The Ferrets full trip report (with pictures). Now fully Finished

May 9th

This morning saw us buckle up and motor up to Universal. Once parked up and through bag check we headed over to the left at Citywalk and into Islands Of Adventure.
We headed straight through the park and up to Hogsmeade and The Forbidden Journey ride. The wait time posted was for 75 minutes but as we got closer there was a cast member informing people that the ride was down at the moment but we were welcome to join the Queue but they couldn't guarantee what time it would be active again .
At this point we decided to switch things up and head on over to Uni Studios via the Hogwarts Express. I wont go into detail of this ride so as to keep the surprise for others but keep an eye on the window and your carriage doorway. We exited at kings cross and headed across into Diagon alley.
This area is awesomely themed and due to the high buildings it is completely immersive.
First up was a ride on Escape from Gringotts. This has a very deceptive queue area as you enter through the front of the bank you go down into an outside area that can take more than an hour to clear before you get back into the bank for another 30 minute or more queue. The inside section has more to see and do including a photo section. The ride itself is pretty cool and uses screens and other things to complete the experience.
Once we had done this we re-lockered our bags and went back in for a second ride.
After this the queue time had grown to well over an hour and a half so we decided to get some refreshment. We decided on ice cream and went into Florien Fortesques. We both went for a waffle cone,mine with sticky toffee pudding flavour and Donna had apple crumble. We parked outside to eat the cones and watch the dragon on top of the bank. Both flavours were very nice and the dragon fire is exceedingly hot (even in the Florida sun).We spent a good while investigating all around the alley and also in knockturn alley before heading back out into the main park.
We ventured over to Men in Black and Donna proceeded to beat me ...
Next up we ventured into Springfield and to the Krusty burger. The line to get to the food stations was out the door so we went around to the Starbucks location for coffee and a sandwich and shared a cheese danish. We sat outside to eat and watch the world walk by.
By this time all the rides had seriously long queues so we hit up the shops and left for the day. Not before we had seen Bumblebee and Megatron
We headed back to the resort to rest up for later as the temps were in the upper 90's.

Later that day we headed out to the bus stop and boarded for the Magic Kingdom.
Once there we went right into the Tinkerbell meet and greet. By the time we had been returned to our regular size we headed over to Arrundelle to meet with the frozen sisters.
The poor photographer in here was doing a great but busy job as he was covering all the families meeting both sisters by himself as the other camera person had issues with her card reader. First up was Anna and then Elsa.
We followed this with a trip "under the sea" on the little mermaid ride.
Our first FP+ of the day was due so we headed into tomorrrowlad and boarded our astro blasters to go "to Infinity and Beyond".Continuing the trend of the day Donna beat me by achieving a perfect score.
After this we headed of for another trip around the dead centre of the park. Upon exiting we popped into Memento Mori for a "special" portrait from here. We took these with us and due to a mix up and (in their words) an unnecessary long wait we received a free FP+ for any ride. We took this and swiftly headed over to 7 dwarves mine train for an unexpected ride.
Winnie the Pooh was next as it was only a 10 minute wait for the standby line. Next up was a spin through space on the mountain and this time we got the other side of the ride (this one seems a little jerkier).
Casey's corner was our next stop for a quick top up before our next FP+
THE JUNGLE CRUISE ... This is my all time favourite ride and skipper Louis didn't disappoint with a few new jokes thrown in with the old ones. The refurb looks good and the ride is looking nice and clean with a few new bits thrown in. From here we went next door to Pirates and rode this again. I do feel they shouldn't have pushed the refurb back as it is a shame to see some of the things that need fixing. We decided at this point that we were both done for the day ad headed off for some well deserved rest.

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	Florien Forteques	1.43 MB
	Springfield	4.66 MB
	Gringott's Dragon	1.44 MB
	Jebidiah Springfield	3.03 MB
	Bumblebee	2.32 MB
	Anna	1.09 MB
	Early AM at The Magic Kingdom	1.89 MB

May 10th

This was a late start for us as we had nothing planned but shopping.
We went to the Vineland outlet malls first and then on to the Florida mall.
Afterwards we went down to the super Target on the 192 before heading back to the resort.
We boated to Disney Springs to watch Avengers Age of Ultron.Due to a late finish time we had to catch the bus back to the hotel as the boats had moored up for the night.

this has made my day

The rumors of my incarceration have been greatly exaggerated ... Am enjoying a beverage with Mrs Ferret and choosing pictures for the remaining days.

Oh and drinking from these flower and garden bad boys

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May 11th

Today we took the car out for another blast and headed off to Seaworld. We normally take our seaworld days a little more relaxed and just spend time watching the animals instead of heading from ride to ride.
Upon arrival we headed up through the park to the new penguin encounter area before any queues got out of hand. We went in with only a 10 minute wait and chose the "wild" ride option. It is a neat little ride and not very wild at all to be honest. I won't give away any details so as to allow others to enjoy it themselves. At the end we spent some time watching the little fellows both above and below the waterline. Donna made a new friend in a Gentoo that spent qite a lot of time showing off to her. When we exited back into the park we saw it was still only a short wait and re rode. Again at the end we watched the Penguins some more as they had woken up far more and were more active. We decided to have an early lunch at this point so got something from the antarctic basestation and found a quiet seating area to enjoy it. Next up was the turtle and Manatee show and we spent quite some time there watching the animals (and some divers hoovering the exhibit).The dolphin encounter had been closed off for redevelopment so that was off the agenda.
We stopped off next at the shark encounter as it was nearby and took the moving walkway through the shark tunnel. Whilst in the same area I decided a ride on Kraken was in order so I headed off to that whilst Donna got herself a Henna Tattoo (oooo what a rebel).
Once suitably inverted and shaken we headed around the back of the Shamu stadium taking some time to check out the artwork located here that has been made entirely from stuff washed up on Florida's beaches. Wild Arctic was our next destination and we chose the simulator route. It was way bumpier than I remember from previous trips (maybe I am just getting old) and we spent a good amount of time in here watching the Belugas,Seals and sea Chickens ...
upon exciting we headed over to the Penguin encounter again but the wait time was up to 55 minutes so we decided dippin dots ice cream was a far better option.
We spent some time next up at the Shamu underwater viewing area watching them play with their toys.
A ride on Manta was next for me and it was a quick 5 minute stroll through the queue and pretty much straight on to the ride. At the exit to the ride I had a did that just happen moment. Bearing in mind I am thousands of miles from home I walk out of the exit and someone stops me with a "hello Mate how are you"
It was a customer from a local garage back home !!
Once I had located Donna we took a gentle stroll out through the shops and out of the park.
We headed down to the 192 to pick up another couple of cheap cases and for dinner at Golden Corall before returning to the resort for the night.

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	Donna's New Friend	3.58 MB
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	img_1667.jpg	4.76 MB

May 12th

We returned to Universal today and headed straight to the studios side this time.
First on the agenda was Transformers the ride. This is very cool and uses the same tech as the Spiderman ride over in IOA so if you like one you will like the other. Our next up was the Mummy but unfortunatley this was closed until midday due to filming so we headed to Kings cross station and boarded through platform 9 3/4 .This has a very cool effect mid queue. Again on the train keep looking all around you.
Straight off the train and into Hogwarts to ride the Forbidden Journey. This is as good as I remember and the queue is as immersive as any in Florida. We hopped onto Flight of the Hippogriff next and I was impressed with the re-theme of the queue and the ride as I had not ridden it since they changed it from the Flying Unicorn. On a similar note I passed on the Dragon challenge as it no longer launches the coasters in tandem (elf and safety) so when I rode it after the re-theme it just wasn't the same as previous with the near misses
Lunchtime saw us at the 3 broomsticks and we both had the cottage pie and hot butterbeer. Both were very nice and I would have to say that hot is our favourite of the butterbeers.
We spent the rest of the day with no particular plan in mind slowly enjoying the theming of the rest of the park and its different areas. I did consider the incredible hulk coaster but the queue time was far too long and I didn't fancy the wait.
We both met with the green goblin in superhero island (me whilst paying for a t-shirt and Donna whilst seated waiting for me to investigate the hulk) he was not as scary as I would of thought and chatted briefly to us both.
After returning to the car we took a detour to the NB and Nike outlets to have a browse and then called it an early day after a Micked D's as we have an early start tomorrow.

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May 13th

Early start today as we had an 8 am tour booked.
The bus service was running pretty prompt and we soon found ourselves waiting off to one side of the train station to be let in. At ten to eight we were cleared for entry along with a bunch of other tour people and early breakfasters.
The tour itself was very informative and I won't go into a lot of detail (take the tour if you want to know) but I will go over the basics.
We started at town square and were issued with an earpiece each before heading up to the castle with our tour guide Megan explaining various things and history behind things. We went into liberty square and up to the Haunted mansion. We went through the queue area and she explained a lot of the gravestones and elements to us. We rode the ride with an extra voice in our head pointing out various techniques and reasons behind the ride. After exiting we were shown where the "brides ring" was located and the whole "story" behind its origin. Taking us through the Tangled restroom area we headed backstage and were shown how some of the haunted mansion works. Very interesting is all I have to say. Upon returning to the park proper we were taken though Winnie the Pooh and rode with instuctions of things to watch for. After this we headed around into tomorrowland and rode Carousel of Progress with a full talk through each scene and things I had never even known or noticed. Our tour ended at this point and it was well worth the time spent doing it.
Lunch was well due at this point so what better place to go than Cosmic Rays Starlight cafe
After lunch we used one of our "free" FP's to ride 7 dwarves mine train and then went to our first regular FP of the day over at the Haunted Mansion.A lot of what was said on the tour really becomes apparent with re-rides and doesn't ruin it in the slightest.
Country bears was next up as the show was just starting as we walked past. We used our next "freebie" to ride ... 7 dwarves again and then spent a while sightseeing before retiring for the day.

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