Over 10 ways to get kicked out of a theme park...

Yahoo News advises would be theme park travelers to avoid dressing like characters or they risk being kicked out of the park in their "11 Ways to Get Kicked Out of a Theme Park" article posted today.

Oh, they also advise against dragging hard sided coolers an picnic lunches to the park.   Well duh!

If they allowed that, they wouldn't be able to charge whatever they want for food & drink. lol

Hot Springs Arkansas Road Trip & its History

Here's video from our roadtrip to Hot Springs Arkansas this past weekend. I'll have more up as I can get it edited:



Thanks for watching!

-Jerry & Katie

Universal's Hogwarts Express to be limited to ONE ride per day during peak times?

The Orlando Informer is reporting that Universal Orlando is preparing for an onslaught of visitors to the new Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express linking Universal Studios to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Islands of Adventure.


When The Wizarding World of Harry Potter first opened at Islands of Adventure, the crowds stretched from the back of the park, through the front gate and all the way over to Universal Studios. Traffic was blocked along the nearby interstate for six hours that day.





Apparently with those memories in mind, Universal is prepping for the grand opening with plans of limiting patrons to one ride per day between the parks aboard the Hogwarts Express during peak time. Which will be every day this summer I suspect.


HERE are the discussions on this at the Orlando Informer Forum.

Orlando Theme Parks: 2014 Gate Prices & Saving Money

An interesting article on Disney Ticket inflation...

HERE is an interesting article on Disney ticket price inflation and eye opening charts and analysis (from 2013).

h/t: FutureProbe

Secrets and History Behind Disney's Haunted Mansion

Have you ever wondered how Disney projected ghosts in the great room on the Haunted Mansion ride? This question and many more are answered in Fresh Baked Disney's Secrets & History of the Haunted Mansion:





h/t: Fresh Baked Disney

Disneyland California Hikes Prices...Again

Disneyland in California has hiked prices for their tickets as well as California Adventure.
Details HERE. Now that Disney owns the Star Wars franchise, we were able to speak to the dark Lord and get his thoughts on the matter:

How to do BIG Vacations DEBT FREE

Here's our latest video on how to take big vacations debt free:




I'm still waiting on Katie to let me out of the bag. It's a good thing we've got Wi-Fi in the house ;-) -Jerry

Epic Fireworks at the 2014 Star Wars Weekend

Disney does fireworks like nobody else.  Here's a look at the amazing spectacular they put on at the 2014 Star Wars Weekend at Hollywood Studios:

The fireworks and John Williams symphony music begins at 11:13 and runs for about six minutes:

Details on Universal's new Harry Potter & The Escape from Gringotts Bank Released!

Universal Orlando has released new details on the newest ride to hit Universal Studios:
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringott's bank:




This is going to be amazing. I had heard rumors that the ride itself would be mounted to a fully mobile 360 degree travel robotic arm.

We just posted our YouTube "Trailer" for the new channel!

We just posted our new  trailer for The Getaway show on YouTube.  We're really excited to share our passion for all things travel:





-Jerry & Katie

Free Apps for Orlando Park Wait Times, Dining, & Maps...

Here's a link for Free apps that list the wait times at Disney and other Orlando theme parks:
Free Disney iPhone App - Wait Times & Maps courtesy of Undercover Tourist. They also have a printable crowd calendar here:

-Jerry

Watch Time Lapse video: Disney's 7 dwarfs mine train built in 30 seconds!

This is neat. Disney's new Seven Dwarfs Mine train rises from nothing in 30 seconds via time lapes photography:





-Katie

Renting a scooter for Orlando theme parks

There are miles and miles of theme parks to walk through in Orlando.  Our first year, we tried to do as many parks as possible in 8 days.  Halfway through, we thought our feet were going to fall off. ;-)


If you're traveling with grandparents or those with disabilities it can be quite expensive to rent scooters at the theme parks (think $50 a day plus deposit).
There is a cheaper way though. Sun Mobility will deliver a scooter right to your hotel and pick it up when you're done. They fold up for travel in the trunk of most vehicles and best of all, they start at $65.00 for THREE days! It's a real savings over in park rental.  You can even add a canopy to protect them from the elements (think Florida sun).


-Katie

Falcon's Fury is nearing completion at Busch Gardens Tampa

Busch Gardens Tampa is getting closer to completing Falcon's Fury, the ultimate drop tower, where you will drop 335 feet face down.

Take a look at the testing going on:




Promo "Coming Soon" video:






-Jerry

Hogwarts Express - Behind the Scenes | Universal Orlando

Universal Orlando has also released a behind the scenes segment on the Hogwarts Express.  I think it's going to be amazing (and a bit crowded?) this summer.


-Jerry





-Jerry

Video: A first look at the goblins of Diagon Alley

Universal Orlando has released a bit of video on the animatronic goblins from the new Diagon Alley At Universal Studios.  These will probably be a part of the que for Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts Bank:





-Jerry

Ihu's Breakaway Falls Now Open at Aquatica Orlando

Newe video is in of the newest water slide in the theme park capital of the world!
Orlando's tallest, steepest and only multi-drop tower slide of its kind is now open at Aquatica, SeaWorld's Waterpark.

You can get huge savings on Aquatica via discount site Best of Orlando. In fact, you can not only get Aquatica, but unlimited visits for 14 days to Aquatica, Universal Studios Orlando, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld, AND Wet n Wild with the Olando Flex Ticket.



For just a few dollars more, you can add Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay and receive free roundtrip transportation from Orlando!

It's a great deal: Save over $60 with Orlando Flex Ticket and get 14 days of unlimited admission to Orlando's best theme parks!

Check out our past Florida vacation photo albums on our new Getaway Facebook page.

We've posted many of our past pictures from Florida on our new Facebook page: YouTube's Getaway.

The one good thing about Facebook is that they make it very easy to upload lots of photos (unlike here on blogger). We've got albums on Olrando (multiple years) and our week in Pensacola when we rented a beach house right on the Gulf of Mexico.

Gosh we love Florida ;-)

Here's a video collection of some of our photos I put on a separate YouTube channel of ours a few years ago:

-Jerry

319 days to Orlando!

The countdown is on.  T minus 319 days until we get on an airplane and head for sunny Florida.


I'm chomping at the bit to go ahead and book our flight, but I'm restraining myself.

Most travel agents will tell you that the BEST deals on airfare happen 6-8 weeks prior to the scheduled departure.

So the big question now is, can I hold out that long??  ;-)


-Jerry