Swimace
Posts: 5916
Registered: 8/28/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 12/22/2004 9:59:46 PM
I recently made a 3 day trip to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. During my trip I stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and enjoyed many rides that I have never been on before. This TR is pretty lengthy, so I split it up into days so you can read it bit by bit. Here is my trip report:
DAY 1:
I got to Orlando on Monday afternoon after visiting relatives nearby. We checked into the Hard Rock Hotel and got our room keys. Universal Room Keys are worth their weight in gold. An active room key from a Universal Hotel allows you the luxury of never having to wait in a line that is more than 15 minutes. After getting changed into proper park attire, I headed to Universal Studios to get my season pass. After getting my pass, I left Universal Studios and headed for Islands of Adventure. I quickly thought about staying at Universal Studios and riding The Revenge of the Mummy, but I quickly dismissed the thought because of the relatively little hype around the ride since it’s opening. I went into IOA exited and ready to ride. It was about 2:30 and I had to meet my family at 5:20 at City Walk to see a movie.
I decided to start my riding with a spin on Dueling Dragons. Being the better of the two, I rode Fire first. I then went and rode Ice. Both were fun as usual and provided me with the thrills I had been looking forward to. After that, I began walking in towards Jurassic Park. I walked through JP and ended up in Toon Lagoon.
I had a dilemma; I had never ridden Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls. The last time I was here, it was under renovation (See my last IOA TR )and the time before that it was below freezing. Before it was below freezing, I was afraid of big rides. Here was the problem today: it was cold. I wanted to go so bad, but I didn’t want to get wet and freeze. I decided to brave the cold weather and ride the ride, because with my luck, the ride wouldn’t be open for the rest of the week. The ride was awesome. I almost froze to death. That’s that.
I ate a warm lunch in Toon Lagoon and allowed time to get the feeling back into my hands. After that, it was Spidey time! I looked at the 40 minute wait time and laughed. With my hotel key, I was on in 5. The ride was awesome as usual. Really, what can I say about Spiderman that you haven’t already heard?
Two Rides on Doctor Doom’s Fearfall gave me the airtime I had been craving, and a ride on the Hulk gave me a good way to end my day at IOA. (ooh, that rhymed)
DAY 2:
Today was going to be a “family day”. This basically meant “no coasters”, being that I’m the only one in my family that likes roller coasters (I was also the only one on my family who knew ROTM was a coaster, but we’ll get into that later).
We started out the day at USF with Shrek. Since it’s at the very front of the park, the line was 40 minutes when we came in. Oh wait, I have a room key so that doesn’t matter! We were in the next show. I thought this was a good 3-d show. The chairs were cool, I loved the movement.
After that, we went to ET which was the only ride at Universal Studios I had been on before that day. I hadn’t visited the park since I was seven, so the park was relatively new to me. Everything there I had either been afraid of, or wasn’t built yet.
Next up was Back to the Future. This ride hurt more than any ride I’ve ever been on. You can read my review for details. After recovering from Back to the Future, I thanked God for Spiderman and headed for MIB: Alien Attack. This was like Buzz Lightyear, except with less Disney and more movie. The spinning provided a great thrill and I loved shooting up the aliens.
Now for the almost exciting part: Revenge of the Mummy. I was more excited to get on this ride than any other ride of the day, but I still wasn’t really hyped up. I hadn’t heard too many great things about this ride other than tacoking’s rave
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/23/2004 11:54:33 AM
yes the single rider lines are quite a time saver if you are staying in the park
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/23/2004 11:42:52 PM
Depends on how busy the park is. When it's really busy, yes the single rider line saves time, but it's still not great time.
Express passes people! 
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/24/2004 12:11:13 AM
Quote:
tacoking said:
Depends on how busy the park is. When it's really busy, yes the single rider line saves time, but it's still not great time.
Express passes people! |
well it got me at least a half dozen more rides on ROTM than if there wasn't a single rider line
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It's not a choice between war and peace. It's a choice between war and something much worse.
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/24/2004 10:38:32 AM
Think of how many you could have with express passes..... 
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Swimace
Posts: 5916
Registered: 8/28/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/24/2004 11:22:47 AM
Actually, sometimes the single riders line is faster than the express line. I got on ROTM faster as a single rider than I did with express, but it's just the luck of the draw. The single riders line can be really quick or really slow depending on who's in the other lines
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tacoking
Posts: 9914
Registered: 2/19/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/24/2004 11:35:42 AM
In the long run, express passes are the way to go.
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Swimace
Posts: 5916
Registered: 8/28/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/24/2004 11:38:53 AM
That's true, they're more reliable. You're garaunteed a short line with an express pass, while the single riders line doesn't garauntee you anything. However, the single riders do get on quicker in some situations, but not all the time.
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