A disney fan goes to US/IOA and has a blast! tons of pics. Updated 3/11

[MyKidsMom1820]

I am lovin your TR! your DD is so adorable! Thanks for sharing all your pics.

 

[damo]

Mystery of the missing Bro. Hmmm. Don't keep us in suspense too long.

 

[keishashadow]

Ok. So after the whole E.T. my DH is an alien thing, I thought I would post this pic to prove that he is an green alien. See his green face? lol.

Actually, my DH breaks out often so he has this green cream thing he wears overnight and I saw him wearing it a few nights ago which reminded me of the alien thing I posted in the previous post, so I snapped a pic when he wasn't paying attention and thought it would be funny to post.

When he asked why I took a pic of him, I explained it and he was like "You better not post that picture of me!"
Of course, I had to anyway though!

hee, hee! just one more time - jik it's not now part of the internet - forever lol

great TR! glad to finally see pics of barney show

 

[RockinDisney]

 

[EverythingDisney]

I need more !!!!! GREAT trip report !!
Keep it coming !!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I'm so happy you guys are enjoying it. Thanks to all for reading. More coming up very soon!

 

[bellebud]

i'm enjoying your report! thanks for all the pics too - your dd is adorable! we're going to universal for the first time next month, and staying at Royal Pacific Resort.... how did you like it there? I picked it because we're staying conceirge, and it was the most affordable one to do that. it seems closest to the parks too, which seems great.

waiting for more...

 

[mickeysgirl17]

i'm enjoying your report! thanks for all the pics too - your dd is adorable! we're going to universal for the first time next month, and staying at Royal Pacific Resort.... how did you like it there? I picked it because we're staying conceirge, and it was the most affordable one to do that. it seems closest to the parks too, which seems great.

waiting for more...

I didn't stay on property, but if you asking what I thought about the parks in general, I thought they were good.....but not great. I was trying to be as open minded as possible though but its hard after the experiences I've had with Disney. I'm just used to the theming and details of the disney parks and the cuddley characters. I also believe Disney has top notch guest service. I felt like Universal wasn't themed enough but I liked the look of Islands of Adventure. We'd probably return to finish stuff we didn't get to do, but I don't think we'd ever stay on property. I don't feel like they have many choices of resorts either.

 

[bellebud]

I didn't stay on property, but if you asking what I thought about the parks in general, I thought they were good.....but not great. I was trying to be as open minded as possible though but its hard after the experiences I've had with Disney. I'm just used to the theming and details of the disney parks and the cuddley characters. I also believe Disney has top notch guest service. I felt like Universal wasn't themed enough but I liked the look of Islands of Adventure. We'd probably return to finish stuff we didn't get to do, but I don't think we'd ever stay on property. I don't feel like they have many choices of resorts either.

oops... right - you stayed off site - I read a few reports last night and got confused (and tired). thanks for answering me! we're a disney family - have been about 10 times in the past 5 years, and dh was tired of it, so we're trying universal for 9 days, staying on-site, during easter vacation. I am excited to have a new experience, and i'm going to keep an open mind and not compare it to disney - i know it's not as *disney* as disney (lol).

we'll do seaworld one day, and a dinner show (medieval times maybe)... i'm still researching...

thanks again!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

oops... right - you stayed off site - I read a few reports last night and got confused (and tired). thanks for answering me! we're a disney family - have been about 10 times in the past 5 years, and dh was tired of it, so we're trying universal for 9 days, staying on-site, during easter vacation. I am excited to have a new experience, and i'm going to keep an open mind and not compare it to disney - i know it's not as *disney* as disney (lol).

we'll do seaworld one day, and a dinner show (medieval times maybe)... i'm still researching...

thanks again!

Medieval times was awesome! We did it too and loved it. I don't recommend it for very young kids though because my DD got bored pretty quickly. My DH was tired of Disney too and that's why I decided to go with US/IOA but if it was up to me, we would have been in Disney. It was his bday though so I had to make him happy!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

So when I left you guys, we were just exiting Barney and hoping to find Bro outside waiting for us after he said he was going to "get some water" aka smoke a cigarette......But before I go any further, I forgot to tell you guys about the cool little playground thay have right outside the Barney show. DD really loved this and I think anyone with small kids or toddlers might enjoy this place. Here is DD having fun:

The only thing I suggest being careful for is that it has more than 1 exit/entrance so I think your kids could get out if they wanted too. It's important to keep an eye on them at all times in this place!

Back to the Bro situation: When we actually got outside after Barney, we didn't see him and I looked at DH and DH looked at me and we were hoping that he was just standing around somewhere around. We walked around that little garden area - the queue area for the Barney show, and we didn't see him so DH told me to back into that Barney playground and see if he was waiting for us in there while he looked around with DD outside.

I go look inside the Barney playground and.............not there!
This is not good..............

I go back outside and realize that DH hasn't found him either. Dh and I start to wonder where in the world he could have dissappeared to.



We stand there for a minute and continue to search the crowds with our eyes, but nothing.
I start talking to DH......."Where could he be? Why would he leave the area? He knew we were in the Barney show, why would he go somewhere else?My brother's an idiot!!!!"
DH spots a employee and asks where a lost person might go and she told him she didn't really know, maybe to the entrance of the park.
Okay, so we got a employee that is clueless. Great.
I ask DH what we should do and he says we should start walking around and look for him and that he's a grown man so he should be smart enough to go the front entrance or the car.
I told DH we were talking about Bro here and he probably would get lost and never be able to find our car amongst all those cars in the parking area.
DH said that it was his birthday and that if Bro walked off and didn't care to stay and wait for us, then we would just go to IOA after Terminator 3D and hope that Bro is at the car later on at the end of the day.
At this point, I could not believe this was happening and that we actually lost someone in a theme park full of thousands of people and no way of finding him in these crowds.
We made our way over towards Terminator when we spotted:

Yes, its Marilyn Monroe! How cool is that?

So, despite my being a little worried about where Bro was, DH told me to take a pic with her so I did:

Then DD wanted her coat off so DH sat with her on a bunch while putting her coat around her waist and asked me to walk over to Terminator 2: 3D and find out when the next show was.

As I walked toward it, I saw the next show was about to start in less than 5 minutes! I was about to turn back around towards DH and DD when I spotted......BRO!!!!!!!
I couldn't believe I found him in such a huge place as Universal Studios with throngs of people around. It was crazy!
He told us he left the Barney area because he thought the Barney show was already over and thought that we left him and took off to another attraction so he went to the front of the park to wait for us.
I was so mad at him!!!!!!!!!!
Finally, we got back to DH and as they were discussing how Bro got lost, I interrupted and told DH that Terminator was about to start and he should try to get in, so he and Bro ran for the entrance and made it just in time.
I wanted to see this show, but I knew it would be too intense for DD so I let them watch it while I stayed outside with her.

In the meantime, we spotted the whole simpsons family outside so we got in line to meet them!

While waiting in line, I spotted this on the floor:

Afterwards, we just sat at a bench across from Terminator and waited.

DD was so bored, she just played around in the street with her streamer

After terminator, we finally started to make our way over to IOA since it was already 3:30 and IOA was going to close at 7pm.

Coming up.....................What I thought of IOA and more Bro drama!

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

WOW, I can't believe you found him! That is a relief.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Thanks our2girls&disney.

Anyone else still with me? Am I loosing you guys?

 

[bellebud]

still here - reading and enjoying!

 

[disney's daughter]

Me too!

 

[lynn71092]

Your DD is absolutely beautiful!!
Can I ask where you guys stood at? We're looking to go but I am not paying those overboard rates they have at the Universal resorts.

 

[phamton]

I'm still reading. Your daughter looks so cute and tiny with the Simpsons.

I hope you set up a meeting point with your brother for the next time he decides to walk off. Maybe one of those children's harnesses would work.

 

[estherhead]

Wow, great report. We've done an entire week at USO/IOA when our girls were babies & didn't care about riding things (Dh & I both are roller coaster lovers.) Now they are 6 & 8 & we have a baby and so are just camping out in the Disney part of Orlando but the second they are over 54" we are on our way to Universal! Your report made me want to go measure the eldest & see how tall she is. Ha!

 

[damo]

Your DD is absolutely beautiful!!
Can I ask where you guys stood at? We're looking to go but I am not paying those overboard rates they have at the Universal resorts.

Lots of excellent deals to be had if you do a little research. End of April is $139/night at a deluxe hotel. That includes your unlimited express passes. Pretty darn good!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Your DD is absolutely beautiful!!
Can I ask where you guys stood at? We're looking to go but I am not paying those overboard rates they have at the Universal resorts.

We were gonna stay on Irlo Bronson Hwy at one of the small hotels like the Howard Johnson (only paid $50 last year plus got my $20 deposit back so only paid $30 for the night) or La Quinta inn, but DH decided to call his cousin who lives close to Disney and she told us to go sleep over in her house instead so we didn't have to pay anything!

I'm sure if you do a little research, you'll find a good deal or just drive around in the area and you can probably find a good nightly rate with so many hotels in one small area.