Our 2015 Spring Break Trip - Day 2

Today was day 2 of our trip. We all slept much better last night so everyone was well rested to start the day.

We made it over to IOA a about 7:55 a.m. Like yesterday there were huge
crowds for early entry. I have really been surprised how much more crowded it has been than last year. We “walked with purpose” to FJoHP and found the wait to be 45 minutes. We had our special express passes that we received yesterday due to the issue with Gringotts. When we went up to the castle the TM said the ride was not running so we decided to do something else. We rode Flight of the Hippogriff (this is one of DD8’s favorites). We then decided to get in line for HE.

I think due to the issues with FJoHP the lines for HE were much longer than yesterday at 8:25 am. We still were on the second train and arrived at Kings Cross at 8:56 a.m . We headed straight to Gringotts. The line was about 75 people outside the ride. I left the DDs in line and went to check my bag. I did that very quickly and the DDs had already moved right up to the entrance. The wait was listed at 30 minutes. We timed the wait and it was only 20 minutes. The ride was vastly more fun without the technical difficulties that we experienced yesterday. When we got off the ride it was already at 60 minutes. It quickly escalated to 90 minutes from there.

The DDs wanted to do more spells so we did that and had fun doing so. We went to Shutterbuttons and bought the DVD package. We acted out 12 scenes in front of a green screen. DD11 was wearing a green shirt so she had to work hard to keep that covered up. There is a $20 discount if you have a Star Card so it only cost about $50. This was really fun.

DD8 was hungry so I bought Butterbeer cones for them while they were in line for Ollivanders. The line moves much faster than I anticipated so I wound up holding rapidly melting cones while they did the wand show. They each wound up getting wands. I think they now have three each. DH showed up at this point.

We wanted to do Despicable Me but the wait was too long (standby was 80 minutes and the EP wait looked close to 39 minutes). We decided to see Twister (a first for my family). My DDs thought it was “awesome”! We then rode Transformers. That is another ride that we all enjoy.

We decided to go to IOA at this point because the DDs wanted to eat at Circus Mcguirkis. We enjoyed our lunch there. It we had wanted to we could have watched the Seuss show and taken pictures with the characters. My DDs see a little old for that.

After lunch we split up. I took DD8 to Cat in the Hat (it does not spin nearly as much as last year) and Red Fish Blue Fish (DD8 made sure I got really wet) while DH took DD11 on Ripsaw Falls. We then rode Jurassic Park together. Our boat was filled with large people. We were in the last row and got soaked!!!

DH needed to spend some time on email so I took the DDs to Dr. Doom and Spider-Man. We then headed back to Blutos Barges and rode that three times. It may be my imagination but it seems like because it is so warm (high 80Fs) that they have set it up so everyone gets soaked. We rode with a few people in jeans who seemed to have no idea how wet they would get.

We then headed back to the hotel for pool time. The same DJ that has been there on all of our prior trips was back with his air guitar contests. DD8 convinced me to participate. I did not expect DH to film this embarrassing event. I made need to find a way to delete it by accident:). We enjoyed our margaritas in the pool and the fun music and atmosphere.

For dinner we put the DDs in Camp Lil Rock and we went to Emeril’s. We had a fantastic meal. The food and service have always been wonderful there. We really enjoyed the banana cream pie dessert. The DDs had a great time at the kids camp. They are bed now and seem to have fallen right to sleep.

Tomorrow we need to finally ride FJoHP. Fortunately we still have our special express passes so that should not be an issue. We also need to ride Despicable Me.

The weather forecast is for another perfect day. It should be great.
http://imgur.com/z8bADhl

9 Likes

I love following along! Sounds like yall make the most of your trip! Can’t wait to hear about today!

1 Like

Really enjoying your trip reports! Thanks so much for sharing with all of us. Hope you continue to enjoy your vacation!

Another great report! Thank you!!

Thanks so much for sharing! Great info for our April trip.