I went to IOA yesterday Mon. 2 and it was CROWDED! It must have been because it's 4th of July week or something. Marvel Superhero Island was the worst, Toon Lagoon was packed too, but the crowds thinned out around JP. Most of the day it was Spiderman was about an HOUR or more.
Got there at about 7:40 and got valet parking (only $7 instead of $14 with my annual pass) and headed up to IOA for early entry. I was one of the first people there but as I was waiting alot more people came (mostly Onsite hotel guests from what I gathered), but it was nothing compared to how many people would be there later in the day. Got through the gates and headed for spiderman. No wait. I walked in and got a good seat in the front too. Alot of the effects were working too. On my first ride the only effects not working were the fog, lasers, water, and towards the end where spidey tells you your not insured for this the building wasn't going down to give the rising effect so the movie got projected on the building. It was still fun though. The lasers and water were working on my second ride and after that I decided to get an Express Pass for later. Dr Doom had no wait as well and I got the tower with a view of the Royal Pacific construction (It was number one on the right). After this i went to the Hulk and rode front seat. I decided to go over to Dueling Dragons next. By this time alot of people had made there was to MS Island and Lost Continent was almost abandoned. First I rode Ice (front seat), it was great, I love the near miss with the wall and the first drop is alot of fun. After that I did Fire in the back. I've always liked Ice better but you get a great view of near misses from the back of Fire. You also get your head jerked around too. I decided I'd go on the Flying Unicorn next. Nothing much here, the ride is short and thebrake at the end is brutal. I still had fun though. The crowds seemed to be picking up as I headed into Jurassic Park. I did the JPRA with a very short wait and got something to drink. I love IOA and US but I have one major problem, I'm a big soda drinker -specifically Dr. Pepper. I would do anything to have Dr. Pepper in the parks. After a while drinking Coke and Minute Made gets old, but I can never have enough DP. I guess it is a good thing though b/c I end up drinking less soda and more water. If they had Dr. Pepper I'd probably end up passing out from dehydration. About this time it was getting pretty hot too so I went on Ripsaw Falls. The wait was about 20 min w/o an Express Pass but it didn't seem that bad. I skipped BR Barges b/c I wished not to get soaking wet. (BTW they make you keep your shoes on at the Barges now. The girl working there said it was b/c people have cut their feet or gotton athlete's foot. Yuck. They will still let you go shoeless but they aren't responsible for anything happening to your feet.) Crowds were plentiful at Marvel Island and it was HOT. When I say hOT i MEAN HOT. Plus I had a black shirt on. I ate lunch at Confisco Grill. I got "An Adventure in Fajitas" which honestly was not that great (I should have got something else). I'm from Austin, TX and really miss good Mexican food when I'm in Orlando. The Flourless chocolate cake served with peanutbutter Ice cream was very good though. After lunch I headed back to Spiderman. The wait was 60 min and it was CROWDED! Luckilly I had gotten my express pass and didn't have to wait long. All the effects were working fine this time except for one major thing. The ride started stopping at the end. The screen would go w/o the SCP moving and then the SCP would start moving w/o the projection. This totally ruined the simulated fall finale so our whole car got a reride w/o waiting. The fall worked but this time it stopped earlier...oh well. It was really crowded at IOA so I decided to go over to Universal Studios.
To be Continued...
Got there at about 7:40 and got valet parking (only $7 instead of $14 with my annual pass) and headed up to IOA for early entry. I was one of the first people there but as I was waiting alot more people came (mostly Onsite hotel guests from what I gathered), but it was nothing compared to how many people would be there later in the day. Got through the gates and headed for spiderman. No wait. I walked in and got a good seat in the front too. Alot of the effects were working too. On my first ride the only effects not working were the fog, lasers, water, and towards the end where spidey tells you your not insured for this the building wasn't going down to give the rising effect so the movie got projected on the building. It was still fun though. The lasers and water were working on my second ride and after that I decided to get an Express Pass for later. Dr Doom had no wait as well and I got the tower with a view of the Royal Pacific construction (It was number one on the right). After this i went to the Hulk and rode front seat. I decided to go over to Dueling Dragons next. By this time alot of people had made there was to MS Island and Lost Continent was almost abandoned. First I rode Ice (front seat), it was great, I love the near miss with the wall and the first drop is alot of fun. After that I did Fire in the back. I've always liked Ice better but you get a great view of near misses from the back of Fire. You also get your head jerked around too. I decided I'd go on the Flying Unicorn next. Nothing much here, the ride is short and thebrake at the end is brutal. I still had fun though. The crowds seemed to be picking up as I headed into Jurassic Park. I did the JPRA with a very short wait and got something to drink. I love IOA and US but I have one major problem, I'm a big soda drinker -specifically Dr. Pepper. I would do anything to have Dr. Pepper in the parks. After a while drinking Coke and Minute Made gets old, but I can never have enough DP. I guess it is a good thing though b/c I end up drinking less soda and more water. If they had Dr. Pepper I'd probably end up passing out from dehydration. About this time it was getting pretty hot too so I went on Ripsaw Falls. The wait was about 20 min w/o an Express Pass but it didn't seem that bad. I skipped BR Barges b/c I wished not to get soaking wet. (BTW they make you keep your shoes on at the Barges now. The girl working there said it was b/c people have cut their feet or gotton athlete's foot. Yuck. They will still let you go shoeless but they aren't responsible for anything happening to your feet.) Crowds were plentiful at Marvel Island and it was HOT. When I say hOT i MEAN HOT. Plus I had a black shirt on. I ate lunch at Confisco Grill. I got "An Adventure in Fajitas" which honestly was not that great (I should have got something else). I'm from Austin, TX and really miss good Mexican food when I'm in Orlando. The Flourless chocolate cake served with peanutbutter Ice cream was very good though. After lunch I headed back to Spiderman. The wait was 60 min and it was CROWDED! Luckilly I had gotten my express pass and didn't have to wait long. All the effects were working fine this time except for one major thing. The ride started stopping at the end. The screen would go w/o the SCP moving and then the SCP would start moving w/o the projection. This totally ruined the simulated fall finale so our whole car got a reride w/o waiting. The fall worked but this time it stopped earlier...oh well. It was really crowded at IOA so I decided to go over to Universal Studios.
To be Continued...
