Cruising with a Toddler. Our Photo Intense Trip Recap of the 9-7-13 Carnival Dream

[TeknikDC2]

I will be following this thread! We are cruising in November with our toddler (he will be 15 months). He is very active so I'm curious to see how your son did on the ship. Also, I'm hoping you will address night time activities (no, not THOSE activities, ha). We love going to the shows but our son goes to sleep by 7:30, so we aren't sure how that will work. Did you eat in the main dining room?

 

No worries. I will be going into much detail about what we did each night. We did try to make it to ether a show, comedy club, or deck party each night. But then again our son is a night owl usually going to bed at like 11pm. Yes we did eat in the main dinning room with Late dinning. This is one thing I must encourage all to learn from our mistakes with. Do early dinning or anytime if you can. We thought late would be fine with Daniel having a late bed time. But he was crashing asleep almost each night at dinner lol.

 

I agree.

But living here for me I would never ever ever and we never do go to Universal June, July, August or September, it is way to hot and humid for me...to wait in those lines and sweat pouring down my face for hours on end is horrible...and the lines are long then as kids are out of school.

 

Love going around Mardi Gras sometimes because of the music etc...and I know we will try in October...

 

So far we have gone twice in October, once in April, and now Once in September. Weather wise April was easily the best time to go as the Humidity was practically unnoticible. The 2nd time we went in October the weather was also great and very bareable. The first year though was horrible. They had like record heat and humidity for that part of October and it was just misserable. I don't know how people can stand to go in the really bad months like July and August. This trip was hot and humid but again wasn't too bad. Luckly the parks were dead so we spent much time indoors on rides then out in the sun. Plus we grabbed water anytime we could (you can get free ice water at any drink location). With our next trip planned for the 1st week of June i'm nervous not only about how the weather will be. but crowds too.

 

I've never been to the Mardi Gras event but each time we went in October we also did Halloween Horror Nights. Which if your an adult and into the darker side of Halloween then its an event not to be missed. I loved it. It was sad after the cruise when we stopped back into the parks for a couple days to see all the Halloween Horror Nights decor up (it opened today) and not be able to go.

 

You've totally sold me on trying Universal/IOS on our next trip to Orlando. We were (well oldest daughter still is but she's in college now) totally brand loyal to Disney-- cruise, parks, own the Disney timeshare (which is great), but the bloom has come off that rose due to the new ships, and other issues (don't get me started on their horrible military discounts vs Carnival corp across the fleet and RCI). I'm now itching to spend a few days at Universal when we head back down to Orlando in 2015-- hopefully our thrill seeking youngest daughter will be tall enough for everything! Besides Princesses, she finds Disney a little boring, I think.

 

We do love Disney too. I'm almost equally as big a fan as Disney as I am Universal (well the California parks at least). When we return next June we do plan to visit Walt Disney World again as well. But honestly my love will always be for the Disneyland Resort in California. Its my home park and the one I grew up with. Plus there seems to be so much more to do between the 2 parks there then the 4 in Florida. Last year since we took a break from cruising we did a "year of disney" where we went to the Florida Parks in April and the California parks in December. It was an amazing experiance and if your interested in my other trip reports I did write full photo intense recaps from those trips that I can share.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles with Disney cruise lines. It is still on our bucket list to do some day. Plus we are overall very satisfied with Carnival so its hard to go elsewhere.

 

Looking forward to more. We are also huge Universal Orlando fans and stop for 3 or more days every trip. We got spoiled with staying on site so we plan that but the annual pass helps with the costs. Can't wait until the new expansion too and the I agree with the new transformer ride. It was pretty awesome!!!

 

I am taking my 2nd cruise next March,first will be in November, on the Dream with a 4 and 11 yer old so hearing how your toddler did will be great info.

 

I have never stayed at an onsite hotel as we've always gone during slow times and the crowds are great. Although i've heard that unlimited Express perk is amazing. That all might change when we go in June though as we are hoping to catch Soft Openings of the Wizarding World expansion before the crowds show up for the Grand Opening. If they do it again like the original Wizarding World most of the Soft Openings were only avalible to those staying at an onsite hotel. So I guess time will tell. I do look forward to seeing the pricing for there new Cabana Bay Hotel thats under construction right now as its suppose to be more value priced then the others. Unfortunatly that hotel won't get the unlimited express perk though.

 

Awesome Review...I am subscribing :) We just booked the 9-day repositioning cruise on the Carnival Dream for April so I'm checking out all the Dream reviews.

 

I love your pictures and detail in your review :) Can't wait to read more of your review

 

Thank you. If you haven't noticed yet this was the 2nd time we sailed on the Dream. We went on her to the Western Caribbean as well back in 2011. The link to it is in my signature if you haven't found it yet and want to take a look.

 

Thanks again everyone for all the great replys. The photos for the next few updates covering Day 2 are loading right now so I should have another update of some sort posted tomorrow. Thanks again for the support.

[KrusII]

So glad to see you two again. Daniel is a little darling, hard to believe that he is nearly two. We passed you in 2011 as you were driving to the Dream that we had just left. I think of you every time we go to Charleston. Keep on traveling and writing your wonderful reviews. We are renewing our vows after 30 years aboard the Dream in October..........only 13 more days until we sail.

[oncruisecontrol]

Really enjoying your review. I've actually gone back and started reading your 2011 review again, also. Can't wait to read more. Thanks for posting.

[pcrum]

Could you post the link to your theme park reviews? We live in Orlando and I find it interesting to read of others' impressions of the park.

 

Enjoying the report...thanks.

[bfkkbc]

Ok I have a really stupid question about Universal, but no one has been able to answer yet. If I want to go to to Harry Potter World, do i buy tickets for Universal or do I buy tickets for Island of Adventure???:o

[Sarahsmomi]

Wow, thanks so much for all of the hard work you are doing in making your review! I am living vicariously through your posts! :D

[FlaGrl4Evr]

Frist of all, congratulations on the birth of your beautiful son. Many,

many blessings for you and your family. Loving your review and the detailed information and pics. :)

 

 

Dh and I have a question about visiting Universal. You seem to have the park infomation memorized, LOL, so hoping you can give us some advice.

 

We are planning an Orlando fun vacation next year followed by a quick 4-day cruise. We are still unsure of the exact dates. Have you found any correlation with the daytime crowds at US and IOA during the dates when they offer the Halloween Horror nights ? We are not interested in attending the Horror nights. We noticed that they do not begin HHN until after the 20th of Sept 2014. We would rather come when the weather is a bit cooler - early Oct perhaps, but don't want to encounter any mega-crowds due to HHN, so unsure wheather to visit late Aug up until the week that HHN wil begin. We would most likely have to do the parks on a Fri and Sat as the ship sails on a Sun, so visiting the parks during the week would be out. We really want to do the parks before the cruise as we have family and friends joining us that can only do the Fri-Sat at the parks.

 

I realize this is long winded but really wanted to get advice from someone that has been-there-done-that.

 

Also, should we do IOA on the day that the park hours are later and US on the day that the park closes earlier, not sure if we should get the park hopper as it will be our very first visit to both parks and thought that we would just do one park per day.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

 

Thank you,

 

Cari, Rick and family

 

:)

 

 

.

[Orpheo]

Loving your review very very much! You have a very beautiful family.

Thank you for your review about your trip to US. Can't wait for IOA!

We are also going to US/IOA & MK in December 2013, after our cruise. So I'm really loving every detail. :D

[Midwestgal]

Ok I have a really stupid question about Universal, but no one has been able to answer yet. If I want to go to to Harry Potter World, do i buy tickets for Universal or do I buy tickets for Island of Adventure???:o

Islands of Adventure. The Harry Potter is not in the Universal Studios part only Islands of Adventure.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Midwestgal

[cruisecraze96]

Islands of Adventure. The Harry Potter is not in the Universal Studios part only Islands of Adventure.

 

Actually the new expansion will be split between the 2 parks so if you are going after the new area opens next year then get a 2 park hopper.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

[jlpalmer]

Loving the review

 

Is the Transformers ride an actual roller coaster or a stationary ride?

[cruisecraze96]

Loving the review

 

Is the Transformers ride an actual roller coaster or a stationary ride?

 

It is a simulator that moves with 3D, similar to Spiderman. Can feel like a coaster though.

There is a universal board at DIS boards that can help with all things universal :-)

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

[kireelady]

Great review so far! Looking forward to the rest.

[Catrin]

I remember your awesome review from a couple of years ago when your wife was pregnant! Congratulations on your little one and how awesome that you introduced him to cruising at age 2!

 

We took our third child at age two.. and now at age 8, she has been on 8 cruises. Looks like he may be Platinum in no time!!

 

Cannot wait to read your entire review!

 

Catrin

[subieroo]

orlandoinformer.com is the best site for info on USF and IOA...Dan Hatfield is the most knowledgeable person and it is his site!

[TeknikDC2]

Could you post the link to your theme park reviews? We live in Orlando and I find it interesting to read of others' impressions of the park.

 

Enjoying the report...thanks.

 

No problem. Heres the links below to the two reports I wrote about those trips. Daniel was 7 months old when we went to Orlando and 14 months old when we went to Anaheim.

 

Our April 2012 Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Trip

 

 

Our December 2012 Disneyland and Universal Studios Trip

 

 

Ok I have a really stupid question about Universal, but no one has been able to answer yet. If I want to go to to Harry Potter World, do i buy tickets for Universal or do I buy tickets for Island of Adventure???:o

 

I know its been answered but right now all you would need to buy is a 1 park ticket and use it at Islands of Adventure. But as also mentioned once the Wizarding World Expansion is finished this coming Summer you will need a 2 park ticket to experiance all of the Harry Potter areas. The Studios park will have London and Diagon Alley and Islands of Adventure will still have Hogsmead and Hogwarts. There will be a real Hogwarts Express connecting the 2 areas so I can't wait to see how amazing the experiance will be to go shop in Diagon Alley and then take the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts. Its gonna be amazing for any Harry Potter fan. And something thats never been done in a theme park before.

 

Dh and I have a question about visiting Universal. You seem to have the park infomation memorized, LOL, so hoping you can give us some advice.

 

We are planning an Orlando fun vacation next year followed by a quick 4-day cruise. We are still unsure of the exact dates. Have you found any correlation with the daytime crowds at US and IOA during the dates when they offer the Halloween Horror nights ? We are not interested in attending the Horror nights. We noticed that they do not begin HHN until after the 20th of Sept 2014. We would rather come when the weather is a bit cooler - early Oct perhaps, but don't want to encounter any mega-crowds due to HHN, so unsure wheather to visit late Aug up until the week that HHN wil begin. We would most likely have to do the parks on a Fri and Sat as the ship sails on a Sun, so visiting the parks during the week would be out. We really want to do the parks before the cruise as we have family and friends joining us that can only do the Fri-Sat at the parks.

 

I realize this is long winded but really wanted to get advice from someone that has been-there-done-that.

 

Also, should we do IOA on the day that the park hours are later and US on the day that the park closes earlier, not sure if we should get the park hopper as it will be our very first visit to both parks and thought that we would just do one park per day.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

No problem i'm happy to help. I can say that this trip had the smallest crowds that we've every experianced there. We couldn't have chosen a better day to go. The only day it felt somewhat crowded was our 3rd day and thats because Rock the Universe would be taking place that weekend.

 

As for the Halloween Horror Night crowds the 2 times we did HHN we found the crowds to be decent in the morning but got significantly more crowded as the day went on. But this was only true for the Studios where HHN is held. Islands of Adventure was still pretty lite on crowds all day long. Plus during HHN that parks stays open later then usual. I think if you could swing going to the Studios on a Mon-Wednesday when HHN isn't happening you would be fine with smaller crowds. Then save Islands of Adventure for a Thur-Sun when HHN is taking place in the Studios.

 

I just saw you say you'd have a Friday and Saturday though to spend there. If you can stay at an onsite hotel you would get free unlimited Express pass to go to the front of the lines. That would diffenitly get you thru the lines fine even with HHN going on.

 

As for the tickets I have to highly recommend getting a 2 park hopper ticket if its in your budget. With the two parks right next to each other its less then a 5 minute walk to get from one to the other. We hopped park to park pretty much each day on this trip. I love the Disneyland Resort in California for the same reason. But I would never buy a hopper for Walt Disney World.

 

If you want any crowd predictions Orlandoinformer.com and touringplans.com have pretty decent Universal Crowd Calenders. Orlandoinformers is free but Touringplans costs like $6 or something for a year membership.

 

Loving the review

 

Is the Transformers ride an actual roller coaster or a stationary ride?

 

Its exactly like Spiderman. Think of a motion simulator but instead of staying in one place the vehicle moves from room to room. This is what Transfomers is and its amazing. Its really something you have to experiance to understand.

 

orlandoinformer.com is the best site for info on USF and IOA...Dan Hatfield is the most knowledgeable person and it is his site!

 

If planning a Universal vacation or day trip I diffenitly agree. The information he has on the Universal parks is unmatched by anyone else. If you want information for planning a Disney/Universal mixed vacation you can also get a lot of good information from disboards.com. However if you want to take a peak behind the scenes and read what insiders have to say about what the future of the parks look like there is really no better source (for Universal anyways) then OrlandoUnited.com.

 

 

Alright i'm putting together the next update now. It will be posted in a few minutes.

Edited September 22, 2013 by TeknikDC2

[TeknikDC2]

Alright heres the next update. This one got longer then I originally planned but I was typing while watching a Football game and wrote more then I thought I would. Anyways enjoy.

 

 

Day 2, Part 1: Islands of Adventure

 

Our first full day in Florida was upon us. We had 2 full days to spend in Orlando prior to our Cruise and we would spend both of them at the Universal Orlando Resort. If you've read my past theme park trip reports you know that we are typically the types who like to be at the parks right at opening and stay past closing. That would not be the case on this trip though. With our Annual Passes and so much time that we would have to spend in the parks on this trip we decided to take it easier and would tour the parks more leasurly.

 

Because of this we weren't in a big rush to get to the parks at opening. Besides it was now the slow season so crowds should be managible anyways. Kiera and I got up and were completly ready for the day before we finally woke up Daniel. It always figures that kids will sleep in the days you have things planned but when you can sleep in they are up bright and early. With it daylight now we could see our view of Wet and Wild and if you look close enough you can even see Islands of Adventure. We ate some breakfast in the hotel and at around 10:30am we finally left the hotel to drive over to the parks.

 

 

The thing we loved about our Hotel was is location to Universal. If we were gonna do a strictly Universal visit again we would highly consider this hotel again as the drive from our Hotel to parking in the Garage at Universal took only about 5 minutes. We even saw many people walking to the parks as the resort was probably about 1 1/2 miles from us.

 

 

We parked the car and packed up the stroller and then made our way to start our first full day in the parks. Although we arrived over 1 1/2 hours after the parks opened there were still a ton of people pouring into City Walk. And most of the them were heading the same direction we were. To Islands of Adventure.

 

 

With our Annual Passes in hand we walked strait to the gates and after once again having issues with Kieras finger print we entered the park for the day. The parks entrance is truely a site to behold and is so incredibly themed. I honestly think its only rivaled by the Magic Kingdoms Main Street and Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure. There are just so many little details everywhere you look. And the music in the area really makes it feel like you've been wisked away to some land of fantasy. Its too bad many people don't stop to take in the details as all thats located here are shops and restaurants.

 

Edited September 22, 2013 by TeknikDC2

[TeknikDC2]

 

As the majority of the people walking into the park with us were doing you would think that we would go strait to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter just like we have in the past. But with a few dark clouds floating around the sky and knowing rain is forecasted for later in the day I found it better fitting that maybe we should focus on the Outdoor rides first just in case they get closed later in the day. Now Universal and Disney typically won't close there outdoor rains because of Rain. However anytime Lightning is detected within 5 miles of the parks all Outdoor rides are closed for Guest safety.

 

So today we would begin touring Islands of Adventure at Marvel Super Hero Island. An Island that has 2 of the parks best rides located in it. Those 2 rides are pretty amazing but I really wish Universal could go back and do some redesign or updating of the Island as although it looks nice and upkept, it also looks pretty dated. The land was designed and built before Marvel movies became popular so it could be so much more. Unfortunatly since Disney now owns Marvel I doubt we will see anything other then general upkeep done with the Island as Disney would have to ok any changes or additions. And since Disney is not allowed to Use Marvel in any of there parks East of the Mississippi river they diffenitly don't want Universal bennifiting from there films success. The theme park rights to Marvel are different in California though as Disney can build Marvel attractions in the parks out there.

 

Edited September 22, 2013 by TeknikDC2

[TeknikDC2]

Our first ride of the day would be on one of those amazing rides in Marvel. The Incredible Hulk coaster. And the line was only 5 minutes long at the time so it was practically a walk on for anything other then the front row.

 

 

Now obviously Daniel wouldn't be able to go on a ride like the Hulk (or the majority of the rides in the parks) so Universal has a program called Baby Swap that allows parents to switch off to ride the rides there children aren't tall enough for. Typically you enter the que for an attraction and wait out the time like everyone else with your party. Including the child too small to ride. Near the end of the ride before loading into the vehicles there is a Baby Swap room where a parent and the too short child go and wait as everyone else in there party goes on the ride. After the ride the party returns to the Baby Swap room and then the person (and anyone else in the party tall enough) can go back to the ride loading area and they ride. The Baby swap at Universal has its advantages and disadvantages. With a young child like Daniel its great as he doesn't know what he's missing out on at the end of the ride. However for an older child I think it could suck for them to wait in a long line and then not get to ride at the end. Take note though that the Baby Swap is done slightly differently at the Hulk though. Instead of waiting in the regular line with everyone else, the parent and too short child walk up the exit ramp and wait in the room until there group is finished.

 

I walked pretty much right on to the ride. I was even ahead of those that were entering the express lane when I was entering the regular lane. I waited only 1 train before I was loaded an on my way to experiance the Hulks rage. This coaster is intense. If your not a fan of roller coaster or they scare you then this is one you should avoid. This coaster is just raw and mean. What starts with a slow lift up the hill turns to a fast launch as your shot out the tunnel and immidiatly into 4 of the rides 7 inversions. This ride is intense from start to finish and still probably the most extreme coaster i've been on. It seems to be showing its age though as each year it seems to get more and more rough. I'm not even sure if a long referb would be able to make it smooth again. Its a ride that I consider a Do Not Miss at Islands of Adventure. Unless of course your not a fan of Roller Coasters. I meet Kiera and Daniel in the Child Swap room and then she took a turn on this beast.

 

[TeknikDC2]

 

The next ride we did was actually one that we had never done before. Yes in 3 previous visits to the resort there were still attractions that we hadn't done before. This ride is Storm Force Acceletron and its one of the few rides that doesn't have a ride height so Daniel would be able to go on it. This ride is simply Universals version of Disney's Tea Cups. Its the exact same thing just themed differently. The ride was a walk on and we though Daniel would really enjoy it. Before the ride he really got a kick out of us spinning the vehicle around and around. He was laughing and loved it. But that changed quickly once the ride started and the vehicle was moving in addition to our spinning. Yeah Daniel really didn't like this and was ready for the ride to be over as he clinged on to Kiera. Kinda funny we thought as He loved the Tea Cups in Disneyland back in December. This ride is great for the kids who aren't tall enough to ride anything else. However its not something thats a must do.

 

Edited September 22, 2013 by TeknikDC2

[TeknikDC2]

 

We continued on thru Marvel Super Hero Island and made a turn down Doom Alley towards Dr. Dooms FearFall. This ride is your standard launch tower that you will find at Amusment Parks around the country. However Universal did try to theme the ride and give it a story. The Alley the ride is located in is actually all themed to some of the Villans in the Marvel Comics Universe. In one area you can even here one of the hero's being killed (i've heard its supposed to be Captain America). Kiera had never actually done this ride before but I did it last year when we came. Last year I just used the Single Riders line but hearing that the que is actually themed pretty well and cool to see I figured we could just wait out the posted 10 minute wait. Well that wait turned out to be more like 25 minutes and the line is pretty cool and well themed. But its not worth that kind of wait. Its kinda interesting that the child swap area for this ride is located outside. Although the ride is your standard launch tower what makes it a bit different and cool is that you actually buckle into your seat in a little room of sorts. The ride then launches you out of the room as you get some great views of the resort depending on which way you are facing. Its a cool and unique ride and if the wait is low and if you're not afraid of these things then it would be worth checking out. Other wise I wouldn't wait that long for it again.

 

Edited September 22, 2013 by TeknikDC2

[TeknikDC2]

[TeknikDC2]

 

There was one attraction left in Marvel Superhero Island. And its a ride that I don't only consider to be the best ride in the Island, Or the best ride in the park, Or even the best on in the Resort, Heck not even the best one in Florida. This is the ride that I consider to be the Best ride of All Time and is number 1 on my top rides list. The ride is the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman and the absolute Do Not Miss of the resort.

 

 

The wait posted for the ride was 25 minutes. But instead of waiting that out we would be using the Single Rider line. The Single Rider line is something we really have come to love about Universal as practically every ride there has it. As long as you don't mind being split up from your party for the actual ride (you still wait together) then you can drastically cut your wait times down. And the best part for those traveling with a toddler like us is that you can use Baby Swap with Single Rider. So our whole party waits together in the Single Rider line and then Kiera and Daniel would go to the Baby Swap room while I would head to the ride. Most rides have the Single Rider option however it may not always be open as we would find out later in the trip.

 

Spiderman has always been an amazing ride. But last year it became even better. Since the West Coast was getting the Transformers ride and introducing some new 3d technollogy Universal Creative took that same technology and applied it to Spiderman since they weren't getting Transformers at the time. The ride was closed for nearly 2 months as the ride film was completly reanimated, ride vehicles reprogramed, and a new soundtrack added in addition to everything being refreshed inside and out. The result was incredible. What once looked very cartoony now looked real and life like. My one complaint of the original ride fixed. It was almost like it was a completly new ride. And with the 4k HD from transformers you could make out every fine detail. Of course with Transformers now also being in the resort you could say the refresh is redundant.

 

But I say no its not because an amazing ride got better and I honestly believe its still the better ride of the 2. Although Transformers brought some amazing technology (like the elevators as the attractions takes place on 2 floors) I think Transformers relies too much on the screens. Spiderman had less screens then Transformers and more physical sets and props. Because of these sets the flying portions are much more believeable. It also uses Fire effects that you don't see in Transformers (which uses fake fire effects). Spiderman was once again amazing and the Must Do ride in the resort. After riding Transformers and Spiderman mear hours apart thats something I can diffenitly say Spiderman is the better of the two. In my opinion anyways.

 

 

We were now done with Marvel and walked into the next area of the park. This area is called Toon Lagoon and other then a couple Water rides theres not much else here. The area is themed to the cartoons you would find in the Sunday newpaper and is frankly filled with Properties that kids these days have never heard of. There are some great photo ops here though but we didn't stop for any of them at this time. The 2 water rides that are located here are amoung the best as well. Popeye and Bluto's rapids is possibly the best rapids ride I have ever been on. Its incredibly themed and you will not walk off that ride with a dry spot on you. Dudly Do Rights Ripsaw Falls is a Log flume ride that is decent. What it lacks in story telling and decent themeing inside it makes up at the end with major thrills as the drops on this ride are much steeper and faster then any other. It too will drench you. These are rides we havn't done since our very first trip 4 years ago. I wanted to do them again on this trip but I wouldn't be today as I really didn't want to get soaked yet.

 

[TeknikDC2]

[TeknikDC2]

The third Island we came to was once my favorite island in the park. And who knows maybe with the upcoming expansion it may become my favorite once again. This Island is Jurassic Park and it will make you feel like your inside the movies.

 

 

This island is one of the largest and is very well themed. But the expansion is very needed. For how big the island is there really is only 2 rides right now and a kids play area. And 1 of those rides adults can't even go on unless accompaning a child. The rumors say that they will be adding a Family mine train coaster with thrills on par with Big Thunder Mountain at Disney. The old Tricaratops encounter area will also be gutted and redone with additonal food options and maybe some more kiddie type flat rides. I really hope this expansion will also add some more Dinosaurs that can be seen just while walking around the Island instead of the River Adventure being the only place you can see the Dinos. Construction is expected to start soon with a completion rumored for 2015 so it will be interesteing to see what comes. Especially since it will coinside with the release of the 4th film.

 

 

By the time we got to Jurassic Park we were getting very thirsty so we stopped into the Thunder Falls terrace to get some A/C as well as some cups of water. We came in at the tail end of the lunch rush so we still had a decent wait to get the water though. This was the first we had been inside this restuarant and it had some pretty cool themeing. It also over looks the splash pool for the river adventure so you can sit and watch the boats soak people. We didn't eat here but I heard its pretty good.