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Universal Orlando Newsflash!

Hedy — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:06:30 +0000

Universal Orlando recently made some really cool announcements…that had nothing to do with Harry Potter (which ought to be an accomplishment in and of itself, if you ask me. Blue Man Group is getting an improved show. For whatever it’s worth, I saw the GIpads in the show in Boston and they were really cool. If you get a chance to see Blue Man Group (even if it’s not in Orlando), I highly recommend it. I had been saying for years that I needed to see the one in Boston, and I finally saw it last Summer-it was great.

A lot of the updates seem to be plussing: for example, The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman (AKA the best ride in Orlando) will be in HD and have a hidden Stan Lee, and the pathetic nighttime show will be redone as “Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories” with Morgan Freeman.

As you know, Jimmy Neutron will be going away and replaced with a Despicable Me Minion Mayhem attraction. And ladies visiting the Orlando area are grateful that their girls will never have to do the Chicken Dance again.

Universal has clearly not given up on trying to be Disney: they are opening a mini-golf course and adding to their waterpark. Hollywood Drive-In Golf will be a 36 hole golf course that will be located at Citywalk. Wet and Wild will be adding a sandcastle area.

What’s your favorite bit of news? Let me know in a comment, Twitter , Facebook, or Google Plus. Come get pinned with me on Pinterest. Find and book Orlando tours and activities on Viator.com. Book ahead to save time and money!

Friday Favorites: The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman!

Hedy — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 19:36:37 +0000

So, I am raising my Universal for WDW fans series from the dead, mainly because two of my favorite WDW fans will be going there in August. Anyway, today I will be talking about the best ride, not just in Universal, but in all of Orlando. Yes, I said it, and I’ll say it again.

The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure, is the best ride in Orlando. I’m not a superheroes fan at all; I did see all Spiderman movies, but I really don’t know much beyond Peter Parker got bit by a Spider and is trying to woo Kirsten Dunst. The “plot” of the ride is that you are a reporter working for Jonah Jameson and you put on your night vision goggles (3-D glasses) and head off. The ride begins with Spiderman jumping on your vehicle. I won’t spoil it to much, but imagine a classic dark ride. That classic dark ride includes a motion simulator. That ride also has video in 3-D. The 3-D also breaks the fourth wall, and includes hot fire and wet water. It’s awesome.

I cannot think of a ride at Disney that even approximates this experience. Not to put out the Spider signal for Captain Obvious, but this ride is located on Marvel Super Hero Island. You know, Marvel, the company owned by the folks down the street. Because of this, I was minorly concerned as to the fate of the ride. However, Universal recently announced that the ride will be reanimated in 2012, which I think means it will be sticking around for a while.

Have you ridden this ride? Are you filled with disgust at the thought of entering a Universal Park? Let me know in a comment, on Twitter or Facebook!

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Harry Potter trip report-Sunday morning…

Hedy — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 00:12:55 +0000

My alarm went off. I dressed myself in my “Muggle” shirt. I went down to the Orchid Court lounge and grabbed a cinnamon bun-it was good. I headed onto the walk to Citywalk, which was empty as all get out. I was meeting M at 7:15, so I waited in a chair at Margaritaville. She was right on time, so we entered by 7:30 and headed off to the WWoHP. We decided to give Ollivander’s a shot. As it was so early, we were the second group in. The young girl next to me (I’d say she looked middle school aged) was picked. It was really cool-Ollivander was great, but I wouldn’t wait too long for it. We went into the wand store, which was packed. If you are looking for a wand, I’d recommend checking out Ollivander’s express by Hogwarts.
From here, we headed into the FJ queue. The queue is awesome-the moving paintings, the 3-D core three, etc. Then we got to the test seats. Ok, warning-I’m going to be describing my body type-consider yourself warned. I’m a 40C, and a size 20 pant at Torrid, Old Navy plus, and Faith 21. Shirtwise, I prefer 2x but can make XL’s at the Gap/NY & Co work. I got three clicks!
I was thrilled. I popped my camera in the tiny holder, and we were off. The FJ was cool, but honestly felt like a different form of Spiderman. We headed into the gift shop. I picked up a Luna love good shirt. I was shopping for a birthday present for Ferdie, but the gift shops were so packed (at 8am, nonetheless) that I could barely think. We stopped by Ollivander’s Express, but I wasn’t wowed by Ferdie’s birthday wand.
We headed onto Flight of the Hippogrifff. Pros-awesome views, cool details (Buckbeak is currently the lock screen on my phone). However, it’s really the same as it was when it was flight of the Unicorn. We went into the Owl Post store-the luggage tags I’d wanted to get my sister and her SO were out of stock, so I ended up getting them quill pens and parchment. I also got Mordie, Ferdie, and Sharpay postcards with the Hogsmeade postmark (actually-I got Ferdie two-one I sent to him, the other I used as his birthday card.) M picked up a Hufflepuff robe and backsack. We decided to do Spiderman next, but it was down. We headed over to Universal Studios. The plan had been to go ride RRR, but it was down. I suggested we head over to the Simpsons and MIB. We were just past T-2 3-D when the skies opened up. We waited. It continues to rain. I finally decided to call it and head back to the resort. I took a pedicab back, and went up to my room. I debated what to do for

Wizarding World of Harry Potter Trip Report-Saturday Afternoon

Hedy — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 21:07:51 +0000

My dinner decision was based in a very logical, responsible choice: Bob Marley’s was celebrating Jamacian independence day. In my handy Citywalk party pass brochure, it indicated that this included $4 Bacardi drinks. I boarded the Water taxi. There was kind of a wait-your on-site hotel key pushes you up in line. I headed over to the bar, where I got a coke and Peach Bacardi. It was good. My table was ready. I ordered the veggie patties. They were good, there was a live Reggae band and people on stilts. I left right before things got really hectic.
So for whatever it’s worth, I was so over Citywalk last year, yet I loved it this year. Anyway, I treked over to IOA. I headed through Seuss Landing to WWoHP. I gotta admit, despite reading multiple TR’s and seeing photos, Hogsmeade took my breath away. It really was like walking into a scene from the movies. I had a mission-I wanted to see if I fit into the Forbidden Journey test seat. I went up. A very nice little Britsh team member pushed and pushed, but I did not fit.
I headed onto Dueling Dragon Challenge. I stored my bag in the locker, and headed through the queue. Holy revisionist history. Potter, Krum and Delacour were all mentioned, but there was no sign of Cedric Diggory. Um, what? I have heard that there is now a Cedric Diggory banner there. I wussed out of actually riding it, and got many confused looks as I used the chicken exit. Whatever.
I got in line for Butterbeer. The cold was very good-like cream soda on steriods, I also picked up a pear cider in a bottle, which was good. I went into the Owl Post area. Possibly the biggest WWoHP tip I can give is to do your souvenir shopping at the airport-the Hogsmeade stores are zoos. I loved the house merchandise-Ravenclaw represent. (It’s not that we’re smarter than you, except it totally is. LOL.)
I popped into to visit Moaning Myrtle, which is the coolest part of WWoHP in my book, and headed home. Quick funny story-the class dean my first year of college was named Tom Rydell. He began with “My name is not Tom Riddle, and this is not Hogwarts.“ I would be seeing Harry again at early o’clock the next morning.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter trip report, part 1.

Hedy — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:05:25 +0000

My bags were packed. I was ready to go. My mom drove me to Logan without incident. I checked my bag. I grabbed a snack at Starbucks, and settled down at my gate to surf the net before I boarded my plane. In retrospect, this feels a little like the opening of Meet the Fockers. I saw that the earlier plane to Orlando was delayed, which didn’t stun me, as there had been thunderstorms in the area. My flight was fine.
Then I checked again-my flight was delayed three hours. My main concern was my reservation at the Hyatt Orlando, as when I had called them to let them know that I would not be checking in until after eleven pm, they said that they held rooms until midnight. I was able to get them t hang onto my room. Then we changed gates. Then we were delayed half an hour, then an hour. Public service announcement-whining does not change when the plane leaves. I originally debated pulling an all-nighter and still going to wwohp in the morning, but I decided it was a bad idea, so I canceled those plans. Eventually we departed from another gate. I boarded. I found I was sitting next to a kid and parent who were yelling about what the kid could watch on the TV. Fortuitously, my tv was broken, so the stewardess let me move to another seat.
The plane ride was motherly uneventful. I disembarked, boarded the holy monorail, and was at the terminal. I checked into the Hyatt, and gave the bellhop my luggage tags. This may have been the best $10 I spent all trip: my bags were brought up to me. I crashed into bed, debating what to do on my next day in Orlando.

I woke up around 8:00am. I decided to head off to grab breakfast at Krispy Kreme. I showered (the airport Hyatt has a separate shower from the bathtub, which is awesome.) I had deliberately packed my clothes for today in my carry-on, so I switched out my “Muggle” shirt for a tank top. I dressed, and headed down to the shopping area of MCO. I’d found a coupon book for the shops in my room, and there was one for a free tote bag at Del Sol. Now, you all know that I have never found a free thing or bag I didn’t like, so you better believe I brought it with me.
We are wholly unsurprised to hear I started at the Earport, right? I gotta admit, the Summer Nightastic ads made me wish that I had tacked a day at WDW onto my trip. I didn’t get anything. I then headed over to the Universal store. Universal’s store has a decent sampling of the Harry Potter stuff-if you’re thinking of getting something, you can actually *think* here. I got my free bag, and headed onto Krispy Kreme. Tragically, they did not have my favorite Krispy Kreme, Sour Cream. I did get a plain glazed donut, and a Sprite to have with my Emergency C. I headed back to my room, and had breakfast enjoying their view from my balcony. I packed up, and rang for a bellhop. I checked out-the $10 fee to get my bags was listed as a “gratuity,” so I might have overtipped. Oh well.
My driver to the RPR was awesome-he had a binder of money from all over the world in it. I arrived, was greeted by name. The employee was all excited telling me about Harry Potter and how you can use your Fastpass for the new ride once a day (FJ has no Express Pass. Fail.) And went to check in. I was informed my room was not ready (I think the check-in people have been saying their spiel too much lately. I was told that check-in time wasn’t until 4pm. Girlfriend, it’s 10am, if you have people expecting their room to be ready, you have issues. I stored my luggage, and headed off to IOA.
I was half-way to IOA when I realized that my print at home park ticket was in my carryon. Oops. Went back, got it, and entered IOA.
There were people with signs directing you to go through WWoHP through Marvel Superhero Island. My first stop, was Spiderman. Yepp. Sorry. Spiderman is still the best ride in Orlando. End of Story. I then headed over to get soaked on Popeye. Heading towards Jurassic Park I saw that there was, in fact, a masking tape line for the people waiting just to get into the WWoHP. I kid not. I headed onto Seuss Landing, and then rode on High in the Sky trolley. You can get some awesome pictures from here (well, you could if camera’s weren’t banned on the ride.) ;) I decided to head to Universal Studios.

Pictures!

Hedy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 23:09:56 +0000

Having a great time-can’t wait to tell you all more, until then, check out my posterous for some pictures.

Wordless Wednesday July 28, 2010

Hedy — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:22:35 +0000

Wizarding World of Harry Potter Construction, August 2009

Just 9 more days until I get to see how this turned out! See all Wordless Wednesdays here

Trip planning updates, June 29, 2010

Hedy — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:30:35 +0000

I am now thisclose to being one month out from my Universal Orlando trip. As such, I’m going to chat a bit about planning and share my to-do lists.

As the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWoHP)is now open, I have begun a more fleshed out touring plan. I had been pretty settled on not going to Islands of Adventure (IOA) my first day. But let’s get real-patience is not one of my virtues. Besides, who sleeps on an Orlando vacation? If you want to, that’s what Sinbad’s is for (I speak from personal experience). I toyed with the idea of staying at an on-site Universal Orlando hotel for the night I’m scheduled to be at the Hyatt MCO, but I found that prices range from arms to legs. I’m sticking with the Hyatt MCO for now. Here’s the plan:

Thursday: Go to Logan after work. Have dinner at Johnny Rockets. Fly to MCO. Land. Check into the Hyatt.

Friday: Get ready to go around 6am. Take taxi to Royal Pacific Resort (RPR) . Check in, get keys for FOTL. Be in line to enter IOA by 7:30. Hit WWOHP. Do more IOA. Grab lunch at Pastamore (new!). Head over to catch a few shows at US. Head to RPR for Torch Lighting. Grab dinner at the pool bar (new!)

Saturday: Start at US for Mummy, MIB etc. Lunch at Finngans. Head over to do some stuff at IOA (by which I mean Spiderman a zillion times). Diner at Bice, possibly (new!).

Sunday: Shopping day! Go to Premium Outlets (and possibly Prime as well). Take cab to DTD. Have lunch at Paradiso 37 (new!). Go up in Characters in Flight (new!). Head home. Eat at the Kitchen at HRH.

Monday: IOA early. Lunch at ?. US in the evening. Dinner at Tchoup Tchoup.

Tuesday: Breakfast at Three Broomsticks. A little IOA, a little US. Cab to MCO to go home. :(

To do list:

Continue to check car rental rates (I’m pretty sure I’m just using cabs though.)
Once vacation time is finalized check Hotwire for the Hyatt MCO.
Cash out Opentable cheques. . Done! One $20 one for Tchoup Tchoup, another $20 one for Paradiso 37.
Cash out at Sunshine Rewards. Done for the $40 I earned in June.
Confirm plans
Get singles from bank
buy hooks for door hanger
Print out coupons

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Revealed

Hedy — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:26:30 +0000

This post is in Disney Blog Carnival #5! Last night, NBC broadcasted a piece of Islands of Adventure’s new Wizarding World of Harry Potter (if you missed it, you can watch it online here). I saw it, and have some pretty conflicting thoughts on it. (Please note: I will be discussing some book spoilers in here. Consider yourself warned.)

My biggest problem with the show was that I felt it was misleading. If you have half a brain, you could probably figure out that this was pretty much an infomercial for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWoHP). I knew this would be the case going into it, which is why I feel that this show was deliberately misleading. My first issue is around the way the WWoHP was portrayed. I was bothered by the fact that they still seem to be pushing the “Themepark within a themepark” concept around. I don’t know about you, but two old rides, one new ride, some stores and a restaurant do not a theme park make in my book. Tangentally, the way in which the actors were discussing Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff made them sound as if they were new attractions, not just merely re-themed attractions. As many non-Universal fans would be watching this show, I would think that they would feel a bit bamboozled if they were to discover that two of the “new” rides weren’t that new. For crying out loud, the mobile Universal Orlando site still lists them under their old names.

I found it interesting that they were spending such a long time discussing authenticity, but that they did not discuss the fact that a number of stores which are in Diagon Alley, including the focal point of Ollivander’s, are in the Hogsmeade -themed WWoHP. (Apparently the store will be selling Nimbus 2000′s. Please tell me I’m not the only person this makes giggle).

I liked how they included the interviews with the actors. Tom Felton referring to people touring the parks as “muggles” was a funny moment which didn’t seem too contrived. I also learned I have been mis-pronouncing J. K. Rowling’s name-they pronounced it as rawl-ing, I’ve been pronouncing it as roll-ing. I also liked that they referred to her as Jo, as I think trying to appeal to young boys is a pretty moot point at this point.

One thing I will be curious to see is how continuity plays out. It sounds like much of the attractions are based upon the first few movies, which leaves some questins open as to how it will work. I also think they could have used a better clip for the Dragon Challenge-had they gone with one that included Robert Pattison many people would be more interested in going ;). In general, I also wonder how the hype will play out-so much was made of the living paintings, but people who cannot fit on the Forbidden Journey cannot see it, will people complain?

One thing I do have to give NBC/Universal credit for is having this special on TV. It seems that their competitors have given up on this medium. Once upon a time, Disney used to do these specials for guests on NBC.

Trip planning updates June 6

Hedy — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:07:05 +0000

For my Universal Orlando trip:

*I’m holding off on making my touring plan until the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWoHP) officially opens on June 18. It is looking extremely likely that I’m not going to fit on the Forbidden Journey, just as I had worried. This throws a couple of curve balls my way: Do I skip it all together? If I do, I may be ok showing up at 9am and just checking out the shops and doing The Flight of the Hippogriff. Do I try to see if I can fit (good blog fodder,LOL)?

*I am flip-flopping on what day I want to spend at Downtown Disney, I feel like I will know more once the WWoHP is really open.

*I bought a new suitcase yesterday! I’m very excited to try it out on both my Universal trip and my cruise. I got it at TJ Maxx for about 1/2 of its real price! I am going to call a couple of Marshalls/TJ Maxx in my area to see if they have the carry-on. However, my current carry-on matches it, and is fine. My old big suitcase was old enough that it was made by American Airlines (I find the fact that I would need to pay to check it on American Airlines hysterical).

*The Hyatt MCO is currently not showing up on Hotwire. Thank goodness I have my Costco rate.

For my cruise: My ADR window opens on Thursday. As I am staying at the Swan, I don’t get 80 days+10. I am currently changing my ADR plans like my underwear-I think this is what happens when a hotelpickaphobe choose to stick with a hotel. At the moment, my plans are:

Friday: Get up. Check out Epcot resort areas Christmas decorations, grab snack at Boardwalk Bakery. Hop on bus to MK and go over to monorail resorts. Grab linner at Captain Cook’s. Head into MK for 4pm admission to MVMCP and meet.

Saturday. Get up. Head to Epcot-hit Soarin’, Journey into Imagination, Test Track. Lunch at Chefs de France(?). Chill around WS. Evening meet at Boardwalk.

Sunday-Cab to AKL for Boma breakfast meet. Cab back to swan.

I picked up water shoes from Lands End-they looked more wearable than my cheapo old ones, and were 40% off.

I had my travel agent add the fact that I am a vegetarian onto my reservation. Vegetarian options look pretty plentiful, but I figure it never hurts to add it.