Posted by Jackie Hewett on Sun 16th November 2008 at 01:27 AM, Filed in USA Florida
This park is situated right next to the Universal Studios park, just of Universal’s city walk. I think it’s a bit of a schizophrenic park in that there are quite a lot of thrill seeking rides coupled with a great area and rides/play areas for little kids and not a lot in between. That said – no holiday to the Orlando parks would be complete without a visit, assuming you have the time. We visited both in October 2008 and 2006. If you are serious about your roller coasters you should either think about getting a fast pass (you have to pay around $40 extra per person for these) or about staying in the universal resort hotels as they chuck it in for free.
The kiddy area I am talking about is of course Seuss Landing. I love it – it’s just like walking into the pages of a Dr Seuss book. Absolutely nothing is straight – bridges, signs, pavements, lamp-posts, even trees are wonky. You are very likely to see characters here (they appear throughout most of the afternoon) – we saw the Grinch (very much in character throwing kids pencils and autograph books down), Cat in the Hat and Thing1 & Thing2. The merchandise is great here too – some lovely T-shirts and toys.
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Posted by Jilly Bowen on Fri 14th November 2008 at 02:11 AM, Filed in Travel Tips
Where would you like to go for your holiday next year? Back to somewhere you have been to before or how about a different far flung destination?
‘Are you barking mad or what!!!!!’ I here you say. ‘Don’t you read the news you stupid woman, don’t you realise it looks as though we are heading for a world wide recession!’
Of course I do. But hey, what if you can scrape up the air fair, or just want a change of scenery in your own country, plus are prepared to self cater would that make a difference?
What am I suggesting in these tough times?
The concept of Holiday Home swapping.
How does this work?
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Posted by Jackie Hewett on Sun 9th November 2008 at 01:31 AM, Filed in USA Florida
Fairly recently re-named from ‘Disney MGM’ this is a great park, with a lot to entertain visitors of all ages. This review is based on visits to the park in October 2008 and 2006
To my mind there are a two or three ‘Must Do’s’ which includes one of Orlando’s newest rides – ‘Toy Story Midway Mania’, the early evening show – ‘Fantasmic’ and the Indiana Jones Stunt Show.
Hollywood Studios Bash Street Parade
First ‘Must Do’ – Toy Story Midway Mania Ride – as this is one of the newest rides queues are horribly long. We visited the park on 2 days during October 2008 and the stand-by queue’s varied between 80 and 120 minutes, and on our first visit they had stopped giving out fast-passes. If you definitely want to do this ride my recommendation is to get a fast-pass as soon as you get to the park. To give you an indication – we got our fast-pass tickets just before noon which gave us a return time of between 6.20pm and 7.20pm. Whilst the ride is one of my must-do’s I am not sure it is worth a two-hour wait! The ride takes 8 people at a time in two co-joined carriages, each carriage can only seat two riders side-by side with another two back-to-back. The carriages twirl around a bit, but nothing too much for timid visitors (it’s not as dramatic as Men-in-Black at Universal Studio’s). The ride is quite similar to Magic Kingdom’s ‘Buzz Lightyear Spin’ – but in 3D. Each rider has their own lazer gun and has to shoot at various 3D targets presented on a number of screens while screens in the carriages keep score.
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I attended Universal’s Halloween Horror Night in October 2008. For quite a few years Universal have been putting on an adult themed Halloween evenings in the park which have allegedly improved year on year. Each year has a different ‘theme’, and this year’s was ‘Bloody Mary’.
Firstly, some practical details – there are a number of different tickets available. The evenings happen over 2-3 weeks in the lead up to, and including Halloween itself, but not on every night - usually not on Monday’s and Tuesdays. Sometimes they even go on a couple of days past Halloween. You can get single night admission (this year they were available via several sources from about $44) or get a ‘Frequent Fear Pass’ for $69 which is valid for several nights, but excluding Halloween itself. To attend on Halloween itself you will have to pay more, but I understand there is little extra happening on that night – you are just paying to be there on the specific day. Also, if you already have a valid Universal Park day time ticket for the day you wish to attend a Horror Night (other than the 31st) you can get re-admission for the evening Horror night for $29 per person (which is what we did) – and this includes the Orlando Flex Park tickets whether or not you have attended that particular park on the same day – so long as the ticket is actually valid for that day.
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When I first visited this park I was a little disappointed as I though it would be my favourite and wasn’t. However, on my return visit in October 2008 I enjoyed the park more. This park closes pretty early (6pm) so to make the most of the park its one you want to get to fairly early.
My ‘must do’s for this park are – ‘It’s Tough to be a Bug’ 4D show, the 4pm parade, the new Finding Nemo’ musical, ‘Kilamanjaro Safari’s’. We aren’t into thrill seeking rides so Expedition Everest isn’t for us – but by all accounts it’s a good ride and if you like that sort of thing you should add it to your list.
Check out my ‘ears’!
It’s Tough to be a Bug – this is one of the best 4D shows around. When we went 2 years ago we went to see it first, and the queue was torturous. This time we left it until nearly the end of the day and walked straight in with no queues – so I’d recommend you do that too. If you do have to queue it winds around the beautifully carved artificial tree.
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