kamgen
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2000
Last Thursday we took the family to Universal Studios and IOA for the day! This was our first visit. Here is a run down of things we did and our impression of them. Feel free to ask questions and hope this helps!
There were 5 of us: MOm (me), Dad, two boys ages 5 and 3 and grammy (my mom)
Our background- we are Disney nuts! We live in Florida and visit the Disney parks monthly.
Arrival- we pulled into the Valet area around 8:30am. Decided to do valet since my mom walks with a cane and it was directly at the entrance to CityWalk. The people were very friendly.
Crowds-the opening crowds were substantial, but the walkways are wide and we didnt feel pushed or anything. The lines to get into IOA were short, so that was good.
Upon entering, we went over to rent my mom an ECV. They allow you to call and reserve them ahead of time, so that made it quicker and she was sure to have them. Her opinion of the ECV was that it was old and slow, not as nice as the ones at the Disney parks. The cost was $50 for the day and you could use it at both parks.
Breakfast- we had reservations for the character breakfast at Confisco's for 9am. We were seated promptly at 9am when they opened. The server, Jeri, was fantastic. The food was good and the character interaction was great. It was Spiderman, Cat in the Hat and thing one and two. Spiderman came around twice to us and spent a lot of time talking to the boys. It was my sons birthday and they brought out a giant chocolate chip cookie decorated with a candle and sang Happy Birthday. It was overall a great time and we highly recommend it!!!
IOA- first ride we did was Spiderman with a wait time of 15minutes at 10am...the boys were soooo excited. Needless to say the ride was pretty cool, but both boys cried and didnt like the darkness of it or how loud it was. I would ride it again, but only if you sit in the front of the car, the 3D effects were not good in the back row, IMO.
We played some games in Cartoon Land and then headed back to Jurassic Park area. I rode Pteranadon Flyers with one of my boys. IT was awesome, except the line moves VERY slow....and I mean VERY slow! There were maybe 30-40 people in front of me and it took close to 45minutes. The boys played in Camp Jurassic and loved it. We decided to skip Harry Potter since my boys are young and couldnt ride the big rides, plus it was crowded and we were trying to hit both parks before 7pm. In SuessLand the boys had a great time. This place is so well themed and the rides are very cute. We did the Suess Trolley Train, which we loved. We did the Carosuessel, Cat in the Hat and Red Fish Blue FIsh. We thought Cat in the Hat was great! It was similar to the rides in Fantasyland at MK, but much longer. Well worth it!
IOA impression - overall we liked IOA. I am a coaster rider but opted not to do it that day since it was my sons bday and the day was about him!
The waits according to the board at 2pm were under 45minutes for everything, so not bad. Some of the areas could have used a fresh coat of paint and the music in some areas was way too loud. But we had a great time and will return.
Universal Studios- Once we entered Universal, we headed straight back to the area the kids wanted to see. We did get to do a meet & great with Scooby Doo and Shaggy and got some great pics! We hit ET first, which we all LOVED! Then Woody's NutHouse Coaster and then the boys played forever in Curious George playland. We brought swimtrunks and changed them first. I highly recommend that . Then we could put them back in their dry clothes for the rest of the day! After playing and visiting some characters, we headed to have some early dinner at Mel's Diner. This is where our day got bad! We love theme parks and have no problem with "theme park food" but this was the WORST place we have ever eaten. I say stay away!!!!!
My son got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that we had to return because the peanut butter was so old it had seperated and was orange oil
. The burgers were dry and the buns were hard. Needless to say, none of us felt good after that one and it cost us $50.
After our terrible dinner, we hit the Jimmy Neutron ride (very cool) and then Shrek 4D. Shrek was a great show but I felt the intro pre-show was too long.....but thats just me.
It was 6:30pm and we had to head home....
OVERALL- we had a great time and will definitely go back.
PROS- Confisco's character breakfast
SuessLand
Lots of play areas for kids
CONS - it was hot that day, so go when it is cooler
MELS DINER - yuck
would have liked to see more characters walking around
If you have questions, let me know!
There were 5 of us: MOm (me), Dad, two boys ages 5 and 3 and grammy (my mom)
Our background- we are Disney nuts! We live in Florida and visit the Disney parks monthly.
Arrival- we pulled into the Valet area around 8:30am. Decided to do valet since my mom walks with a cane and it was directly at the entrance to CityWalk. The people were very friendly.
Crowds-the opening crowds were substantial, but the walkways are wide and we didnt feel pushed or anything. The lines to get into IOA were short, so that was good.
Upon entering, we went over to rent my mom an ECV. They allow you to call and reserve them ahead of time, so that made it quicker and she was sure to have them. Her opinion of the ECV was that it was old and slow, not as nice as the ones at the Disney parks. The cost was $50 for the day and you could use it at both parks.
Breakfast- we had reservations for the character breakfast at Confisco's for 9am. We were seated promptly at 9am when they opened. The server, Jeri, was fantastic. The food was good and the character interaction was great. It was Spiderman, Cat in the Hat and thing one and two. Spiderman came around twice to us and spent a lot of time talking to the boys. It was my sons birthday and they brought out a giant chocolate chip cookie decorated with a candle and sang Happy Birthday. It was overall a great time and we highly recommend it!!!
IOA- first ride we did was Spiderman with a wait time of 15minutes at 10am...the boys were soooo excited. Needless to say the ride was pretty cool, but both boys cried and didnt like the darkness of it or how loud it was. I would ride it again, but only if you sit in the front of the car, the 3D effects were not good in the back row, IMO.
We played some games in Cartoon Land and then headed back to Jurassic Park area. I rode Pteranadon Flyers with one of my boys. IT was awesome, except the line moves VERY slow....and I mean VERY slow! There were maybe 30-40 people in front of me and it took close to 45minutes. The boys played in Camp Jurassic and loved it. We decided to skip Harry Potter since my boys are young and couldnt ride the big rides, plus it was crowded and we were trying to hit both parks before 7pm. In SuessLand the boys had a great time. This place is so well themed and the rides are very cute. We did the Suess Trolley Train, which we loved. We did the Carosuessel, Cat in the Hat and Red Fish Blue FIsh. We thought Cat in the Hat was great! It was similar to the rides in Fantasyland at MK, but much longer. Well worth it!
IOA impression - overall we liked IOA. I am a coaster rider but opted not to do it that day since it was my sons bday and the day was about him!
The waits according to the board at 2pm were under 45minutes for everything, so not bad. Some of the areas could have used a fresh coat of paint and the music in some areas was way too loud. But we had a great time and will return. Universal Studios- Once we entered Universal, we headed straight back to the area the kids wanted to see. We did get to do a meet & great with Scooby Doo and Shaggy and got some great pics! We hit ET first, which we all LOVED!
Then Woody's NutHouse Coaster and then the boys played forever in Curious George playland. We brought swimtrunks and changed them first. I highly recommend that . Then we could put them back in their dry clothes for the rest of the day! After playing and visiting some characters, we headed to have some early dinner at Mel's Diner. This is where our day got bad! We love theme parks and have no problem with "theme park food" but this was the WORST place we have ever eaten. I say stay away!!!!! My son got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that we had to return because the peanut butter was so old it had seperated and was orange oil. The burgers were dry and the buns were hard. Needless to say, none of us felt good after that one and it cost us $50. After our terrible dinner, we hit the Jimmy Neutron ride (very cool) and then Shrek 4D. Shrek was a great show but I felt the intro pre-show was too long.....but thats just me.
It was 6:30pm and we had to head home....
OVERALL- we had a great time and will definitely go back.
PROS- Confisco's character breakfast
SuessLand
Lots of play areas for kids
CONS - it was hot that day, so go when it is cooler
MELS DINER - yuck
would have liked to see more characters walking around
If you have questions, let me know!
