andy_dangg
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2020
DAY 2
Today, BOTH parks were opening at 8a, with both also offering Early Park Admission at 7a. It seemed the Universal was predicting big crowds for today, but I had a feeling the threat of rain all day would keep people away. It was looking like rain chances were low until about 1p, remaining high until 5-6p.
Since Hagrid's was our number one priority for the day, we wanted to be at IoA for EPA, which we are able to access with our preferred pass. The power and seasonal passes did get a lot of EPA dates for March, but weekends were not included, so we were glad to have sprung for the slightly pricier pass.
We set alarms for 5:30a, aiming to be walking over to the park around 6:20 so we would be at the entrance by 6:45a at the latest. I slept really well, but when I woke up, I found out Jason slept really poorly that night--he said he felt like he only got 2-3 hours of deep sleep. I love sleeping in hotels...the tight sheets and fluffy pillows are a dream to me. But Jason doesn't sleep well in unfamiliar environments and we also forgot to turn the AC fan on overnight, so there was some noise from the hallways.
I felt really bad that he was going to be tired, but he insisted that we go to the parks because he knows how much I enjoy getting to the parks in the morning...how sweet.
We decided that a good plan for the day would be to spend the morning in the parks, come back for a nap around noon or 1p, and come back to the parks at 5p. Both parks closed at 10p today, so we felt like that would offer us plenty of time. We were also hoping the afternoon showers would drive people away from the parks.
With a somewhat sleepy Jason in tow, we quickly got ready. We intended to heat up some of the breakfast bowls we bought up at Whole Foods the day before. But our room did not have a microwave, so we would have needed to find the game room, where there was allegedly a microwave. We were just not in the mood, especially considering it was still dark out, so we just said we'd find a place to eat in the parks.
We also abandoned our plan to walk. We just ended up driving to the parks, which was quick and easy. Parking was a little confusing because there weren't many Team Members to direct this early in the morning, but we ended up parking pretty close to the main entrance.
The security checkpoint was quick and easy and within minutes we were heading down CityWalk towards Islands of Adventure. Overall, I was pleased with the ease of parking and prefer the garages and moving walkways to the massive lots and trams of most other theme parks.
When we got to the gates of IoA, they were already letting people inside the park. We were inside the park by 6:45a, which is the earliest I have ever been in a theme park (the previous record was for 8a Extra Magic Hours at Animal Kingdom).
We were speed walking back to Hogsmeade, so I I forgot to take photos of the mostly empty park. There were quite a few people in the park for this early in the morning, all seemingly heading to Hagrid's!
When we got to Hogsmeade the entrance to the line was very close to the entrance of the land. We didn't need a virtual queue and it was never used at all for Hagrid's on Saturday. Luckily, the line moved really quickly. We ended up putting our phones in the lockers because we were unsure how secure they would be on the bike setup of the ride, but it really was a shame considering how awesome the queue was!
The line stopped at points occasionally, but we were sitting down by 7:10a. The ride was so worth waking up early for! Even though the top speed is only 50mph, I loved how close it was to the ground--you felt so fast! I read the sidecar is a little tamer than the bike so Jason wanted to sit on the sidecar. The ride was so long and even had a few surprises in store. I think I might've watched a POV when it first opened, but I was not expecting the drop element. I also LOVED the Fluffy animatronic! It was a dreary morning which made for the perfect setting for a ride in the Forbidden Forest and it was just amazing. We both couldn't wait to ride it again!
We were back in Hogsmeade by 7:15a and took advantage of the extra time to ride...Flight of the Hippogriff. In all honesty, it was fun! I loved the views of Hogwarts and it was a cute little ride. I'm glad we didn't have to wait, because I definitely would not want to...but I would recommend riding it during EPA or when crowds are low for a little bonus fun.
In the spirit of keeping up the Harry Potter streak, we wanted to ride Forbidden Journey again. It was initially displaying delayed, but they eventually opened the queue. Again, we were rushed through the queue by overzealous guests behind us...I guess we'll just have to ride when there's a long posted wait! However, when we got to the final briefing room, we were informed that the ride was still down. It didn't open until 8a, but it was nice to absorb the atmosphere of Hogwarts. We ended up being on the second bench of the day! Both Jason and I thought the ride was actually more thrilling this time! I don't know why, but the animatronics spooked us more. Unfortunately, I also found it to be a lot more nauseating than last time. If the last section of screens would have lasted 10 seconds longer I don't know if I would have made it...I don't think being on an empty stomach helped. Next time I'll have to remember to bring some Bonine so I can enjoy this awesome attraction without worry.
We were feeling pretty famished at this point and needed breakfast. We decided to make our way to the front of the park to grab some Starbucks.
We found the path to walk the Jurassic Park route back and I'm glad we did. I love Jurassic Park and World and I was very excited to see the land! As benign as it sounds I loved the landscaping and overall vibe of Jurassic Park. It was so lush and evocative of the movies. We passed Velocicoaster on the way, which looks SO awesome. Can't wait!
We eventually made our way over to the River Journey area and after seeing two women go down the drop with barely getting wet, we decided to hop in the five minute posted line to ride.
We were assigned the front row, which was exciting...but ultimately a curse. When we boarded, the ride operator said we could take off our masks if we'd like. We thought taking them off and putting them on would be a hassle, so we just decided to keep ours on. We rode Splash Mountain and Kali with masks and didn't think it would be an issue.
Spoiler alert: it was. The ride itself was actually really cool. The beginning of the ride was really pretty and relaxing--the narration reminded me of Living with the Land! Of course, things went wrong, and it was pretty exciting inside the building. The dinosaur before the drop was awesome and the drop was steep and thrilling! What DAMPened (get it) our experience was when we went down the final drop into the splash pond, TONS of water sprayed us from our shoulders up. Our cloth masks, faces, and hair were soaked. The rest of us was actually pretty dry.
We got off the ride breathing in the nasty Jurassic Park water through our masks. They were so waterlogged that our voices were echoing in them! When we got to the ride exit gift shop, we were debating buying new masks. None of them really impressed us and they were a little pricey at $8 each. Once I was about to cave and buy two new ones, Jason had the idea of asking the cashier if they sold surgical masks. Luckily, she gave us two for free from the back and even gave us a little bag for our wet masks.
Still wet and even more hungry, we continued making our way back to Port of Entry. When we got there, we found that the Starbucks line was SO long. We were about to wait in it when I noticed there was the Croissant Moon bakery right across the path. I looked at the menu and they had both cold brew and breakfast sandwiches so we decided to skip the lengthy Starbucks line.
We ended up getting two cold brews and two hot croissant sandwiches for about $23. The sandwiches were pretty good and much bigger than something we would have gotten from Starbucks. Jason's favorite meal is breakfast so he was pretty content with our meal (even if he doesn't look like it in the photo). The coffee was decent, a little weak, but I was glad to have any form of caffeine...I was a few minutes away from a headache if I didn't get coffee...college has turned me into an addict!
Up next: the rest of our morning at IoA, naptime, and park hopping galore!
Today, BOTH parks were opening at 8a, with both also offering Early Park Admission at 7a. It seemed the Universal was predicting big crowds for today, but I had a feeling the threat of rain all day would keep people away. It was looking like rain chances were low until about 1p, remaining high until 5-6p.
Since Hagrid's was our number one priority for the day, we wanted to be at IoA for EPA, which we are able to access with our preferred pass. The power and seasonal passes did get a lot of EPA dates for March, but weekends were not included, so we were glad to have sprung for the slightly pricier pass.
We set alarms for 5:30a, aiming to be walking over to the park around 6:20 so we would be at the entrance by 6:45a at the latest. I slept really well, but when I woke up, I found out Jason slept really poorly that night--he said he felt like he only got 2-3 hours of deep sleep. I love sleeping in hotels...the tight sheets and fluffy pillows are a dream to me. But Jason doesn't sleep well in unfamiliar environments and we also forgot to turn the AC fan on overnight, so there was some noise from the hallways.
I felt really bad that he was going to be tired, but he insisted that we go to the parks because he knows how much I enjoy getting to the parks in the morning...how sweet.
We decided that a good plan for the day would be to spend the morning in the parks, come back for a nap around noon or 1p, and come back to the parks at 5p. Both parks closed at 10p today, so we felt like that would offer us plenty of time. We were also hoping the afternoon showers would drive people away from the parks.With a somewhat sleepy Jason in tow, we quickly got ready. We intended to heat up some of the breakfast bowls we bought up at Whole Foods the day before. But our room did not have a microwave, so we would have needed to find the game room, where there was allegedly a microwave. We were just not in the mood, especially considering it was still dark out, so we just said we'd find a place to eat in the parks.
We also abandoned our plan to walk. We just ended up driving to the parks, which was quick and easy. Parking was a little confusing because there weren't many Team Members to direct this early in the morning, but we ended up parking pretty close to the main entrance.
The security checkpoint was quick and easy and within minutes we were heading down CityWalk towards Islands of Adventure. Overall, I was pleased with the ease of parking and prefer the garages and moving walkways to the massive lots and trams of most other theme parks.
When we got to the gates of IoA, they were already letting people inside the park. We were inside the park by 6:45a, which is the earliest I have ever been in a theme park (the previous record was for 8a Extra Magic Hours at Animal Kingdom).
We were speed walking back to Hogsmeade, so I I forgot to take photos of the mostly empty park. There were quite a few people in the park for this early in the morning, all seemingly heading to Hagrid's!
When we got to Hogsmeade the entrance to the line was very close to the entrance of the land. We didn't need a virtual queue and it was never used at all for Hagrid's on Saturday. Luckily, the line moved really quickly. We ended up putting our phones in the lockers because we were unsure how secure they would be on the bike setup of the ride, but it really was a shame considering how awesome the queue was!
The line stopped at points occasionally, but we were sitting down by 7:10a. The ride was so worth waking up early for! Even though the top speed is only 50mph, I loved how close it was to the ground--you felt so fast! I read the sidecar is a little tamer than the bike so Jason wanted to sit on the sidecar. The ride was so long and even had a few surprises in store. I think I might've watched a POV when it first opened, but I was not expecting the drop element. I also LOVED the Fluffy animatronic! It was a dreary morning which made for the perfect setting for a ride in the Forbidden Forest and it was just amazing. We both couldn't wait to ride it again!
We were back in Hogsmeade by 7:15a and took advantage of the extra time to ride...Flight of the Hippogriff. In all honesty, it was fun! I loved the views of Hogwarts and it was a cute little ride. I'm glad we didn't have to wait, because I definitely would not want to...but I would recommend riding it during EPA or when crowds are low for a little bonus fun.
In the spirit of keeping up the Harry Potter streak, we wanted to ride Forbidden Journey again. It was initially displaying delayed, but they eventually opened the queue. Again, we were rushed through the queue by overzealous guests behind us...I guess we'll just have to ride when there's a long posted wait! However, when we got to the final briefing room, we were informed that the ride was still down. It didn't open until 8a, but it was nice to absorb the atmosphere of Hogwarts. We ended up being on the second bench of the day! Both Jason and I thought the ride was actually more thrilling this time! I don't know why, but the animatronics spooked us more. Unfortunately, I also found it to be a lot more nauseating than last time. If the last section of screens would have lasted 10 seconds longer I don't know if I would have made it...I don't think being on an empty stomach helped. Next time I'll have to remember to bring some Bonine so I can enjoy this awesome attraction without worry.
We were feeling pretty famished at this point and needed breakfast. We decided to make our way to the front of the park to grab some Starbucks.
We found the path to walk the Jurassic Park route back and I'm glad we did. I love Jurassic Park and World and I was very excited to see the land! As benign as it sounds I loved the landscaping and overall vibe of Jurassic Park. It was so lush and evocative of the movies. We passed Velocicoaster on the way, which looks SO awesome. Can't wait!
We eventually made our way over to the River Journey area and after seeing two women go down the drop with barely getting wet, we decided to hop in the five minute posted line to ride.
Spoiler alert: it was. The ride itself was actually really cool. The beginning of the ride was really pretty and relaxing--the narration reminded me of Living with the Land! Of course, things went wrong, and it was pretty exciting inside the building. The dinosaur before the drop was awesome and the drop was steep and thrilling! What DAMPened (get it) our experience was when we went down the final drop into the splash pond, TONS of water sprayed us from our shoulders up. Our cloth masks, faces, and hair were soaked. The rest of us was actually pretty dry.
We got off the ride breathing in the nasty Jurassic Park water through our masks. They were so waterlogged that our voices were echoing in them! When we got to the ride exit gift shop, we were debating buying new masks. None of them really impressed us and they were a little pricey at $8 each. Once I was about to cave and buy two new ones, Jason had the idea of asking the cashier if they sold surgical masks. Luckily, she gave us two for free from the back and even gave us a little bag for our wet masks.
Still wet and even more hungry, we continued making our way back to Port of Entry. When we got there, we found that the Starbucks line was SO long. We were about to wait in it when I noticed there was the Croissant Moon bakery right across the path. I looked at the menu and they had both cold brew and breakfast sandwiches so we decided to skip the lengthy Starbucks line.
Up next: the rest of our morning at IoA, naptime, and park hopping galore!
glad you are enjoying the report, and I hope I don't mess up...
so I just left him rest while I finished my nightly routine and went to bed.
