"I almost peed my pants.. and fell out!" March 2015 TR

[CaseFace5]

Day 5- St. Patrick's Day at Universal/Islands of Adventure!
Part Two

We kept trekking around the circle and soon stumbled upon these beauties! This was almost a month before the movie came out so it was neat to look at!





Such a great but sad movie!!

We moved on and tried a ride that I had never done before.. ET! It was really cool, reminded me of Peter Pan. When we walked out, I had a voicemail on my phone. We were in the process of refinancing our mortgage and it was from the loan officer. I called him back and he said the loan company needed to speak to me. I explained that I was on vacation and he assured me it was a quick 5 minute call and things would move along. So I called. 20+ minutes later I was off the phone. Talk about annoying!!! But it did all work out once we got home and the savings was worth it.

We continued on towards the front of the park. We came upon a dance party in the streets!





They do have a minion show/ride here, however we passed on it because the wait was 90 minutes the whole time we were there.

A little further down the road these two were out taking pictures!







We finally made it to our next "ride." We went on Terminator. They call it a ride, however you sit in a seat that I think bounces once so I don't know how much of a ride that it. However Sken enjoyed it and we both enjoyed the dump shop!









From there we decided to circle back around to the front and hit up the Rip it Rock it Coaster. I hadn't done this before and I was looking forward to it!



So when you get on, you pick a genre of music, and then a song. That song blasts the whole ride, similar to RnRC but you can choose your own. When getting onto this ride, the attendant saw Sken's shirt. His shirt is a shirt from the Chive which is a website for men. On this particular site, they have an obsession with Bill Murray. They call him (PG version) "Bill F'in Murray." When the attendant saw Sken's shirt he said, "Hey fellow Chiver, I love your shirt!! Tell me who's on it!!" He was looking for Sken to say the above phrase. Sken looked around and saw children so he's like "Can't man" motioning to the kids. The attendant goes, "that's cool man. Hey if you want another ride after this one go up those stairs and back down and you can get right on. Chive on man!" The ride was awesome!!! So of course, we got off, went up the secret stairs and back down and right on again!

After those two rides we were on a ride high! We were both having a great time. We kept going along but decided it was time for a refreshment. We went into an Irish pub and walked out with these beauties!



Had to have some green beer on St. Paddy's Day!

We had done everything we wanted to do in this area so we headed back to Diagon Alley! This area (along with Hogsmeade in IoA) are so awesome to see! I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fan, but I love this whole area!







As you can see.. so does everyone else! We decided to try the ride "Escape from Gringotts." This ride also required a locker, but Sken was able to bring his phone again to get pictures for me. We were also able to enjoy our beers in line which was pretty sweet! (The line was about 40 minutes.) Soon we were heading into the bank!









This ride is AMAZING!!!!! It was so awesome. It's such a tough one to explain because there is really no other ride like it. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. We decided to head over to the Hogwarts Express and ride over to IoA! On the way we caught this guy breathing fire!!





Soon we were heading to the Hogwarts Express!

 

[KathyM2]

Wow, looks like you had an amazing time over at...the dark side lol. That's a lot of money for cabs to and from there from Disney though...it's really too bad they can't work together to have some sort of shuttle...but I guess that would make people spread their money around more....sigh. I loved the theming in the Harry Potter area a few years ago...but I'm dying to see the new parts...but sadly I don't know when it will happen! The Simpsons area looks so awesome too.

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, Casey. We've not been in the Dark Side since 2004 when we took our oldest for his high school graduation (we have gone to City Walk for dinner at Emeril's). Since we don't do the coasters anymore and have no real interest in Harry Potter, it would be a waste for us. But I love seeing every one's pictures there and reading about what they did. My kids would LOVE that Simpson area.

 

[ursalita]

Hi Casey! Just catching up on your last few updates.

Oh, man! Your HS photo made me realize that I never got a picture of the Theater at the entrance of the park. I was in such a hurry to get to Jedi training and I forgot to go back. Oh, well.

The Cinderella carriage is so pretty!

The Frozen Sing-Along looks so fun, I'm bummed we missed it.

I'm glad you enjoyed One Man's Dream! Did you see the movie? It sounds like that CM was trying to be funny but is socially awkward.

I totally missed the screen that shows "best in vehicle" at TSMM. Did you see it while you were riding or as you were walking out?

Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue looks really fun, we'll have to do it sometime.

It's always fun to read about side trips to Universal. I don't know if we'll ever go because the boys don't like thrill rides but maybe some day they'll want to see the Harry Potter stuff. Glad you guys got to ride lots of rides!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Looks like a fun morning at Universal!

 

[Choozee]

IOA & Universal Studios are both awesome parks! Too bad the minion wait was so long. That's a great ride too!
So glad you all got the opportunity to experience these things together! That's what memories are made of

 

[Chicago Mo]

I HAVE TO GO HERE!!!!

everything looks like such a blast!!!! ugh.. Going to talk to the family tonight and see if we can swing it..

 

[nilla]

So what song did you pick?

I occasionally wonder how amazing it would have been if Disney had been the ones to get the rights to the Harry Potter films and attractions.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

HAHAHAHA, your Express Pass explanation made me giggle. You wouldn't believe how many people I've talked to after a Disney trip who told me "Next time, We're buying the FastPass". They pretty much throw a fit when I tell them it's free. But yeah, not so much at Universal. I've bought it once though and was glad to have it. At that time they only had the once per ride option though. Good if you can afford it, but YIKES it's expensive.

Yup. As well, I do everything I can to avoid a bag because.. lockers.

THE MUMMY!!!!! Oh how I adore this ride.

Awww too bad you had to skip Minion Mayhem. It is REALLY comical. But also, almost always had a long wait

OMG how cool to get a bit of VIP on Rip Ride Rockit.

Yowza, I can't believe how much you accomplished so far.

 

[rteetz]

Looks like a fun time I've never gone to universal but would like to try it at least once to see how it compares to disney.

 

[CaseFace5]

Wow, looks like you had an amazing time over at...the dark side lol. That's a lot of money for cabs to and from there from Disney though...it's really too bad they can't work together to have some sort of shuttle...but I guess that would make people spread their money around more....sigh. I loved the theming in the Harry Potter area a few years ago...but I'm dying to see the new parts...but sadly I don't know when it will happen! The Simpsons area looks so awesome too.

It was expensive, and I tried to find a better way and I just couldn't. Hopefully in the future I can find a better way!

Great updates, Casey. We've not been in the Dark Side since 2004 when we took our oldest for his high school graduation (we have gone to City Walk for dinner at Emeril's). Since we don't do the coasters anymore and have no real interest in Harry Potter, it would be a waste for us. But I love seeing every one's pictures there and reading about what they did. My kids would LOVE that Simpson area.

It was a great trip over to the dark side! I had gone with Myra two years ago, but before that it had been several years. I love the rides there and Sken loved everything there so we did have a great time and I am sure we will be going back!

Hi Casey! Just catching up on your last few updates.

Oh, man! Your HS photo made me realize that I never got a picture of the Theater at the entrance of the park. I was in such a hurry to get to Jedi training and I forgot to go back. Oh, well.

The Cinderella carriage is so pretty!

The Frozen Sing-Along looks so fun, I'm bummed we missed it.

I'm glad you enjoyed One Man's Dream! Did you see the movie? It sounds like that CM was trying to be funny but is socially awkward.

I totally missed the screen that shows "best in vehicle" at TSMM. Did you see it while you were riding or as you were walking out?

Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue looks really fun, we'll have to do it sometime.

It's always fun to read about side trips to Universal. I don't know if we'll ever go because the boys don't like thrill rides but maybe some day they'll want to see the Harry Potter stuff. Glad you guys got to ride lots of rides!

Thanks for popping back in after your trip! We had just missed the movie at OMD and then the interaction had us wanting to get out of there because it was really awkward and we had the TSMM FPs so we left. Next time though!!

The screen is when you are all done in the ride and waiting to get to the area where they let you off. It's on the wall and you see it while still in the car.

HDDR was awesome! I'm sure your boys would like it too!

The Harry Potter stuff does make it worth it, that whole area is so well done!

Looks like a fun morning at Universal!

It was!

IOA & Universal Studios are both awesome parks! Too bad the minion wait was so long. That's a great ride too!
So glad you all got the opportunity to experience these things together! That's what memories are made of

I do enjoy that ride!! Sken was okay with skipping it though so we did. Next time!

I HAVE TO GO HERE!!!!

everything looks like such a blast!!!! ugh.. Going to talk to the family tonight and see if we can swing it..

YOU DO HAVE TO GO HERE!!!!!

So what song did you pick?

I occasionally wonder how amazing it would have been if Disney had been the ones to get the rights to the Harry Potter films and attractions.

When we went the first time, I did the country selection and did Kenny Chesney's "Living in Fast Forward." One the second go around Sken told me I had to do "Rollin'" by Limp Bizkit. Both were good!

HAHAHAHA, your Express Pass explanation made me giggle. You wouldn't believe how many people I've talked to after a Disney trip who told me "Next time, We're buying the FastPass". They pretty much throw a fit when I tell them it's free. But yeah, not so much at Universal. I've bought it once though and was glad to have it. At that time they only had the once per ride option though. Good if you can afford it, but YIKES it's expensive.

Yup. As well, I do everything I can to avoid a bag because.. lockers.

THE MUMMY!!!!! Oh how I adore this ride.

Awww too bad you had to skip Minion Mayhem. It is REALLY comical. But also, almost always had a long wait

OMG how cool to get a bit of VIP on Rip Ride Rockit.

Yowza, I can't believe how much you accomplished so far.

Not so much is an understatement!! I wish they had a better way!

I wanted to avoid it but Sken is such a girl and carries a lot with him.. jk.... maybe.......

I went on the Mummy the first year it opened. LOVE THAT RIDE.

We were doing pretty good! The waits this day were not too bad.

Looks like a fun time I've never gone to universal but would like to try it at least once to see how it compares to disney.

It was a blast. They both have good and bad parts about them. We love thrill rides so this park really suits us. We had a really good time and will for sure be going back!


*******************************

Sorry I have been MIA for a bit. Work has been a nightmare with the new payroll software!! The girl who was in charge of the integration did a terrible job of bringing in information and our employees are getting really upset with me about it. I lost three whole days at work fixing her mistakes!! I just sent in another payroll so we will see if I caught them all..

Going back to update the rest of our St. Patrick's Day!

 

[CaseFace5]

Day 5- St. Patrick's Day at Universal/Islands of Adventure!
Part Three

When I left off we were walking out of Diagon Alley and heading towards the train station to get on the Hogwarts Express to get to Islands of Adventure. When you first walk in, they scan your park ticket along with your finger print to make sure you have Park to Park tickets. You must have these tickets to ride the Hogwarts Express. We did so soon we were through.









The ride is nice. I don't want to give too much away but we enjoyed it. It is also different going back the other way so I suggest doing both ways.

From there we headed over to Forbidden Journey. It was getting late so the line wasn't too bad, about a half hour. I just love this whole area and walking though Hogwarts!



I don't have many pictures left.. but we both loved the ride.

From there we decided to ride the Dragons. We were walking though the que and a ride attendant said to Sken "Hey!" so we walked over to him. The people behind us stopped too and he replied "No, you can keep going." Sken and I looked at each other funny as all the people behind us kept going. Finally there was a break and the kid leans in and says "Love the shirt man! From one Chiver to another..I can send you through the Express Line, but keep it on the down low! Chive on man!" So we got to skip the line and get right to the front again!!! It was awesome. We picked the blue side and again both enjoyed this coaster. We kept laughing about the shirt and Sken was like "I want to wear this every day!!"

From there we were getting hungry and the park was close to closing. We did stop and ride the Cat and the Hat because I am a sucker for that ride! Soon we were heading out of the park.

Since it was St. Patrick's Day we wanted to go somewhere Irish. We decided on a place called Pat O'Brien's thinking we did a good job. It was a New Orleans pub, but they did have stuff going on for St. Patrick's Day. This is where the night turned for me..

When we went to enter, they stopped us and told us it was a $20 cover. I asked if we could still sit to eat and they said yes so we paid and went in. They had a blocked off area outside with a band that was good! We went inside to eat. We walked in and saw a bar to the left, a piano bar to the right that was PACKED and a patio with bar straight ahead. We stopped at the hostess stand and waited. We were waiting for a good 10 minutes with workers walking by and ignoring us the whole time. We headed out back and up to the bar. We asked the bartender about food and he said they didn't have any and that we could wait for a table but there were over 20 tables and one or two waitresses.

We headed back to the regular bar and Sken grabbed us drinks. Before long two people left so we took their seats. Sken got a Guinness and it had a shamrock on the top! I had another green beer.





Hard to make out but it was there. We ordered Nachos from the bartender and he forgot! So it took FOREVER but we finally got them. They were pretty good. I had a shirt on that was from the Victoria Secret Red Sox line. On the front it said "I (Shamrock) Boston" and the back says "Kiss me I'm a Red Sox Fan!" Some random guy came up and put his arm around me and goes "I love the Red Sox too!!" and put out his cheek. So I kissed his cheek!

We didn't stay out as late as we thought we would. It was so annoying the whole thing. I wish we didn't pay the $20 and got to actually eat somewhere. I took some pictures on the way out, including Sken modeling the shirt that got us lucky all day!! This was all out in the blocked off area with the band.









We got a cab back to POR and headed back to bed. We were tired but feeling much better after taking it slow for the day! I took my screen shot of my steps and we were in bed! We were getting up to do it all over again the next day, but in the other order!!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Love the shirt man! From one Chiver to another..I can send you through the Express Line,

I must buy Tom this shirt. I just introduced him to the site yesterday.

Going to price out a couple of days here....

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I wonder how many people try to ride the Express without a park-to-park. I have a feeling this ingenious idea translated to significant increase in Park-To-Park ticket sales.

Hmmm, I think clearly I need to buy one of those shirts for my next Universal visit. Wow.

 

[CaseFace5]

Day 6- Universal and Islands of Adventure for a Second Day!

It was Wednesday and we were up early for another round of US/IoA. We asked Bell Services about a cab and were off! The stupid bag line was long again but soon we were walking along the City Walk. We decided to go right (left) to Island of Adventure this day. We had spent almost the entire day at US the day before, only really going to IoA because I had paid for the Park to park option and I didn't want it to go to waste!

We decided to start the day off right with a ride on The Hulk!!





That is another one of my favorites!! Sken liked it too but at this point Transformers was still his favorite. We decided to hit up the shops right there as we both love Marvel and all things Superhero. I took a lot of pictures of these statues and busts. They are all for sale and Sken wanted to find one for the man cave but we couldn't justify the money on any of them. That and how do you bring it home??











Oh oops.. that one did come home with me! LOL. We wanted to ride Spiderman but the line was long so we continued on in hopes it would die down later. We rode Jurassic Park, and the were at a loss at what to do. The lines were LONG and the place was packed. When we left Jurassic Park we asked about the Express Pass wondering if we could get it cheaper in the middle of the day. Turns out it is actually MORE money during the day. NO THANKS!! So we headed back into Hogsmeade and decided to take the Hogwarts Express back to US and check the rides over there.

The lines were just as long back at US. We did do the Simpson's ride again, per Sken's request. We walked back into Diagon Alley and the Gringotts ride was only about 40/50 minutes but the lockers were PACKED and we couldn't get one so we kept moving along.

We decided we would hit the Mummy one more time and then head back to IoA. We still loved the Mummy!! That ride is seriously so awesome! We then took the walk back to IoA. Sken really wanted to ride Rip it Rock it again.. but the lines were unreal. So we headed back and he was a bit bummed. He did really want to ride Spiderman as I told him it is like Transformers so we waiting about 40 for that but at that point waiting any longer seemed pointless.

It was at this point that we decided to hit a water ride and head back to the hotel. We wanted to do Ripsaw Falls, but the line was 120 minutes!!! So we decided to hit the Barges which got us equally wet! After that we hit the gift shop and bought all the souvenirs that we had been eyeing the whole time. A quick cab ride back to POR and we both showered and got ready for dinner. When we got back we were greeted with this! The CM took all our St. Patrick's Day Beads and decorated our animals!








We didn't have an ADR for this day, because I had no clue how the time at US/IoA would go, so we decided to try to get in somewhere at DTD before the crazy night crowds started. So we got ready and headed to the boat dock!





So for those of you who followed along with my PTR.. I had mentioned that Sken really wanted to eat at T-Rex and that I was unable to get an ADR for it. We decided that since it was early we would see what the wait was. It was an hour! So we put in our names and went over to shop at the World of Disney. I bought my mom her souvenir here and then we sat back down near the entrance waiting to be call in.





While we were waiting Sken called my cousin because the night before he tried to call but Sken didn't have service. Turns out he was asking Sken to be a groomsman in his upcoming October wedding! Sken said yes and they chatted about details. YAY!! I'm glad he cares enough for Sken to ask him to be a GM on his wedding day!

Soon we were called and went in to our table. Turns out Sken was really into Dinosaurs when he was a kid (and now) so he was in awe of the whole place!













We stayed here for a while taking it all in. Our food was really good and so were our beverages. We just really had a nice night in here! After dinner we walked back towards the boats, taking our time. We looked in a few more shops and soon were back at the boat dock.





It was another great day and we had an early ADR at AK. I got the snapshot of our steps for the day!



Then it was off to La-la land for the night.. excited we were going back to WDW!

 

[KathyM2]

What a great day! Sorry the lines were so long though...that really can be a bummer if there's stuff you reallly want to do...but I guess there's not much you can do but make the best of it. Glad you got to eat at T-Rex though and that it was good...I always wondered if the food was better there than at Rainforest Cafe? I hope so....So nice too that you could just take a boat to DTD...I'm really looking forward to that when we stay at POFQ in October.

 

[Chicago Mo]

So sorry you had some enormous lines! that stinks!!!
you did have some cool towel animals!!! Loved those. and DINNER! So glad you were able to get in!

ha! drinks were good there too??

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

It's funny but the before the first time I ever rode the Hulk, I always looked at it and swore it would never happen. Now, I actually find it *gasp* boring. Outside of the initial launch of course.

That and how do you bring it home??

Geez, I guess you would have to buy an extra plane ticket. That's the problem with so much merch I want. Not only can't I afford it, I can't afford to get it home.


I tried to buy express pass once during the day as well for the exact same reason. And yup, even more expensive. I guess it depends on how crowded the day actually is.

 

[ursalita]

Hi Casey.

It's too bad you had to deal with all those lines but it sounds like you enjoyed dinner.

They are all for sale and Sken wanted to find one for the man cave but we couldn't justify the money on any of them. That and how do you bring it home??

One of those would have needed its own plane ticket.

The CM took all our St. Patrick's Day Beads and decorated our animals!

Very cool.

 

[CaseFace5]

I must buy Tom this shirt. I just introduced him to the site yesterday.

Going to price out a couple of days here....

Haha, it is a great shirt!! I hope you are able to make it work!!

I wonder how many people try to ride the Express without a park-to-park. I have a feeling this ingenious idea translated to significant increase in Park-To-Park ticket sales.

Hmmm, I think clearly I need to buy one of those shirts for my next Universal visit. Wow.

I would have to say I agree with you on this. It really was a genius way to get people to pay for Park-to-Park!!

What a great day! Sorry the lines were so long though...that really can be a bummer if there's stuff you reallly want to do...but I guess there's not much you can do but make the best of it. Glad you got to eat at T-Rex though and that it was good...I always wondered if the food was better there than at Rainforest Cafe? I hope so....So nice too that you could just take a boat to DTD...I'm really looking forward to that when we stay at POFQ in October.

The long lines were a pain but thankfully we got to do everything we wanted!

T-Rex was awesome!! I'm really glad we were able to get in here because Sken really enjoyed himself here. The food I believe is the same as Rainforest because they are owned by the same company. That was a problem for us because Dawn was trying to talk Sken out of wanting to go because it's the same as RC and we have those here, but he was very happy that we didn't listen and went here anyways!

So sorry you had some enormous lines! that stinks!!!
you did have some cool towel animals!!! Loved those. and DINNER! So glad you were able to get in!

ha! drinks were good there too??

Haha the drinks might have been the best part!!! We are suckers for good drinks!

It's funny but the before the first time I ever rode the Hulk, I always looked at it and swore it would never happen. Now, I actually find it *gasp* boring. Outside of the initial launch of course.


Geez, I guess you would have to buy an extra plane ticket. That's the problem with so much merch I want. Not only can't I afford it, I can't afford to get it home.

I tried to buy express pass once during the day as well for the exact same reason. And yup, even more expensive. I guess it depends on how crowded the day actually is.

I can see how it would get boring. It used to be so cool until they came out with all these new technology and made rides so much cooler and more interactive. The launch is awesome though!!

Haha "Hello I need to buy an additional ticket for the plane home."
"Okay what is the name of the passenger?"
"First name Captain, last name America!"

Hi Casey.

It's too bad you had to deal with all those lines but it sounds like you enjoyed dinner.


One of those would have needed its own plane ticket.


Very cool.

The long lines were annoying but we made the best of it. Dinner was excellent!! I think we will most likely go back next time!