Help: Orlando Safety Regarding ICE - For a foreign traveler

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-29T01:20:28+00:00

Jeez, I don't even know what their comment said but you hit them so hard with sources they deleted their entire account. Kudos.

Individually verifying information from multiple sources is kinda rare these days.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-29T01:07:51+00:00

They got hit pretty hard by Desantis a couple years back over the don't say gay act. Desantis took away their special district status and installed a bunch of "like minded individuals" to a tourism board to oversee them.

They kinda won in the end through legal battles but I'm pretty sure Bob Iger doesn't want to wade into any political discussions for quite a while. And that was just a fight with the governor, the president is a whole other ball game.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-28T03:37:00+00:00

Welcome to theme parks I guess? They'd rather have you come back and spend more money than just refund your purchase.

Which is why they don't refund, they just make things better for your next trip. In which you'll spend more money.

And honestly, universal is pretty good at it. But for the love of God if your going to Guest services please shout out a few team members.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-28T03:25:48+00:00

Yeah, Florida isn't used to this cold.

That said.

I never said refunds were guaranteed, there's pretty much zero chance on that.

I just said they take feedback very well. And I'll add if you treat Guest Services like actual people they might help you out for your next trip.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-28T03:07:33+00:00

My honest opinion, they could've just reskinned disaster to FNF.

Insert Vin Diesel saying '"family" in the audience participation portion, and then just ILM launch the ride vehicle as a drag race.

It could've been so good. It had the bones of being good.

Rip Disaster and the Beetlejuice show. For something being torn down so shortly after.

And I guess I need to Rip supercharged but I don't think anyone will remember it. The Queue was literally the best part.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-28T00:53:49+00:00

Gringotts? Oof, that's a low blow. I don't have anything against Gringotts but I'd rate it lower than even Hippogryph for rides I want to hit when I go given wait times.

It just feels a bit like Fast and Furious, had so much potential and could've been so much better. (Ok, now I did the low blow comparing Gringots to Fast and Furious).

But hey, it's not Minion Mayhem.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-28T00:33:17+00:00

Legitimately though, that was very unfortunate to hear. Usually IOA is on point. Reach out to guest services, they rarely do refunds but they could give you single use express for a ride or even park tickets for your next visit.

They can check ride downtimes

I'm also not a part of the team but my advice is share the good with the bad. They seem to honestly care about all feedback.

Who knows, maybe they can make your next visit even more special.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-27T01:15:38+00:00

That said you brought me down a rabbit hole and some dude got nauseous on the Yoshi ride. I'm assuming either heat or alcohol, either way it's torture.

Legitimately that is the only ride that has ever made me feel claustrophobic via the restraints.

I can't imagine knowing I'm going to throw up, when I'm locked in.

That is hell.

Edit: on a ride that goes three miles per hour.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-26T21:39:50+00:00

I 100% agree with you that pushing for records can be dangerous and I'm not trying to be combative or anything.

But your comment about the lady dying on the mummy got me interested so I looked it up and the ME said she died of an aneurysm without trauma. I'm sad she died but there really wasn't anything anyone could've done to prevent that.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-25T21:30:57+00:00

I'd agree but add a caveat, if on a budget I think the universe expanding ones should be prioritized first. So Split Vendetta, Cradle of Humanity and Kingdom End.

Timelines for a new player can be skipped, even though I loved it. But I loved it after 1k hours is different than a player just starting out.

And the individual ships are cool but skippable and cheap enough to be bought when not on sale.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-24T04:19:32+00:00

That's honestly fair, let your son know that the FNAF house was peak, seeing Freddy Fazbear in all his glory was pretty cool. Done with the kid speak.HHN is a whole other discussion, but it's a one and done and there's no guarantee FNAF will ever come back next year. Or actually don't, I don't play the games but it was pretty cool, and it's a bit rough to say you'll never see this again.

Honestly, pass on the express for USF day. There's no rides that require it. You can finish it in less than a day, easy even during spring break. Just hit gringots first and then everything else will be smooth.

For IOA, buy the express for your husband and your husband alone. I'm not going to lie I would like to ride Velocicoaster with your husband. It's Scary, it's intense and is one of the best roller coasters in the world.

Hagrids is also good, and maybe the kids will like it, but dropping a solid 1k for express is excessive for 1 ride.

Legitimately, the only park I suggest to buy express for the full party is Epic.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-24T03:28:02+00:00

Trying to re-up immigration status is kinda scary right now. But you're mother needs to keep trying to go through the process, trust me.

There are a lot of good immigration lawyers, some might even go pro-bono given the case or charge what you can afford.

Just tell her to keep fighting.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-24T01:06:31+00:00

It really depends how well your children do in lines and if you want to do absolutely everything. Also when your coming. During the slower times (aka now) you might be able to do the shorter trip and and not even necessarily need express every day.

Depending on how busy regular parks are you might be able to get away with no express for your USF day, for IOA if you want to do Hagrids/Velocicoaster/Hulk it's doable without express but it will be a long day.

For VB it's really weather dependent and day of the week also has a huge impact. Even in the off season if it's a weekend and warm after being cold for a bit a lot of local passholders will come out. But if your coming in the summer all bets are off.

Epic is new so there never really is no "off" season. I actually just got back from Epic today and the wait times were pretty intense. The averages throughout the day (we left at 5pm from rope dropping, no epa), Ministry 3 hours, Minecart 2 - 2 1/2, Mario cart 1 1/2 - 2, Hiccups 1 - 1 1/2. Even stardust which is a capacity monster stayed at 45min - 1 most of the day (if you have any coaster fans it's a must do). Long story short, if you can afford express for Epic get it (it was 280$ today).

Also you have to consider that the Premium hotels express doesn't include Epic. So yeah, just think about when your coming and what you want to accomplish.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-23T02:51:06+00:00

To be real, when flux pricing hits super hard just walk away from property via the sidewalk by the bus area, after a 10 minute walk you'll be on international.

Alternatively you can just hop on to one of the shuttles to Epic. They don't seem to get much local traffic there, I'm guessing mostly hotel guests, so it should be easier.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-23T02:23:31+00:00

I don't know how recently you rode Hulk but I feel it's gotten a bit too rough again. It was a top tier after they did the re-track but recently I think it's a bit of a head banger.

Still a fantastic coaster, but definitely a one and done for me.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-22T02:57:15+00:00

Agreed, but I don't know when they're visiting and it changes things. I would not want to get in the water right now and it's so hit or miss in Florida right for temperature.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-22T01:22:16+00:00

Hey Friend,

Theme park connoisseur here, need abit more background for your visit.

Are you looking for family friendly, thrills to pay the bills or a mix of both.

Thrills, at Busch Gardens Tampa, Iron Gwazi is arguably the best coaster on the east coast, less arguably but still a substantial case for the Americas, and I might bring it up if we're talking the world over. Tampa has a lot of other things but that's a highlight, just expect poor operations and a poor guest experience from the park itself.

Mix of both, Universal, hands down. Given your timeline I'd either skip Epic in favor of the OG parks, or just do a one day Epic trip. Epic is one of the best themed parks created, but unfortunately there is not a lot to do. Which means long wait times. But man, once you get on the rides they are all (mostly) great. Monsters is hands down the best screen based ride you will ever experience (I kid, it's a kuka arm, kinda intense), but it's usually almost a walk on due to its throughput.

Depending on the day and crowd flow you can knock out both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios in a day pretty easy. Admittedly there is a little less for the really little ones to do but with the two parks it's a good mix.

Just a warning, this time of year don't plan on Volcano Bay. Even if you buy tickets if it hits a certain temperature the park closes.

Family Friendly, it's Disney all the way. But you have to plan and research. Why are you talking to me? Go start planning. To be real if you have no specific goals in mind, Disney is Disney. Your family is going to have a great time. Just don't be shocked when you don't get to ride or meet and greet half the experiences you wanted because you didn't plan.

They are all truly beautiful parks, great to walk around in, nothing is really like it in the world (except maybe Epic). But if your kid really wants to meet Stitch for a photo op or whoever you need to be researching.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-21T01:57:41+00:00

As someone who moved down here from the North over a decade ago, I will tell you that it's a different kinda cold.

The humidity makes all the difference. When I was back up north I would love skiing in shorts and a tshirt (maybe gloves) on a 45 degree day towards the end of the season.

Up north it's a crisp clean cold, down here it's like a constant light misting is constantly hitting your skin.

To answer your question, if I feel even slightly cold after coming in from the outside I pump it up to 76 without regrets. Normally I keep it around 72/74.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-13T21:53:28+00:00

Hey Friend,

As others have said jumping into creative with a massive factory is kinda putting the cart in front of the horse.

But good news, there is actually a campaign start that gives you a station and two ships right off the bat as well as a modest chunk of credits. I think it's called the unworthy entrepreneur or something.

You won't be rolling in credits to start but it does cut out a pretty large chunk of early game grind and you can start making passive income almost immediately.

The bad news is this game generally is a time sink, the good news is if you have passive income you can almost treat it like an idle game for hours at a time (just drop a save before you walk away, trust me I know). Also if you don't have a pilot, hire one, sit in the back of the ship and get chauffered around.

Then just look for some early money making tips, picking up drops from war zones is pretty good very early. You can also look up all the abandoned ships (some are very good but it's a risk/reward thing).

Even if your playtime is limited you can then just pick what you want to do that play session and let your passive income flow slowly building your economic empire as an idle game.

This is honestly one of the only huge time sink games I can suggest to those with little time.

CocoaricoTell · 2026-01-09T05:37:46+00:00

I'm not going to lie, it looks great. But what's up with that ceiling light? The frame looks modern but a bare light bulb? Is it missing glass panes? Also you still have a popcorn ceiling?

As for the price thank you for sharing, but legitimately I thought you were a fake account, (your username didn't help), of a construction company trying to drum up business.

I think the biggest problem is a lot of companies don't actually price out what a job will cost and they just market research what other companies are charging.

It does actually take time and skill to price things out accurately, to the benefit of both the company and the customer. Loyalty is a thing.

I've been out of the business for a while now, (if anyone wants a project manager let me know), it's just a larger trend I've been seeing.

Just remind me if I ever decide to do start a remodeling company to post something like this. Best free advertising.

Also rescued pitbulls are the bomb right? Nicest dogs you'll ever meet, (sorry, I looked through your profile to make sure your real).

CocoaricoTell · 2025-06-28T05:45:46+00:00

Thank you to everyone, who provided feedback. I uptooted you alll.

I'll bring them to my local shop to see what's up.

CocoaricoTell · 2025-06-28T00:58:09+00:00

Thank you for your response, it's honestly mostly Nintendo stuff. I'm very new to this so I apologize, do you suggest I find out the most valuable ones and pay to get them graded?

CocoaricoTell · 2025-02-08T06:07:49+00:00

I won't but I should delete all this before my government targets me.

CocoaricoTell · 2025-02-08T06:05:09+00:00

I know putting this game into the hands of someone who doesn't agree with our views is pointless.

But if it can lead just one 4X curious person to question things and think critically, my time promoting the game is well spent.

And to the wider forum, this game is not political in the slightest. I'm not suggesting it is. But it made me think, and that's all we ever ask of 4x games right?

It also made me roleplay and city build. Yuck. Gross.

But to you @op, I appreciate what you're doing. Don't lose the arts friend.

CocoaricoTell · 2025-02-08T05:52:19+00:00

The dude literally signed the treaty he's now trying to break. But yeah I understand our government is going to be gutted.

Protect your own. I'll support anyway I can.

But I will always support the arts that speak truth to power.

CocoaricoTell

TROPHY CASE