Ooh, the monorail DOES smell funny... (almost finished!) [11/30-12/17, 2010]

[bumbershoot]

You know that is funny about Ollivander's Wand Shop. I would have ended up buying it myself. All it would have taken was a look from his eyes to do it too.

Oh definitely... I wasn't as upset as I might have made it seem... And Robert had wanted a wand before that moment, and has sworn to me that he loves the wand etc etc. So it's all good... But I've lost some credibility for the future times I'll try to say "you probably won't get picked for xyz".

 

[kaoden39]

I hadn't thought about that aspect. When we went to Disneyland in June Loren's best friend Vincent that loves Toy Story more than anything by the Green Army Men in their DCA street shows. Now, never mind the fact that he is 6 feet tall and was 14 at the time. He was heart broken when they didn't pick him. He was the only one that volunteered to do whatever it is that they do. To this day he still whines about it.

 

[kaoden39]

Universal seems to have some really cute theming. E looks so cute in his poncho, and so happy after his ride.

 

[bumbershoot]

He did love that ride!

 

[kaoden39]

You can tell by the look of absolute joy on his face.

 

[bumbershoot]

He was getting all confident on that ride, and while going around to ride it again. Didn't want to walk anywhere near me! Just wanted to run around and go again again again...

 

[kaoden39]

That's wonderful Molly. He is growing up.

 

[bumbershoot]

It reminded me of days gone by, spending parent-free time at Marriott Great America (hello, 80s, right?), running around and around to do the small coaster...


Oh man, I've been under the weather TOO LONG! I'm now getting sore because of lack of activity. Nowhere near as nice as being sore from working out too much! Gotta finish this trip report, get totally well, and start working out again. Next week starts the new class session at the Y, so I'll be there for E, and can ease back into exercising. Thank goodness.

I also have to curtail the computer time b/c E's learning work is getting more intense. We finally finished (well, as of tomorrow) the first *third* of the year's work (told you we were behind), and now it's going to get more interesting. Funfun!

So let me gather thoughts, receipts, and pictures, and I'll get to work!

 

[bumbershoot]

December 13, Day 14!​

Our last Universal day had arrived, and Robert was TIRED. E&I were not, so off we went. Robert said he'd sleep in then deal with finishing up the packing, getting stuff to Bell Services, etc etc, so away we went!

The 13th was coooooooooooollllllld. Wunderground said the high was 48 and the low was 35, but those are not the temperatures we saw that day. It was below 35 in the morning, and it might have been 48 somewhere else, but certainly not at Universal. We were COLD.

Of course, when you're cold, you aren't thinking properly, so when we got off the boat, we headed the wrong way, to Universal instead of IOA. Whoops! Oh well, caught this pic on the way back the right way.

And here's the sign for IOA.

He hadn't grown any, but he was wearing pjs under his pants for extra warmth, and a few layers under that sweatshirt.

Pictures...

Port of Entry area.

E thought this was a real guy, and was worried about him and went over to check on him.

Turns out I was right. He wasn't real.

Our first ride of the day was The Cat in the Hat again. Did it mainly to warm up. It worked.



I love their decorations!

It was simply impossible to keep him focused on WWoHP, with all the fun stuff around.

"If you fall, I will take care of you, but I will not feel sorry for you, just so you know, kiddo..."

Lost Continent.

Freaky!

Freakier that one was taken right after the other (this is in HP area of course).

Ollivander's from the outside.

It was this morning that I believe I did whatever damage has been done to my health and vocal cords. I was worn down, it was cold, I wasn't dressed quite warmly enough, and I chose to go with Eamon on Flight of the Hippogriff. As many times as he chose. He chose...14 times. In a row.

I discovered that if I take a deep breath while going up the coaster hill, then slowly let it out in a controlled fashion, I don't have the "oh, there goes my stomach" feeling. The deep breathing in 30-something degree air also might have contributed to the throat problems.

14 times...wowie was that fun. (it actually kind of was. shh.)


By the time that 14th ride was done, we were even colder than before! So we went shopping, we couldn't NOT go shopping at this point.

What an odd sign...

OH, now I understand...

(that's the Monster Book of Monsters, for those who haven't read/seen the later HP stories...it does move, growl, and snap, by the way!)

Look at the funky tower's tower's tower's tower!

Bought scarves for the 3 of us. E of course is Gryffindor, I decided that I'm more of the Ravenclaw type, and Robert feels that the Sorting Hat would have put him in Hufflepuff. So we got "house" scarves that were appropriate. I also got lanyards that look like neckties that go along with the houses as well. I *love* the lanyards. Love them!


Then bought Butterbeer (but no mug), as you can tell by this picture (which also shows off E's scarf, which also shows that he was SO cold he was willing to have his scarf under his hood, which normally he hates).

And so, with the Hippogriff bowed to 14 times (ya gotta bow as it does, as yo go up the hill), with scarves purchased (at $35 each) and lanyards as well (9.95 each, though Robert decided he didn't want his so it was returned once he saw it), and a no-mug butterbeer (3.25) consumed, we took leave of the wondrous wonderful magnificient, if a bit small, Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

 

[Swalphin]

Molly,
Wow you have done a great job of describing all the rides and details at Universal. Is that the correct way to call it, Universal or is that considered one part of the park. Is that like calling Epcot WDW, KWIM, only one aspect of it. I am going to have to do some more "edumacating" with a map of the actual park to grasp the lay out.

We got down to WDW on the 12th of December and stayed till the 18th. It was brutally cold. Luckily we are in GA and just drove down and were able to bring clothes for all of the temperatures we had.

You took some really great pictures !
I am excited about the next part of your report maybe we crossed paths?

 

[bumbershoot]

December 13, Day 14, continued​

Once again, into the dinosaur world! But this time, a serious treat.

2 days before, during a bathroom break (where you can see into the greenhouse), a TM who was cleaning up the outside area (it's near picnic tables and the smoking section as well) gossiped with us about how they were going to start this cool dino area up again. Back before Katrina (?, or another hurricane, probably not as long ago as Andrew) they had a trail with animatronic dinosaurs that you could meet, but then it got sort of messed up with the storms, and they hadn't had it again. But they were talking about opening it again in January, so the next time we were there we could see it!

Well that sounded fabulous. But, sigh, when would we be back to see it?

Turns out the TM was a month or so off! Because...

You walk down a trail (E was very nervous about that fence by the way...he saw the trouble that happened on the Jurassic Park River Adventure when those gates were left open!), and then you wait and wait and wait (not sure that was really their intention, but on a soft opening you gotta roll with it), and then you're taken into one of 3 areas. Each, from what I was able to learn, has a different dinosaur who is having a check-up. The "scientists" working with them work for the company and the main guy from the stories of Jurassic Park, so you get to hear all about how they ONLY have females, and how they bioengineer the dinos to not make the one amino acid, etc. It's kinda funny, but it does make you think *something* is going to happen!

We got to meet Cera.

Then we got to meet a newly hatched Triceratops, who is carried around through the crowd. E was a wee bit startled.

But rallied.

And got blurry. (the pic is more to show you the movement of the triceratops, not E)

I'm not sure if this is going to auto-rotate [*it's a video, by the way, click on it!*], and I can't figure out how to get photobucket to do it, so...sorry if it gives you a crick in the neck, but it's SO cool. I obviously didn't catch the whole thing...for example, you don't get to see and hear Cera sneezing, but you can get the idea.




It was a really neat experience, and we were very excited to be among the FIRST in years to see this attraction!



At that point we were waiting around for Robert, who was making his way over.

Yikes!

The SkunkWorks in Toon Lagoon.

E found a hidden Mickey (unintentional I'm sure) here, even while being HP.

We saw some superheroes...

The only one E would pose with was Spiderman. Alas, he was the one inside in front of the green screen, where they took THEIR pictures. OF course they let you take your own pictures, but they turn out very plain. Nevertheless, he enjoyed it! (we'll budget for a proper picture with Spidey next time)

 

[bumbershoot]

Molly,
Wow you have done a great job of describing all the rides and details at Universal. Is that the correct way to call it, Universal or is that considered one part of the park. Is that like calling Epcot WDW, KWIM, only one aspect of it. I am going to have to do some more "edumacating" with a map of the actual park to grasp the lay out.

I think it's like Disneyland. There's Disneyland RESORT, which is the whole thing, and then there's Disneyland Park and Disney's California Adventure Park. Confusing.

On the park map (which includes both parks) it says Universal's Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios Florida. And I think overall it's called Universal Orlando Resort.

 

[bumbershoot]

December 13, Day 14, again!​

We were freezing and Robert still wasn't there, so we went on the Spiderman ride just the two of us.

As we were coming out, R got there, so the three of us went on it. Twice in a row, I could see its brilliance!

Helped that we had a near ride-stop on our first time through that day, and got to experience about a third of the ride without any effects. Got to see how it worked. That helped.


Even the entrance to this ride was terrifying. None of us went on it.

This is as close to Wolverine as E would get.

And only Robert was brave enough to pose with these two!

Then we all went on the following ride, which is basically the teacups with different sound effects.

E, goofing with the Hulk practice seats.

It was so cold, we had other things to do and see, so we made our way on out towards Universal.

Our intentions at Universal park were basic. R wanted to see the Terminator show, and E wanted another coaster. Everything else was just extra.

They have a Blues Brothers show; we didn't see it, but it was fun to watch their car go by as they advertised for it!

We had lunch again at Lombard's Landing, it was tasty that time, too!

Eamon caught a shark with his bare hands.

We went on Men in Black again.

We bought E a toy from their giftshop...he agonized between a Neuralizer (flashy thingie) and a Noisy Cricket (the tiny gun that Will Smith's character gets). He chose the Noisy Cricket. It's a cute little thing!


We also went on the Simpson's Ride again. This time I sat more towards the front (taller people have to sit in front, so your party will be split up by height if needed...that's what happened the first time, but not this time, we sat with Robert this time), and I could see OVER and to the *side* of the ride vehicle. This is the view Robert got the first time but I didn't. Basically it's a HUGE room like for Soarin', and everyone's in their ride vehicles, and those move similarly to the Soarin' seats, but somehow everyone sees the same thing. You are on the coaster, no matter where you are seated, unlike with Soarin' where you can get a definite "left of center" or right, if you're not sitting right in the center. It's a mystery how it works, but it's cool no matter what!



It was time for Robert to run off to Terminator, so E and I headed to Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone.

Discovered that he could actually wait in line and ride All By Himself. It's possible he could have done so on Hippogriff, but I *wanted* to ride that. I didn't want to ride Woody's coaster. But he did!

You can see him peeking through.

That's him in the middle, red arms, black gloves, arms straight up in the air~

Running past me to go again. Again! And again.

He rode the Nuthouse Coaster.....15 times....in a row...without me even setting foot in the line!



We finally met back up with Robert (he says Terminator wasn't as spectacular as he wanted it to be, but he'd go again), stopped in to give Ben-the-TM-from-yesterday his kudos, and headed on out to the car to go back to the OTHER big theme park in Orlando.


Goodbye Universal, we adored you, thank you!

 

[QueenDoOver]

Wow Molly! Thanks for the great report of Universal. Nathan has been begging to go (he remembers universal in California fondly) and I have been avoiding it. But now, when we make it to Florida, I think we will have to squeeze it in. I sure would not want to deal with those low temps while on vacation. I keep going back and forth with weather and timing. I know if we go when it is hot and humid that we will adjust if we take the time, but I am not sure if I can get my hubby to go for long enough to allow all that to happen. Glad you are feeling better

 

[kaoden39]

Molly, I haven't been to Great America for years. I remember that it was the first amusement park that as a teenager my parents felt it was safe for me to do what I wanted and I was allowed to do what I wanted. What great fun that place was. My kids have all been with band in middle school, their band teacher cracked me up because we live less than 30 miles from Six Flags but he loves Great America so that is where his band goes every year.

The photos from HP area made me cold this morning. They have that illusion. E is a daredevil in the making. I think that before you know it there won't be a ride that he won't ride.

 

[bumbershoot]

Michele, when did you graduate HS? I'm an '87 person myself (Leland in San Jose). If we're around the same age, it's funny to think of us tooling around GA at the same timeframe, isn't it?

And sorry if we've swapped ages before; I have a horrible memory!

 

[kaoden39]

Molly,
We haven't exchanged ages before But, my memory is bad too so who knows? I graduated almost a decade before you. I graduated in 1980, Fairfield High. I have been here forever.

 

[bumbershoot]

Ah, so you would have been one of the near grownups at GA thinking that us near babies were being stupid....


E got a Matchbox car ramp jump thing, with the rest of his New Year money from grandma, and he and Robert are now having competitions with all of their Matchbox cars. They've got brackets and heats and everything.

And here I thought the ramp thing would be fun for an hour, tops...silly female...

 

[DLR29]

Ah, so you would have been one of the near grownups at GA thinking that us near babies were being stupid

I was a GA season passholder for 10 years during my childhood, although that wasn't long ago at all! Except I never knew it as Marriott's. It was Paramount's for my earlier childhood and now it's "California's Great America". I have so many good memories from that place. It's what truly started my roller coaster/amusment park obsession (when I rode the Demon for the first time when I was 8) which turned into my Disney obsession...

Anyway, great Universal updates!!! I really want to go for the Harry Potter ride and all of the other great stuff there.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yep, back in the day it was Marriott's. 18 million years ago, LOL. Back when you could sit in the back of a pickup truck, on the highway, and no one called the police. And you could silently say "olive juice" to strangers behind the vehicle so they'd think you were saying "I love you", and no one thought that was weird. Ah, the WEIRD old days...


Oh man, the Demon....sigh....