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Orlando / Disney / Universal Chat

Paul said:
Interestingly people praising that they have proper accessability seats... however by all accounts there are possibly major issues with people and size... apparently a lot more restrictive than FOP!!
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Yah there's a metal safety bar that secures down across the back of your calf or knee, depending on how big your belly is restricts how low you can get your leg below the bar:oops:
At the back of the ride vehicle they've the 1 accessibility car,for those that might require it.
 
Neil McRae said:
don't forget to go fast pass hunting when rides are out of order!

Was at Disney in LA with iepinball and a bunch of others after INDISC it was alot of fun, Mandy and I usually go to Florida every year. GOTG in Florida is not to be missed, one of the highlights. And don't forget to set Chewy mode when you goto Smugglers run! I'd say universal is way more expensive than Disney especially if you want to park hop.

Also the bigger issue around pricing is the things you don't think about. $20+ parking per day, $4 for water etc its that stuff that grates.
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Tron will probably start out like GOTG and Rise did with limited virtual queue windows first thing in the morning then at 1pm.
Will then get shoved into the ridiculous lightning lane premium single ride upcharge, then hopefully will fall into the regular Genie plus category at whatever price they see fit on the day you visit.

The fastpass system was far easier and freeee
 
If you planned on only:thumbs: doing Universal one or two days you're definitely correct @Neil McRae Dividing the total cost vs volume of park options Disney does work out better value. The wife and I always stay in a universal hotel so go many times and use citywalk regularly for meals and entertainment, so it always feels like a bargain. However as we only do a Disney for 1 or 2 days the price outlay seems bonkers. But I can definitely see people who use the parks in the opposite fashion would have the opposite opinion to us too.
 
Not been to Disneyland since 2006 but now Universal Hollywood have opened Super Nintendo World we'll head over in the next 12months again.
 
Neil McRae said:
I'd say universal is way more expensive than Disney especially if you want to park hop.
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Honestly not sure where you get that from Neil. Even if we ignore the hotels, which are much better value at Universal, and just look at park hopper tickets:

Tickets Only Available in UK:

Disney: 14 Day and 7 Day Park Hoppers are currently £545 for an adult.

Universal: 14 Day Park Hoppers are currently £332 for an adult.

Tickets at the Gate:

Disney: 1 day park hopper ranges from $184 to $253 + tax depending on the date.

Universal: 1 day park hopper ranges from $164 to $214 + tax depending on the date.

Annual Passes:
Disney: Most passes currently not on sale, but if you aren't a FL resident the only annual pass available would be $1400 + tax. Another $100 to add water parks.

Universal: 2 Park passes range from $425 to $755 + tax , 3 Park passes range from $525 to $955 + tax.


I've been a Disney passholder in the past - I used to have the pass that was valid for both WDW and DL. Ten years ago that cost substantially less than the current WDW pass.

I still have a UOR annual pass, and it doesn't cost me much more than the 14 day ticket available in the UK. I also get annual pass discount rates on hotels, and 10% off all food and drink at the resort excluding booze which really adds up.

Neil McRae said:
Also the bigger issue around pricing is the things you don't think about. $20+ parking per day, $4 for water etc its that stuff that grates.
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Agreed on this. Not much to be done re the parking, but we normally load up a few cases of water at Publix and keep the fridge in the room stocked and take a few out with us whenever we leave the room. Still end up buying a fair few $4 bottles but less than we would otherwise.
 
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Then if we look at hotels - I've picked a week in Sept (16th - 23rd) which is traditionally the off season


Disney:

Deluxe Resort: £2,199 - £5,236

Moderate Resorts: £1,314 - £2,079

Value Resorts: £911 - £1,319


Universal:

Premier Hotels which include unlimited express pass: £2,283 - £2,853 for seven nights.

Preferred Hotel: £1,254

Prime Value: £825

Value: £643 - £736
 
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Crewey said:
Not been to Disneyland since 2006 but now Universal Hollywood have opened Super Nintendo World we'll head over in the next 12months again.
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Disneyland definitely has some advantages over WDW. The two parks entrances are immediately across from one another which makes park hopping a breeze, and between the two parks they have pretty much the same number of attractions as all four parks at WDW.

I'm also tempted to check out SNW before it opens at Epic Universe in Orlando in 2025, but instead of visiting Universal Hollywood we're considering a trip to Japan next year and including a day or two at Universal. We'd also be able to tie in a visit to Tokyo Disney which I've been wanting to get back to for years. They're easily my favourite Disney parks.
 
Noice! The wife went on a japanese exchange back in 1999 and visited the parks, she's desperate to take me over.
Definitely fancy checking out Osaka, we need to time our visit when our Japanese school friend can get time off work as he'd be livid if we both went over and didn't get together with him 😂
 
Just at CDG airport after a Monday to Saturday Disney holiday, stayed at Sequoia Lodge, adjoining twin rooms. Maybe a day too long but one kid spend a day in bed poorly on day 2 so actually worked out great. Wait times were low, 20 to 60 mins, we bumped big lines with the quick buy Premier Access One where you buy a fast pass for just that one ride using the app. Had a blast and kids (7/9) had best holiday to date so all is well here!
 
If you're going to Oviedo to play pinball then it is worth the 45min drive to The Pinball Lounge which is a big side room in a bowling alley. They've got a full bar and serve food all day so you can easily (if allowed) spend the entire day there.

They run IFPA tournaments monthly - we managed to time things so we could go to their Fair Strikes tournament last month and everyone was really friendly, even when Josh started beating everyone and went on to win - even more surprising when he got given an envelope and found the first prize was $500 :)

The owners are great and absolutely love pinball, they have about forty machines there and all are in great condition, with everything cleaned and very well maintained.

They had new machines there (Foo/Scooby) and we didn’t see any game issues the whole day, even on the older machines.

Definitely worth a trip if you want some time out of the Florida heat!
 
Def way more expensive to do the theme parks now than it used to be.

At Disney, if you want Fast Passes you have to pay $25/day per person for Genie+ each day. Also, you can't book them in advance any more - if staying 'on Disney' you can get your first one at 7am, otherwise you can't book the first one until the park opens which means that it probably won't be in the first couple of hours for the big rides.

For the "Virtual Queue" for new big rides you also have to be "in the park" if not staying on Disney. That means you're not getting one in the first 7am slot and the 1pm slot may get you a ride just before the park closes - that is unless you pay $20 each for one go on it!


We stayed at the Hard Rock hotel for a night as that was cheaper than buying the Universal Express Unlimited for two days for six people!


Oh and watch out for the drinks carts - despite charging you $6.99 for a Coke now, they also put up on screen "add a 20% tip" box with a tiny "no tip" options when you pay contactless, despite the fact you picked the bottles up yourself out of the ice and scanned them yourself!
 
cyberkryten said:
For the "Virtual Queue" for new big rides you also have to be "in the park" if not staying on Disney. That means you're not getting one in the first 7am slot and the 1pm slot may get you a ride just before the park closes - that is unless you pay $20 each for one go on it!
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Just back from a few weeks there myself. I was staying off-site in an air BnB and had no issues joining the virtual queue for Tron at 7am. The only thing you need to do is book yourself into the relevant park (Magic Kingdom in this example) the day before trying to join the virtual queue.

And the 7am slots fill up within seconds, so you really have to be on the ball too.

For what it's worth I didn't rate Tron. Nice fast launch, but the rest is very meh, and it's over in barely more than a minute. GOTG however (another one with a virtual queue still) was fantastic
 
The other thing I wish I'd known before visiting again (until recently I'd not been for 20 odd years) is that there are toll booths just minutes away from exiting the airport 😂 And amongst the several tolls you might encounter, they only accept cash, and some only exact coins only, with no attendant (!)

You can book one of these, which I'd definitely recommend to future visitors using rental cars : https://visitortollpass.com/faq
 
M4carp said:
Edit: We also drove out to the Kennedy Space Centre which was awsome!
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We went with 4 families before covid and I split off from the mrs and went with another family to Kennedy.
I absolutely loved it. They should make all the flat earthers and NASA conspiracy nuts go round there. You could never fake it that big :)
 
cyberkryten said:
If you're going to Oviedo to play pinball then it is worth the 45min drive to The Pinball Lounge which is a big side room in a bowling alley
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Thanks, the Lounge is on our radar can't recall why we picked Arcade Monsters. It was during COVID times so could have been unusual opening hours or something.


HHN Rush of Fear Pass purchased ready for September 👻👽💀☠️🧛‍♂️🧟‍♂️
 
Thanks! I assume it’s not little kid friendly?

Update: Just looked at the link and that answered my question…..😂😂
 
JAG555 said:
Thanks! I assume it’s not little kid friendly?

Update: Just looked at the link and that answered my question…..😂😂
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Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween is though :thumbs:unlimited trick or treating too
 
JAG555 said:
Thanks, we have booked that! 😀
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When are you in Orlando? We fly Monday, bit gutted Arcade Monsters hasn't opened it's doors on I-Drive yet so Oviedo area is still the best options for a pinball fix.
Dezerland is pretty much a write-off, except for a couple of pay as play behind the main arcade. The pinball palace barely had one fully operational game in there 18 months ago.
 
We are staying on Disney Property for a week and then a villa close by.

I went to Dezerland last year and it was pretty good. A few games down, but most were working. Loved playing the baseball games they had.

To be honest, I think it will be a bit of a pinball free holiday this time.

Have a great time!
 
JAG555 said:
We are staying on Disney Property for a week and then a villa close by.

I went to Dezerland last year and it was pretty good. A few games down, but most were working. Loved playing the baseball games they had.

To be honest, I think it will be a bit of a pinball free holiday this time.

Have a great time!
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Oh cool, nice to hear someone has made an effort repairing the games there now then.

Have a great time too !
 
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