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Holy mother of walking shoes! Did Universal. It's raining good here now.
Coming to Orlando on vacation? Ask me anything...
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The rain will probably come and go. On the plus side, at least it's not hot as ****.
And yeah, it's a lot of walking. Definitely can be exhausting. Did you go to Studios or Islands of Adventure? I would guess that wait times weren't too terrible with Express. Maybe like 30 for the more popular stuff. Except Hagrids. That wait is almost always long.
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We did Studios. Waiting on dinner now at Jakes american at Royal Pacific hotel. Dude, lines were nothing! With fast pass, we were on all rides in minutes! I felt for people waiting for Hagrids.
Fast pass worth every penny.
Where in proximity to us is the korean bbq wing joint you reccomended?
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Yeah, it totally is. I get it with my annual passes after 4pm. I pretty much refuse to go down there without it. That's why I was saying Royal Pacific is a good deal. Room rates are high, but free Express totally makes it worth it.
The place I mentioned isn't really a Korean bbq joint, more of a rooftop bar that happens to have some good apps. Good place to have a few drinks and take in the view. Nice chill spot after a long day at the parks. You are cool with kids there, it's pretty low key. It's on the top floor of the Aventura hotel which is like 1-2 miles from where you are. It's over in the cluster of hotels where Sapphire Falls is, Cabana Bay across the street. Not sure if you can take the water taxi that direction to Sapphire and walk over, I think that's a one directional shot to City Walk. I'd ask the concierge for the best way to get over there. Name of the place is Bar Bistro 17.
Edit - important note, they don't open until 4pm. Best to go at night anyway for the view.
Favorite thing at Studios for you and the kids?
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I'm glad to hear you and your fam are still alive with all that rain your having down there. Be safe!
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I don't think one has lived until they experience the constant onslaught of a light drizzle to moderate downpour with 75 degree temps on a fun family vacation.
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Thanks! We might go tonight. Weather is going to hold up today.
I thought the Rock it was great. My son got scared and didnt go but he is gonna do it today, he proclaims.
We did Minions, Shrek, Fast N Furious, Harry Potter,Mummy and Transformers.
We all dug the Mummy ride.
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Nice. The Mummy is probably my favorite there.
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From my visit to Universal in July, I concur.... it is both a good (albeit short) ride, and people seem to pass it by, so the wait times can be surprisingly low, like at one point when it was raining you could basically run thru the line, get on in 2 mins, get off and go right back thru the line again.
Hagrid's was an awesome ride, but the wait is horrendous... I think we waited like near 2 hrs.
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Gatorland
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made it back!
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Got cold today. I hope we survive. Have a good time?
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We did...
It was a lot to cram in 6 days but I feel like we did a ton.
Universal is hands down the winner over Disney in my opinion.
It is all a blur! My kids had a great time though and they are the whole reason we went so any gripes I have don't matter.
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Yeah man - that's a LOT to do in a week. You probably walked like 20 miles. And I agree on Universal. Can't wait until they open their new park.
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We did about 8-9 miles a day(per fit-bit)
It's all about the fast pass. Not sure what Disney is thinking with their approach to that.
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Dang.
Re Disney's Fast Pass system - you should have been able to book 3 things a day. At least that's how it used to be when I was a passholder there. Popular stuff sometimes you can't though. But I agree that Universal's Express system is much better. There's no way I'd do those parks without it, especially if I was coming on vacation from out of town. You'd spend tons of time waiting in lines, and would only be able to do a fraction of the stuff they have there.
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It was still 3 attractions. Here is the kicker though.... The best rides are all in tier one. You get one tier one fp and 2
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Oh, right. I forgot that they had that split up like that. It really didn't bother me too much as an AP, because we'd schedule 3 things sequentially, go down there, do those 3 and then roll. Then do another 3 on another weekend. But that system sucks for trying to maximize a vacation here. No way to do everything between the 4 parks.
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cell phone is acting up sorry...
So we did one tier one FP(Aerosmith coaster) and had two tier two FPs left, but they were for things we didn't want to do. To have to stop what you are doing and log into the app was really annoying. Add in the sea of people all doing the same thing and there were a lot of pedestrian log jams(I took that well though) Add in the Professional Disney Goers getting annoyed and it was not pleasant. What parent wants to add that into the plans on top of all the other things they are trying to do for their little ones.
At Universal, you buy the dang FP and use it unlimited times on anything you want whenever you wan, at any park you want. And it works! You literally pass quite a few people in lines and enjoy the experience much more.
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Positives
Volcano Bay is great.
All food options are fantastic
Loews Royal Pacific was great
Hilton Bonnet Creek was great
And if you dind yourself lucky enough to get on anything at Disney in under 30 mins, it's great!
Volcano Bay is great.
All food options are fantastic
Loews Royal Pacific was great
Hilton Bonnet Creek was great
And if you dind yourself lucky enough to get on anything at Disney in under 30 mins, it's great!