4th Time Lucky Day 9 More New Headliners at Islands

[karalma]

15.12.21

Today we wanted to arrive for early entry at 8.00, as Velocicoaster and Hagrid's Motorbikes had not been here on our last visit and they were not on the FOLP, so we set off at 6.40. Traffic was bad again today but Darren decided he would do as others do and go as far as he could before jumping into the left lane before joining the I4 at Championsgate. We arrived at 7.20, parked in the Royal Pacific, and got the water taxi across. Darren and Alix walked ahead as I was not limping today but still walking at a snail's pace. As they were held at the turnstiles I caught them up and we were in line by 7.45. A family opened the park 5 minutes later and a young boy made the announcement, which was a nice touch. Darren and Alix headed to velocicoaster while I browsed the shops and took some pics. It was great being in an almost empty park.

























I had not been waiting long outside Hagrids when they appeared.



I could tell by Alix's face she was not happy. They had enjoyed Velocicoaster twice and said it was a mixture between Mako and Cheetah Hunt but the problem was that Hagrid's was delayed. Forbidden Journey was only 10 minutes so Alix and I rode this while Darren watched the bags. I couldn’t believe how empty this was when in the past it has always had huge queues.



It would have been great to take photos but we had both left our phones with our bags. Darren and Alix decided to ride Velocicoaster again so they headed off and I followed.



As I walked by Hagrid's I could see it was open but couldn’t see them in line so I carried on to Velocicoaster. When they came off Velocicoaster, Hagrid’s was at 140 minutes so they decided to leave it and hope it went down.

We headed off to Hulk, with me trailing behind.





At this point it started drizzling so I found a seat under a tree and sat on one of the ponchos we had brought. Dr Doom was next and they were on and off this really quickly. Darren sat out Spider-Man, one of my favourites. We then browsed the Marvel shops but there was nothing Alix wanted.











Next up was Kong and we all agreed how realistic this is. It was then water ride time and we all rode Jurassic River Adventure and got pleasantly wet. As we were wet Alix decided we may as well ride Ripsaw Falls but I decided to sit this out and took a seat to wait while they walked back to the ride. They were sufficiently wet this time. It was now 11.00 and everything had been a walk on so we had ridden everything we wanted apart from Hagrid's, which was now 60 minutes and doable. However, Darren didn’t want to queue for this long so this left it down to me to accompany Alix. But I wasn’t sure whether the ride was too much for me or whether I could stand for that long. Luckily Darren offered to accompany Alix and I sat in the sun. At this point the rides were all between 5 and 10 minutes, with Velocicoaster at 20 minutes and Hippogriff at 25. They were off Hagrid’s in 45 minutes and had both enjoyed. Alix had ridden the bike and Darren the sidecar. Of course, next up had to be a couple of butterbeers, frozen for Alix and regular for me, which were delicious. We browsed the shops on the way out. I had had my eye on a Universal hoodie but the logo was a transfer so I didn’t bother. We caught the water taxi back and were leaving the hotel at 1.00.



We all agreed we hadn’t needed the FOLPs but we were pleased we had them as we got through everything quicker, leaving us time to enjoy the afternoon at the pool.

We called at Target on the way back, where Alix bought the pop she had been waiting to be released so she was very happy. Back at the villa Alix ordered a Dominos for lunch and Darren went to collect it. We always love having lunch on the lanai. It was then time for pool games and Alix agreed to join us although she moaned through most of it. When she got out Darren and I relaxed in the spa, watching the stars come out.

We then decided to watch a Bourne film, having seen the stunt show yesterday. However, neither of us could keep our eyes open and we were falling asleep at 7.30 so we forced ourselves to get up and retreat to bed for an early night. All this fun is extremely tiring.

[mick]

Another great day


Joan

[Goldia]

Wow, really short waits in Islands today, even managing Hagrids. I wondered if you were going to have to wait to ride it until the end of the day and repeat your Rise of the Resistance luck here too, but no need and you were home for fun in the pool and a well deserved early night.

[karalma]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Wow, really short waits in Islands today, even managing Hagrids. I wondered if you were going to have to wait to ride it until the end of the day and repeat your Rise of the Resistance luck here too, but no need and you were home for fun in the pool and a well deserved early night.

See more...

Yes the times were very surprising, especially compared to Disney.