[Jonathan]

Day 1 - Sea World - CLICK HERE



Day 2 - Universal Studios - CLICK HERE



Day 3 - Boomers - CLICK HERE



Day 4 - Walt Disney World (In One Day) - CLICK HERE



Day 5 - Busch Gardens Tampa - CLICK HERE



Day 6 - Freestyle Music Park - CLICK HERE

[Top Gun68]

Very nice. I love the nighttime pics.

[Jonathan]

Epic Disney day posted.

[Chris]

1973. Just sayin'...

[KenB]

Nice TR so far. I had no idea you hadn't been to some of these parks, and on some of these rides before.

I fully agree on Tower of Terror, it's probably tied with Spiderman for the non-coaster attraction that impressed me the most. I love that ride - the theming, the dark ride part, and the drop ride part are all so well done. Spiderman certainly has more effects and all, but doesn't have that "thrill-ride" part that ToT has at the end.

I'm pretty sure when I rode Mission: Space in April of 2005, it was before anyone had died after riding it. Even then, there were visual and audio warnings everywhere about the ride experience and the possibility it might make you sick, and to not ride if you had any pre-existing conditions, etc. I too found it an extremely well-done experience overall, and it didn't make me the least bit nauseous or anything.

It's probably for the best that you didn't ride Back to the Future again, and can fondly remember it. It was quite painful for me when I rode it in 2005, due to how jerky the ride was. Motion simulators have come a long way since this ride was introduced.

Looks like I'm going to have to go again at the time of year you went. When I went in April 2005 for an entire week, I still didn't get to do everything - missed out on Animal Kingdom, although I did do Busch Gardens Tampa. The parks weren't summertime packed but were still pretty busy by midweek. I managed to do almost EVERY ride / attraction at IOA and Universal on my first day, with Hulk and Dragons being near walk-ons, and Spidey not even having a bad wait. Mummy was new so probably had the only real wait at Studios. Later in the week, though, everywhere else was pretty busy.

Of course Potter may screw everything up for a good while with regards to crowds. So I might want to put off a return visit for another year or two, although I'm quite interested to see what they do with ol' Harry and company...

[DaveVan]

WOW...........and thanks for sharing!

[chargercrazy]

Ultimately, Dania Beach Hurricane is my favorite roller coaster in Florida.

Whoa. Have you been to Busch Gardens Tampa? Is it better than Montu?

[Jonathan]

I guess you'll have to wait for the next installment of my TRs.

But yes, I like Hurricane better than Montu, which is my second favorite coaster in the state. I am a huge woodie fan, though, so for me the only steel coasters that can really compete with a good woodie are hyper coasters.

[Chris]

Day 4 - Walt Disney World (In One Day) - CLICK HERE

You must tell me everything you know! Where did you park? What transportation did you use to hop from park to park? I need pointers!

[Jonathan]

Once you pay to park you are good to park anywhere on the resort that day without paying again. I parked at Animal Kingdom when they opened that morning, then drove to the Studios and parked there. Then, I drove to the Transportation Center and rode the monorail to Epcot, then the monorail back and took the other monorail across the lagoon to Magic Kingdom. It was one wild day, but the parks were so dead that I didn't really feel rushed. I actually took my time and lounged around a bit at Epcot.

[Chris]

I'm very tempted to follow your day exactly. Rides and all.

The only thing is I am going on a Sunday (Mother's Day) and you went on a Thursday. For what it's worth, both days are a "4" on TouringPlans.com's Crowd Chart.

[Jonathan]

I don't think it was so much the day I went as the time of year. That particular window in Florida (summer has ended, kids are back to school, but it's not time for the Halloween events yet) is absolutely DEAD. I stayed at this huge waterpark resort in Orlando and saw maybe 2 other guests the entire time. It was creepy. There was no one at Sea World, no one at Universal, no one at Dania Beach (I was there for hours and literally 2 other people rode the coaster), no one at Disney, and no one at Busch Gardens.

My biggest suggestion for the Disney thing is to hit the parks that you want to do the most first. I'd already done nearly everything at the Magic Kingdom, and it was the park I visited most recently, so I intentionally left that for last just in case I ran out of time and couldn't make it there. As it is, though, everything worked out absolutely perfect.

[Chris]

I don't think it was so much the day I went as the time of year. That particular window in Florida (summer has ended, kids are back to school, but it's not time for the Halloween events yet) is absolutely DEAD. I stayed at this huge waterpark resort in Orlando and saw maybe 2 other guests the entire time. It was creepy. There was no one at Sea World, no one at Universal, no one at Dania Beach (I was there for hours and literally 2 other people rode the coaster), no one at Disney, and no one at Busch Gardens.

My biggest suggestion for the Disney thing is to hit the parks that you want to do the most first. I'd already done nearly everything at the Magic Kingdom, and it was the park I visited most recently, so I intentionally left that for last just in case I ran out of time and couldn't make it there. As it is, though, everything worked out absolutely perfect.

For what it's worth, Day 2 will be spent entirely at the Magic Kingdom, so if we don't make it there, it will be OK. How long did it take you to travel from AK to DHS? DHS to TTC? TTC to Epcot? Epcot to MK?

Also, I will be arriving into Orlando on Saturday late in the afternoon. Can we go on ahead and get our tickets activated (finger scan and stuff) on Saturday for use on the next day, so we can just walk right in on Sunday?

Thanks for answering all this for me!

[Jonathan]

I have no idea about getting the tickets activated, but you can probably just get to the first park of the day really early; whether you have the tickets or not you should do that so you'll be at the front of the herd.

It only took a few minutes to drive around. Then you gotta walk or ride the tram in the parking lots, though. Taking the monorail takes a little bit longer. Honestly, for maximum speed, I would probably drive from the Studios to Epcot, then drive to TTC and take the monorail or boat to Magic Kingdom. I just really love the monorail so I wanted to ride it to both parks.

Going by the time stamps on my photos...

Drove into Disney World at 8:27 (Animal Kingdom opened at 9)
Got back into my car at Animal Kingdom at 11:03
Entered the ticket gate at the Studios at 11:24
Exited Studios around 1:55
Got on the monorail to Epcot from TTC at 2:27
Entered Epcot at 2:45
Left Epcot around 6:15
Got on monorail at TTC for Magic Kingdom at 6:50
Entered Magic Kingdom at 7:00
Magic Kingdom closed at 10:00

[Chris]

I have no idea about getting the tickets activated, but you can probably just get to the first park of the day really early; whether you have the tickets or not you should do that so you'll be at the front of the herd.

It only took a few minutes to drive around. Then you gotta walk or ride the tram in the parking lots, though. Taking the monorail takes a little bit longer. Honestly, for maximum speed, I would probably drive from the Studios to Epcot, then drive to TTC and take the monorail or boat to Magic Kingdom. I just really love the monorail so I wanted to ride it to both parks.

Going by the time stamps on my photos...

Drove into Disney World at 8:27 (Animal Kingdom opened at 9)
Got back into my car at Animal Kingdom at 11:03
Entered the ticket gate at the Studios at 11:24
Exited Studios around 1:55
Got on the monorail to Epcot from TTC at 2:27
Entered Epcot at 2:45
Left Epcot around 6:15
Got on monorail at TTC for Magic Kingdom at 6:50
Entered Magic Kingdom at 7:00
Magic Kingdom closed at 10:00

Thanks for the reply! That is going to be extremely helpful.