GaDawgFan.....Kelly

Ugh... that's all I have to say about this. 

We're taking family pictures in the Settlement this trip. I'm worried it will be mostly gone when this is done. 

Petrino.... What a scumbag. 

And Go Dawgs! 

I’ll be eating that chicken in a little over 1 month!

On 10/30/2018 at 9:46 PM, disneylitch......Debbie said:

We are booked December 21 to January 5.  It will be us, daughter, and three grandkids.  Our son in law is a drill instructor at Parris Island and won't be able to come.  The grandkids are 7, 6, 4, and 6 months.  They are really excited!!!

 

On 11/8/2018 at 9:24 PM, woody1 said:

We will be there 12/16 thru 12/29

 

On 11/9/2018 at 9:51 AM, Clark W Griswold said:

Hi Guys....Haven't posted in a LOOOOONG time...Hope everyone is doing well...We will be at the Fort from 12/18 to 12/27...Not sure what loop as of yet...We will have some FWRR spikes with us from a past expedition so if anyone wants to stop by and say "HI" we'll have a few extras to give away...

Awesome!!! Hope we get to see you guys!!!

20 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

The lobster roll was awesome. Lots of big chunks of lobster. There was a Mac and Cheese with Bacon that was amazing

That Mac and cheese was awesome! Even better than the year before. 

Can’t wait!

On 10/5/2018 at 10:53 PM, Tri-Circle-D said:

It's good to see a post from you. I couldn't believe you weren't on here crowing about the Dawgs this year. 

I've been trying to post some photos from my trip to Starkville last Saturday, but photobucket is acting up again. Too bad- I have a good shot of one of your favorite people. It was a great trip, and the Gators won, which was not what I expected. 

The LSU tigers visit the Swamp tomorrow. 

Go Gata

TCD 

I've been insanely busy. I'm taking some steps to slow things down, but it's not happening fast enough.

Congrats to your Gators. You looked like a different team this weekend. I'm sure you've royally pissed off LSU, and now we have to go play them. LOL!  We've been winning, but I haven't been super impressed with our offense. I'm worried about this coming weekend. 

Who can we add to the list for Christmas??? I'm starting to get excited! Jason is downstairs working on the light show now. 

I think these tickets are going to make planning longer trips a bit of a nightmare.... for example at Christmas, we spread our park days. I also think it's going to be super confusing for first time guests. I wish the 14 days would stand and that there weren't such huge ranges close together

All that said, it's all supply and demand. Disney said awhile ago that they were OK with fewer guests that were spending more. We all complain about crowd levels. The way to control crowd levels is to increase prices. Businesses do it all the time.... raise prices until you hit equilibrium. The issues is that many of us go A LOT, and we enjoy that. However, first time or occasional visitors aren't going to be hit as hard. I can't tell you how often I price trips for people, and they tell me it's less than they expected. It's all the time. Really! 

3 hours ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

My general belief is all ticket pricing will go up. I am willing to be surprised though. 

Same! 

On 4/12/2018 at 12:57 AM, ependydad...Doug said:

A couple more pics from Kelly’s house where she and Jason served up some amazing wood fired pizza out of the Big Green Egg.


My daughter getting a behind-the-scenes demo of the lights project:




The kids playing on the tippy/rolly/trampoline-slash-see saw:




My daughter’s favorite family member:




Pizzas 2 and 3 of 4:




Pizza 3 going onto the egg:

Such a fun time! 

On 4/12/2018 at 8:26 AM, h2odivers...Ray said:

 Great food + Great friends = Great times!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

On 4/12/2018 at 8:28 AM, h2odivers...Ray said:

Speaking of the light project, is it going to be set up at the fort this Christmas?

 

And is Jason going to make enough pizza for everyone?

 

pizza grand gathering?

It IS going to be set up at the Fort. Sadly, the mini makes some pretty small pizzas, but they do cook fast, so we could go for personal size. 

On 4/12/2018 at 9:00 AM, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Oh my gosh..... I'm SO glad we didn't make it over to your house. LOL  I have NO doubt, that Jason would have hooked Tom on the lights... I already had to tell him that he couldn't search out the FB page and the "crack" guys 

Ha ha ha ha

On 4/13/2018 at 1:00 AM, ependydad...Doug said:

 

It was really cool! Jason just had a few things in the dining room but what we saw really wowed us.

It reminded us of that Christmas Light Fight show!

We still don’t know where in Florida we’ll be for Christmas, but we sure want to see Jason and Kelly’s setup!

 

I hope we see you guys! 

On 4/13/2018 at 1:03 AM, bhall said:

 

Lights? I’m intrigued



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

It's going to be pretty epic! 

Y’all! My new job and life in general has pretty much kicked my butt, but I had to stop by and say GO DAWGS!

We have some issues we need to fix though, and quick. 

It’s such an amazing experience! We will make it back some day. 

I'm in crazy late but in! 

How beautiful! I really want to do a trip out West. 

So glad your damage wasn't more serious! 

Does anyone know how big the original resort was? 

Grumpy- I wouldn't care except for the parking issue and loosing the Settlement. 

In!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Our room was very close to the spa, and I kept being tempted by seeing it and these signs. I’d heard that there was a groupon for it. Since tomorrow was going to be a pool day, I decided to check. There was a Groupon and availability. #winning


After our rest, we headed back to IOA for dinner and more rides. This is the view of our resort from the water.



We had to play around in a gift shop.



We had reservations at Mythos, which bills itself as the best restaurant inside a theme park. I was interested in that claim since I believe Tiffins is by far the best.

The inside and outside of the restaurant are really cool. You’re eating in a made cave.











Prices here are pretty reasonable, especially if you’re comparing to Disney table service.



After our huge lunch, I wasn’t that hungry, so I went with the gnocchi. At $13.99 it’s about the price of Disney QS.



It was decent, not outstanding. I know it’s not fair to compare to Tiffins, a signature restaurant, but I’m not sure why they’re #1.

Haley got fish tacos again.



Jason got a salad.



The food was pretty good but wasn’t anything stellar. We all agreed we’d eat there again for the ambiance and reasonable prices though.


After dinner it was time to head to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We wanted to see the night show on Hogwarts. Once I saw the insane crowd I knew I had to have a drink.



For some reason though, I didn’t take a picture of the crown. Imagine the Magic Kingdom when the fireworks are about to start, only the area is much smaller. One thing they do well though is make the area one way. The show isn’t super long and runs someone continuously. As people exit they can’t turn around. They force them to leave through the Jurassic Park area.

We had heard to stay back a bit, and that was a good choice. We all enjoyed the show.



We took the long way out and snapped some pics on the way.



The park was pretty much cleared out. We rode Spider-Man which is a good simulator ride.

Then took the boat back to the hotel.

We spent some time enjoying the view. Do you see Rip it Rockit in the left corner?



After some wine, it was time for bed. This trip is winding down as I’m almost out of pictures.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The line for the Kong ride seemed to take ages when I did it and that was the express line as well, that corridor seems to go on for ever.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

So strange. I wonder what the deal is with that. It did seem like the hall went forever!

I swear milkshakes all need to be Instagram worthy these days.  What happened to plain old milkshakes?  I guess since they can charge $13-15 for them, they'll keep making them.    

I think these were $12. But they were huge and had whole desserts attached. I think they were worth it. We also got to keep the cup.

Loving all the pix.  It’s getting me excited for our up coming trip in 3 weeks
 
lookkng forward to King Kong. It was closed when we were there last year.  
 
$59 for four people to eat doesn’t seem bad for all that food.  Heck a burger costs you $18 now a days. 
 
Loved the chocolate factory  we loaded up on candy
 

It was a ton of food! I want to hear what you think of Kong. The technology is cool.

The Pteranodon Flyers... the last time we were at Universal, our girl was little (I wasn't pregnant with our little man yet...so I want to say she was about 3.5).   I rode that with her, but I remember it being just a lap bar (nothing over your shoulders) and she kept leaning over looking down at the ground. I spent the entire ride yelling, "Sit up! Sit up!" 

Ha ha! I could totally see doing that! I feel that way about a ride at our local fair. It’s slower and seems to last forever too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice job on last to board, and as always, great trip report!

I love the Chip n Dale pic!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After leaving the Harry Potter area, we headed to the Jurassic Park area.



Our first stop was the Pteranodon Flyers. This ride is an interesting concept because there’s both a minimum and maximum height requirement. You can’t ride unless someone in the party is between those. You basically soar around the land. It’s a decent ride.

There’s also a playground around there.



We headed over to Jurassic Park the ride. It’s kind of like dinosaur and splash mountain put together.







I wasn’t really prepared for how wet I got. The funny thing is that Haley wasn’t wet at all. I guess it depends on how you splash down. We enjoyed the ride a lot though.

Next up was Kong. It’s a combo ride vehicle and virtual reality. I’ve never ridden anything quite like it. It was really well done. The only issue was that our wait was terrible, even with Express Pass. I think we waited over 30 minutes. Maybe something broke down for a bit? Great ride though.



By this time, it was lunch. We really wanted to try both Harry Potter restaurants, so we decided to backtrack and see if there was a long wait for Three Broomsticks.

There was a small line outside, but it was moving, so we decided to give it a go. They have a family feast you can order, so we decided to do that. It sounded great and YOLO.

Here’s what $59 gets you.





That’s a salad, a whole chicken, ribs, corn, veggies, and potatoes. It was all really good. Honestly, we probably could have saved money by ordering separate, smaller meals, but we put a good hurting on it, so I was ok with the price.

Cute kid



Three broomsticks



After lunch, we did Poseidon’s Fury, which is a walk through special effects show. It had some interesting effects. I wouldn’t do it every trip, but it wasn’t a waste of time. Z really liked it.



We headed to the Suess area next. I love the theming there. Since Jason could ride the trolley, we did.





My very poor attempt at a family selfie



At this point, we were really hot, so we decided to go back to the hotel for a little nap. On our way we stopped at the Toothsome Chocolate Factory to REALLY cool off.



Check out these milkshakes!





Sundae



I highly recommend satisfying your sweet tooth at that restaurant. It has a steam punk atmosphere which is also pretty cool.

Ok we’re going to take a nap and then head back to Islands of Adventure.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

On 5/14/2018 at 3:35 PM, Travisma said:

There are rumors that the new monorails might have augmented reality windows.

That might be cool in some areas.... 

On 5/14/2018 at 3:37 PM, DaveInTN said:

What would be better than views of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and some resort hotels?  Unless they will just turn on the windows when the monorail breaks down, so you have the illusion you are still moving.  

You're bad! 

On 5/15/2018 at 8:23 AM, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Okay... back and caught up.  Looks like you guys had so much fun!  We're not huge Universal people however, even though the roller coasters hurt Tom's back... he still really loves them.  We'll probably wait a few years until both kids are (possibly) interested in the big one and then make a trip over.  The pool at the resort looks really nice!

Welcome back! I can't wait to hear more about your trip. The coasters we rode were very smooth. I was impressed with that. 

8 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

Well....there's beer!  I mean, they can't mess that up, can they?

Or maybe you'll care less? 

There's a new menu.... maybe it will be better? https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2018/05/a-rootin-tootin-new-menu-at-the-diamond-horseshoe/

How do the lockers work? Are you not allowed to take anything on?


So the train is a real train but has screens instead of windows?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For some of the rides, you can’t have bags or anything in your pockets. The lockers are free for a period of time. It’s just a bit inconvenient.

Like Keith mentioned, the train really moves, but the stuff you see in the window is a screen, and then there is frosted glass with more effects on the other side. It’s very well done!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You know what is hard? Writing a trip report during the busiest time of year year! Sorry this is taking so long, but here we go again. Today we are heading to Islands of Adventure.

 

We had early entry to both parks all week, so that means an early start to the day, of course. Boat was waiting for us though!

 

 

I think it’s really only a 5 minute ride.

 

Once again, people lined up at the traditional turnstiles on either side, and leave the middle open even though there are kiosks there.

 

 

The priority this morning was Forbidden Journey.... just like everyone else. These UO people don’t have the TSMM or 7DMT experience though, so it’s pretty easy in comparison.

 

 

Just like the other side, this area is completely immersive. You almost believe there is snow, even though it’s already hot.

 

 

 

 

 

We have arrived!

 

 

I hate the lockers.... there has to be a better way.

 

Once again the queue was very much part of the attraction.

 

 

 

Forbidden Journey is an awesome ride. It’s a bit on the scary side, and Z was a little worried knowing that, but we’d also talked about closing his eyes if needed. Spoiler alert.... he rode it more than once, so obviously he liked it.

 

Cute kids!

 

 

We rode the little coaster, and then it was time for more wand tricks.

 

 

This is probably good time to mention that trying to convince your nine-year-old not to wear a robe when it’s super hot outside is kind of difficult.

 

Notice how empty this area is. Early entry rocks.

 

 

 

 

Since our previous attempt to ride the Hogwarts express had been thwarted, we decided to go ahead and ride it both ways in the morning to knock it out.

 

 

It’s a different experience each way, so real fans should definitely do both.

 

 

Proof you’re still a kid at 22.... so fun!

 

 

The train is really cool. It blends a real ride with technology. Here are what the cars look like inside.

 

 

After our round trip, we headed out to the Jurassic Park area...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk