Finally got the rest of the report typed up. I’m going off text messages, and one ride photos, so the timeline can be a bit fuzzy.
Monday Morning
I woke up too early, in that annoying time between too early to actually get up but too late to go back to sleep and get a full sleep cycle in. But I was in line for security at 7:48 AM, and made it to Rope Drop.
First stop Velocicoaster. I parked the scooter underneath the overhang for the discovery center, and headed in line. First wait time was about 4 minutes and I got on the ride at 8:20, second wait time was 13 minutes, and I got on around 8:40. We met up at Seuss Landing. I saw them while riding the Caro-Suess-El. I believe we did the other rides as well, but I don’t know.
I’m fuzzy on the details after this, but I think we did Poseidon’s Fury and then we took the Hogwarts express over to Diagon Alley. Trying to get the scooter through the elevator took a while. We didn’t have a line on the Hogsmeade side, but we did have to wait for the elevator to go back. It was annoying enough that we avoided taking the scooter onto the Express. My party went back to the hotel for a midday break, while I did Mummy twice as a single rider, and MIB as a single rider. I started MIB in the express pass lane, but was sent to the front of the very empty single rider line instead. Once the rides were done, I headed to the shows. I did Animal Actors Live on Location, the Horror Makeup Show, and the Bourne Stuntacular. I also did a meet and greet with Earl the Squirrel.
After that, I tried to meet up with my party, but we were on opposite sides of the Macy’s Parade. Once that was complete, they headed back to the hotel, and I headed to Diagon Alley to see it at night. I quickly rode Gringotts, and spent some time wandering around. Once the park officially closed, I headed out. I caught some of the Cinematic Celebration, including a few fireworks, and headed back to the Hotel Room.
4 Likes
Tuesday Morning
Rope dropped again, and rode Velicoaster twice before park open. I met up with my party at Super Silly Stuff, and then we rode Minions. (Two in the pods, and one on the benches.) SIL and I rode Transformers, and we headed to Mummy. We did Mummy once. We caught the new Latin street show, which I liked a lot. At this point, we split up. My MIL took the scooter back to the hotel, and SIL and I took the express to Hogsmeade. We spent some time in Hogsmeade, then went to Jurassic Park. SIL and I rode the Jurassic Park River Adventure, then we headed to Toon Lagoon. We grabbed a locker to put all our things in, and switched on Crocs for Popeye’s. I had a poncho, SIL did not. We rode it once, but SIL didn’t get wet enough, so we did it again. Wearing the poncho, the top half of my shirt was about as wet as getting it out of the washer. SIL was soaked to the skin. SIL headed back to the hotel, and I grabbed one more ride on Hulk.
Back to the hotel for lunch. I went out again with the intention of leaving the scooter behind. I did, but then asked MIL to bring it to me. Once we met with that, I headed to Hogsmeade. Earlier in hogsmeade, I had tried the test seats for Hagrid’s and found out I fit in, so I wanted to ride it. Posted wait time 90 minutes. I put all my stuff in my locker, including my phone, and then went into the line. I split off for Single Rider, and about 60 minutes into waiting, about 6:00 PM, and I was three people from getting on the ride the ride broke down. I decided to wait it out, and got on the ride just after 7:00. I came back to my phone with my family trying to find out where I was. I then headed back to the hotel. As I was nearing the entrance to Universal Studios Florida, masses of cheerleaders were heading into the park, and with the scooter I couldn’t get through. One of the security guards was kind enough to pause people so I could get through.
3 Likes
Wednesday Morning
I got to leave for rope drop because my family was willing to bring my things down to bell services to hold until we left. The water taxis were running, but I didn’t want to try and navigate it with the scooter. I rope dropped Hagrid. I was in line at 8:02, and rode it with a 20 minute wait. Many people had issues getting their stuff form the lockers because the lockers timed out right as we got back to lockers. I made it just in time. After that I rode Forbidden Journey, and explored Hogsmeade. I finally got a Grinch Meet and Greet for 3:10, after 3 days of trying. I then headed to Velocicoaster and did single rider twice. The family had a few issues with luggage pickup. I checked out at 10:58. The family rode the water taxi, and we met in Seuss Landing. We headed over to Hogsmeade to try to ride Hagrids. The posted wait time was 60 minutes. First time, it took 20 minutes to get to the single rider split. We got into the single rider line, and had no wait before getting on the ride. Two people were in front of us in single rider but they paused to finish their Butterbeers. (Too expensive to toss.)
Second time, it was 15 minutes to get to the single rider, and 5 minutes once in that line.
We met up with MIL again, who had done a castle tour while we waited, and took the express to Diagon Alley. We left the scooter near the entrance to Hogsmeade. We ducked into Shutterbuttons to get the photo op because MIL would not be in the line with us, then we did Gringotts. If you want a quick way to avoid crowds between Gringotts and the entrance to Diagon Alley, you can go through Knockturne Alley. It is usually pretty empty.
After that, we ate lunch at the waterfront, and took the express back to Hogsmeade to catch our Grinch Meet and Greet. We got lucky and got into line just ahead of some big crowds, and without the scooter, we didn’t need to wait in the elevator line. We grabbed the scooter, and headed to Seuss Landing. Grinch was fun, but everyone was exhausted. At this point, we headed to the park entrance for photos. The plan had been to also grab photos at the USO entrance, but we were too tired for that. We got some ice cream to eat, and grabbed a Hogwarts crest mug. My MIL took the scooter back to the hotel, and SIL took the water taxi back to Hard Rock.
We returned the scooter to bell services, got our car and luggage, and headed to the airport. Google maps took me to some car return lot that wasn’t at the airport, but on the second try we made it. We returned the car, and the Florida Toll Pass. We made it through check in, and got to the gate with a half an hour to boarding. Our flight was delayed, but we made it back home in the end.
4 Likes
Accomplishments for this trip
Made the trip with a sprained ankle, and managed to not make it too much worse.
I got to see the sit down shows I had wanted to for a while, Animal Actors, Horror Makeup Show, the Bourne Stuntacular, and the Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular.
Lost enough weight to ride Hagrid’s, Velocicoaster and Hulk.
Stayed at Hard Rock Hotel for the 1st time.
Total Ride Count
IOA
Hulk 2x
Spider-Man
Popeys 2x
Jurrasic Park River Adventure 2x
Velocicoaster 7x
Hagrids 4x
Forbidden Journey
Hippogriph
Poseidon’s Fury
High In the Sky Trolley Train Ride 2x
Caro-Suess-El 2x
One Fish Two Fish
The Cat in the Hat
USO
Minions
Mummy 3x
MIB 2x
Gringotts 2x
Transformers
9 Likes