Post by asdflkahsflasd on Jun 15, 2006 10:37:16 GMT -5
Note: When I wrote this for TPR, it was right when I came back. I don't feel like changing all of the "today's". There is no exaggerating in this trip report.
Today as part of my school's band trip, I went to Islands Of Adventure. We left from school at 6:30 AM - I live in Boca Raton, about three hours south of Orlando - and arrived at the park at 9:30 AM, entering at 10 AM. Just a few weeks ago, I had been to Busch Gardens on a Friday and wasn't expecting long waits. The longest wait was around 20 minutes, and it was for Cheetah Chase.
I was dead wrong.
A bit of information: I went around the park with my friends Ian, Ezra, and Eric. I decided to post the times so you can appreciate how flawed the day really was.
10:00 AM
Right off of the bat, we saw that the line for Hulk was 35 minutes and out the door. After searching for an Express Pass machine (more on this later), we just went in line. Hulk is as great of a coaster as usual. We rode from the sevent row. My friends Nick and Michael were about 100 people behind us in line, but when Nick chickened out, his group abandoned Michael so we decided to take him with us around the park. The highlight of the ride was when we tried to enter the row, and someone waiting in the Express Pass line accused us of cutting when we moved into line, and that he should get priority because he used the fast pass system.
Now, the guy had waited in line for about two minutes. Surely you can excuse some people that aren't rich enough to afford Express Pass (again, more on this coming later) for WALKING IN A LINE.
Ah, yes, Express Pass. Last year when I went to IOA and USF as part of a 3-day band trip, the Express Passes had machines where, if you put your ticket in, you could get an Express Pass for a ride of choice.
Not this time.
We found out that all of those machines were either scrapped or well-hidden, and that Express Passes were either pay-per-use or the hotel room key.
10:45 AM
We spent about ten minutes after the ride loitering around Marvel Super Hero Island. Dr. Doom's wait was 40 minutes, and Spiderman was CLOSED. Fully expecting Dueling Dragons to be closed (according to the park's website and numerous TPR members), we were expecting a disappointment. We decided to venture over to Toon Lagoon.
Lo and behold, Ripsaw Falls as we get to the entrance closes down. We saw people going down the drop, and not a minute later they said that it was closed as we tried to enter. We came back later and the water was completely shut off.
11:00 AM
We enter the 35-minute wait for Popeye.
12:30 PM
We exit Popeye.
I'm not exaggerating in the slightest. At some points, we would stand still without any movement whatsoever for 5 minutes. Just as you think you're at the end of the line, there are more switchbacks! Popeye doesn't even get you that wet.
12:35 PM
We go over to the Comic Strip Cafe, where we see four friends eating outside. The line looks huge; it's out the door. We ask how long they waited - they said 20 minutes, and the line was shorter for them. Hell no.
12:45 PM
We go in the line for some restaurant called, like, Tipsy's. I forgot the name. We were going to try Blondie's but it was closed.
Tipsy's, or whatever, is nothing short of anal rape. There was a 20 person line, ALL of the people being groups of 3 or more (mostly school groups), with two windows open serving one person at a time. They wouldn't even serve groups.
Eventually, we make it to the end of the line, where we find that it costs precisely $10.42 for chicken fingers, french fries, and a small Coke.
1:30 PM
We're currently walking through Jurassic Park. The River Adventure is a 45-minute wait. Ezra was watching the splashdown for a bit (and this was his first time at the park, ever). I quote him - "What's the point of the ride? The people don't even look splashed!" There is no point to it, Ezra. It was a huge waste of money.
1:40 PM
We're in Lost Continent. Flying Unicorn has a 15-minute wait. PASS. Sinbad isn't showing until 4:30 PM (if my memory serves me right). PASS. Posideon has a 45-minute wait. ULTRA PASS. It's not even a good walkthrough attraction.
Lo and behold, Dueling Dragons is open. Fire is in dire need of a paint job. We only see Ice running for a couple runs. The wait says 60 minutes. Oh well. Ezra needs the credit.
Five minutes later, we finally see someone else in the line.
It took 40 minutes to get through this 60-minute wait, yet a ride like Popeye that should be so much simpler to load is three times the posted wait.
We decided to ride Ice - Fire was running but the group voted on Ice. Ezra made a little song about choosing your fate, but it wasn't until we actually got to the sign that he started realizing that he was nervous about the coaster. Don't worry, Ezra, it's a bore.
Ice was the same as always - fast through loops, weird chain lift, nice first duel. We were riding from the back row so the duel wasn't that great, but it's not that great from the front either. Again, I quote Ezra - "That really wasn't too fun. The G-forces were more intense than Hulk, but it was like two seconds long." Truer words were never spoken...at this park...by Ezra...
2:30 PM
We're in Seuss Landing. The Sylvester McMonkey McBean trains are on the track, and we see some scenery moving in the station. Still closed until the summer, though. It looks kinda fun. We decided to pass up on Cat In The Hat.
2:40 PM
Hulk's wait is 45 minutes. Oh boy. Let's wait in line. We got in the back row this time. It broke down for about five minutes while we were in line.
3:30 PM
Let's ride Dr. Doom! The posted wait is 25 minutes.
Once in the line, we met up with our friends Stuart, Rachel, Gabby, and Eric (another Eric). Ezra didn't feel well so he sat out.
4:00 PM
We're five feet in the air on Dr. Doom. I have a penny in my hand. "5...4..." Launch. The penny stays in my hand on the way up. Instead of floating like it would on a normal drop, it SHOOTS up and to the left. I completely lose track of it. Stuart and I both laughed. It turns out that the penny landed on Gabby. Sorry Gabby. She was also sitting on the other side of the ride.
4:15 PM
"HOLY FREAKING CRAP, THE ARCADE HAS IN THE GROOVE 2!" I shout. Yes, it's $2.00 for 3 songs but DAMMIT I'M GOING TO PLAY ITG2! And I impress everyone by getting good scores - all of them in the top 10 for the machine - on Delirium Hard, Da Roots Expert, and Romeo & Juli8 Expert.
4:30 PM
Stuart is shocked at my skills. He thought he was good at DDR, but he can't even come close to my arrow-stomping skills. I am getting the attention of several girls. I am happy.
5:00 PM
We're walking towards Citiwalk right now. Yay, the moving walkways.
5:15 PM
The bus is pulling out.
8:15 PM
We're at school, shocking my parents. The itinerary said we were going to be home at 9:30 PM.
Well, that's basically it. Islands was pretty terrible to go today. Considering that in seven hours we hit four different attractions (five total), I'd call it the anti-park-conquer. This is comparing to me conquering Busch Gardens in six hours, and riding most preferable rides twice or more...overall, I'd rate it a 2/10 on the day. Two for each Hulk ride.
Today as part of my school's band trip, I went to Islands Of Adventure. We left from school at 6:30 AM - I live in Boca Raton, about three hours south of Orlando - and arrived at the park at 9:30 AM, entering at 10 AM. Just a few weeks ago, I had been to Busch Gardens on a Friday and wasn't expecting long waits. The longest wait was around 20 minutes, and it was for Cheetah Chase.
I was dead wrong.
A bit of information: I went around the park with my friends Ian, Ezra, and Eric. I decided to post the times so you can appreciate how flawed the day really was.
10:00 AM
Right off of the bat, we saw that the line for Hulk was 35 minutes and out the door. After searching for an Express Pass machine (more on this later), we just went in line. Hulk is as great of a coaster as usual. We rode from the sevent row. My friends Nick and Michael were about 100 people behind us in line, but when Nick chickened out, his group abandoned Michael so we decided to take him with us around the park. The highlight of the ride was when we tried to enter the row, and someone waiting in the Express Pass line accused us of cutting when we moved into line, and that he should get priority because he used the fast pass system.
Now, the guy had waited in line for about two minutes. Surely you can excuse some people that aren't rich enough to afford Express Pass (again, more on this coming later) for WALKING IN A LINE.
Ah, yes, Express Pass. Last year when I went to IOA and USF as part of a 3-day band trip, the Express Passes had machines where, if you put your ticket in, you could get an Express Pass for a ride of choice.
Not this time.
We found out that all of those machines were either scrapped or well-hidden, and that Express Passes were either pay-per-use or the hotel room key.
10:45 AM
We spent about ten minutes after the ride loitering around Marvel Super Hero Island. Dr. Doom's wait was 40 minutes, and Spiderman was CLOSED. Fully expecting Dueling Dragons to be closed (according to the park's website and numerous TPR members), we were expecting a disappointment. We decided to venture over to Toon Lagoon.
Lo and behold, Ripsaw Falls as we get to the entrance closes down. We saw people going down the drop, and not a minute later they said that it was closed as we tried to enter. We came back later and the water was completely shut off.
11:00 AM
We enter the 35-minute wait for Popeye.
12:30 PM
We exit Popeye.
I'm not exaggerating in the slightest. At some points, we would stand still without any movement whatsoever for 5 minutes. Just as you think you're at the end of the line, there are more switchbacks! Popeye doesn't even get you that wet.
12:35 PM
We go over to the Comic Strip Cafe, where we see four friends eating outside. The line looks huge; it's out the door. We ask how long they waited - they said 20 minutes, and the line was shorter for them. Hell no.
12:45 PM
We go in the line for some restaurant called, like, Tipsy's. I forgot the name. We were going to try Blondie's but it was closed.
Tipsy's, or whatever, is nothing short of anal rape. There was a 20 person line, ALL of the people being groups of 3 or more (mostly school groups), with two windows open serving one person at a time. They wouldn't even serve groups.
Eventually, we make it to the end of the line, where we find that it costs precisely $10.42 for chicken fingers, french fries, and a small Coke.
1:30 PM
We're currently walking through Jurassic Park. The River Adventure is a 45-minute wait. Ezra was watching the splashdown for a bit (and this was his first time at the park, ever). I quote him - "What's the point of the ride? The people don't even look splashed!" There is no point to it, Ezra. It was a huge waste of money.
1:40 PM
We're in Lost Continent. Flying Unicorn has a 15-minute wait. PASS. Sinbad isn't showing until 4:30 PM (if my memory serves me right). PASS. Posideon has a 45-minute wait. ULTRA PASS. It's not even a good walkthrough attraction.
Lo and behold, Dueling Dragons is open. Fire is in dire need of a paint job. We only see Ice running for a couple runs. The wait says 60 minutes. Oh well. Ezra needs the credit.
Five minutes later, we finally see someone else in the line.
It took 40 minutes to get through this 60-minute wait, yet a ride like Popeye that should be so much simpler to load is three times the posted wait.
We decided to ride Ice - Fire was running but the group voted on Ice. Ezra made a little song about choosing your fate, but it wasn't until we actually got to the sign that he started realizing that he was nervous about the coaster. Don't worry, Ezra, it's a bore.
Ice was the same as always - fast through loops, weird chain lift, nice first duel. We were riding from the back row so the duel wasn't that great, but it's not that great from the front either. Again, I quote Ezra - "That really wasn't too fun. The G-forces were more intense than Hulk, but it was like two seconds long." Truer words were never spoken...at this park...by Ezra...
2:30 PM
We're in Seuss Landing. The Sylvester McMonkey McBean trains are on the track, and we see some scenery moving in the station. Still closed until the summer, though. It looks kinda fun. We decided to pass up on Cat In The Hat.
2:40 PM
Hulk's wait is 45 minutes. Oh boy. Let's wait in line. We got in the back row this time. It broke down for about five minutes while we were in line.
3:30 PM
Let's ride Dr. Doom! The posted wait is 25 minutes.
Once in the line, we met up with our friends Stuart, Rachel, Gabby, and Eric (another Eric). Ezra didn't feel well so he sat out.
4:00 PM
We're five feet in the air on Dr. Doom. I have a penny in my hand. "5...4..." Launch. The penny stays in my hand on the way up. Instead of floating like it would on a normal drop, it SHOOTS up and to the left. I completely lose track of it. Stuart and I both laughed. It turns out that the penny landed on Gabby. Sorry Gabby. She was also sitting on the other side of the ride.
4:15 PM
"HOLY FREAKING CRAP, THE ARCADE HAS IN THE GROOVE 2!" I shout. Yes, it's $2.00 for 3 songs but DAMMIT I'M GOING TO PLAY ITG2! And I impress everyone by getting good scores - all of them in the top 10 for the machine - on Delirium Hard, Da Roots Expert, and Romeo & Juli8 Expert.
4:30 PM
Stuart is shocked at my skills. He thought he was good at DDR, but he can't even come close to my arrow-stomping skills. I am getting the attention of several girls. I am happy.
5:00 PM
We're walking towards Citiwalk right now. Yay, the moving walkways.
5:15 PM
The bus is pulling out.
8:15 PM
We're at school, shocking my parents. The itinerary said we were going to be home at 9:30 PM.
Well, that's basically it. Islands was pretty terrible to go today. Considering that in seven hours we hit four different attractions (five total), I'd call it the anti-park-conquer. This is comparing to me conquering Busch Gardens in six hours, and riding most preferable rides twice or more...overall, I'd rate it a 2/10 on the day. Two for each Hulk ride.