HuskyHawk
The triumphant return of the Blues Brothers.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2011
- Messages
- 34,842
- Reaction Score
- 92,393
So, trip is over but for the flight home. Some thoughts. My wife said it best, every time we say we are never coming back but we do anyway. This was for our daughter graduating from college. Weather in December was nice. Cool mornings and at night, warm during the day. Christmas decorations at the parks and hotel are very nice. It is quite festive.
Universal. Need express pass. Park hopper doesn’t apply to Epic. Need for Hogwarts train. Water $6. Food at these parks is meh. Beers are super expensive.
Epic Universe is Epic. The quality of the theming, the immersive nature of the micro worlds, is truly impressive. Harry Potter France, Super Mario World, Classic Monster world, Isle of Berk (how to train dragon/Norse) all amazing. Some very good rides, Werewolf coaster, Frankenstein, Mario Mine Cart, Hiccup Wing Gliders and the Harry Potter Ministry of Magic, which looks incredible. The middle area is gorgeous and spacious. Stardust Racers coaster is savage. A guy died on it not long ago. It’s a new park, so it’s busy. The other two parks, plenty of good rides and the Harry Potter worlds are impressive and immersive. They set the standard of course. Traditional Universal is getting old but is pleasant and relaxed. Unfortunately the express pass is expensive and necessary. Epic will take a very long day (12 hours for us). The other two combined take less time. Universal does a nice job with the mixed video and ride experiences. Three days across all three with 1.5 at Epic would be ideal, but isn’t currently possible.
Disney. Need Lightning Lane multi and for big rides, single at all but Animal Kingdom. Very expensive. Water $4.25. Alcohol flows at Epcot and at Animal Kingdom too.
Did Epcot start to finish for the first time, including completing drinking around the world (shared drinks, a 22 year old daughter helps). Rides started breaking immediately. Frozen, Ratatouille, Test Track (rain the night before). Soaring is great. Wish they had a half hour long version. New Test Track is much improved. Frozen is meh. Ratatouille is good (got wildly lucky they reopened while we were about to get crepes). Guardians of the Galaxy is the new big draw and it’s very good. Food is always decent, drinks are good if expensive. I enjoy the Japan market. Fireworks is very good, with less wasteful pre-show babble.
Magic Kingdom, is the kingdom of strollers. By 2-3 it’s just swarmed and hard to move. Tron is the big new ride, a serious coaster with a unique motorcycle style seating. Excellent. Most of the rest are getting old, there’s nostalgia for Peter Pan, Small World, Pirates etc. For those with smaller kids, huge value in the character interactions. Food is ok. Couldn’t get in to the new bar, Beak and Barrel, which shows they need more.
Hollywood. Rise of Skywalker broke on us so they let us get in the lightning lane again. Incredible pre-ride experience here really. The whole captured by the empire thing works well. The Star Wars area is the best theming attempt Disney has made so far, along with Pandora maybe. Fairly immersive. Not up to the Harry Potter or Epic Universe standard. Lots of good rides here, Millennium Falcon, Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller coaster. Fantasmic was nice, if again heavy on nostalgia. Olga’s Cantina was cool, but drinks way overpriced and it’s crowded.
Animal Kingdom. There are nice plants here. It’s pretty. Lots of nice animals too. The Yeti/Everest coaster is cool. The avatar flight ride is very good, but the line is long and we weren’t going to waste a lightning pass on this park that has one worthy ride. Future upgrades will replace Dino land with a South American land with Encanto and Indiana Jones featuring. It needs it.
Once again I think I don’t need to go back until I have grandkids to take.
Universal. Need express pass. Park hopper doesn’t apply to Epic. Need for Hogwarts train. Water $6. Food at these parks is meh. Beers are super expensive.
Epic Universe is Epic. The quality of the theming, the immersive nature of the micro worlds, is truly impressive. Harry Potter France, Super Mario World, Classic Monster world, Isle of Berk (how to train dragon/Norse) all amazing. Some very good rides, Werewolf coaster, Frankenstein, Mario Mine Cart, Hiccup Wing Gliders and the Harry Potter Ministry of Magic, which looks incredible. The middle area is gorgeous and spacious. Stardust Racers coaster is savage. A guy died on it not long ago. It’s a new park, so it’s busy. The other two parks, plenty of good rides and the Harry Potter worlds are impressive and immersive. They set the standard of course. Traditional Universal is getting old but is pleasant and relaxed. Unfortunately the express pass is expensive and necessary. Epic will take a very long day (12 hours for us). The other two combined take less time. Universal does a nice job with the mixed video and ride experiences. Three days across all three with 1.5 at Epic would be ideal, but isn’t currently possible.
Disney. Need Lightning Lane multi and for big rides, single at all but Animal Kingdom. Very expensive. Water $4.25. Alcohol flows at Epcot and at Animal Kingdom too.
Did Epcot start to finish for the first time, including completing drinking around the world (shared drinks, a 22 year old daughter helps). Rides started breaking immediately. Frozen, Ratatouille, Test Track (rain the night before). Soaring is great. Wish they had a half hour long version. New Test Track is much improved. Frozen is meh. Ratatouille is good (got wildly lucky they reopened while we were about to get crepes). Guardians of the Galaxy is the new big draw and it’s very good. Food is always decent, drinks are good if expensive. I enjoy the Japan market. Fireworks is very good, with less wasteful pre-show babble.
Magic Kingdom, is the kingdom of strollers. By 2-3 it’s just swarmed and hard to move. Tron is the big new ride, a serious coaster with a unique motorcycle style seating. Excellent. Most of the rest are getting old, there’s nostalgia for Peter Pan, Small World, Pirates etc. For those with smaller kids, huge value in the character interactions. Food is ok. Couldn’t get in to the new bar, Beak and Barrel, which shows they need more.
Hollywood. Rise of Skywalker broke on us so they let us get in the lightning lane again. Incredible pre-ride experience here really. The whole captured by the empire thing works well. The Star Wars area is the best theming attempt Disney has made so far, along with Pandora maybe. Fairly immersive. Not up to the Harry Potter or Epic Universe standard. Lots of good rides here, Millennium Falcon, Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller coaster. Fantasmic was nice, if again heavy on nostalgia. Olga’s Cantina was cool, but drinks way overpriced and it’s crowded.
Animal Kingdom. There are nice plants here. It’s pretty. Lots of nice animals too. The Yeti/Everest coaster is cool. The avatar flight ride is very good, but the line is long and we weren’t going to waste a lightning pass on this park that has one worthy ride. Future upgrades will replace Dino land with a South American land with Encanto and Indiana Jones featuring. It needs it.
Once again I think I don’t need to go back until I have grandkids to take.