islands of adventure,orlando

squidvicious

went to islands of adventure on Friday,with my lady friend...:wink


let me start this by saying : i'm not a cheap guy ! I do not work on a budget,EVER ! I see something I want,i buy it
I do not shop at Walmart - I buy something,i buy the best quality


with all that....

off we go to islands of adventure - I have not been to an amusement park for well over 25yrs,last time to Disney was 1984...

parking - $30 to park

entrance to islands of adventure - $240,for 2 people - if we wanted the express pass,it would be an additional $59.99 per person,then there's the "meal plan" we opted for the $240 deal - not a fan of amusement park food...

in we go ! everywhere,and I mean everywhere,it's a trap to suck money out of your pocket ! I was amazed at the things I seen - "people dryers" outside of the water rides ? carts selling towels/shorts and shirts in the same location. every space is maximized for revenue generation ! $17 for 2 drinks and 2 soft pretzels.

there's no way that place was worth the price of admission ! no way !

I went to a casion,in a/c,once - this place was actually worse than the casino....

lakeman

I agree, but they have tremendous up keep, insurance, payroll and other things to pay out some a little much like the Management maybe the CEO or who ever 20 mil a year. I guess the bottom line is do you really want to do a theme park, they can be fun, but with a hefty price and it keeps going up and up and up just like my cable bill and basically it is from all the Millions payed for covering all the sports which all of us enjoy.

ANUMBER1

I would have stocked up on cialis, took my lady friend to one of those sex shops then back to a motel and created our own theme park!:wink

SeaSpy

The bright side is that you supported a few dozen minimum wage staff
With no insurance benefits ( well paid for by the co. Anyway) for the day.

Six months from now it will cost ya 10 % more and all them employes will still
earn the same and still have no company paid beni's.


I stopped supporting that racket and others years ago.

Sayin

Mango Man

SeaSpy wrote: »

The bright side is that you supported a few dozen minimum wage staff
With no insurance benefits ( well paid for by the co. Anyway) for the day.

Six months from now it will cost ya 10 % more and all them employes will still
earn the same and still have no company paid beni's.


I stopped supporting that racket and others years ago.

Sayin

It's a tourist destination (trap) which Florida is heavily reliant upon.

I can remember when Disney was about showing the family a good time. Now, you feel like they raise you by your ankles and shake until the last of your change falls out.

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CMB

And stand in line for 2 hours for a 30 second ride. No thanks.

squidvicious

Mango Man wrote: »

It's a tourist destination (trap) which Florida is heavily reliant upon.

I can remember when Disney was about showing the family a good time. Now, you feel like they raise you by your ankles and shake until the last of your change falls out.

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that's exactly how I felt !

that's exactly what it was all about - squeezing every last dollar you had,out of your pocket

pottydoc

Obviously somebody likes Theme parks. Disneys attendance goes up pretty much every year. And last I heard, Walt Disney World is the largest tourist destination in the world. To the OP, if you are a Florida resident you can get in much cheaper. My wife bought two 3 day passes for $260.00 a few months ago. She likes going there, and never biatches about me fishing or chasing Bambi, so I make the trip (only about 35 minutes or so) with no gripes when she wants to go. We always pick lower attendance dates to go. I work over there a lot, too, so I know plenty places to park free.

squidvicious

pottydoc wrote: »

Obviously somebody likes Theme parks. Disneys attendance goes up pretty much every year. And last I heard, Walt Disney World is the largest tourist destination in the world. To the OP, if you are a Florida resident you can get in much cheaper. My wife bought two 3 day passes for $260.00 a few months ago. She likes going there, and never biatches about me fishing or chasing Bambi, so I make the trip (only about 35 minutes or so) with no gripes when she wants to go. We always pick lower attendance dates to go. I work over there a lot, too, so I know plenty places to park free.

it was universal,not Disney

universal offers no florida resident discounts

mplspug

All I can say is no state taxes.

Been to SeaWorld and Universal since we moved. Universal was because my brother was jonesing to go since we moved. Hulk was fun since we had a short wait. The rest sucked.

SeaWorld was good. I always love feeding the rays.

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treemanjohn

I was looking for the old peoples thread. Does anyone know where I can find it?

mindyabiness

mplspug wrote: »

All I can say is no state taxes.

Been to SeaWorld and Universal since we moved. Universal was because my brother was jonesing to go since we moved. Hulk was fun since we had a short wait. The rest sucked.

SeaWorld was good. I always love feeding the rays.

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Where are you from?
Everyone here knows about the theme parks, have you been to dinosaur world?

mplspug

What are you talking about?

I haven't been to dinosaur world and I don't plan on going to any tourist attractions any time soon. I don't even like going to the South side of Orlando and avoid even driving past it (I4) when going to Tampa or anyplace south of here.

We are going to giraffe ranch. It's a anniversary present to my wife.




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Gardawg

There's more to Florida than the mouse and the rabbit

mplspug

I don't mind the lesser known "attractions". Here's what I like visiting on weekends. Places considered "old Florida" anything from a bar to a town and natural areas like state parks and forests. A good litmus test is will I be outnumbered by tourists as opposed to locals or will there be so many people that I can't figure out who forgot the deodorant that morning and can avoid them.

Polar

Taking my 12 year old and a friend to Universal over Memorial Day Weekend. Gonna be a blast!

mplspug

Gardawg, just based on those pictures, I would check all of those out if they were within a reasonable driving distance...and not permanently closed.

Soda Popinski

I have had the 12 month passes for Universal and IOA before, as a combo it's worth it to just get the year passes. We would go from 9-1 ride all the rides we wanted with the kids then head over to the Orlando ale house for lunch and go home. Then sometimes go late in the afternoon. There is a little bar back in the Jurassic park area and they had very good rum runners during happy our 3-5 they were half off too. Kids are grown up now so we don't have the passes anymore.

ANUMBER1

mplspug wrote: »

Gardawg, just based on those pictures, I would check all of those out if they were within a reasonable driving distance...and not permanently closed.

There was a Florida Reptile Land on US19 between Cross City and Perry years back.
They had a buffalo out front which was replaced a couple times after succumbing to drunken drive bys.
Still a few of the old cages visible from the hwy if you look real close.

Soda Popinski

Polar wrote: »

Taking my 12 year old and a friend to Universal over Memorial Day Weekend. Gonna be a blast!

Are you doing both parks? If you do go to Universal studios first and ride the rip ride rocket. Then Transformers but work your way back to Diagon Alley eventually around 1200, you want to ride the hogwarts express from Universal to IOA, that puts you there at IOA in Harry Potter land where you can ride the Castle ride and go on the dueling dragons. From there I would go past the castle and into Jurassic park, i would not go through Dr Seuss land, i'd skip it. hit all the places you want and make your way around to ride the hulk last at IOA.

THat's how we did it and we had a blast. But good luck! Memorial day weekend is a madhouse so go early and bring sunscreen.

Polar

Doing both and Volcano bay which opens that weekend, I will bring sunscreen and a flask!

Soda Popinski

Polar wrote: »

Doing both and Volcano bay which opens that weekend, I will bring sunscreen and a flask!

oh man, that should be fun. Enjoy! I don't miss those days at all TBH though. Not a fan of crowds. If you can get away that saturday night, we always like to hit Pat O'Briens around 830 when the dualing pianos would start. that was a fun time.

pottydoc

squidvicious wrote: »

it was universal,not Disney

universal offers no florida resident discounts

You wouldn't care to put a large sum of money on line to back up that statement would you? I would advise visiting their website, or a simple Google search before you do.
I know he as at Universal, and I also know they have Fl Resident tickets. I just used WDW as an example because we had purchased Disney tickets not long ago and I knew the cost.

Gardawg

mplspug wrote: »

Gardawg, just based on those pictures, I would check all of those out if they were within a reasonable driving distance...and not permanently closed.

the bottom two are open

Coral Castle is in South Miami

http://coralcastle.com/

The Skunk Ape place is near Ochopee on Hwy. 41

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/13341

just for fun



http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/13411

mindyabiness

mplspug wrote: »

What are you talking about?

I haven't been to dinosaur world and I don't plan on going to any tourist attractions any time soon. I don't even like going to the South side of Orlando and avoid even driving past it (I4) when going to Tampa or anyplace south of here.

We are going to giraffe ranch. It's a anniversary present to my wife.




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I asked you where you are from...where did you migrate to Florida from?
And fiberglass dinosaurs.....

mplspug

The phrasing through me off.

I'm from Canada's 11th Province.

Soda Popinski

mindyabiness wrote: »

I asked you where you are from...where did you migrate to Florida from?
And fiberglass dinosaurs.....

I know I'm not a native, my parents moved down when i was 7 years old back in 1985. But i've been here long enough to want that wall built right along I-10 instead of on the Rio Grande

mindyabiness

mplspug wrote: »

The phrasing through me off.

I'm from Canada's 11th Province.

I lived in Minneapolis and Winona for a short time. I loaded trucks at the Sears building on Lake street....a long time ago .....I would listen to Garrison Keiller when he had his radio show. I know a little bit about your state.
Hard to believe you haven't made it to Dinosaur world yet......

squidvicious

pottydoc wrote: »

You wouldn't care to put a large sum of money on line to back up that statement would you? I would advise visiting their website, or a simple Google search before you do.
I know he as at Universal, and I also know they have Fl Resident tickets. I just used WDW as an example because we had purchased Disney tickets not long ago and I knew the cost.

don't need google - I asked,when I was purchasing tickets...

universal is warner bros

Disney is Disney....

squidvicious

alligator farm in saint Augustine - love that place !

cpr

Coral Castle is cool

Gatorland is a great tourist trap. It's cheap and fun to visit every 5 years or so.