For any vacation, accommodation is big part of it because you want to make sure you stay at good place and when you come back to the hotel, completely tired from sight-seeing, you want to come back to a really nice room to relax to. I booked the hotel and theme park tickets from orlandovacation.com, and they had couple of options to choose from for hotels and Baymont seemed the best option considering the price and amenities they offered. So here is my little feedback on the service of the hotel. I personally liked this hotel and would not mind staying here again if we ever come to Orlando to theme parks.
Room and Lobby:
To start with the lobby, it is huge and very impressive. They have couple of nice sofas and 2 big dining tables which could be used in the morning breakfast if the breakfast area gets full. We headed straight to the room where we had room on 4th floor and needed to get the elevator from outside the hotel lobby. Once we leave the hotel lobby, all of a sudden everything becomes pretty old-style hotel architecture. The elevators are not that great with few buttons having some marks on them and the corridors are ...yea..pretty old too. But to be honest, we weren't going to live in the elevators or the corridors, so I was looking forward to the room.
The room was really nice, big and spacious. More importantly, it was clean. After doing a quick run through of the room, the carpet, curtains, bathroom, bedsheets were all clean. It had nice 42"-45" plasma TV mounted on the big cabinet. It included two big wooden closets along with 3 drawer dresser with a desk and chair. Also they included iron and ironing board in the room along with pretty good size fridge (bigger than my dorm room fridge) and microwave. Choosing this hotel had another reason which was them providing a microwave in the room! This was important for us to make the maggie noodles in the room after we come back late from the parks :D. You even get separate kitchen sink with separate cabinet to keep food. I also liked how the bathroom sink and shower were separate already stocked with bath towels, hand towels, and wash towels. The air conditioner worked fine but it didn't look too clean, but we didn't mind. I was pretty impressed with the room and happy to make Baymont our choice of hotel.
Customer Service, Housekeeping, and Maintenance:
The front desk staff was very friendly and helpful everytime I had to ask them something. Check-in and check-out was very quick. Everyday, we left the room really early and came back late between 8:30-10:30 pm. When we left the room, it was pretty much in messed up condition with park maps scattered on the table, towels everywhere, bed completely undone, but whenever we came back, it was in exact same condition as it was on the first day we came. They did pretty good job in keeping it clean. Maintenance wise, they were pretty fast too. On the first day, we found out that the microwave was missing its tray and one of the lamps did not have the bulb, we called the front desk and the maintenance guy came within 5 minutes. We also needed more towels one day and the maintenance person was there within 5 minutes. No complains there.
Breakfast:
Baymont had free breakfast for guests every morning which was very good for us to start the day. The breakfast included wheat and white bread, muffins, bagels, donuts (what?), butter, jelly, peanut butter, 4 different cereals, 2% and whole milk, orange juice, and apple juice. No fruits though. It doesn't seem very healthy breakfast but at least something to get you started. They also had about 3 toasters where one of them would toast your bread by the time you come back from the parks...haha....I mean it was going at super slow speed. I used the slow one only on the first day and based on the experience I didn't use it the other days but I am sure the other 2 toasters worked fine. The breakfast area is pretty big and spacious too. The breakfast ladies were doing great job of keeping everything filled up. I was also able to fill up our water bottles every day from the breakfast place, and with choice of bread/peanut butter/jelly options available, I was able to make our lunch sandwiches from there which was pretty filling for us at the parks.
Shuttle Service:
So first thing first, here are the shuttle times that are offered by baymont:
PARK Morning drop-off Evening pick-up
Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC): 8:30 am 6pm/10pm
Epcot 10:50am/11:50am 9:45 pm
Universal Studios 9:25 am 7:45 pm
Sea World 9:25 am 7:30 pm
These are the fixed shuttle times that baymont offers to pick up from hotel and drop-off at the hotel. They normally say that the 8:30 am shuttle takes you to Magic kingdom but they don't. The shuttle takes you to TTC where you can catch buses for any park or monorail to Magic Kingdom and Epcot. We used the shuttle for all 7 days and it worked out great. The shuttle drivers are very friendly and helpful too. During our stay, we had 3 different drivers. If you want to ask about transportation for the parks, just ask them and they will direct you to the right place. Out of the 3 drivers, I found Tony to be very helpful and friendly. One day I had to go back to the hotel for a very urgent manner from Epcot and when he came to drop off people at Epcot around 11 am, I told him my situation and he took me back to the hotel even though it wasn't one of his stops back. It was very nice of him. I also realized that a lot of times we were very close to missing our shuttle since we were in the parks till last minute or we had to catch another bus to get to the shuttle. In this case, always ask the driver if they have a cell phone you can reach them at....some drivers might just say they can't give it to you but some drivers will give you their personal cell number in case you need to reach them so you don't miss the shuttle. Tony was one of those nice drivers to give us his cell number. Only one of the disadvantages is that sometimes the shuttle will stop at a hotel or two before leaving for the parks but that would be just another 5 minutes. The only time it took really long time to go to the park was in the Epcot shuttle because the shuttle stopped at like 3 other hotels which took us 45 minutes to get to Epcot.
Other:
Other than what I already discussed above, the hotel has nice pool where I saw a lot of people hanging out on the last day so I assume the pool was clean :). They have said that there is fitness room but I didn't have time to check it out and didn't plan on knowing where it was either. I was on vacation, not on workout mission...hehe. They also have laundry facility which I saw people using couple of times. They have something called business center which is a small, really small, room with one computer and printer which can be used by guests. The printer came handy when I had to print the show times for Sea world park and very handy when I had to print my boarding pass. So it was good.
The only problem we had with the hotel on the first day was the water fountain, which is the only source of water in the entire hotel. The first day we got there, we didn't have water with us and the water fountain was broken as well. We asked the front-desk agent and he said they have reported the problem to the maintenance people and they don't know when it will be fixed...well, it was not fixed until we checked out so I don't know what their window is on fixing things. What I didn't like is that the front-desk agent didn't tell me that I could just get the water from the breakfast area where they also have water source from the juice machine. I found that out the following day. Other than that, I can't really think of any flaws that the hotel had and it was wonderful staying with Baymont. We were at the parks all day long from morning to night, so we mainly used the hotel in the morning for breakfast and used it at night to come back and relax and sleep. For the price we got the hotel room at, $47/night for 8 nights + $5.09/night service charge, I think it was pretty good deal we had. I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to go for Orlando vacation which is really close to the Disney theme parks.
With that said, I also found that there are dozen other hotels within 1 mile radius of this hotel. Some of the hotels have display boards which shows you what they offer along with their room rates, and some of them seemed to be offering the same thing as our hotel. Also there are a lot of restaurants within 1 to 5 to 15 minutes of walk. Just few steps away (maybe 1 minute walk), there is Denny's and McDonald's. About 3-5 minutes away, there is IHop, and Passage to India. About 5 minutes away, there is Cici's Pizza, Golden Corral, and Burger King. About 1 mile away (about 15 minutes walk), there are even more choices such as Subway, TGIF, Taco Bell and some other restaurants. The area is safe too to be walking to these restaurants. The first day we came, we went to Cici's Pizza at around 9:20 pm and came back after 10 pm. We went there twice and also went to Subway once. Everything worked out great on this vacation from hotel to the parks to the transportation. It was perfect!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Bye bye Orlando!!
What a fabulous week we had with 7 amazing parks each unique with their own theme and style! It's been the best vacation ever! After we left Animal Kingdom, it had not sunk in that we will be leaving Orlando the next morning. We came back to our room from the park, relaxed a little bit, had some delicious maggie noodles, and we even had time to sit down and watch a movie, Avatar, in our room :). I mean, this is the first day when we have had such a relaxing time in the room :)....packed the bags, I wrote up the hightlights of day 6 and day 7. Luckily our hotel has a small business center, nothing fancy, but it comes with one computer and printer, so I was able to check-in and print the boarding passes. Finally went to bed to get up early...not to go to any parks ..but to go back home :D.
We had already bought roundtrip for Mears transportation when we arrived in Orlando and already scheduled the return shuttle 2 days before our trip, so the shuttle was going to come at 7:15 am to pick us up. That was king of early, but we were able to get ready and be done with breakfast by 7:10 am. The check-out was pretty smooth and quick as well. Our shuttle came 15 minutes earlier than scheduled but the driver was really nice and she waited until we had our breakfast. We were the only two passengers for the shuttle, so there were no stops and reached straight to the airport in half an hour. The airport wasn't crowded either so we got through security and reached gate in 15-20 minutes. We said our final good bye to Orlando and headed home sweet home in 10 am flight.
Looking back at all the parks, their rides and shows, I have few favorites that I would like to share with you and if you are ever in the park, don't miss those rides!
Top Rides:
- Splash Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
- Peter Pan's Flight (Magic Kingdom)
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Magic Kingdom)
- It's small world (Magic Kingdom)
- Jungle Cruise (Magic Kingdom)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (Magic Kingdom)
- The Simpson's Ride (Universal Studios)
- E.T. Adventure (Universal Studios)
- The Great Movie Ride (Hollywood Studios)
- Toy Story Mania (Hollywood Studios)
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Islands of Adventure)
- Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges (Islands of Adventure)
- Jurassic Park River Adventure (Islands of Adventure)
- Spaceship Earth (Epcot)
Top Shows (3D and Live):
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor (Magic Kingdom)
- Micky's Philar Magic (Magic Kingdom)
- Disaster (Universal Studios)
- Twister (Universal Studios)
- Shrek 4D (Universal Studios)
- Horror Makeup Show (Universal Studios)
- Indiana Jones (Hollywood Studios)
- Lights, motors, action! stunt show (Hollywood Studios)
- Beauty and the Beast (Hollywood Studios)
- Poseidon's Fury (Islands of Adventure)
- Turtle talk with Crush (Epcot)
- It's tough to be bug - 3D (Animal Kingdom)
- Finding Nemo Musical (Animal Kingdom)
- Festival of Lion King (Animal Kingdom)
- All the shows at Sea World
Couple of Tips:
1) Arrive at the park as early as possible (possibly right when it opens) and stay until it closes to cover as much as you want. Arriving early helps you cover your top rides in first 2 to 3 hours. The park is not very crowded in the morning when it opens and the wait times are not more than 10-15 minutes (sometimes even less than that), so you get head start than everyone else.
2) Each park allows you to bring food and water, so pack lots of snacks regardless if you have kids or not because you might find yourself standing in line for 30-45 minutes to 2 hours (yes, this happens if the ride is crazy packed) and having quick snacks around really helps. We never had consistent time for eating because we would be eating handy snacks here and there and then have late lunch around 2 or 3 pm. Even for lunch, we brought peanut-butter-jelly sandwiches from our hotel so we didn't have to wait in long lines to get food and it saves money as well.
3) Drink lots of water!! Remember that it's extremely hot in Florida, always 90+ degrees and some of the parks don't have any shade, so you will be wandering around in sun and you need to drink lots of water so you don't get dehydrated. We always brought 2 water bottles filled from our hotel and then whenever needed, got them filled at the park from one of the restaurants. Don't hesitate to ask for water in the restaurants thinking they will say no, because they don't. We were never turned down when we asked for water...of course they don't fill your water bottles, but instead give you glass full of water and we always got iced water so that ice automatically melts in the heat and we get chilled water :)
4) Definitely bring sunscreen, a cap, and sunglasses. These are necessary to help protect your skin in the extreme heat!
Apart from these, don't miss any of the fireworks/night shows at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot along with the world showcases of Epcot. Wow...just re-listing these rides and shows makes me want to go there again.....:) I will be writing one more post about our hotel which will be the last post of this trip....I promise. Till then, see ya :)
We had already bought roundtrip for Mears transportation when we arrived in Orlando and already scheduled the return shuttle 2 days before our trip, so the shuttle was going to come at 7:15 am to pick us up. That was king of early, but we were able to get ready and be done with breakfast by 7:10 am. The check-out was pretty smooth and quick as well. Our shuttle came 15 minutes earlier than scheduled but the driver was really nice and she waited until we had our breakfast. We were the only two passengers for the shuttle, so there were no stops and reached straight to the airport in half an hour. The airport wasn't crowded either so we got through security and reached gate in 15-20 minutes. We said our final good bye to Orlando and headed home sweet home in 10 am flight.
Looking back at all the parks, their rides and shows, I have few favorites that I would like to share with you and if you are ever in the park, don't miss those rides!
Top Rides:
- Splash Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
- Peter Pan's Flight (Magic Kingdom)
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Magic Kingdom)
- It's small world (Magic Kingdom)
- Jungle Cruise (Magic Kingdom)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (Magic Kingdom)
- The Simpson's Ride (Universal Studios)
- E.T. Adventure (Universal Studios)
- The Great Movie Ride (Hollywood Studios)
- Toy Story Mania (Hollywood Studios)
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Islands of Adventure)
- Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges (Islands of Adventure)
- Jurassic Park River Adventure (Islands of Adventure)
- Spaceship Earth (Epcot)
Top Shows (3D and Live):
- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor (Magic Kingdom)
- Micky's Philar Magic (Magic Kingdom)
- Disaster (Universal Studios)
- Twister (Universal Studios)
- Shrek 4D (Universal Studios)
- Horror Makeup Show (Universal Studios)
- Indiana Jones (Hollywood Studios)
- Lights, motors, action! stunt show (Hollywood Studios)
- Beauty and the Beast (Hollywood Studios)
- Poseidon's Fury (Islands of Adventure)
- Turtle talk with Crush (Epcot)
- It's tough to be bug - 3D (Animal Kingdom)
- Finding Nemo Musical (Animal Kingdom)
- Festival of Lion King (Animal Kingdom)
- All the shows at Sea World
Couple of Tips:
1) Arrive at the park as early as possible (possibly right when it opens) and stay until it closes to cover as much as you want. Arriving early helps you cover your top rides in first 2 to 3 hours. The park is not very crowded in the morning when it opens and the wait times are not more than 10-15 minutes (sometimes even less than that), so you get head start than everyone else.
2) Each park allows you to bring food and water, so pack lots of snacks regardless if you have kids or not because you might find yourself standing in line for 30-45 minutes to 2 hours (yes, this happens if the ride is crazy packed) and having quick snacks around really helps. We never had consistent time for eating because we would be eating handy snacks here and there and then have late lunch around 2 or 3 pm. Even for lunch, we brought peanut-butter-jelly sandwiches from our hotel so we didn't have to wait in long lines to get food and it saves money as well.
3) Drink lots of water!! Remember that it's extremely hot in Florida, always 90+ degrees and some of the parks don't have any shade, so you will be wandering around in sun and you need to drink lots of water so you don't get dehydrated. We always brought 2 water bottles filled from our hotel and then whenever needed, got them filled at the park from one of the restaurants. Don't hesitate to ask for water in the restaurants thinking they will say no, because they don't. We were never turned down when we asked for water...of course they don't fill your water bottles, but instead give you glass full of water and we always got iced water so that ice automatically melts in the heat and we get chilled water :)
4) Definitely bring sunscreen, a cap, and sunglasses. These are necessary to help protect your skin in the extreme heat!
Apart from these, don't miss any of the fireworks/night shows at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot along with the world showcases of Epcot. Wow...just re-listing these rides and shows makes me want to go there again.....:) I will be writing one more post about our hotel which will be the last post of this trip....I promise. Till then, see ya :)
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Orlando vacation day 7 - Animal Kingdom
It is the last day of our 7 day adventurous vacation. It's been great fun so far, so let's see what Animal Kingdom has in store for us. We had to get up early to catch the 8:30 am shuttle. We got to Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) and took the Animal Kingdom Disney bus from there. We got to the park and the first thing that takes your breath away is the Tree of Life. It is magnificent.
There were 3 rides on our mind that we wanted to cover first which were Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, and Kilimanjaro Safaris. We were told by another tourist to cover the safari before 10 if we wanted to see the animals awake and outside, so we made that our first stop. But before we go there, we made a quick stop at Kali River Rapids to get the fastpass. The wait time for kali river rapids was only 15 minutes but we didn't want to spend time on this ride because that would have made us late for safari ride. Anyways, after getting the fastpass we headed straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris which unfortunately had 60 minutes wait :(. Finally exactly after an hour wait, we get on the safari truck and saw lots of animals, some asleep and some awake. It was all of 20 minute ride for an hour wait, but that's ok. It's just one time!
We then headed to Dino-land to see how the situation was with the Dinosaur ride. There was about 40 minutes wait, so we just took the fastpass for the ride and went to Kali River Rapids. This ride is short but fun and not to forget that it'll get WET! The main cause of getting wet is that there is a drop with at least 30 degrees slope and it drops your boat right in the water making it hit with the oncoming wave and drenching each one of the passengers. Right when we get out of the ride, there was Pangani trail which is about 10-15 minute walk. We saw big frogs, gorillas, Hippos, and couple other animals. It was already time for our Dinosaur fastpass. The ride was pretty good but it was extremely dark, fast, and loud ride. Also, it was completely unpredictable when the dinosaur came out from a corner out of the bloom.
There was only 25 minutes left for the Finding Nemo Musical show, so we hurried to the theater but the entire theater was packed. Luckily we got seats some where in the back but viewable area. This was the longest show about 40 minutes but very nice musical. Don't miss this show! The Festival of Lion King show was next so we started heading there since it was in the complete opposite side. This was another one of nice musical shows where it was half an hour unlimited fun. I also recommend seeing this show. Next, we went to see It's tough to be a bug which is situated inside the Tree of Life. DON'T MISS THIS SHOW! This was my favorite 3D show in the entire park. It's just 8 minutes long but completely worth the wait and time! The best part is when you are on your way to the show walking inside the tree, you get to see beautiful carvings of animals.
After this super fun 3D show, we headed to Expedition Everest which is a super fast roller coaster ride (without any upside down loops thankfully). There was minimum 60 minutes wait and they had run out of fast passes too so we had no choice but to wait in line. This is one super fast ride which initially goes backwards at 55 mph for 20 seconds and then takes you right into 80 feet drop...Aaaaaaaaaa! It was the fastest ride I experienced in all these days. It was truly a thrilling experience.
Last on the agenda for the day and for our trip was Flights of Wonder show. It's entertaining showcasing different birds from all around the world including eagle, parrots, owl, etc. We were done by about 5:20 pm so headed back to the parking lot and took the Disney bus to go to TTC and then took the 6 pm shuttle to go back to our hotel. This was the only day when we were back to the hotel really early but that's how we had planned it so we can get some time to pack our bags. Overall, this park was a lot of fun too, but unfortunately our trip comes to an end after 7 long days of non-stop adventure, non-stop fun, and unlimited memories :). We packed our bags, and did last minute run-through of our room to make sure we had everything. We had to wake up early next morning so went to bed early with some good night sleep of recalling all the blast we had during this trip.
Hope you all enjoyed the long, never-ending posts of each day/each park and I will be writing couple more posts to give you guys an idea of the hotel and how we bid goodbye to Orlando. Until then...see ya :)
There were 3 rides on our mind that we wanted to cover first which were Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, and Kilimanjaro Safaris. We were told by another tourist to cover the safari before 10 if we wanted to see the animals awake and outside, so we made that our first stop. But before we go there, we made a quick stop at Kali River Rapids to get the fastpass. The wait time for kali river rapids was only 15 minutes but we didn't want to spend time on this ride because that would have made us late for safari ride. Anyways, after getting the fastpass we headed straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris which unfortunately had 60 minutes wait :(. Finally exactly after an hour wait, we get on the safari truck and saw lots of animals, some asleep and some awake. It was all of 20 minute ride for an hour wait, but that's ok. It's just one time!
We then headed to Dino-land to see how the situation was with the Dinosaur ride. There was about 40 minutes wait, so we just took the fastpass for the ride and went to Kali River Rapids. This ride is short but fun and not to forget that it'll get WET! The main cause of getting wet is that there is a drop with at least 30 degrees slope and it drops your boat right in the water making it hit with the oncoming wave and drenching each one of the passengers. Right when we get out of the ride, there was Pangani trail which is about 10-15 minute walk. We saw big frogs, gorillas, Hippos, and couple other animals. It was already time for our Dinosaur fastpass. The ride was pretty good but it was extremely dark, fast, and loud ride. Also, it was completely unpredictable when the dinosaur came out from a corner out of the bloom.
There was only 25 minutes left for the Finding Nemo Musical show, so we hurried to the theater but the entire theater was packed. Luckily we got seats some where in the back but viewable area. This was the longest show about 40 minutes but very nice musical. Don't miss this show! The Festival of Lion King show was next so we started heading there since it was in the complete opposite side. This was another one of nice musical shows where it was half an hour unlimited fun. I also recommend seeing this show. Next, we went to see It's tough to be a bug which is situated inside the Tree of Life. DON'T MISS THIS SHOW! This was my favorite 3D show in the entire park. It's just 8 minutes long but completely worth the wait and time! The best part is when you are on your way to the show walking inside the tree, you get to see beautiful carvings of animals.
Last on the agenda for the day and for our trip was Flights of Wonder show. It's entertaining showcasing different birds from all around the world including eagle, parrots, owl, etc. We were done by about 5:20 pm so headed back to the parking lot and took the Disney bus to go to TTC and then took the 6 pm shuttle to go back to our hotel. This was the only day when we were back to the hotel really early but that's how we had planned it so we can get some time to pack our bags. Overall, this park was a lot of fun too, but unfortunately our trip comes to an end after 7 long days of non-stop adventure, non-stop fun, and unlimited memories :). We packed our bags, and did last minute run-through of our room to make sure we had everything. We had to wake up early next morning so went to bed early with some good night sleep of recalling all the blast we had during this trip.
Hope you all enjoyed the long, never-ending posts of each day/each park and I will be writing couple more posts to give you guys an idea of the hotel and how we bid goodbye to Orlando. Until then...see ya :)
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.
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!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
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 :)
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 :)
Monday, June 6, 2011
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 :)
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 :)
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 :)
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