weekends & it's mobbed so we opt out of it... as we don't like crowds!
That sleeping guy also used to be at the old Downtown Disney I think....
Great update! \
natebenma
Beach Club Dee
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2008
I enjoyed reading about the rest of your day at LEGOLAND. Like you said, there aren't a lot of reports out there.
The mini-fig water skiers were cool! Too bad the show was cut short, but not much you can do with a Florida storm, especially if there is a possibility of lightning.
The mini builds are INCREDIBLE!!!
The shopping trip sounds very familiar. All of Ben's souvenir money goes to the DTD Lego Store. I finally figured out how to get all those sets home without taking up too much luggage space when we are flying- we open the packs, fold the box (Ben likes to keep those) and place the flat box on the bottom of our suitcase. If there are multiple sets, we package the different bags into a large Ziploc bag (I love Ziplock). It is amazing how much room this saves!!!
Woah! Those Granny's Apple Fries look AWESOME! I am also jealous about your trip to A&W. There aren't any near us anymore and I could really go for a draft root beer and a Teen Burger. It's been awhile!
The mini-fig water skiers were cool! Too bad the show was cut short, but not much you can do with a Florida storm, especially if there is a possibility of lightning.
The mini builds are INCREDIBLE!!!
The shopping trip sounds very familiar. All of Ben's souvenir money goes to the DTD Lego Store. I finally figured out how to get all those sets home without taking up too much luggage space when we are flying- we open the packs, fold the box (Ben likes to keep those) and place the flat box on the bottom of our suitcase. If there are multiple sets, we package the different bags into a large Ziploc bag (I love Ziplock). It is amazing how much room this saves!!!
Woah! Those Granny's Apple Fries look AWESOME! I am also jealous about your trip to A&W. There aren't any near us anymore and I could really go for a draft root beer and a Teen Burger. It's been awhile!
-Hope-
Always dreaming of adventure...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
Great day at Legoland! I love the city builds...very cool....
We live about 5 minutes from the legoland in Chicago...never been there though- my kids have through summer camp field trips. I really need to try it out. We always talk about it but we can only ever go on weekends & it's mobbed so we opt out of it... as we don't like crowds!
That sleeping guy also used to be at the old Downtown Disney I think....
Great update! \
The Discovery Center in Chicago is very different than LLF but still worth a visit if you can fit in. The 4D movies are shown, some great builds and some fun interactive areas.
Great idea with folding down the boxes for the return trip! We've had to drag Legos home from multiple vacations (including DTD) and if I'd thought of that it would have been helpful.
-Hope-
Always dreaming of adventure...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
Ah, finally we are making our way to Hogsmeade! I'd been prepping and planning for this day for so long, had so many times when I thought we weren't going to make it. When the moment finally arrived it was a bit surreal. Exciting but surreal. 
As I said in my previous update, I decided that rest was more important than early entry. We didn't get to the park until about 9:30. The first thing we had to do was go to the kiosks to print our tickets and dining plan coupons. Once inside we activated our Photo Connect Star Card and got a (blurry) pic in front of the entry gates.
Walking through the Port of Entry and seeing Howarts for the first time was amazing and magical! Of course we needed a pic. Unfortunately we never saw a Photo Connect Photographer anywhere other than the front gates. So I passed my camera off to my mom so she could snap a (again, blurry??) pic of the kids and I in front of the lagoon.
We made our way back to WWoHP through Seuss Landing and the Lost Continent. We stuck to the back path in SL but I was still really impressed with the theming in this area. I felt as if we were walking through the pages of these amazing stories from my childhood.
With all the walking, talking, stops for pics, etc. it was about 10:00 AM when we finally saw this...
We were all happy and excited to be there and there were smiles all around. But every vacation we've been on, whether it's to WDW, the mountains or a new city, has a moment where the magic begins for me. A moment when I feel that all the sacrifices, stress and worry that go into getting us there are worth it. I was still waiting for this moment but didn't have to wait long because as we entered Hogsmeade we saw...
Oh. My. Goodness!! This man is AMAZING! As we approached him he immediately starting making a big fuss about our shirts, cracking sarcastic jokes and just being generally magical.
Kya has an infatuation with all things British so when he starting cracking jokes with his adorable Cockney accent she was completely taken in. Jace hung back without getting a pic (14, too cool for such things) but he was also all smiles and chuckles. Then Kya pulled out her autograph book. It included this autograph card that I found on the DISign boards...
I'm sure he'd seen it before but he didn't let on. He FLIPPED! He kept saying, "That's ME!! Where did you get this?? How did you do that?" He then proceeded to flip through the book and gossip about the other characters declaring Spider-Man "Rubbish" and Shrek "No good." He insisted on a pic pointing to himself...
He left soon after and another conductor took his place. We never actually saw him again, the actual conductor from the autograph card. We saw other conductors and props set up for photo ops but it was just a magical coincidence that we saw this exact conductor as we entered Hogsmeade for the first time. The kids were completely taken in by him and I had my magic moment.
From here we made our way back toward Hogwarts, taking in the atmosphere as we walked. We noticed the line for Ollivander's but opted out... I thought the line would be shorter when we came back in the evening. As we approached FJ I was nervous. I know that this ride isn't exactly size friendly for overweight or overly tall people. I had prepared myself for the possibility of not riding but as I climbed into the test seat I was hopeful. But alas, I didn't get the yellow light I needed.
I didn't dwell on it. I think Kya was more disappointed than I was but we just made our way inside. Mom couldn't ride either because of her back and vertigo but we walked through the queue with the kids and just enjoyed being in the castle. The house points, the bickering headmasters' portraits, Dumbledore's office, Harry, Ron and Hermione appearing from under the invisibility cloak and making it snow. It was all so perfect and wonderful (though much too dark for pics). As we approached the exit for non-riders I could see that the kids were a bit nervous to go on without me but their curiosity won in the end. Mom and I waited and saw everyone leaving with huge smiles, declaring how awesome and amazing it was. I hoped my kids would agree.
It was a short wait to find out. Even though we'd arrived late it was a slow day... only a 15 minute posted wait and much of that was spent wandering through Hogwarts. The kids were finished in less than 10 minutes after mom and I had stepped over to wait for them... and they exited with smiles.
Not the huge smiles we'd seen from others but smiles. They liked it. They were glad they'd done it. They had no desire to go again. 
We made our way through Filch's Emporium to get their ride pic added to our star card...
Apparently the pic is snapped at the moment the giant spiders are coming out and the kids weren't huge fans.
As we left Hogwarts the kids were itching to buy wands. The line for Ollivander's was still long so we just made our way into the owl post. Such a cool store! The wands lining the walls were just perfect. It was crowded, just as I'd read but we just remained patient and took our time so it wasn't so bad.
I'll upload souvenir pics later but for now I'll just tell you about our purchases. The kids each found wands. Kya's favorite character is Luna so she looked for her wand immediately. When she found it she loved it- it's almost like a tulip opening so she had her wand. Jace seemed less taken with the idea of buying a character's wand. He wanted HIS wand. So, we made our way to the wands based on the Celtic calendar and a TM helped him find the one that corresponded with his birthday. He liked it as well so he was all set.
I knew I wanted a time turner keychain so I set out to see if they had any in Dervish and Banges (which is connected to the Owl Post). We enjoyed looking around (way too crowded for pics) and spotted the Monster Book of Monsters growling from it's cage. We saw house scarves and cups. We spotted remembralls. We saw Hedwig. It was so cool just looking around.
I finally found my time turner keychain and Kya decided to get one too. She plans to buy a chain and turn hers into a necklace. We hopped back over to the Owl Post to find postcards. Kya really wanted to send postcards with the Owlery postmark to her friends. We wanted to send one to my brother's girlfriend as well and the kids each picked one to send to themselves. My mom had forgotten to pick up postcard stamps, which she'd said she'd do, so she bought the EXPENSIVE Hogwart's stamps- $14.95 for 10 stamps!! Mom didn't seem to mind because they were cool. Plus, we only needed 8 so that left one for each of the kids to add to their journal/autograph books.
At this point we were getting hungry so we decided it was time to head over to the Three Broomsticks to have some lunch. But this is when I realized that I hadn't exchanged our dining plan coupons for our actual dining plan cards.
I told mom and the kids to just look around Hogsmeade and I'd head back up to the PoE to exchange the coupons. Not a huge deal and it only took about 10 minutes for me to walk up there and back. Mom took the kids to Zonko's and Kya was wearing a fez when I returned. 
They were also very excited to tell me they'd heard Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom. I played dumb as if this were brand new information because they were just so excited to share and I didn't want to seem like a know-it-all and spoil their fun.
So, armed with our dining plan cards we headed in to eat. Mom and I were both hot and not in the mood for anything too heavy so we opted for iced tea and salads...
Mom liked it a lot. I found it a bit lackluster. I know most people aren't coming for salad but it was a little too hospital cafeteria for my taste. Not bad but not great either.
The kids both opted for fish-n-chips. They wanted butterbeer but that isn't considered a beverage on the dining plan, it's a snack, so Kya decided to get pumpkin juice (shown in the picture below) and Jace got lemonade with the promise that we'd come back for butterbeer when we were ready for another break.
The kids declared their fish and chips DELICIOUS, the best they'd ever had. Kya let me taste her fish and it really was excellent. She also shared a taste of pumpkin juice and I loved it. The best description I can give is that it's pumpkin cider. Very similar to apple cider but with that rich, nutty pumpkin flavor instead of sweet apple. Fantastic.
We (reluctantly) decided to move on from Hogsmeade at this point and return later. Up next... Seuss Landing!
As I said in my previous update, I decided that rest was more important than early entry. We didn't get to the park until about 9:30. The first thing we had to do was go to the kiosks to print our tickets and dining plan coupons. Once inside we activated our Photo Connect Star Card and got a (blurry) pic in front of the entry gates.
Walking through the Port of Entry and seeing Howarts for the first time was amazing and magical! Of course we needed a pic. Unfortunately we never saw a Photo Connect Photographer anywhere other than the front gates. So I passed my camera off to my mom so she could snap a (again, blurry??) pic of the kids and I in front of the lagoon.
We made our way back to WWoHP through Seuss Landing and the Lost Continent. We stuck to the back path in SL but I was still really impressed with the theming in this area. I felt as if we were walking through the pages of these amazing stories from my childhood.
With all the walking, talking, stops for pics, etc. it was about 10:00 AM when we finally saw this...
We were all happy and excited to be there and there were smiles all around. But every vacation we've been on, whether it's to WDW, the mountains or a new city, has a moment where the magic begins for me. A moment when I feel that all the sacrifices, stress and worry that go into getting us there are worth it. I was still waiting for this moment but didn't have to wait long because as we entered Hogsmeade we saw...
Oh. My. Goodness!! This man is AMAZING! As we approached him he immediately starting making a big fuss about our shirts, cracking sarcastic jokes and just being generally magical.
Kya has an infatuation with all things British so when he starting cracking jokes with his adorable Cockney accent she was completely taken in. Jace hung back without getting a pic (14, too cool for such things) but he was also all smiles and chuckles. Then Kya pulled out her autograph book. It included this autograph card that I found on the DISign boards...
I'm sure he'd seen it before but he didn't let on. He FLIPPED! He kept saying, "That's ME!! Where did you get this?? How did you do that?" He then proceeded to flip through the book and gossip about the other characters declaring Spider-Man "Rubbish" and Shrek "No good." He insisted on a pic pointing to himself...
He left soon after and another conductor took his place. We never actually saw him again, the actual conductor from the autograph card. We saw other conductors and props set up for photo ops but it was just a magical coincidence that we saw this exact conductor as we entered Hogsmeade for the first time. The kids were completely taken in by him and I had my magic moment.
From here we made our way back toward Hogwarts, taking in the atmosphere as we walked. We noticed the line for Ollivander's but opted out... I thought the line would be shorter when we came back in the evening. As we approached FJ I was nervous. I know that this ride isn't exactly size friendly for overweight or overly tall people. I had prepared myself for the possibility of not riding but as I climbed into the test seat I was hopeful. But alas, I didn't get the yellow light I needed.
I didn't dwell on it. I think Kya was more disappointed than I was but we just made our way inside. Mom couldn't ride either because of her back and vertigo but we walked through the queue with the kids and just enjoyed being in the castle. The house points, the bickering headmasters' portraits, Dumbledore's office, Harry, Ron and Hermione appearing from under the invisibility cloak and making it snow. It was all so perfect and wonderful (though much too dark for pics). As we approached the exit for non-riders I could see that the kids were a bit nervous to go on without me but their curiosity won in the end. Mom and I waited and saw everyone leaving with huge smiles, declaring how awesome and amazing it was. I hoped my kids would agree.
It was a short wait to find out. Even though we'd arrived late it was a slow day... only a 15 minute posted wait and much of that was spent wandering through Hogwarts. The kids were finished in less than 10 minutes after mom and I had stepped over to wait for them... and they exited with smiles.
Not the huge smiles we'd seen from others but smiles. They liked it. They were glad they'd done it. They had no desire to go again. We made our way through Filch's Emporium to get their ride pic added to our star card...
Apparently the pic is snapped at the moment the giant spiders are coming out and the kids weren't huge fans.
As we left Hogwarts the kids were itching to buy wands. The line for Ollivander's was still long so we just made our way into the owl post. Such a cool store! The wands lining the walls were just perfect. It was crowded, just as I'd read but we just remained patient and took our time so it wasn't so bad.
I'll upload souvenir pics later but for now I'll just tell you about our purchases. The kids each found wands. Kya's favorite character is Luna so she looked for her wand immediately. When she found it she loved it- it's almost like a tulip opening so she had her wand. Jace seemed less taken with the idea of buying a character's wand. He wanted HIS wand. So, we made our way to the wands based on the Celtic calendar and a TM helped him find the one that corresponded with his birthday. He liked it as well so he was all set.
I knew I wanted a time turner keychain so I set out to see if they had any in Dervish and Banges (which is connected to the Owl Post). We enjoyed looking around (way too crowded for pics) and spotted the Monster Book of Monsters growling from it's cage. We saw house scarves and cups. We spotted remembralls. We saw Hedwig. It was so cool just looking around.
I finally found my time turner keychain and Kya decided to get one too. She plans to buy a chain and turn hers into a necklace. We hopped back over to the Owl Post to find postcards. Kya really wanted to send postcards with the Owlery postmark to her friends. We wanted to send one to my brother's girlfriend as well and the kids each picked one to send to themselves. My mom had forgotten to pick up postcard stamps, which she'd said she'd do, so she bought the EXPENSIVE Hogwart's stamps- $14.95 for 10 stamps!! Mom didn't seem to mind because they were cool. Plus, we only needed 8 so that left one for each of the kids to add to their journal/autograph books.
At this point we were getting hungry so we decided it was time to head over to the Three Broomsticks to have some lunch. But this is when I realized that I hadn't exchanged our dining plan coupons for our actual dining plan cards.
I told mom and the kids to just look around Hogsmeade and I'd head back up to the PoE to exchange the coupons. Not a huge deal and it only took about 10 minutes for me to walk up there and back. Mom took the kids to Zonko's and Kya was wearing a fez when I returned. They were also very excited to tell me they'd heard Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom. I played dumb as if this were brand new information because they were just so excited to share and I didn't want to seem like a know-it-all and spoil their fun. So, armed with our dining plan cards we headed in to eat. Mom and I were both hot and not in the mood for anything too heavy so we opted for iced tea and salads...
Mom liked it a lot. I found it a bit lackluster. I know most people aren't coming for salad but it was a little too hospital cafeteria for my taste. Not bad but not great either.
The kids both opted for fish-n-chips. They wanted butterbeer but that isn't considered a beverage on the dining plan, it's a snack, so Kya decided to get pumpkin juice (shown in the picture below) and Jace got lemonade with the promise that we'd come back for butterbeer when we were ready for another break.
The kids declared their fish and chips DELICIOUS, the best they'd ever had. Kya let me taste her fish and it really was excellent. She also shared a taste of pumpkin juice and I loved it. The best description I can give is that it's pumpkin cider. Very similar to apple cider but with that rich, nutty pumpkin flavor instead of sweet apple. Fantastic.
We (reluctantly) decided to move on from Hogsmeade at this point and return later. Up next... Seuss Landing!
Tinker326
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2006
I'm so glad you had such an amazing first morning in Hogsmeade!
That is so awesome that you met the actual conductor from the autograph page...and I'm totally with Kya- I LOVE (like LOVE!) all things British!!! And I can listen to all day to people talk with their Brittish accents. Has Kya ever watched Downton Abbey? If not, she should..... if she loves all things Brittish- she will LOVE that show!!!
My kids were like yours- Oldest wanted a character wand- her favorite.. which was Hermoine. And the youngest at the time wanted her birthday month wand. So that's what they got. Two years later, they both still play with them! Oldest DD also got the time turner and turned it into a necklace as well. She also still wears it to this day!
My goal this year when I go is to get myself the Chocolate Frog Key-Chain. I hear it smells like chocolate..................
So glad your kids braved Forbidden Journey- and I love the picture with their eyes closed. The spider coming out IS scary!
Glad HP was magical for you - it is a magical place!
That is so awesome that you met the actual conductor from the autograph page...and I'm totally with Kya- I LOVE (like LOVE!) all things British!!! And I can listen to all day to people talk with their Brittish accents. Has Kya ever watched Downton Abbey? If not, she should..... if she loves all things Brittish- she will LOVE that show!!!
My kids were like yours- Oldest wanted a character wand- her favorite.. which was Hermoine. And the youngest at the time wanted her birthday month wand. So that's what they got. Two years later, they both still play with them! Oldest DD also got the time turner and turned it into a necklace as well. She also still wears it to this day!
My goal this year when I go is to get myself the Chocolate Frog Key-Chain. I hear it smells like chocolate..................
So glad your kids braved Forbidden Journey- and I love the picture with their eyes closed. The spider coming out IS scary!
Glad HP was magical for you - it is a magical place!
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
MAGICAL!!!!!!!!! 
It just sounds so awesome. I want to try pumpkin juice so bad! It looks gooooood! LOVE the story about the conductor, just too cool.
It just sounds so awesome. I want to try pumpkin juice so bad! It looks gooooood! LOVE the story about the conductor, just too cool.
-Hope-
Always dreaming of adventure...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
I'm so glad you had such an amazing first morning in Hogsmeade!
That is so awesome that you met the actual conductor from the autograph page...and I'm totally with Kya- I LOVE (like LOVE!) all things British!!! And I can listen to all day to people talk with their Brittish accents. Has Kya ever watched Downton Abbey? If not, she should..... if she loves all things Brittish- she will LOVE that show!!!
I'll have to tell her. Some of our friend watch it as well and highly recommend it. We're watching Merlin on Netflix right now but will check out Downton Abbey when we're done.
My kids were like yours- Oldest wanted a character wand- her favorite.. which was Hermoine. And the youngest at the time wanted her birthday month wand. So that's what they got. Two years later, they both still play with them! Oldest DD also got the time turner and turned it into a necklace as well. She also still wears it to this day!
My goal this year when I go is to get myself the Chocolate Frog Key-Chain. I hear it smells like chocolate..................
So glad your kids braved Forbidden Journey- and I love the picture with their eyes closed. The spider coming out IS scary!
Glad HP was magical for you - it is a magical place!
Yes, extremely magical!
MAGICAL!!!!!!!!!
I'm going to try to find a recipe to approximate pumpkin juice for the fall party/hayride Kya is having next month. They also have a sparkling pumpkin cider at Aldi right now that is very similar in flavor to what we had at WWoHP except it's sparkling. I don't love sparkling water and the carbonation changes it but the underlying flavor is pumpkin juice.
Well, that's disappointing! Hopefully you'll have better luck next time.
Not all of our character experiences were as great as this one so I'm glad we saw him first.
-Hope-
Always dreaming of adventure...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
After lunch we (somewhat reluctantly) decided it was time to explore beyond the Wizarding World. We'd gotten a late start and I sort of wanted to head to Jurassic Park and Toon Lagoon so we could squeeze in the water rides before our break. However the kids had been fascinated by the theming in Seuss Landing as we walked through earlier that morning and wanted to go back to explore. Since we still hadn't had butterbeer we decided we'd go to SL then work our way back to WWoHP through the Lost Continent and have a drink at the Hogs Head before our afternoon break.
(Btw, this seems like a good time to tell you that I didn't look at my touring plans ONCE while we were there. I'm a huge planner because it's fun for me but in the parks I'm pretty laid back. If the kids want to see SL then that's what we do!)
Up first was the High In the Sky Trolley Ride. I expected it to be like TTA in MK but this was my first sense that my expectations when comparing WDW and UO rides was a little skewed. Yes, this is a trolley ride that gives us birds eye views of the park. Yes, it's pretty tame and mild. BUT it moves A LOT faster than TTA. There are lap bars and height restrictions. And it was much more difficult to get pics on the Seuss trolley than on TTA. But I, of course, got a few anyway.
Kya and mom sat in the front of the cart...
And we were on our way...
The theming was based on The Sneetches and we were treated to a reading of the story as we passed scenes as well as the great views and a trip through Circus McGurkus while people enjoying their lunch waved as we passed. As we pulled up to unload we were greeted by a waving TM...
This was something else I enjoyed about UO, nearly every ride ended with TMs waving us in or cheering for our success in saving the world (depending on the theming of the ride). It was a nice touch.
There's no ride pic on the trolley but there was a green screen opportunity in the queue so as we left the ride we went made a quick stop to have the pics added to our star card...
We never encountered problems or lines when adding pics to our card. I did have issues with the app but realized when I got home (and logged on with an actual computer) that it was because I had to add our star card serial number to my account to view pics in the app. I had wrongly assumed that the account and star card were automatically linked through the bar code I'd printed from the email I received and used to pick up the card. Not one TM advised me of that when I complained about the app not working... but otherwise it was a pleasant experience. We never changed borders because they always picked cute ones for us and we didn't want to waste time looking for other borders and frames that might be slightly cuter.
And we marveled at the sweets in the shop as we left the trolley...
We also looked around in the shop across from the trolley ride (I can't remember the name, sorry). My brother and his girlfriend are having a baby girl in January so we had a lot of fun looking around for things for the baby. We didn't buy yet because we wanted to see what else we could find but if you're shopping for babies and toddlers SL is DEFINITELY the place to be!
We moved on to the truffala trees and Caro-Seuss-el next...
Kya was SCANDALIZED that they made them wear a seat belt on a carousel.
I have to admit that it was no ordinary carousel though. Like everything else at UO they kicked it up a notch and it moved FAST. Mom and I were going to ride in one of the coaches but after watching the ride she was actually concerned that it moved too fast for her vertigo! A CAROUSEL!
Next we made our way to One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. (No pics, sorry.) This is a fun Dumbo style ride (fish instead of elephants, obviously) with the notable exception that you WILL get wet on this ride. Not an occasional, possible squirt like the camels on Aladdin but WET. It was tons of fun!
SL is a bit like FL in that everything is very close together so it was a quick walk over to The Cat In the Hat...
I'd read there were some spins and jerkiness on this ride so mom sat it out. Luckily most things were walk on so she never had to wait long for us (and she usually used the opportunity to upload pics she'd taken with her phone to Facebook). At first we were just moving along at a slow pace, looking at scenes from the book and thinking that she could have come along. Then the cart started spinning and whipping us around TSM style as the pace of the story picked up. It was FUN and we LOVED this ride but it was definitely not Grandma friendly!
The day was moving along quickly and it was time to move on from SL. Up next the Lost Continent and back to the wizarding world for BUTTERBEER!
(Btw, this seems like a good time to tell you that I didn't look at my touring plans ONCE while we were there. I'm a huge planner because it's fun for me but in the parks I'm pretty laid back. If the kids want to see SL then that's what we do!)
Up first was the High In the Sky Trolley Ride. I expected it to be like TTA in MK but this was my first sense that my expectations when comparing WDW and UO rides was a little skewed. Yes, this is a trolley ride that gives us birds eye views of the park. Yes, it's pretty tame and mild. BUT it moves A LOT faster than TTA. There are lap bars and height restrictions. And it was much more difficult to get pics on the Seuss trolley than on TTA. But I, of course, got a few anyway.
Kya and mom sat in the front of the cart...
And we were on our way...
The theming was based on The Sneetches and we were treated to a reading of the story as we passed scenes as well as the great views and a trip through Circus McGurkus while people enjoying their lunch waved as we passed. As we pulled up to unload we were greeted by a waving TM...
This was something else I enjoyed about UO, nearly every ride ended with TMs waving us in or cheering for our success in saving the world (depending on the theming of the ride). It was a nice touch.
There's no ride pic on the trolley but there was a green screen opportunity in the queue so as we left the ride we went made a quick stop to have the pics added to our star card...
We never encountered problems or lines when adding pics to our card. I did have issues with the app but realized when I got home (and logged on with an actual computer) that it was because I had to add our star card serial number to my account to view pics in the app. I had wrongly assumed that the account and star card were automatically linked through the bar code I'd printed from the email I received and used to pick up the card. Not one TM advised me of that when I complained about the app not working... but otherwise it was a pleasant experience. We never changed borders because they always picked cute ones for us and we didn't want to waste time looking for other borders and frames that might be slightly cuter.
And we marveled at the sweets in the shop as we left the trolley...
We also looked around in the shop across from the trolley ride (I can't remember the name, sorry). My brother and his girlfriend are having a baby girl in January so we had a lot of fun looking around for things for the baby. We didn't buy yet because we wanted to see what else we could find but if you're shopping for babies and toddlers SL is DEFINITELY the place to be!
We moved on to the truffala trees and Caro-Seuss-el next...
Kya was SCANDALIZED that they made them wear a seat belt on a carousel.
I have to admit that it was no ordinary carousel though. Like everything else at UO they kicked it up a notch and it moved FAST. Mom and I were going to ride in one of the coaches but after watching the ride she was actually concerned that it moved too fast for her vertigo! A CAROUSEL! Next we made our way to One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. (No pics, sorry.) This is a fun Dumbo style ride (fish instead of elephants, obviously) with the notable exception that you WILL get wet on this ride. Not an occasional, possible squirt like the camels on Aladdin but WET. It was tons of fun!
SL is a bit like FL in that everything is very close together so it was a quick walk over to The Cat In the Hat...
I'd read there were some spins and jerkiness on this ride so mom sat it out. Luckily most things were walk on so she never had to wait long for us (and she usually used the opportunity to upload pics she'd taken with her phone to Facebook).
At first we were just moving along at a slow pace, looking at scenes from the book and thinking that she could have come along. Then the cart started spinning and whipping us around TSM style as the pace of the story picked up. It was FUN and we LOVED this ride but it was definitely not Grandma friendly! The day was moving along quickly and it was time to move on from SL. Up next the Lost Continent and back to the wizarding world for BUTTERBEER!
Twoboysnmygirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2008
OMG, Suessland looks AMAZE-BALLS!!! 
Oh man, you may convert me yet to the dark side.
Oh man, you may convert me yet to the dark side.
-Hope-
Always dreaming of adventure...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
OMG, Suessland looks AMAZE-BALLS!!!
Mwahahaha
natebenma
Beach Club Dee
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2008
Yay!!! You have arrived at Islands of Adventure!
What a great welcome to Hogsmeade with "the" conductor. You all had a fantastic interaction with him.
The Photoconnect is really a lot different from Disney's Photopass. I love price, and I love that you can add the ride photos, but as you discovered, there really aren't many photographers in the parks. It would be nice to have some at the entry points of the WW, but I'm sure that would just back things up and make them crowded. But one by the Port of Entry lagoon would be awesome since you can see so many park icons from there!
Sorry you couldn't ride Forbidden Journey with the kids. I'm glad you all enjoyed the queue line, together though. The castle is just so amazing!
Great ride photo with the eyes shut!
In two trips and I don't know how many visits to Hogsmeade, we have never done the postcards/postmarks. The first year it was way too crowded and this year I was unprepared.
It is so much fun to eat at the Three Broomsticks. My son loved the Fish & Chips a couple of years ago, but this time we got the Great Feast, which was also fantastic.
I like the pumpkin juice on draft from the restaurant, but we also got one in the bottle at the one of the carts and that was disgusting!
Can't wait to hear what you think about the Butterbeer!
Sounds like you had a lot of fun in Seussland. Not my boys' favorite place, but at least we did try some things this year. We haven't done One Fish-Two Fish, though.
Cute picture with the Sneetches Screen!
What a great welcome to Hogsmeade with "the" conductor. You all had a fantastic interaction with him.
The Photoconnect is really a lot different from Disney's Photopass. I love price, and I love that you can add the ride photos, but as you discovered, there really aren't many photographers in the parks. It would be nice to have some at the entry points of the WW, but I'm sure that would just back things up and make them crowded. But one by the Port of Entry lagoon would be awesome since you can see so many park icons from there!
Sorry you couldn't ride Forbidden Journey with the kids. I'm glad you all enjoyed the queue line, together though. The castle is just so amazing!
Great ride photo with the eyes shut!
In two trips and I don't know how many visits to Hogsmeade, we have never done the postcards/postmarks. The first year it was way too crowded and this year I was unprepared.
It is so much fun to eat at the Three Broomsticks. My son loved the Fish & Chips a couple of years ago, but this time we got the Great Feast, which was also fantastic.
I like the pumpkin juice on draft from the restaurant, but we also got one in the bottle at the one of the carts and that was disgusting!
Can't wait to hear what you think about the Butterbeer!
Sounds like you had a lot of fun in Seussland. Not my boys' favorite place, but at least we did try some things this year. We haven't done One Fish-Two Fish, though.
Cute picture with the Sneetches Screen!
Tinker326
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2006
Fun times in Suessland. I have to admit- I love it almost as much as the Wizarding World area!!! It's just so bright & fun!!! Some of my favorite pictures from our trip to IoA are from Suessland!
I like that Sneetches Trolley Ride - there are actaully two tracks and they see two different things.
And we LOOOOOVE the Cat in the Hat ride.
I like that Sneetches Trolley Ride - there are actaully two tracks and they see two different things.
And we LOOOOOVE the Cat in the Hat ride.
-Hope-
Always dreaming of adventure...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
Yay!!! You have arrived at Islands of Adventure!
What a great welcome to Hogsmeade with "the" conductor. You all had a fantastic interaction with him.
The Photoconnect is really a lot different from Disney's Photopass. I love price, and I love that you can add the ride photos, but as you discovered, there really aren't many photographers in the parks. It would be nice to have some at the entry points of the WW, but I'm sure that would just back things up and make them crowded. But one by the Port of Entry lagoon would be awesome since you can see so many park icons from there!
Yes, it's hard to complain about PC when it's soooo much cheaper than PP. But I guess there's a reason for that. I did get an update on the app today and it seems that now you can play with frames and add ons directly in the app from the PC picture spots. That may be a fun feature. We'll see next time I guess!
Sorry you couldn't ride Forbidden Journey with the kids. I'm glad you all enjoyed the queue line, together though. The castle is just so amazing!
Great ride photo with the eyes shut!
In two trips and I don't know how many visits to Hogsmeade, we have never done the postcards/postmarks. The first year it was way too crowded and this year I was unprepared.
We actually bought a stationary set with five cards, one for each of Kya's friends, that were modeled after the Marauder's Map. We got her friends' addresses in secret so the girls had no idea they were coming and Kya's BFF thought she'd been accepted to Hogwart's a few years late when she got the mail.
It is so much fun to eat at the Three Broomsticks. My son loved the Fish & Chips a couple of years ago, but this time we got the Great Feast, which was also fantastic.
I like the pumpkin juice on draft from the restaurant, but we also got one in the bottle at the one of the carts and that was disgusting!
Really?
Can't wait to hear what you think about the Butterbeer!
Sounds like you had a lot of fun in Seussland. Not my boys' favorite place, but at least we did try some things this year. We haven't done One Fish-Two Fish, though.
Cute picture with the Sneetches Screen!
We did enjoy it a lot. Partially because my kids are just not thrill seekers and partially because my mom and I are both over the moon about my brother's baby so it was fun to shop there.
We really enjoyed Suess Landing as well- it was our first impression of IOA (aside from the Port of Entry) and it really was awe inspiring. We saw the second track and noticed that it seemed to take a completely different route. Since it was such a slow time of year though they were only running one track when we were there. Something to look forward to when we return. (Notice I keep saying that...)
I am looking forward to Seuss Land when we go! We are all Seuss fans and I think it will be fun for our youngest since he'll be too small for most of the other rides!
It should be lots of fun for you all! Be sure to look at height restrictions before you go because some people were pretty upset about their little ones being turned away from the trolley. I can't tell you what the restriction was because I didn't really pay attention since both of my kids are taller than me.
-Hope-
Always dreaming of adventure...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
When we finished up at Suess Landing we were ready to explore a bit of the Lost Continent area. The theming is fantastic and it reminded me a bit of the Asia area of AK. I think it's the open air market feel of the shops.
Anyway, despite the aesthetics there isn't a lot going on in this area in terms of attractions. I think Mythos is the biggest draw of the area but my kids are just not adventurous eaters and I knew there wouldn't be much on the menu that would appeal to them in spite of the spectacular reviews and awesome theming.
The Sinbad show was closed for refurb during our trip so that meant the only other attraction in this part of IOA was Poseidon's Fury. We made our way to the queue and stopped for a pic on the way in... (notice Kya's fez)
This attraction is best described as a walk through show. Our tour guide ushered us from room to room where we saw "artifacts" as we tried to escape a curse that had been unleashed on the temple.
It was an okay show but the line was the longest we waited in all week (maybe about 25 minutes) and not really worth it. It didn't help that while in the queue they wanted it to be realistic so we could hear RATS squeaking and scurrying about.
I have a SERIOUS rodent phobia and feel physically ill at the sound of them squeaking so this was NOT a fun feature for me.
As we were leaving it was starting to sprinkle but I wasn't too worried. Afternoon showers are pretty common and it didn't seem to be coming down hard. We were finished in the LC area and were ready for a break and some butterbeer at the Hogshead Tavern. We noticed the singing fountain as we passed but it was starting to rain harder so we just kept walking toward Hogsmeade.
I wanted the kids to have the souvenir mugs so I paid OOP for those while Mom and I used snack credits for ours. We decided to get two frozen and two regular so we could see which one we liked best...
OMG!! This was soooo good! Jace preferred the frozen but the rest of us liked the regular best. Not really the consensus on the boards but it's what we liked. I thought about it and after talking to Jace I realized that he thought the regular was too sweet- which was also what he said when he tried pumpkin juice later (getting ahead of myself). My mom, Kya and I have NO concept of too sweet so I think that's why we had differing opinions on this.
There were no seats anywhere in either the Hogshead or Three Broomsticks (they are connected for those not familiar) because of the rain so we made our way out to the patio. It has covered seating and the rain had cooled things down so it was a nice place for a break.
My mom was dragging a bit and it was starting to rain harder so it seemed like a good time for an afternoon break... but the kids wanted to go back to Zonko's and Honeydukes (also connected inside) before we left. I hadn't been inside earlier and wanted to see them so as we headed over there after a quick visit to Moaning Myrtle so I could rinse out the kids mugs.
Continued in next post due to image restrictions...
Anyway, despite the aesthetics there isn't a lot going on in this area in terms of attractions. I think Mythos is the biggest draw of the area but my kids are just not adventurous eaters and I knew there wouldn't be much on the menu that would appeal to them in spite of the spectacular reviews and awesome theming.
The Sinbad show was closed for refurb during our trip so that meant the only other attraction in this part of IOA was Poseidon's Fury. We made our way to the queue and stopped for a pic on the way in... (notice Kya's fez)
This attraction is best described as a walk through show. Our tour guide ushered us from room to room where we saw "artifacts" as we tried to escape a curse that had been unleashed on the temple.
It was an okay show but the line was the longest we waited in all week (maybe about 25 minutes) and not really worth it. It didn't help that while in the queue they wanted it to be realistic so we could hear RATS squeaking and scurrying about.
I have a SERIOUS rodent phobia and feel physically ill at the sound of them squeaking so this was NOT a fun feature for me. As we were leaving it was starting to sprinkle but I wasn't too worried. Afternoon showers are pretty common and it didn't seem to be coming down hard. We were finished in the LC area and were ready for a break and some butterbeer at the Hogshead Tavern. We noticed the singing fountain as we passed but it was starting to rain harder so we just kept walking toward Hogsmeade.
I wanted the kids to have the souvenir mugs so I paid OOP for those while Mom and I used snack credits for ours. We decided to get two frozen and two regular so we could see which one we liked best...
OMG!!
This was soooo good! Jace preferred the frozen but the rest of us liked the regular best. Not really the consensus on the boards but it's what we liked. I thought about it and after talking to Jace I realized that he thought the regular was too sweet- which was also what he said when he tried pumpkin juice later (getting ahead of myself). My mom, Kya and I have NO concept of too sweet so I think that's why we had differing opinions on this. There were no seats anywhere in either the Hogshead or Three Broomsticks (they are connected for those not familiar) because of the rain so we made our way out to the patio. It has covered seating and the rain had cooled things down so it was a nice place for a break.
My mom was dragging a bit and it was starting to rain harder so it seemed like a good time for an afternoon break... but the kids wanted to go back to Zonko's and Honeydukes (also connected inside) before we left. I hadn't been inside earlier and wanted to see them so as we headed over there after a quick visit to Moaning Myrtle so I could rinse out the kids mugs.
Continued in next post due to image restrictions...
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