Trip Report From the Glory Oct 10th-17th Lots of Pictures to Come

[TeknikDC2]

Also near the Fast and Furious cars was the Time Train and Delorean from Back to the Future. So I had to take photos of those as well being huge fans of the movies. I must say I was somewhat disapointed in the Delorean though. The actual movie car is still at Universal Studios in Hollywood so this one was just a replica. And it wasn't a very well done one at that. I've seen fan cars that are better replicas.

 

 

We next made our way into the San Fransisco/Amity area of the park. The first ride we came to hear being Disaster. The ride use to be "earthquake". They recently changed it though into a ride/show that makes it seem like your helping make a movie. It was a very unique Idea. You have a long preshow where you are touring the studio but then are asked to fill in as extras in a movie. They actually choose people for specific parts as you watch them film those parts and speak to the dirrector and such. Then you board the train to film the earthquake portion of the movie. It is a formula that I thought worked well. However it takes a long time to get thru the ride. And the earthquake portion isn't as intense as I remembered it being.

 

[TeknikDC2]

During and After waiting for Disaster we found the park was really starting to get busy. I was suprised as I had watched wait times for the weeks before our trip and the day we were there was getting much busier. We next made out way to the Jaws ride where we would have our longest wait of the parks. It was about 40 minutes and honestly the wait wasn't worth it. Yeah jaws is good for what it is. Its a classic in my mind. They really need to do something though to spice it up a little. But still I really liked the ride. I just don't think its worth the wait if its over 25 minutes long.

 

 

We next made it over to the World Expo section and to the Simpsons ride. The Simpsons ride replaced my former favorite Simulator and one of my favorite rides of all time Back to the Future. I had the oppertunity to ride the Simpsons at Universal Studios Hollywood last year and it was awesome. Its no back to the future but it still took my #1 spot for best simulator. The Florida version is identicle to Hollywoods and is just as good. I could ride this thing all day long. A word of advice though. Do what you can to sit in the front row. If your tall your will find your self hitting your head alot in the back row wich made a bad experiance for Tyler. This ride is diffenitly a Do Not Miss.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

After the Simpsons we then went back to Men in Black. All I can say about this ride is wow. Probably one of the most emersive ride experiance i've had. From the second you enter the building tell you unload the ride you are totally emersed in the Men in Black Universe. The ride is a dark ride where you have guns and helping the Men in Black stop an alien invasion. You also are scored so you can compete against the others in your group. This ride was probably in my top 3 rides of the resort.

 

 

At this time we really started to get hungry so we made our way towards our final ride of the day in the Kidzone section of the park. The E.T. Adventure. I was really looking forward to this ride. They removed it at the Hollywood park so I was really excited to ride it again in Florida. The ride is still good for what it is. I love the feel of flying the bikes and the forest section of the que is excellent. I still find it kind of odd though when we go to E.T.'s home planet. But the ride is still pretty good for what it does. With the ride already gone though in Hollywood who knows how long the ride will still be around in Florida as many kids don't even know who E.T. is anymore. So check it out while you can.

 

[TeknikDC2]

After E.T. we were starving. It was now past 4pm and we still needed to pick up our Halloween Horror Nights Tickets. So we didn't check out anymore of the kidzone. Not like there was really much else for us to do there as everything left was for little kids. I did kind of find it odd with how many franchises clash in the kidzone with Woody Woodpecker, Curious George, Barney, E.T. and Fivel all taking up portions of it. We made our way thru the Hollywood section and found Guest Services where we picked up our Stay and Scream passes for HHN. Since we were already park guests and since it was a Thursday night the tickets were only $30 bucks a person. But I will get into that more later in the HHN review.

 

[TeknikDC2]

Once we had our HHN tickets our top priority became finding food. We decided to try out Finnagons which serves Irish style food. It was very good. I highly recommend it. The whole atmospher was great and we enjoyed the irish singer they had playing as well. Finnagons was also right next to the holding pin for those with Stay and Scream tickets to wait for HHN to start. The park closed at 5 and HHN didn't start tell 6 so thats where we would have to wait. We found this squarl running around and going right up to people wich we thought was kinda funny.

 

 

Universal Studios was alot of fun and I recommend checking it out if you have the time to when your in the Orlando Area. The rides are all great and the experiance is top notch. Yeah Universal isn't Disney. But its not trying to be ether. It has its own unique feel and vibe. You shouldn't even try to compare the two. I look forward to going to Universal again next time we are in the Orlando Area.

[TeknikDC2]

The Time had finally come for HHN to begin. The advantage to having the Stay and Scream pass is that since you are already in the park you get a head start on the Houses before the start letting the people outside the Gates in. Its also a much cheaper option as tickets for HHN can cost up to $70 bucks. Unfortunatly there isn't alot of HHN pictures. I couldn't get any decent pictures cause of how much fog there was.

 

Right before 6pm they let us out and we made our way to the first house of the "The Wolfman". One thing Universal did great with all there houses is the attention to detail. And I thought Wolfman was the best detailed of all. However we didn't get any scares in this house. Also a problem in all the HHN houses was that the line is constantly moving. There are way too many people too be able to break people into groups like local houses do. So because of this we found that we kept barely missing good scares. Also if you can try to do the Soundstage houses after dark. Because it was still light outside we found our eyes hadn't adjusted yet as we made our way thru the houses. Still Wolfman was pretty good.

 

 

After Wolman there still wasn't anyone in the park so we made our way to Dracula. Same thing as with wolfman we kept barely missing the scares. However there were some cool effects like the floating brides and stuff in here. This house was kind of a dissapointment because the only people we saw were the brides. You would think that for a house called "Dracula" you would see Dracula in there. But no we never saw him.

 

 

By this time people were finally starting to file into the park. So we went to the third Soundstage house Frankenstein. This house wasn't quit open yet though. So we waited in line for about 5 minutes and then made our way back to the house when it opened. This was our favorite house of the night. We got scared not once but multipule times. We also saw the monsters everywhere and caught many of the really good scenes and scares. Easily the best one of the night in our opinions.

 

 

After Frankenstien we made our way to the back of the park where Saw is located. I read that this was a very popular house and the lines would build up fast. So we bypassed Leave it to Cleaver and went to Saw where we found the wait was still only 10 minutes. I thought the house was pretty good and stayed true to the franchise. My wife was pretty disturbed by it though as she's not one that likes torcher and gore and stuff. The kidnapped tourest part to a good scare out of my wife though as a guy grapped the girl and thru her into a room and then started to run like he was coming for my wife. It was pretty good. Not the best house but not bad ether.

 

At this point we were pretty proud of ourselves cause we finished 4 of the 8 houses in less then and hour. So After finishing with Saw we went to the theater where the Bill and Ted show would be at. It took them forever to open the gates to let us into the theater. Seriously it was only like 5 minutes before the show started. Anyways the show in our opinion was just Meh. It is very vulger (wich they do warn you of) but I didn't think there were very many funny parts as well. In our opinions it wasn't worth the wait.

 

When Bill and Ted got over the park was packed. Seriously where did all these people come from in the short time that we were watching the show. So I looked up wait times on my phone to see where we should go next and found that Chucky only had a 20 minute wait so we made our way there. We went thru our first scare zone "Cirque de Freak" but never got any scares here. We did however see the rat lady wich was pretty creapy.

 

[TeknikDC2]

We finally got to Chuckys enterance and got in line. We figured it would go quick with a 20 minute wait. Oh no. They hadn't updated the wait time. It was really an hour wait for it. And when we found that out it was too late to turn back. So we waited it out although in my opinion no Haunted House is worth that wait. Chucky was pretty decent though and we got a few scares in it. The house was done pretty well and it was my second favorite.

 

We were really starting to get tired after Chucky so we decided we would do one more house and check out the scare zones and head back to the hotel as we had another fully day of Islands of Adventure to look forward to the next day.

 

The house we decided on was Silver Screams. The wait said 20 minutes so actually verified this first and then made our way to the house. This was the icon house this year and showcased many different movies. It was pretty well done as well and we got a couple scares. More then Wolfman or Dracula anyways. The enterance to this one though was the best one out of all the houses.

 

With all the houses out of the way we started checking out the scarezones. All I can say is they were pretty weak. We didn't get scared in any of them. Infact in the Hacktation area Rachael somehow scared one of the scare actors. I thought for sure I would have been scared in the Hacktation area cause I hate chainsaws but no nothing or noone went after us. Many of the scarezone were well decorated but it seemed like there was a lack of scare actors in them. And the ones that were there weren't doing anything. Just kinda standing there. Maybe it was an off night or something I don't know. We were just dissapointed in them.

 

[TeknikDC2]

The time was now about 10pm and we were tired so we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel. We stopped and looked at the Universal store and some other things in citywalk and then started making the trek back. Which kinda sucked to walk that far when you spent 12 hours in the park.

 

 

So my thoughts on HHN. It was a great event and worth checking out if your into being scared and Halloween. The detail in all the houses was much better then any other houses i've seen. However in my opinion I wouldn't go out of my way to make a trip to Florida specifically for HHN. Its worth checking out if your already gonna be there but don't go out of your way. I don't think I would pay full price ether. I would do it again in a heartbeat. But we would have to do Stay and Scream again on a thursday night. So check it out if your ever in the area. Although some things may dissapoint the event in total didn't. And at $30 bucks for the S&S its a great value for all that you get.

[J&DrCruisin]

WOW. Great review so far. Cant wait for the rest.

 

What website did you go to for the $99. for 7 days tickets??

 

We are looking to do this for our vacation next year.

[TeknikDC2]

WOW. Great review so far. Cant wait for the rest.

 

What website did you go to for the $99. for 7 days tickets??

 

We are looking to do this for our vacation next year.

 

I got them on Universals website at www.universalorlando.com If your planning on going sometime next year now is the time to buy them cause i'm sure it won't be around once harry potter opens. Also they don't expire until they have been used. We plan to buy some soon for when we go back in like a year and a half.

[AndrewD65]

Awesome review so far, need more.. Feed me more!!!!!

[J&DrCruisin]

I got them on Universals website at www.universalorlando.com If your planning on going sometime next year now is the time to buy them cause i'm sure it won't be around once harry potter opens. Also they don't expire until they have been used. We plan to buy some soon for when we go back in like a year and a half.

 

Thanks. Will be checking it out. Did you have 7 days at any park in Orlando?? Or was it just to one??

[TeknikDC2]

Thanks. Will be checking it out. Did you have 7 days at any park in Orlando?? Or was it just to one??

 

No we didn't. We only had 2 days at the parks so we did universal studios the first day and islands of adventure the second. Disney was way to expensive and we wouldn't have near enough time to do everything so that's why we didn't do that. But the 7 day pass to universal was the same price as the 2 day. That's why we bought that one.

[Eileen2]

This is photo journalism at its best. Can't wait to read and see more.

[auntdodaa]

Great review. I am trying to be patient as I wait for the next installment. :rolleyes:

[jimjamxx]

[quote name='auntdodaa']Great review. I am trying to be patient as I wait for the next installment. :rolleyes:[/quote]


Yea, me too.
JimmyJames

[Megnolia]

I loved your Universal photos! I've never been to any of the Disney parks at all, and seeing your pictures and hearing about all the awesome attractions at Universal Studios is making me want to go even more!

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='Megnolia']I loved your Universal photos! I've never been to any of the Disney parks at all, and seeing your pictures and hearing about all the awesome attractions at Universal Studios is making me want to go even more!

Looking forward to the rest of your review![/quote]

Just for clarification's sake (especially if you want to buy tickets to the parks!), Universal is not a Disney park. They are two separate companies, two separate places. Sea World is also separate.

Disney has four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.

And I highly recommend that you spend some time at Disney! ;) :D I haven't been to Universal since the '80s, but if you can squeeze in a day there, it looks from the OP's post like you'll have fun. I haven't been to Sea World in a long time, but would love to go on their new roller coaster Manta (as in manta ray).


I'm also looking forward to the OP's review of the Glory, since I'll be on that ship soon enough.

[Yvonne]

Imagine my happiness when I see there is a "page 3" here when I logged on this morning, thinking "Oh, good! The OP must have posted more!!"

Then, imagine my sadness when I see that the OP has not posted more. *crying*

Come on, OP...get with the program!!!! Geez!!! :D

[AndrewD65]

[quote name='Yvonne']Imagine my happiness when I see there is a "page 3" here when I logged on this morning, thinking "Oh, good! The OP must have posted more!!"

Then, imagine my sadness when I see that the OP has not posted more. *crying*

Come on, OP...get with the program!!!! Geez!!! :D[/quote]

lol, as we wait..

[LoveTravel23]

I LOVE downtown Disney & I do have to agree w/ the many tolls that we have here...that's why when I plan a trip to Orlando (4 hr drive) I always take quarters for the tolls but I'm still debating on getting the Sunpass (ur EZ pass).

Can't wait for the rest!!

[TeknikDC2]

[quote name='Yvonne']Imagine my happiness when I see there is a "page 3" here when I logged on this morning, thinking "Oh, good! The OP must have posted more!!"

Then, imagine my sadness when I see that the OP has not posted more. *crying*

Come on, OP...get with the program!!!! Geez!!! :D[/quote]

I'm sorry everyone for the delay. I just finished uploading the pictures for the next update. Unfortunatly though I have to leave for work in 15 minutes so the next installment won't be up until tomorrow afternoon. Please bare with me until then.

[Megnolia]

[quote name='Quampapetet']Just for clarification's sake (especially if you want to buy tickets to the parks!), Universal is not a Disney park. They are two separate companies, two separate places. Sea World is also separate.

Disney has four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.

And I highly recommend that you spend some time at Disney! ;) :D I haven't been to Universal since the '80s, but if you can squeeze in a day there, it looks from the OP's post like you'll have fun. I haven't been to Sea World in a long time, but would love to go on their new roller coaster Manta (as in manta ray).


I'm also looking forward to the OP's review of the Glory, since I'll be on that ship soon enough.[/quote]

Thanks for the clarification! I thought I was probably making a faux-pas as I wrote that.... to us Northerners, all those parks get lumped into one vacation, so I've always thought of them together ;) I can't wait to visit Universal as well as the Disney Parks :)

[Yvonne]

[quote name='TeknikDC2']I'm sorry everyone for the delay. I just finished uploading the pictures for the next update. Unfortunatly though I have to leave for work in 15 minutes so the next installment won't be up until tomorrow afternoon. Please bare with me until then.[/QUOTE]

Work? You're going to work and leaving us hanging here?! What's up with that?! :D

J/K, but I am really enjoying your review and all the wonderful pictures! Can't wait to read/see more. :)

[princesskristen]

I was in Orlando/Disney the month before you and on Glory 2 years ago so I'm loving your review and seeing what kind of experience you had. I love how indepth you are as you relive the memories. I can't wait to read more!