Thumping Our Way Through Disneyland.

[smidgy]

blook [/B]off my shirt right before we meet.

[/B]

is this a version of oobleck? anyone know what that is? (hint: dr. suess)

 

[sewmess]

is this a version of oobleck? anyone know what that is? (hint: dr. suess)

I work for a science center and We make oobleck! As part of the non-education staff, I'd have to hunt up the recipe for y'all, but I do know that what science centers call Oobleck is a non-Newtonian Fluid: it doesn't behave like a true fluid, or a true solid. It's very, very cool.

 

[nebo]

myaunt dixie made it once.. anyway, in a little known dr. suess story, the king was tired of the weather we have now (snow, rain,sleet) and wanted something different. someone invented oobleck (a gloppy mess) and naturally, merry mayhem ensued.

 

[smidgy]

honey!! I didn't know you had an aunt dixie, too!

ps happy anniversary honey.. 9 whole years together!!!

 

[Thumper_Man]

ps happy anniversary honey.. 9 whole years together!!!

So is this from the 1st marriage or 2nd? Regardless.

 

[bankr63]

Believe it or not, I've yet to see POCOST.

I like that. POCOST. The value of an item relative to a person's monetary worth.

No, I'm sorry but if Pirates of the Caribbean is POTC then it is POTCOST. And THAT sounds like something some of us worried about back in High School...

 

[pkondz]

No, I'm sorry but if Pirates of the Caribbean is POTC then it is POTCOST. And THAT sounds like something some of us worried about back in High School...

 

[julydeya]

Loving your reports!

 

[Thumper_Man]

Loving your reports!

Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying them.

If you love ours, for sure you'll love Nebo's. He's a good friend and follows us here as well. Go check him out. Just watch out for Pkondz (aka Ponzi). He's the Dennis Menace of our group.

 

[Thumper_Man]

Just paid off our stay at WDW. 22 days until we're back in Orlando.

 

[dwheatl]

Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying them.

If you love ours, for sure you'll love Nebo's. He's a good friend and follows us here as well. Go check him out. Just watch out for Pkondz (aka Ponzi). He's the Dennis Menace of our group.

I think of him as the Will Rogers!

Just paid off our stay at WDW. 22 days until we're back in Orlando.

Wooty woot!

 

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

honey!! I didn't know you had an aunt dixie, too!

ps happy anniversary honey.. 9 whole years together!!!

Happy Anniversary Nebo and Smidgy! Here's to many many more happy years together!

No, I'm sorry but if Pirates of the Caribbean is POTC then it is POTCOST. And THAT sounds like something some of us worried about back in High School...

I believe Ponzi said it best...

Loving your reports!

Thank you! Hopefully I can get another chapter up in the next day or so. Between work and listening to the Stephen King novel I'm on, I've been neglecting my work here!

Just paid off our stay at WDW. 22 days until we're back in Orlando.

Now we are so happy, We do the Dance of Joy

 

[pkondz]

Just watch out for Pkondz (aka Ponzi). He's the Dennis Menace of our group.

I take umbrage (I take the cake, I take the A-train) at this statement! Dennis the Menace was a mischeivous boy who was always causing all kinds of trou....

um

Yeah, okay. I guess I can't really dispute that.

Just paid off our stay at WDW. 22 days until we're back in Orlando.

Hey! Good for you guys!

I think of him as the Will Rogers!

William Rogers (MP) (1498–1553), Member of Parliament for Norwich
William P. Rogers (1913–2001), U.S. Attorney General under Dwight Eisenhower and Secretary of State under Richard Nixon
Will Rogers, Jr. (William Vann Rogers, Jr., 1911–1993), congressman from California from 1943 to 1944 and the son of the noted humorist by the same name
Will Rogers (Oklahoma politician) (1898–1983), congressman from Oklahoma, 1933–1942
Will Rogers (Maine politician) (born 1938), realtor and politician in Maine
William D. Rogers (1927–2007), U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs and subsequently Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs under Gerald Ford
William Findlay Rogers (1820–1899), congressman from New York, 1883–1884
William H. Rogers (mayor) (1850–1935), mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
William J. Rogers (born 1930), Wisconsin State Assemblyman
William Nathaniel Rogers (1892–1945), congressman from New Hampshire, 1923–1924 and 1931–1936
William Charles Rogers (1847–1917), Cherokee leader
Billie Rogers (born 1917), big band jazz trumpeter
Captain William Anthony "Buck" Rogers, science-fiction character (I'll take that one.)
Bill Rogers (voice actor), New York-based voice actor who works with DuArt Film and Video
William Rogers (rugby union) (1902–1987), American rugby union footballer
Bill Rogers (golfer) (born 1951), golfer
Billy Rogers (born 1949), Australian association footballer
Bill Rogers (athlete) (born 1985), runner
Bill Rogers (footballer) (1893–1918), former Australian rules footballer
William Rogers (engraver) (fl. 1580–1610), English engraver
William Allen Rogers (1854–1931), political cartoonist for the New York Herald
Will Rogers (1879–1935), "Cherokee Kid" cowboy, and humorist
William C. Rogers III (born 1938), commander of the USS Vincennes when it shot down Iran Air Flight 655
William Barton Rogers (1804–1882), founder of MIT
William H. Rogers (architect) (1914–2008), English architect
William Wendell Rogers (1896–1967), World War I flying ace

 

[sewmess]

Whoot with the paying off!!

So, Pkondz, would that make Nebo Tweeky - or whatever the robot's name was? You know, the one that was voice by Mel Blanc?

 

[pkondz]

So, Pkondz, would that make Nebo Tweeky - or whatever the robot's name was? You know, the one that was voice by Mel Blanc?

Yes. Yes it would.

 

[Thumper_Man]

New chapter should be coming soon. Sorry, we had a technical difficulty we had to resolve. Modem decided to kick the bucket over the weekend.

So we went out today and bought a new one. Should be back in business soon.

 

[julydeya]

 

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

As we exited the tram and tossed our nifty 3D glasses into the discard container, we started to contemplate what to do next. We looked at the map that we picked up on the way in and decided that we could take a quick look around and just slowly make our way down to the bottom area where Jurassic Park was. On the way there, we ran into some astronauts posing for a picture.



We asked if they would be willing to take a picture with us…they agreed. Or at least they didn’t disagree…





I’m not sure Kevin Bacon was too keen on T-Man using him as an elbow rest by the look on his face, but then again…he did not vocalize any discourse.

Now, for some reason, As I believe I have mentioned before, for the life of me, I cannot remember the escalators leading down to the bottom section of the park. I remember more of a long ramp of sorts, but definitely do not remember escalators. And I definitely do not remember a series of 3 escalators to get down from the top section to the bottom section.

However, there in front of me, as we made our way through the park, was the first in the series.



Now granted the last time I was here was over 14 years ago, and there are times I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday, let alone what I did 14 years ago. But these I think I would have remembered…

Anyway, we made our way down to the bottom. As we passed from one escalator to the other, we saw a few drink stands that were selling bottled sodas, and beer. Those beers were already looking good and it couldn’t have been later than 11:00am at this point. We decided we could wait a little while longer and kept going. Finally we reached the bottom and the first thing we see is:



I was starting to wonder if taking the Tram tour first thing was a wise decision, the lines have got to be crazy by now down here. There were only 3 rides on the bottom section, Jurassic Park, The Mummy and Transformers. All of which are popular rides. This can not be good.

We strolled up to the line, to see what the wait time would be. I’m expecting something like 45 minutes, What we saw was this:




NICE! We took that as a cue and walked right in. The longest part of the wait was getting through the que. By the time we wound our way in and out of the chain link fenced off areas, we only had to wait a couple of minutes to catch our ride.

Unfortunately there are no pictures of the ride here. I’m not sure if they just didn’t come out or if we were too worried about the camera getting wet to bother, but either way, I can’t find anything. I know, I know, bad TR writer...

The ride is pretty much the same as the one in Orlando. You take a tour, only to veer off course into the restricted section and find out that the Dino’s have escaped. (Hmm...Sounds a little familiar, Where have I seen that before?). Once again we are greeted by the spitting dinos, who have nothing better to do than to spit on me! And T-Man is having the time of his life watching me get drenched by them. He is paying too much attention to laughing at me to see that there is one we just passed and is now spitting directly at his back and neck! Haha...Laugh at me again will you?

As we start to make our way through the electrical building we see raptors tearing the place apart. Our only hope is that they don’t see us! They seem to be more into feeding off the electricity than anything else. We continue.

Just as we come to an area that seems to have no escape, a humongous T-Rex comes right for us from the ceiling and tries to eat us, luckily a trap door opens up just ahead and takes us straight for a dive down into the waterfall of death! Haha Mr. T-Rex, maybe next time sucker! You won’t be eating thumper tonight!

As we make our way out of the boat, I realize that I am soaked. Just before getting to the final exit area, another one of those stupid spitters takes a shot at me and lo and behold catches me just as I am taking off my sunglasses to wipe them clean, catching me directly in the eye! That hurt! Oooh...I’ll get you, you little...

Once we worked our way off the boat and onto land, we needed to dry off! So of course, what better way to do that, then to ride this:



Once again, we are greeted with a wonderful, 15 minute wait time. Off to the right, we see a ton of people making their way to the lockers. Since we disposed of our stuff right when we got into the park, we didn’t have anything to worry about. So we trudged on.

The que for this was what took the entire 15 minutes. No one was in front of us so we figured we would get to the ride in no time. We walked around the locker area and saw the roped off area. They must have been anticipating a huge crowd later, because we zigged and zagged our way through the roped off area. I felt like a mouse in a maze trying to find a piece of cheese. Finally, we make it inside the building. I thought for sure the maze was over. Unfortunately not. I think this might be a new way to make sure your still sober. If not, it’s definitely a way to sober you up.

As we zig and zag here, we are listening to someone talking on a screen ahead of us. I can’t tell what he is saying, It’s in some weird language and I am afraid I am not fluent in weird. I was paying more attention to the hieroglyphics on the wall. I’ve read that they actually make out words and phrases and warnings. Unfortunately I don’t read hieroglyphics so I have no way of heeding said warnings. Where is the translators when you need them?

We get to the end of the roped off area, only to come to a set of stairs. At the top of the stairs we are greeted and asked how many in our party, and directed a row in the second car. As the car pulled up, T-Man was ready to jump the gate, he was that anxious to ride. As the gate opened, T-Man rushed to the end, sat down, placed his hat in the little pouch for protection.

I however, slowly made my way over to sit next to him, and hurriedly brought the bar down securely on my lap.

Now I have a rule on coasters or rides of any kind. No seat belt or lap bar, it’s a great ride and I'm a happy Heather.

Lap bar or seat belt that goes across the hips, a few bumps and shakes, but relatively OK.

Anything that has an over the head harness, means it will probably be going upside down at some point. Time to start freaking out. A not so happy Heather. This is where the mantra starts to kick in.

Anything that has an over the head harness and a seat belt to keep you locked in place, means they are either trying to launch you into space or nothing good can come of this ride except me screaming my head off. Since I am not an astronaut, I think the latter would be the correct answer.

It has taken me years to get the courage to open my eyes during these rides. I’m such a wuss. This trip, I was bound and determined to actually see what the heck I was afraid of. So as I timidly got in the car and sat next to T-Man, I reminded myself that this only had a lap bar. There is nothing scary about a lap bar. I’m perfectly safe with my lap bar.

(Dumb wife, dumb wife, dumb wife!!!!!)

As the car started to move, I held on for dear life and did my best to keep my eyes open. Now I know why I close my eyes! It’s dark in here...and there is a strange guy up ahead telling us something...wait...now he’s being eaten by a bunch of beetles. That can’t be good. I wanna go back now. Can I change my mind? Wait...No...not forward...don’t you see there are dead guys up ahead? Yes those sarcophagus's, sarcophagi? They are not empty boxes...and there’s another guy up head telling us something...wait...it’s just a head, made of sand...and he’s crumbling as he mentions something about eternal life...that’s definitely not good. I’m ready to get out now!

Oh great, there’s another guy wanting to talk to us. This one is saying something in a different language. Wait..this sounds familiar. When we went through that section on the tram ride, didn’t Tour guide Sally say something about a curse? This sounds very much like what was said then. He can’t be cursing us again can he? Can we be cursed twice? If we are cursed twice does that null and void the first curse?

No way to stop and ask questions as we take off, I’m seeing nothing but pitch blackness...Oh wait...Open your eyes Heather!

Eeek! Ok...nevermind, close them again!

We stopped. Why does it sound like a ton of rats or something are after us. I open my eyes and look ahead. There’s a wall. A brick wall. And a bunch of beetles preparing to eat us for dinner...How do we get out of here. There’s no way out! Unless we go...

BACKWARDS!

or is that SDRAWKCAB?

PRAC! Oh...sorry, I mean CARP!

I completely spaced out that this ride goes backwards. Freaked the heck out of me. As I am screaming in T-Man’s ear and repeating my dumb wife mantra, we finally come to a stop safely on the other side.

The TM’s are applauding. We made it back without a scratch. Now I’m the one trying to hurry out of the car, while T-Man is taking his time finding his hat and strolling out.

After this ride I needed a drink! I settled for a soda from a kiosk nearby. We bought the mugs so we could refill them throughout the park for only $0.99. This way we didn’t have to purchase a brand new one each and every time.

As we took our time enjoying the ice cold coke, we walked over to the “splash zone” area near Jurassic Park. The last time I was here, I remember my brother getting completely soaked while standing in this area after one of the boats came down the cliff. He literally walked away dripping and wringing out his clothes. I may still have a picture of that somewhere, I'll have to dig through the garage to see if I can find it.

Mike figured that would be a great way to cool off. So he stood as close to the wall as possible.



I don’t think he got a drop of water on him. There was no splash. It was kind of sad. We tried again, thinking it was just a fluke...



Still nothin’...

We may have vocalized our disappointment a little too loudly, because while we were getting ready to make our way to the next attraction, a T-Rex tried to grab us. I escaped. T-Man wasn’t so lucky...



I was able to tickle the T-Rex into loosening his grip and we ran as far away as we could. Hoping if he did come after us, we could get some assistance from the Autobots...



The wait time for this ride was the longest we had seen so far this morning. 60 minutes. We looked at each other and figured this would probably be the best time for us to go, who knows how long the line will be later in the day. We still had our drinks, so we wouldn’t die of thirst while waiting. We headed on in.

There were two lines, off to the left was the stand by line. Off to the right, was the single rider line. The que for this ride was really entertaining. As you walk in, you are immediately transported to NEST base.



For those who have seen the movie you know what NEST is all about. As we enter, the first thing we see is the Allspark.



As we walk through the base we are informed via monitors surrounding the area that Decepticons have come to earth in search of this and are set on destroying anything in their path to get it.

As we continue our walk through NEST, we come across this:



I was thankful they had a blueprint of what this actually was, because I wasn’t sure.



Seems like it came from a really big scorpion like robot type thing...

On one of the monitors, Megatron came up, telling us that they will defeat the Autobots, they have done it before and will do it again.



This didn’t sit well with Optimus and the others and they asked for our assistance. Optimus, along with Bumblebee, Ironhide and Ratchet explain that they need our help to keep the Allspark safe, as they transport it to a safer location.

As we walked along, excited to help out Optimus and his pals, we saw buttons on the wall. I have no clue what these buttons did. But whenever there is a button, what is the first thing we do?



That was my “I’m pushing the red button” evil face. I promise everyone can open their eyes again. I’m sorry I scared you. I didn’t mean it I promise. Look...this is much better.



Since I pushed the buttons, T-Man of course had to outdo me, and press 2 red buttons at the same time. I’m wondering if somewhere in the rest of Universal Park, lights are being turned on and off or rides are being stopped and started as we press all these buttons randomly.

45 Minutes later we are at the front of the line. We are given a pair of 3D glasses and now we start to get really excited. It seems so do the TM’s. I have to give it to them, they really got into character.

We are given our orders from Optimus, and told that we are heading on this mission with a new Autobot, Evac. He will see us, and the Allspark safely to the other side.

The TM’s all dressed in Army fatigues, usher us to our specified rows. Another TM, waiting to usher us into the car looks us over, and in his best army voice says:

Now soldiers, you know what to do. Once the car comes to a full stop, you are going to go as far to the end as you can. Take a seat as quickly as possible and complete your mission. Right?! Right?! Now move Move, MOVE!

We are ushered quickly onto Evac, who kindly does not mind us stampeding onto his back.

Wow...Look at the time. No wonder I’m exhausted. I should hit the hay, I still have to get up for work in the morning ya know....

What? You say I can’t leave you hanging like that? That me leaving this chapter at this particular spot is cruel and unusual punishment?

Maybe...but I know you’ll be back to find out more...and that in essence is good writing. You will be back right?

 

[julydeya]

Sure I´ll be back!

 

[sewmess]

Count me in!!

I enjoyed the Mummy at Universal Orlando very much. Probably the most of any of the rides we went on there.

I'm with you about keeping my eyes open. This year's test was Rockin' Roller Coaster...It's not as scary with your eyes open. I was a little disappointed.

Is it wierd that I want to ride those escalators more than the rides?