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Old 19 May 22, 09:14 AM  
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#11
grant_w
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Universal Studios

Studios were open 9-9 on the day we went, and we were going to make full use of the hours. I was a bit worried about the crowd level before I went, having seen WDW Park availability being pretty-much nil. But we were pleasantly surprised.
We started by going straight to Gringotts, which was only a 10 minute wait. it was my first time on it and really enjoyed it. Instead of staying in the HP areas, we went and made the most of the early morning quiet period and rode Men In Black and ET in quick succession. For some reason we went on Fast & Furious again. I should have learnt after the first time 3 years ago. Never again. Terrible ride. Most rides were about 20 minutes for the rest of the day. We did Hogwarts Express both ways too.
We saw the Bourne show as well as Marilyn and Blues Brothers too. At the end of the day we hadn't done Minions, Transformers or Jimmy Fallon, it was decided simulator-type rides weren't really for us.

We took our own food into the park for lunch to save a bit of money and time, and just bought dinner at Krusty burger in the evening. The best thing we did was buy the refillable cup. A few of us got them so they were cheaper, about $14, and you can re-fill them every 10 minutes with the Coke Freestyle machines, or at counters.
On subsequent days you can reactivate them for about $11. When you consider a fountain drink is between $4 and $5 a go, $14 and $11 is good value for all drinks.
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Old 20 May 22, 12:44 PM  
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#12
grant_w
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IOA

IOA was open 9-9 on the day we went, we arrived shortly after 9. We decided Velocicoaster was the thing we wanted to do the most so went straight round to it. Posted wait time of 35 minutes but we were on in 25. Wow what a ride! Airtime is ridiculous and its just a fun re-rideable coaster. While we were in the area we waited for Hagrids. It took 75 minutes but at least we had got on it (it did go down to about 55 minutes later in the day). Did the Jurassic Park River Adventure, and didn't get that wet, so we went round to the other wet rides. Popeyes was a walk-on - nobody in the queue at all, and oh dear, never been so wet on a ride in my life! So funny though. We decided to queue for Ripsaw Falls straight after even though it was a 40 minute wait. From there we went to Dr Doom (0 wait), Spiderman (20 minutes) and Hulk, which was only about 10 minutes. Decided then to go back round to Velocicoaster for another go, still as good Then the Harry Potter Forbidden Journey (which I give a miss due to past experience). I think the only thing we didn't do during the day was Kong, and we didn't see the Poseidon show (again). As it got dark we went back for another Velocicoaster ride (40 minute wait) and that was it for our day.

We re-activated the refillable mug we bought in Studios, so had drinks and slush for around $11 all day.
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Old 20 May 22, 01:09 PM  
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#13
firedance
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^^ popeyes does surprise a lot of people who just thinks it's a river rapids ride

Like you say you can't wetter if you tried, we had 2 goes one year as there was no queue so stayed in the raft, some first time brit riders was with us and nearly got off until we said you can't get any wetter so they stayed as well
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Old 23 May 22, 10:28 AM  
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#14
grant_w
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Discovery Cove

We always get a Discovery Cove Ultimate ticket, it has to be the best value ticket in Florida. An all-inclusive day in Discovery Cove and 14 days entry into Sea World, Busch Gardens and Aquatica, with included parking, for £131 per person!
Parking is $30 in all Sea World owned parks alone

Discovery Cove itself is always a highlight. We've previously done the dolphins and Sea Venture a couple of times each so this time DW wanted to do the Flamingo Mingle experience. Unfortunately due to bird flu, it couldn't happen. Same with the bird aviaries being closed, and that's one of the highlights of our trip usually. So with no extra activity and the birds being out of action, it only left us with the Grand Reef and the pool/lazy river. Even so we had a good day, it could have just been better with the experience and the bird aviaries.
Food is always good at Sea World parks, and there's plenty of it.
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Old 25 May 22, 11:31 AM  
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grant_w
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SeaWorld

We had 2 trips to SeaWorld, the first was pretty empty but the second was full of end-of-term school trips. Last time we went, Mako was our favourite coaster in Florida, and it's still so good. We had back-to-back rides in the morning with zero queue.
Next we went across to Ice Breaker, had a short wait of a few minutes for this. I was totally underwhelmed. The restraints have to be the worst I've ever encountered on any ride, locking your legs in place as well as the awful 'comfort' collar. Wasn't going to rush to go back on this.
We saw the 3 shows on the first day, all are shorted than before, presumably as they now focus on behaviour they cut out lots of unnecessary 'tricks'.
One the second day queues were a bit longer. Walked straight on Mako again though, then round to Kraken where there wasn't a queue. The only main coaster we hadn't done was Manta, but when we looked it was a 90 minute wait, so that had to wait. Later in the day it had gone down to 20 minutes, and we only waited 10-15. What an intense ride, I had forgotten just how intense that first loop is!
We looked at trying Ice Breaker again but it was 30 minutes so we didn't bother.
We couldn't be bothered to get wet so gave Atlantis a miss, as Infinity Falls was closed. If both were open we would have done them.
We really enjoy the animal exhibits, the rides and the lower crowds at SeaWorld
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Old 30 May 22, 02:13 PM  
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grant_w
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Busch Gardens

We love days at Busch Gardens, always go mid-week and never had a busy day there.
We arrived at just gone 10 and went straight to Iron Gwazi, walked straight on and OMG what a ride. Best coaster I've ever been on ,so much fun, so much airtime and so fast. Its another newer coaster that's easily re-rideable too. At the time we hadn't ridden Velocicoaster, but even after we had, Iron Gwazi is my number one.

The rest of the park was just as we remembered, and with hardly any queues all day. Even Cheetah Hunt was only a few minutes wait. At the end of the day we went for another go on Iron Gwazi, still as good.

FYI you can use your Sea World refillable cups at Busch Gardens, so unlimited drink all day for around $6
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Old 31 May 22, 08:01 PM  
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Great updates. Thanks for posting
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Old 1 Jun 22, 08:40 AM  
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#18
grant_w
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Airboat - Spirit of the Swamp

SOTS have been our go-to airboat company for a few trips now, we will always have a trip with them on every trip. We booked a 2-hour trip, starting at 9am. As there was 5 of us we had the boat to ourselves. We love SOTS as they have headsets for everyone so you can actually hear each other talking and the guide giving info, as airboats are LOUD!
We had Captain Lyn, and she was amazing, knowing where to go to find gators, how anyone knows where they are on a huge lake is beyond me.
We were planning on going across to Shingle Creek but we were finding so many gators we didn't have time in the end. We got so close to some huge gators, which didn't seem bothered by us being there, we cut the engine and just watched for a while when we found a couple. Then left without disturbing them too much.
We also saw 2 Bald Eagles, loads of Snail Kites and Ospreys and lots of different wading birds (egrets, herons etc).
About 15 minutes over our time, we made it back to the dock after another amazing trip into the Florida wildlife.
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