Thanks! I hadn’t read to the bottom of the email ( got hung up in the food section—go figure!) so I hadn’t seen the link.
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We were assigned to the USF entrance, but plan to just head right back out on Friday and walk to IOA and try to catch VC. Hoping single rider will be open and we can knock it out without too much wait. I’ll count <60 as a win for pre-exclusive hours, but that would be a tougher call if we didnt have both nights.
They do say in the email that once you’ve checked in you can enter immediately, so I’m thinking they will at least be letting people in by 3pm once check in opens and assuming that doesnt take too long. Post on chat or here if you are able to get in earlier than that though! I’m probably going to aim to be back there around 2:30 Friday to see, but could adjust for Saturday.
I’m getting more and more excited since we are just 10 days away from leaving. I’m trying to not overplan this and just use this as an opportunity to take things easy…but my true nature is coming out and I can’t help but try to strategize to maximize our time.
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Since Dudley’s is open for the event, it seems like we should try and ride it at night to take advantage of the experience. Honestly, I always skip it and Bluto because I hate to be soaked. Has anyone ridden and successfully stayed dry with a poncho and change of shoes?
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Yes for Dudley’s No for Popeyes
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We were assigned IOA, but have Express Passes for USF. However, our goal will be the same 1) Single Rider Line for VelociCoaster, then out the front gate and into USF to use our EP until 7pm. And we also should get there at 2:30 on Friday.
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I’m assuming those going to the winter meetup but not the June one would like to see all the details OI sent us about June?
Here are the links to the maps and video:
ETA maps in case the links break:
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Still trying to digest all the data in that email!
So the “all the same offerings” Bonus Bite Zones will presumably be mediocre and we should just eat enough to tide us over until the unlimited food service begins one hour into the actual event?
And then thinking about this:
Restaurants close 1 hour before end of meetup (but not snack carts) Fri 1130pm/Sat 1230am
A number of rides need to be cleared of guests by 12am due to noise ordinances.
All other attractions are supposed to be cleared of guests by end of event, so their entrances could close by Fri 12am/Sat 1am.
So best use of 12-1230am Friday is probably topping off on butter beer from a cart and playing with wands? Possibly also 12-130am on Saturday?
I’m still not sure how much of my family will be up for the more extreme coasters, and it sounds like VC is now the most extreme at UOR? I’m going to do one Sat plan that includes it during normal park hours and one that doesn’t, and we’ll see how the family feels after the Friday event. I’m also not entirely convinced it won’t be open during the event, that they are just trying to manage expectations. We’ll keep an eye on it Friday night if we can grab a ride then.
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You read my mind!! I was trying to be a detective earlier without trying to butt in! Thank you!
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I knew I’d want it if it were me! 
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I’M SO EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS!!! It’s going to be AMAZING!
I think this sounds exactly right, and an fantastic use of otherwise wasted time!
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I’ll have to ask DD18 if I can borrow her wand for December!
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I hope we can bump into each other! I’ll even let you cast your spells first! 
With as much ice cream as I plan to have from Forte-sques(sp?), it might take me a second to get the spell out anyway. I’m going to sound like that kid from A Christmas Story after he’s pulled off the flagpole!
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Shudder. I witnessed that for real in elementary school. Only fewer police and fire trucks. More cups of hot water and blood. 
Ew! No! I like the one in my head better!
I’m sorry you had to see that 
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I hope so too!
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So I’ve read a lot of random comments on the OI Facebook posts to get tips. Of course, always taking them with a grain of salt because even with my limited knowledge of UOR/OI Meetups, some of the posters clearly have no idea what they’re talking about (outdated info, etc).
I’ve seen a couple of comments about the transition period between when the parks close but the pre-close queues haven’t cleared out yet. Do our meetup credentials give us access to the express pass entrances during that time? (I know they don’t pre-close.)
I probably need to make a list of questions to ask at check-in…
No. Some of those rides have downtime to clear out. Like mummy doesn’t open till. 8
This is my plan. The menus look fine, but nothing super exciting. So we plan to swing by and get something but don’t want to fill up before the good stuff later in the evening.
I made a note in my phone of the rides that don’t close at midnight, mostly indoor ones, so a snack cart and one or two of those are what I’m thinking for the late late portion.
Honestly, I’m most excited that I went with the two nights so that I can almost have a dry run on Friday night and then really have a blast on Saturday. Even with trying to read through the tips in the FB group, there’s so many windows of time to navigate (pre park close, post park close but pre food, early ride closures, food closures, event end, etc) that even for an event with no ride waits it’s a lot of planning.
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I thought Mummy was the only one? It is specifically mentioned in the email but no others are?
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So, life got super busy and I just realized that this is next effing week already and I kinda forgot about it! It’s so funny how that can happen when everything is bought and paid for and there’s no reservations to worry about.
One of my traveling party was at Universal last week and rode VC twice, and waited less than 30 minutes each time. I always knew that it was a version of a coaster they’ve been building for a long time, but now that I’ve seen videos I am less desperate to ride it. I still think it will be fun, but I don’t think it does anything (except the barrel roll on the water… that’s what I’m looking forward to) that Maverick at Cedar Point hasn’t been doing for years. That takes a lot of the pressure off, really.
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