Ima Princess
Former CM: Thank you for calling Disney Resort Re
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2003
As you have figured out by now, we're spending a few more days in Orlando post-cruise. We awoke before 7am thanks to DD's resistance to sleep when the sun rises. Where's my inside cabin when I need it? We get ready and partake in the free buffet at our hotel. After the fabulous cruise, breakfast is a bit of a letdown, but sufficient. We arrive at Universal by 9am and park as far away as possible from the parks. Apparently, Universal rewards the late guests with the best parking. Go figure. After what seems like an eternity, we make it out of the parking garage and through CityWalk, all without a stroller.
I wait briefly to exchange some Hilton points for DD's ticket. DH & I prepurchased our tickets. We are entitled to a 2-day 2-park ticket and it is plainly spelled out in our official letter. I am given a 1-day, 1-park ticket. Fortunately, I looked at the back or I would've been severely ticked off later that day. I protest and am given a 1-day, 2-park ticket. Again, I explain the mistake to the ticket agent who finds this very amusing. Third time's a charm as she finally gets it right. We make our way to the stroller rental and DD chooses a yellow stroller. Perfect!
Finally, we enter Islands of Adventure. We peruse the map and find that most of the rides DD cannot go on. While this is not a huge shock to us as we did briefly read a guidebook, we are still somewhat surprised at the numbers. We hit Seuss Landing first and quickly breeze through it -- Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish (like Dumbo with water) and the Carrousel with wacky Seuss animals. DD is amused, but not enchanted. We search for the final ride she can go on, The Flying Unicorn, and on the way DH goes on the Dueling Dragons. He loves it, but I pass. Somewhere in time I lost that desire to ride outrageous coasters. We find the Unicorn and wait less than 10 minutes. It is a tame BTMR at best, but DD enjoys it. We wander through the rest of the park with a brief stop at the Jurassic Park exhibit where fake dinosaurs hatch. We manage to avoid being trampled as we make our way out of the park through swarms of teenagers.
We take the stroller as we walk to Universal Studios (the original park). We find a spot for lunch and are surprised (why?) at the absence of kids meals on the menu. The food was great for a theme park meal and we head to the few rides DD can go on. First stop is Back to the Future, which is much jerkier than I remember. I worry about DD hitting her head, but she comes out unscathed. Then we go to the kids area and get FPs for ET. (I like their FP system -- you dont put your ticket in the machine, you simply swipe it so it never leaves your hand) Moments later we're able to go on ET. The queue is rediculous as they take you from a single-file line into a large group and then back to single file. Hello?! Anyway, DD loves the fact that we are flying on bicycles. She's never seen the movie but completely understands the concept of the ride. We are impressed.
We take DD to the Curious George water play area, which she loves. There are tons of fountains and opportunities to get drenched. We planned ahead and brought her bathing suit so she plays freely for a while. We corral her in time to see the Animal Planet Live show which is very funny and makes me think that I can tune in to Animal Planet more often. I suppose that's what they hope will happen.
DH decides to go on Men In Black to see how scary it is and is relieved that he checked it out first before bringing DD. We stop for a shake at Mel's and then go on our final ride, Jimmy Neutron. The wait is long and the ride is eerily similar to Back to the Future (an intruder steals a car and you chase them). We leave the park before 4pm. I acknowledge what I suspected all along -- we are a Disney family and not a Universal one, and despite us not being the current target market for their parks, I know that will not change as DD ages. However, I will say Universal does a MUCH better job keeping the guests cool with large misting fans throughout the parks and lines, and they have plentiful water play areas.
Back to the hotel for a swim and then to Friday's for dinner. We take brief drive through the I-Drive area and head back to the hotel as we know sunrise will again be early.
I wait briefly to exchange some Hilton points for DD's ticket. DH & I prepurchased our tickets. We are entitled to a 2-day 2-park ticket and it is plainly spelled out in our official letter. I am given a 1-day, 1-park ticket. Fortunately, I looked at the back or I would've been severely ticked off later that day. I protest and am given a 1-day, 2-park ticket. Again, I explain the mistake to the ticket agent who finds this very amusing. Third time's a charm as she finally gets it right. We make our way to the stroller rental and DD chooses a yellow stroller. Perfect!
Finally, we enter Islands of Adventure. We peruse the map and find that most of the rides DD cannot go on. While this is not a huge shock to us as we did briefly read a guidebook, we are still somewhat surprised at the numbers. We hit Seuss Landing first and quickly breeze through it -- Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish (like Dumbo with water) and the Carrousel with wacky Seuss animals. DD is amused, but not enchanted. We search for the final ride she can go on, The Flying Unicorn, and on the way DH goes on the Dueling Dragons. He loves it, but I pass. Somewhere in time I lost that desire to ride outrageous coasters. We find the Unicorn and wait less than 10 minutes. It is a tame BTMR at best, but DD enjoys it. We wander through the rest of the park with a brief stop at the Jurassic Park exhibit where fake dinosaurs hatch. We manage to avoid being trampled as we make our way out of the park through swarms of teenagers.
We take the stroller as we walk to Universal Studios (the original park). We find a spot for lunch and are surprised (why?) at the absence of kids meals on the menu. The food was great for a theme park meal and we head to the few rides DD can go on. First stop is Back to the Future, which is much jerkier than I remember. I worry about DD hitting her head, but she comes out unscathed. Then we go to the kids area and get FPs for ET. (I like their FP system -- you dont put your ticket in the machine, you simply swipe it so it never leaves your hand) Moments later we're able to go on ET. The queue is rediculous as they take you from a single-file line into a large group and then back to single file. Hello?! Anyway, DD loves the fact that we are flying on bicycles. She's never seen the movie but completely understands the concept of the ride. We are impressed.
We take DD to the Curious George water play area, which she loves. There are tons of fountains and opportunities to get drenched. We planned ahead and brought her bathing suit so she plays freely for a while. We corral her in time to see the Animal Planet Live show which is very funny and makes me think that I can tune in to Animal Planet more often. I suppose that's what they hope will happen.
DH decides to go on Men In Black to see how scary it is and is relieved that he checked it out first before bringing DD. We stop for a shake at Mel's and then go on our final ride, Jimmy Neutron. The wait is long and the ride is eerily similar to Back to the Future (an intruder steals a car and you chase them). We leave the park before 4pm. I acknowledge what I suspected all along -- we are a Disney family and not a Universal one, and despite us not being the current target market for their parks, I know that will not change as DD ages. However, I will say Universal does a MUCH better job keeping the guests cool with large misting fans throughout the parks and lines, and they have plentiful water play areas.
Back to the hotel for a swim and then to Friday's for dinner. We take brief drive through the I-Drive area and head back to the hotel as we know sunrise will again be early.
