Orlando vacation day 6 - Sea World

Sea World!!!!! Yes, that's right...It's a Sea World time!!! I am going to see Shamu :)...haha.  The reason I was so excited for Sea World is because I have never been there before and have always wanted to see Shamu..so here is the day.  Anyways, let me move on with the post instead of bragging about it..:P.  It was Sunday and day 6 of our trip.  We were really tired from exploring Epcot but we got a late start since the shuttle was at 9:25 am.  We got ready, took the shuttle and headed to Sea World.  Since the shuttle stopped at Universal first and at Sea World second, it took about 45 minutes to get there and we reached at 10:15 am.  This was one park where we didn't get on any rides except one simulation ride because most of the rides were either roller coaster kind or kiddie rides.  What was more important to cover in this park was its shows and exhibits and we did not want to miss any!

We had already printed the show times the day before and planned out which ones to see at what times, so we started the day as we planned.  First show had to be none other than One Ocean at 11 am which showcases the majestic killer whales, Shamu.  Get to the stadium at least 30 minutes before the show starts to get good seats because the stadium fills up very quickly.  Also the stadium is little away from the entrance and you have to walk little more, so plan accordingly to get to the stadium.  Once you are at the stadium, if you want to get wet feel free to sit in the splash zone because the trainers purposely make Shamu splash water in the audience.  Now about the show, it was fantastic!  Shamu is so cute and it's amazing to see him so closely.  You don't believe me?  Here is a proof.

 

Once the show was over, we went to the Wild Arctic simulation ride which was just like any other simulation ride like Star tours or Mission Space but this one takes you on the arctic journey showing the life of animals such as walrus, dolphins swimming around via underwater viewing.  We headed towards the next show stadium which was at 1:30 pm so we had little time to cover the exhibits around it.  We were able to see dolphin nursery where we saw dolphins very closely, saw turtles at turtle station, went to Stingray lagoon, and dolphin cove where it's home to all the dolphins.  By the time we covered all this, it was already time for the 2nd show Blue Horizons which was a dolphins show with company of different kinds of birds.  This was a really good show and dolphins were really cute too.

The next show we wanted to cover had little more time so we were able to go to couple more exhibits including Penguin encounter, Alligators, and Manatees.  I loved the Penguin encounter place but unfortunately couldn't stand there longer than 3-5 minutes because the place was stinking like crazy :(.  There were the cutest small penguins and the big ones too.  At a point I felt those are not real because they wouldn't move a muscle but then there were few who were having fun in the water.  We also checked out Sea Lions and Shark encounter.  Shark encounter was really cool to see because they have an underwater viewing of sharks.  We pretty much covered most of the exhibits and headed to the next show A'lure the call of the ocean which was showing at 3:30 pm.  This show is mainly musical performance with a lot of gymnastic stunt performing actors.  It's very entertaining.

We had about 45 minutes before the next show of sea lions at 5:15 pm but instead of roaming around we found a really nice spot near the lake and relaxed in the shade.  Clyde and Seamore take on pirate island is a sea lions show and I highly recommend seeing this show when you are in this park.  It's funny and entertaining and has performances by sea lions and walrus.  This stadium is not as big as Shamu or Dolphin stadium, so you definitely want to get there 30 minutes before the show to get good seats.  Just 15 minutes before the show starts, a performer comes to entertain the audience and make you laugh.  Don't miss it!

The last show of the day that we had planned was being performed by the same people and animal...hehe.  What I mean to say is that the show Sea Lions Tonight was performed by the same trainers, sea lions, and walrus but in completely different format.  But before this show, we had an hour so we checked out The Journey to Atlantis Aquarium which was very small but cool to see.  We didn't really have anything else left to see so we headed back to the last show location for 6:45 pm time.  The lines started forming 45 minutes before but they opened the gates only 15-20 minutes before the show is about to start.  This was the best show ever and here is why....there is a reason why this one is shown at the end of the day because they basically mimic all the shows of this park and make fun of them.  It is really funny and completely worth your time!! MUST WATCH!

It was already time for our 7:30 pm shuttle so we had to leave right after Sea Lions Tonight ended.  There were still 2 more shows that we couldn't see, Shamu Rocks and Reflections fireworks.  We had already seen a lot of fireworks from Disney parks, so didn't really care for that and we already saw Shamu so just decided to leave in the scheduled shuttle instead of staying late at the park for these 2 programs.  All the shows were 30 minutes long and I think they are all must watch if you are in this park.  We also didn't see Pet's ahoy but we didn't have time for this one and it was similar to animals actors show from Universal so didn't mind skipping it.  Due to the memorial day weekend, it was really crowded day.  But the shows just made up for it :).

Well we got one last day of adventure left and one last park to cover....that isssssssss....Animal Kingdom.  I can't believe that our vacation was coming to an end but didn't want to think about it since we still had one more park cover and enjoy that day to the fullest :D.  It was good to be back to the hotel early and then sleep early.  More excitement to come the next day...stay tuned!

Orlando vacation day 5 - Epcot

The trip has been fantastic so far with lots of adventurous rides and amazing shows at different parks.  After 2 days at Disney parks and 2 days at Universal parks, now it was time again for another Disney park.  We chose to cover Epcot on Saturday since it wouldn't even matter if this park is crowded or not because it wasn't exactly the park with bunch of rides or shows.  The main attractions for Epcot is its world showcases of 11 countries which is magnificent!

We started our day early by catching 8:30 am shuttle to Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) from hotel and then took the monorail to Epcot at 9 am.  The first view you get of Epcot is a big giant Golf Ball.  But it is a magnificent view :).

This was one day that we had not really planned so we kind of had to rely on the map and attractions guide to start the day.  We first headed to Soarin' which is said to be the 2nd most popular ride in the entire Disney World.  The wait time was about 40 minutes, so we picked up the fastpass for it and headed to Space Pavilion.  We went to Mission Space simulation ride which just had 10 minutes wait time.  This ride has two versions: 1) where it's just the regular simulation ride and 2) where the simulation actually spins continuously.  It was kind of early in the day and I didn't want to ruin the day by having a headache from the spinning simulation, so I told my brother to just go with the regular ride.  The ride itself was ok.  You can feel the movements of the simulation but it was pretty short.


Next we headed to Test Track car ride.  The wait time for this was actually 30 minutes but my brother and I decided to go in single riders line where the wait was only 10 minutes.  Luckily we both ended up on the same car.  The ride is ok until the last 30 seconds when the car speeds from 30 mph to 70 mph tilted on one side.  Right after this ride, I had to go back to the hotel.  I realized that I forgot something very important back at the room and had to return back.  Thankfully our hotel shuttle dropped off people at Epcot twice at 10:50 am and 11:50 am, so I went to the parking lot to wait for the shuttle.  The driver was so nice and he took me back to my hotel even though it wasn't one of his stops on the way back.  I took care of the matter and was ready to head back to Epcot in the 11:50 am bus.  Unfortunately this entire process took about 2 hours which I couldn't spend at the park.  In the meantime while I was gone, my brother went back to Mission Space ride to experience how it feels with the spin.  He also attended turtle talk with crush, and then waited for me so we both could go together for Soarin' ride.

Finally I get back to Epcot, we went to the Soarin' ride.  The ride actually makes you feel like you're flying but that's about it.  I don't know how this ride is 2nd most popular in Disney world.  Now, after this ride, we had to sit down and decide what we wanted to do for the rest of the day.  It was so hard because each pavilion had their own show/movie at different times where the pavilions were completely on the opposite sides :(.  We also ate lunch while planning and jot down some of the performances we wanted to see.

First we went to United Kingdom Pavilion and saw The World Showcase Players where they involve the audience in some sort of gig and perform the play.  It's really funny and entertaining.  Next we headed to the France Pavilion where we watched an 18-minute film called Impressions de France.  This was very nice since it was shown on 5 huge screens giving an IMAX experience.  We also got a glimpse of one of the performances Serveur Amusant - a very nice show, don't miss it!  There was one show which I did not want to miss, Jammitors.  For this we had to go back out all the way close to the entrance to see it.  On the way back we decided to stop by Canada Pavilion and check out its buildings and architecture.  We were able to catch the Jammitors show just in time and it was fantastic with really good performances.

The afternoon was heating up and sun was right on our heads.  We were getting so tired with the sun and heat that we didn't want to see the pavilions and not be able to enjoy them because of the heat and sweat.  We decided to cover the pavilions in the evening around 6 pm when the sun starts going down and the weather cools off a little.  Until then, we thought of going to all the indoor activities even if it meant standing in line for 35 minutes to take pictures with Mickey and Mini :D.  To start off this brilliant idea of indoor activities, first stop was The Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion.  There is a nemo ride which takes you inside a cove creating an under the sea experience.  It's a really fun ride for 2 reasons: 1) you can sit and relax in AC ;) and 2) you can see the great under water creation of finding nemo on this ride.  Right as you come out of this ride, there is a short presentation of turtle talk with crush which is mainly designed for kids but it's great fun for all ages.  They have an interactive presentation by Crush (from finding nemo) where Crush interacts and talks to the kids.  It's really fun.

Next we headed to Spaceship Earth.  This ride is actually built inside the giant golf ball of Epcot and the ride actually represents the journey from beginning till now.  Very nice ride, don't miss it!  The ride had long wait time in the morning but later in the day it kind of got shorter.  Thankfully when we got done with this it was already 6 pm and sun was also setting down, so it was time for us to check out the rest of the countries pavilions.  This time we started with Mexico pavilion and went clockwise.  We covered Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, American Adventure, Japan, and Morocco pavilions.  From all these pavilions, my top 5 favorite pavilions were Mexico, China, Italy, Japan, and Morocco pavilions.  Just loved their architectures!!  We took one last ride which was in Norway called Maelstrom which was a nice ride also.

I felt this was by far the longest day and hottest as well.  We were dead tired and didn't really want to move around.  We got to the first bench that we saw available for fireworks.  It was right outside of China pavilion.  Unfortunately, it was little bit out of the way of the fireworks because there was an island in its way.  If you want to get the best view of the fireworks, United Kingdom has the best view but you need to be there at least 2 hours before the show starts otherwise you won't find a single bench available and no place to stand either.  The Reflections of Earth was a really nice fireworks show and different from the ones seen in Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. 

All in all, I loved the world showcases but it was the longest day of all.  The park is huge and there is hardly any shade, so the sun made it really hard.  We took the shuttle from Epcot at 9:45 pm to get back to hotel.  I couldn't wait to get some sleep!!!  Really hoping for a chilled out day the following day at Sea World....Bbye :)

Orlando vacation day 4 - Islands of Adventure

After having a blast at the Disney's Hollywood Studios, we decided to go to the 2nd Universal park at Islands of Adventure.  I was extremely excited to go to this park for one and only one reason, that is, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter :).  I had heard about it from my friend who went when it was newly opened and couldn't wait to go to this park when I was planning this vacation.  So more on that later when I take you guys on the journey into the world of Harry Potter...hehe.

So after a long day at Hollywood Studios, we were able to start the day little late and catch the 9:25 am shuttle to Universal Studios.  Both Universal parks are just next to each other.  We got to the park in half an hour at 10 am.  Now, the thing to note is that it was a Friday and it was long weekend with Memorial Day on Monday.  I thought maybe Friday might not be too crowded but I was so wrong.  We got there an hour later than the park opened and the park was packed already!  The first thing we saw was a ticket stand selling express pass.  When we checked on Wednesday in Universal Studios, the express pass was $20/person, but in Islands of Adventure on Friday it was $40/person to skip the lines only once and $60/person to skip the lines unlimited times for all rides.  $60 per person for an express pass, are you kidding me?  Now that's some really money making marketing skills...haha.

Well, without any further delay we headed straight to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  As imagined, it was magnificent.  The park was amazing!! Just like taken right from the movie and made into a set on this park.  They have done a great job at building this place and built it very impressively.

First we went to The Forbidden Journey of Harry Potter ride and guess what?  The wait time for this ride was 90 minutes.  Also we couldn't take any of our stuff on this ride, so we had to put it in locker which had another long line :(....after little talk, me and my brother decided to split up where he went in the single riders line first while I waited with the stuff.  Well I thought it was going to take him at least 30-45 minutes anyway, so I decided to go to the Flight of Hippogriff ride which also had about 30 minutes wait.  Within 15 minutes, I get a call from my brother that he was done with the ride.  That was fast!  Well, I told him I was still waiting for my turn in the Hippogriff ride so told him to join me.  The Hippogriff ride is good 30 seconds to 1 minute roller coaster (not the upside-down one) ride but I realized it wasn't worth waiting 30 minutes for.  So if you have time and the line is not too long, only then plan to go on this ride.  After this ride, I gave the stuff to my brother and it was my turn for the Harry Potter journey.  When I was going in the single riders line, I realized that the wait time had already gone up to 120 minutes...thankfully in single riders line it only took me 30 minutes.  The ride was amazing and you actually feel like you are flying and part of the movie.  It freaked me out at a point when the spider drops right from the top on the ride, but I don't want to spoil the fun for the rest of you by giving out more details.

We also took a taste of Butterbeer which was very good.  For all those not knowing what butterbeer is, let me tell you that it's not BEER.  It's mix of soda and butterscotch.  Well, after the exciting adventure of Harry Potter, we moved on to the Jurassic Park River Adventure which is another one of the best rides.  Unfortunately it had an hour wait in the line but I think we got used to it since all the rides in this park today had an hour long wait :(.  About the ride, it's got an 85 feet drop at the end and this ride will get you wet for sure.  But don't worry about that.  It's always 90+ in Florida that you will be dry  in no time and would def. want to go on it again.

Since we got wet, we thought we might as well do other rides that are going to get us wet.  That brought us to go on the Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges ride which is super fun ride that will get you soaked in water.  I was initially hesitant to go on this adventure because I heard from all the people that you will be drenched in water but finally decided to go and enjoyed so much.  This was one of the best rides ever and I recommend everyone to go on it.  This ride also had an hour long wait but it was so worth it!  If you are worrying about getting wet, just bring second pair of clothes, or wear a raincoat that covers you from top to bottom...problem solved :).  For this ride, you can take your belongings with you and keep them safe on the ride in the center which is covered by a thick plastic cover so no need to worry about getting your stuff wet.

Next, we headed to the Amazing Adventures of Spider Man 4D simulation ride.  This simulation has fast ride with some turbulence but it was pretty good.  It gives you a thrilling experience with the 4D effects.  The park also had 2 shows playing and one of them was The Eighth Voyage of the Sinband stunt show.  The show was alright with some action and comedy.  Be sure to not sit on rows that has water marks on them because you will get wet and not just splash but seriously get wet.  I was finally dry from the Popeye ride and without knowing, I sat on the water mark bench.  At the end, they have a big explosion from all the corners, one of them being a water explosion and boom!  I get wet...AGAIN!!  I wasn't very happy about it because I had just gotten dry and the weather was getting little bit chillier in the evening so getting wet was the last thing I wanted.  Well I guess I can't do anything now, can I?  We headed next to the Poseidon's Fury show which was right next door.  The place itself is built very beautifully and I love the way they have structured the sculptures.  It is a very nice show, so don't miss it if you are ever in this park.  There is no seating in the entire show, so you have to stand and don't stand in the front at the end because you will get wet with the water effects they use in the show.  What is up with this park and water!!!  Not just every ride, but also the shows get you wet!

I think we had pretty much covered everything that we wanted in this park, so my brother went back to the forbidden journey ride for second time.  I had the things, so I kind of roamed around the Harry Potter park and it's just great walk right in the park with a very nice atmosphere.  I also took a quick walk around Suess Landing which was fun as well.  Once my brother got done in like 15 minutes, he asked me to go again on this ride.  I guess he really loved this ride.  This time, we put our stuff in the locker where there was no line, and headed for the ride.  It was around 6:35 in the evening and we got through the line in like 10 min max.  I guess the single riders line kind of calms down in the evening.  After the ride, we went to Ollivanders shop where they had a short 5-6 minute show with audience participation of showing what a wand can do. 

It was already past 7:30 pm and it was going to take us around 15 mins to get out of the park to get to shuttle.  The shuttle came at 7:45 pm to pick us up so in order to catch it, we had to make a run for it.  This is it! We are done cutting close to the shuttle times, I told my brother.  Next time, when I say we are leaving, we are leaving straight to the shuttle w/o making any last minute stops.  It was crazy.  We could have missed the shuttle but thankfully didn't.  Wow....felt like the longest day due to the huge crowd rush and waiting in lines forever to get to the attractions.  But I am not complaining...it was great day :).  I still got 3 more days to go, but little down on energy.

Next on the list is Epcot.  This is one park where we have not planned anything, so it'll be fun to tell you how crazy this day went and ohh...the heat was just killing us on top of everything else.  More on that in the next post.  Until then, have fun :)

Orlando vacation day 3 - Disney's Hollywood Studios

After a really fun day at Universal Studios, we decided to do another Disney park and we chose to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios.  For this, we had to get up early to catch the 8:30 am shuttle to Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC).  Once we reached TTC, we took the Disney bus at around 9 am to get to Hollywood Studios (HS).  Despite being a Thursday, it was pretty crowded at this park.

I had heard a lot about the Star Tours ride which was recently redone and reopened the weekend before we went there, so we made that our first stop.  There was only 5 minute wait time.  This was a simulation ride and I honestly didn't feel it was up to the expectations but it was ok.  I felt The Simpsons ride was much better than this one.  The Indiana Jones show was just next door so we wanted to see it but it had scheduled times so we had to wait until 11:30 am.  We were told to arrive at least 30 minutes before the show since it gets pretty packed.  In either case, we had 1.5 hours to kill, so we headed straight to Toy Story Mania ride.  This ride has also been redone and extremely popular and it turns out that the wait time was 60 minutes already and the fastpass return time was already 3 pm.  Wow...really?  They didn't kid around when they said fastpass run out quickly.  We couldn't wait in line for an hour so we got the fastpass for this ride and went to see The Voyage of Mermaid show.  It's a really nice 17 minutes show with some really nice affects.

Luckily, we were just first few people in line to get the picture with Mickey before the line gets too crowded.  We attended The Magic of Animation where they had presenation showing how the Disney characters are created.  One of the examples they showed was of Mushu from Mulan.  For publicity, they also showed the trailer of new movie Cars2.  They were also teaching how to create Disney characters but we had to leave to catch the Indiana Jones show.  We went to the show 30 minutes before it started and it was packed pretty quickly, but we got good seats.  It was great 30 minutes show, had great action, included audience participation, and funny at times.

After that, we headed to The Great Movie Ride which was a really nice small car ride taking you through the good old famous movie sets.  It's worth going on this ride.  Then headed for the Lights, Motors, Action! Stunt Show which only had two show times in the entire day, so we wanted to catch the first one.  This was one of the best stunt shows ever and for all car lovers, you have to see this!!  There was action, fire, car and bike chase, put everything together and you have a great show!!  It was a lot of fun for the half an hour the show lasted.  Must Watch!  After this, we headed to The Backlot Tour which was about 22-minutes long.  Actually I was expecting this to be something like Universal Studios' studio tour (from California) but it was nothing like that.  It was a bit disappointing.  The only good thing about this tour was the catastrophe canyon tour which was like 2 min long.  Don't plan this in your agenda if you haven't seen other shows I mentioned above.

Well after this ride, it was already time for the parade at 3 pm which was Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun Parade.  It was about 15 minutes long and then it was time for our fastpass return for Toy Story Mania ride.  This was a 4D ride and it was super fun.  It's like you play a video game but only it's in 3D, sorry 4D.  I loved it.  This ride comes in the category along with Men In Black ride and Buzz Lightyear's ranger spin but only 10 times better.  After the ride, we sat down to eat lunch at around 3:30 pm.  To be honest, our lunch times were never consistent because we used to eat few things here and there and didn't really get hungry till late afternoon.  We had quick bite in 15-20 minutes and then decided to go back to the Toy Story ride since we both loved it so much.  Only this time, the wait time in line was 70 minutes since fastpasses ran out in the morning.  Luckily we got through the line in half an hour because there were 2 of us and they usually need party of 2 in order to fill the entire station of 4.  That's another story.

Next we caught the Beauty and the Beast in the evening which was really nice half an hour musical show.  It had really good performances.  Right after the show ended, one of the guys from the audience proposed to his girlfriend on the stage which was very sweet.  It was her birthday and she said Yes!  We still had little bit time before the night show Fantasmic, so we headed to see the Muppet 3D show which was nice 15 minutes long.  It's said to be a kids show but I think people of all ages would enjoy it since it's 3D.  After that we headed straight to Fantasmic show location.  There was still 2 hours left but the lines had already started forming.  They open the gate 90 minutes before the show and there was already a huge crowd.  This was one show that was packed like crazy from left to right, top to bottom.  It was a huge stadium and there must be thousands of people present.  The show was 25 minutes long and one of the best shows I have seen.  It was different from other fireworks shows since this one involved combination of water affects and fireworks.  If you sit in front rows, you will get wet and if you sit in middle rows, you will get splash.

The show finished around 9:25 pm and we left about 30 seconds - 1 min before the actual show ended.  The reason being is that we had to catch the Disney bus to go back to TTC and make sure to get there before 10 pm to catch our hotel shuttle.  We didn't want to get in rush hour with the other people when the show ended so that's why we left just little bit early.  Still we hit the crowd b/c there were already people who had started leaving.  Me and my brother made a run to get out of the park and to get to the stop to catch the Disney bus.  Luckily bus came 2-3 minutes after we got to the stop and even though the bus driver was driving terribly slow, we made it to TTC in just 15 minutes to catch our hotel shuttle.  Pheww....that was close!

What a day!! I loved this park for its share of rides and amazing shows!  I didn't go to 2 rides at this place where one was Tower of Terror and some roller coaster ride inside the building, but I didn't really care for those.  Just a quick tip for those planning on coming to Hollywood studios is that make Toy Story Mania your first stop.  In fact, get a fast pass for the ride and also go stand in line because I am sure you will want to go on it again where fast pass will help you get through faster.  For all the shows, get to the location at least 30-40 minutes before the show time to get good seats because once the place is opened up, the stadium gets full except for fantasmic show where you need to arrive at least 80-90 minutes before the show.  Tomorrow is Friday and our 4th park choice is Islands of Adventure.  We wanted to cover this park before the long weekend rush hour hits and we hit the crowd just on Friday :(, but more on that in the next post.  Till then, see ya :)

Orlando vacation day 2 - Universal Studios

After a really long day at Magic Kingdom, we started our day little late and took the hotel shuttle to Universal Studios at 9:25 am.  The shuttle stopped at one of the other close by hotels before actually leaving for Universal.  Since Universal is little father than the Disney parks, it took us about half an hour to get there around 10 am.  Even though we got there an hour late than the park opened, what surprised me and made me happy is that there wasn't any crowd at all which was the best.  We picked up the map and started our day as we had planned to cover the rides and shows we wanted to see.

First stop was The Simpsons Ride which was the best ride ever.  This ride tops in the list of my top rides for this vacation.  It's the best fun simulation ride ever and I think it's the best decision Universal Studios took to replace Back to the Future simulation ride with this one.  We loved it so much we decided to go back to it after we finish covering everything else.  We sat in the 2nd row first time but sat on the 1st row second time and it was fantastic!  DO NOT MISS THIS RIDE if you are ever in Universal Studios.

Next stop was next door neighbor Men In Black Alien Attack ride which was a lot of fun as well.  It's a 3D ride and a ride similar to Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin.  The ride actually has a lot of space to put your belongings but they don't let you take anything inside because it spins few times in-between and that's why you have to put your stuff in the locker before going on this ride.  The lockers are just next to the ride and free for first 30 minutes so it's not a problem.  The wait time was like 10 minutes, so we got through the ride pretty quick.  It was fun ride.

Next, we attended Jaws, which is a boat tour of the coast where you never know who pays you a visit....maybe a SHARK!  You are being toured on an island where all of a sudden you see a shark heading your way, rocks your boat back and forth, and next thing you know, you get splash of water on you.  It was nice short boat ride.

So far the day is going great, without any crazy crowd and not really rushing to get to the rides.  Next, we went to Disaster which is not really a ride but combination of presentation and behind the scenes movie making secrets of Disaster that we see in different films.  This is really funny and involves audience participation to create a short film which they show you at the end.  I found it really hilarious, so DON'T MISS this one!

Next, we headed to Twister ride which is again not a ride.  This does not have any seating and involves a lot of standing and moving from one place to another before you actually get to see how a real twister is formed in a movie.  We got to witness an actual twister forming where you see a cow flying, tractor being pulled, roofs flying off, it was amazing!  At the same time, you see the power and force of Twister which is really scary!

After seeing couple of behind the movie making secrets, we headed to Shrek 4D show.  There was about 20 minute wait but we weren't in hurry so we decided to just wait and watch the show.  I had seen this show in Universal Studios in California but this one was different and as usual it was funny.  We also wanted to see the Jimmy Neutron show but unfortunately it wasn't running on that day.  After that we were able to catch the Animal Actors show which had animals from different movies do a little gig.  We saw the dog from Marley and me and there were couple other dogs from other movies which I don't remember.  This show was cute and fun at the same time.  It was already 3 pm, so we took about half an hour break for lunch and freshen up.

Next was the E.T. Adventure ride, which was really nice ride.  It was really impressively built with the sets built right from the movie.  Definitely go on this ride.  We went to Woody's Nut House Coaster which is kind of kid's ride but still I wanted to get on it since I can't get on the big roller-coasters that go upside-down :P.  We waited for like 15 minutes for a 30 seconds roller coaster...hehe...but it's ok.  We went back to the Simpson's ride where we had almost 30 minutes wait.  Well, no wonder there is long wait time since this ride is awesome!!

Oh we also took pictures with a lot of Disney characters including characters from movie Madagascar, The Simpsons, Scooby doo.

Next, we went to Terminator 3D show which is really loud.  I had seen this show in California but we decided to see it again since we had time.  It was little bit different.  If you haven't seen it before then it'll be good to watch it for first time.  It was 5:30 pm and we still had time before the park closed, so we went to the Horror Make-up Show which was more likely comedy show.  I kind of had my eyes closed when they showed horror characters on the projection screen but other than that it was really funny.  There was a magic show playing right across the street, so we went to that next.  I finally went on the Revenge of the Mommy ride which was super fast.  It was definitely different from the one in California but crazy fast.  I am glad my brother didn't come on this ride because it had a lot of turbulence as well.  We left the park after this ride and looked around on the CityWalk.

We headed back to the shuttle parking lot to catch our hotel shuttle at 7:45 pm and got to hotel in half an hour.  This was the best day because we got through all the rides and shows within the given time frame without rushing and not having a big crowd.  Also we came back earlier than the first day when we were super tired.  At Universal Studios, there is a concept of Express pass, which lets you skip the long lines once if you pay extra $20/person.  There was no need for us to get it since there was hardly any crowd.  But this is one park which you can cover in one day without rushing because it's not as big as Magic Kingdom.

I really needed some energy since there were still 5 more days left and these 2 days completely made me tired.  Next on the list is Disney's Hollywood Studios.  Stay tuned! 

Orlando vacation day 1 - Magic Kingdom

It was Magic Kingdom (MK) day.  The title of this post should be "How to cover Magic Kingdom in 1 day" because we pretty much covered everything in this park and skipped the things we knew were not worth doing or really silly.  Our knowledge from Disney Land helped in deciding the ride options and hope this post helps you decide what to avoid and what are the must rides.

Even though I couldn't sleep much the previous night, I had to wake up at 6:45 am for 8:30 am shuttle but I was extremely excited to start the day and trip at MK.  Me and my brother got ready by 7:30, headed to breakfast, and got on the 8:30 am shuttle sharp.  The bus actually took us to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) which is the hub to catch the transportation to all the parks.  We took the monorail to MK and began our adventure.

I have been to Disney Land before, so I knew what to expect from this park, but it was still exciting and breath taking to see the magic of this park :).  Our main goal of the day was to cover the 3 most popular rides first before noon in order to avoid the rush hour and then cover all the other rides accordingly as we can.  With that in mind, we headed straight to Space Mountain and got through the ride in 10 minutes which is more likely to increase as the day progresses.  To be honest, I felt this ride had a lot of turbulence compared to the one in Disney land.  It was definitely longer and had a lot more drops, but it was more darker than the other one.   Right in the Tomorrowland, we also covered Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin which is another fun ride and we got through the line in 5 minutes.  We were at the park right at 9 am, so that's why the park was not crowded yet.  There are two other rides in Tomorrowland which you do not, I repeat, do not want to waste time on.  There is Astro Orbiter and Tomorrowland Speedway.  Astro Orbiter may look cool but it's just a spaceship looking ride that goes up and down in circle and Tomorrowland speedway is a go-cart ride, only that it's the terrible version of the go-carts which goes at 5mph speed.  Don't waste your time on these rides, instead, stand in line for other better rides.

Then we head to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which is about 10 min wait time.  This ride seems faster and longer than the one in Disney Land but it was really good.  Right next door they have Splash Mountain which I have never been on despite having been to Disney Land twice, so I was looking forward to it.  The only thing I was concerned about is whether my brother will be able to go on this ride or not b/c he had dislocated his shoulder couple of months ago and the ride had a 5-story drop at the end in the water.  To make sure it'll be ok for him, I go on the ride first while he waits outside.  The wait was only 15 minutes so it wasn't big deal.  I enjoyed the ride so much and the drop was pretty smooth too, I got a fastpass for me and my brother so he can also come with me again :).  While we wait for the fastpass time, we got pictures with goofy.  Also in the nearby area, the Hall of Presidents show was playing which we went to.  It was a really nice show with combination of a short film and presentation of all the presidents.  After the show it was already time for our ride, so we headed back to Splash Mountain.  By the time we got out, it was noon and the crowd had tripled in the size than what we saw at 9 am.  If it's this crowded on weekday, I don't know how crazy it is on weekends.  Right across from Splash mountain,  they had Tom Sawyer's Island.  It's basically a small island created with kids' play area as well, but if you miss seeing this one, you won't miss much :P.

We were pretty much done with everything in Frontierland so we headed to Adventureland which also had couple of good rides.  First, Pirates of the Caribbean ride which only had like 5-10 min wait time.  It's a slow boat ride and very impressively created.  This ride was also longer than the one in Disney Land.  After this, we tried to go to Jungle Cruise ride but there was just too much wait, so instead we got a fastpass and headed next door to see the Swiss Family Treehouse.  This is, as the name says, a treehouse with bunch of stairs, but built nicely.  It was already 2 pm, so we decided to sit out and eat lunch.  The area behind the Hall of Presidents theater is really nice so we sat there and had quick bite in 20 minutes.  We took a lot of snacks with us and made penut-butter-jelly sandwiches which was pretty filling.  The next door restaurant Columbia harbor house gives you water if you ask them (unlike other restaurants that point you to buy water bottles).  After quick lunch, we headed to Jungle Cruise ride with fastpass and enjoyed it thoroughly.  This one was also bigger and better than the one in Disney Land by showcasing more animals.  It was already 3 pm and time for Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade which was fantastic.  These parades always make me happy and smile because it's so lively and all the Disney characters are part of this parade.

After the parade, we headed to Fantasyland where we first saw Micky's Philarmagic 3D show.  It's really nice show, so don't miss it if you have time.  Next we were able to get through Snow White's Scary Adventures ride because we got help from one of the service agents so we didn't have to wait in line.  Um..you won't miss much if you don't go on this ride.  To be honest, Fantasyland is full of kiddie rides but I even enjoy them except those carousel rides which are truly for kids.  I really wanted to go to Peter pan's ride since it was one of the popular rides.  There was 40 minutes wait for Peter Pan's Flight, but while my brother waited in line for this ride, I ran to get the fastpass for Big thunder mountain railroad since we both enjoyed that ride a lot.  Right across from Peter pan's flight, they have It's a Small World boat ride which had about 20 min wait but the line goes through pretty fast.  After much denial, and little more convincing, my brother agreed to come on this ride with me.  The first thing he said is that all this ride has is bunch of dolls, that's it!  Well it's not just bunch of dolls, but they have created a culture, an environment from each country with these dolls that makes it very unique.  I really enjoyed this ride and I am sure most of the people will.

After the ride, we headed straight to Dream along with Micky stage show.  We stood little bit away from the stage because it was hot as hell and we really needed some shade.  It was still very enjoyable.  We went for our second round of big thunder mountain railroad and then went to Haunted Mansion.  All of those who are afraid of dark places, get nightmares, can't see scary movies, can be part of this ride.  This ride is not SCARY at all!! In fact, it's a fun ride with a lot of things to watch.  So don't miss it.  We still had 2 more things we wanted to catch before the fireworks which was Stitch's Great Escape and Monster's, Inc. Laugh Floor.  Stitch's Great Escape was a really nice show but here are some things.  It's really loud at times and it gets completely dark at times which I didn't really like, but if your kids are not afraid of darkness for few minutes then it should be ok.  On the other side, there is Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor which you do not want to miss.  It is hilarious 3D/digital stage show where Mike (from Monsters, Inc. movie) interacts with the audience.  It is very cool technology and you will walk out laughing hard.  This time we did not go to Tiki show, because we had seen this show before and thought of skipping it in order to cover other things.  If you haven't seen it, do go watch it because it's one of the nice shows that MK has in this park.

It was already 8 pm by the time we got out and my energy was down, my legs were killing me, and I was ready to see the fireworks. which was still an hour away.  We sat really close to the kingdom for good view of the fireworks.  Magic, memory, and me started around 8:45/50 pm followed by the Nighttime Spectacular fireworks which was truly spectacular.  As soon as the fireworks ended, we raced to get out of the park and head to catch the monorail....can you imagine everyone in the park trying to get out at the same time?  We had to catch our shuttle from TTC at 10 pm and for that we had to get on monorail.  It took us 10 minutes just to get out of the park and then another 5 minutes for monorail, add another 10 minutes of travel time and finally we are at the TTC to catch our bus at 10 pm back to hotel.

We came back to the hotel around 10:30 pm, freshened up little bit, ate maggie noodles, I wrote up the highlights of the day and finally went to bed around 12:30 am.  Oh yea, I forgot to tell you guys that we knew that we would be coming back from parks pretty late, so we brought a lot of maggie noodles with us so we can make it in the room.  It was very handy.  Going to bed at 12:30 am but tomorrow will be little easy as we have decided to go to Universal Studios where the shuttle leaves around 9:25 so I get to sleep little bit more...yay!  Nonetheless, it was a loooong day!!  Hopefully tomorrow is short day compared to this park.

Untili then, see ya!

Orlando vacation begins...

So excited for the vacation, my brother and I leave for the airport on May 23rd and get through security in no time :).  So far good start ...hehe.  We get to Orlando around 6:45 pm and the way airport is situated is that you have to take the tram to get to main terminal.  We get to the level 1 where the ground transportation is for Mears transportation and get our round trip shuttle ticket ($34/person) and head out to catch the shuttle.  As we head out, the sudden change in weather hits me with hot and humid air...oh I could feel the 90 degree temperatures :P.  We have to wait for 20-30 mins for the shuttle so I immediately go back in the building to sit in the air conditioning hall ...haha...I don't know how the rest of the days will work out when I am out in the open parks in 90+ degrees temperatures, but we'll see about that.  Surely our shuttle comes within 25 minutes and we are at our hotel in little over half an hour.  The hotel looked very nice (at least from the lobby) since it had huge and very nice lobby.  The check-in was quick and as told by orlandovacation.com, we received all of our theme park tickets at the counter.  We were so hungry and tired, but on our way to the room, we picked up all the theme park maps and time guides along with the  hotel shuttle times that we would be using every day.

Hurrying up to the room, I was pretty happy with the room.  It was nice, big, and spacious, with 2 queen beds, 42" plasma tv, nice bathroom, AC, fridge, microwave, and wooden closets.  We did a quick check in the room and found 2 things missing, one light bulb and the microwave dish.  The maintenance guy comes within 5 minutes to take care of it.  Now about the food, there were so many restaurants near by within 5-10 minutes of walking distance, but we headed to Cici's pizza which was just a 5 minute walk from the hotel.  It was already 9:15 pm and they close at 10, so we went to eat first and then plan our days out for the next 7 days :).  With our tummy's filled, we were able to plan out the first day which was at Magic Kingdom (MK).  The park was going to be open from 9 am - 9 pm and our shuttle left for MK at around 8:30 am which worked out perfectly fine.  We jot down the list of rides which we want to cover first and the shows that we didn't want to miss.  We call it a night and go to sleep....waiting for the next day's adventures!!

First stop of the vacation is Magic Kingdom, stay tuned for all the details coming up....