JerseyJanice
A Disboards original...
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 10,764
I put in a wake-up call for 7:00 a.m., but need not have bothered; I was too excited to sleep a lot. I was up at 5:30 and so was my husband. We went out on our balcony to chat quietly so we didn't wake up DS.
Lorenzo called around 7:45 to say he was going down to see the characters. Louis (DS) was still sleeping soundly, so I grabbed my camcorder and went down without him. I figured he'd wake up for the second round. (The Character Caravan comes twice; at 7:50 and 8:50.) I met up with Lorenzo and his sister (Nicolette) and took their pictures while they got autographs.
When I got back to the room, Louis had just woken up and was more than a little cranky. He was not happy that I met characters without him. Poor baby! After fussing a while, he suddenly said, "I just took my happy pills, and I feel much better now. Can we go meet the characters?" Happy pills! Where does this kid get his material?
I got him showered and dressed and then we went down for the next Character Caravan. Goofy and his son Max were on one line; Foul Fellow (from Pinocchio--I was calling him the Big Bad Wolf until a CM corrected me) was on another; Pinocchio himself; and Friar Tuck (from Robin Hood). We quickly met Pinocchio, Foul Fellow and Friar Tuck, then waited for Goofy and Max, where there was a long line. A CM came around to say theyd be there for only 5 minutes more. We got in just in time to see the Goofster and Max; one other family behind us in line got to see them, but that was it. There were some mighty disappointed children after that.
So here's a tip--get there early for the Character Caravan. The lines build quickly, and since the Caravan has other resorts to go to, they can't keep the characters waiting for you.
The rest of the family came down to the lobby, and we all went out front to meet the Mears bus to Universal. I made my biggest mistake of this trip then--I wore my sandals to Universal. I thought my feet would be cooler that way, but they weren't used to the straps. We had a cool spring in New Jersey, and I hadn't worn them yet. Ouch! I wound up with blisters and a rash, and my feet ached the remainder of the trip. Next trip I know to stick with socks and sneakers for park touring and to bring a can of Gold Bond powder.
The bus went to the Contemporary (the hedges out front were looking pretty shaggy--shame, shame on this less than perfect piece of landscaping), then the Polynesian (funny, Lorenzo said it looked like the Bradys go to Hawaii and he swore he never heard that before), and then the Grand Floridian. Then, we stopped at SeaWorld and finally Universal. The whole trip took a good hour and seemed to be a harbinger of the week to come (although it was a Mears bus, not Disney's).
We thought the moving sidewalks from the parking lot to the park entrance area were cool. The kids sure got a kick out of them. I bought our tickets over the 'net (floridaorlandotickets.net) and was very glad I did. I paid $101 for each adult ticket, which was a three-day, never-expiring park hopper (between IOA and the Studios); DSs ticket was $84. It appeared that Universal changed either its pricing or ticket structure since my purchase because they weren't offering anything like that.
Rocco waited on line to buy tickets for his family while we waited at the entrance gate. I spotted Bullwinkle the moose just inside the Islands of Adventure gate and told DS, who got excited at the prospect of meeting him. He and I went inside to see him while DH waited for his sister's family, but Bullwinkle was gone before we could get to him. DS was quite annoyed! (So far, his character meetings weren't going so well.)
Finally, everyone made it into the park, and wow, we were all so amazed at how beautiful it is. I can't believe we all hadn't bothered to come here on our last trips; its really as fabulous to look at as anywhere in Disney World.
First stop was Spiderman, and here is where we made our biggest mistake of the day: we got on the standby line. We did not realize Universal had a Fastpass system similar to Disney's. I was under the impression that they offering FoTL passes only to their resort guests. While waiting for Rocco to buy tickets, they were announcing you could buy 5 Express passes for $15, so we werent aware of any free Fastpass-type option. After we invested a good amount of time on the line, Linda and I both read on the map that we could have gotten an Express pass. At that point, we should have gotten off the line to get them, but we didn't know how many mazes we would encounter when we got inside the building.
The estimated time was 45 minutes when we got in line. Finally, about an hour and 10 minutes, we were at the boarding area. The man who loaded us into the ride vehicle asked if we'd ever done the attraction before, and when we said no, he said, "brace yourselves! Theres a 50 foot drop!"
@#*! jerk! There is not! I dont want to put a spoiler in here, so let me just say thats not true. There is a part where the vehicle drops, but it's more of an optical illusion than a physical plunge. His warning ruined it for me. Im not good on drops and I was so worried about it, it was difficult to enjoy the attraction properly. If what he said were true however, I'd have been grateful for the info.
Well, the attraction was amazing even though Louis and I were very scared. After that, we decided to go "Express" the rest of the day. We backtracked to Seuss Landing and got Express passes for the Cat in the Hat ride, then did "One Fish, Two Fish" and the Carrousel while waiting for the Cat in Hat Express pass. We did that (very charmingreminded me of the Pooh ride in MK) and then set out for the Jurassic River Adventure. We enjoyed the scenery and theming very much along the way.
We got our River Adventure Express passes and then went on the Pterodon Flyers, which was way more fun than it looked. Had my SILs family not been with us and had it not been late (it was close to 1:30 by then), wed have done the Triceratops Encounter since that is my sons kind of thing. (He has quite an imagination.)
We did the River Adventure, and it was great! It scared DS quite a bit, but the rest of us loved it! Lorenzo had to buy our photo (which I could have done without--I looked so bad in that picture).
On the map I received through the ticket broker, it appeared that there was a boat from this area of the park to the entrance/exit area, which is where we wanted to go next. I checked with a few employees to find out that the boat rides are no longer offered.
So we continued walking in the same direction we came into the Jurassic area from. We passed through Toon Lagoon, and frankly, I couldnt imagine enjoying any of these rides without having a change of clothes. Next time we're in town, I'd like to stay on Universal property for a few nights--I could see doing these attractions then.
We went through the exit, getting our hands stamped by the sweetest guy ever in a wheelchair. It does my heart good to see differently-abled people employed in what seem to be fun jobs.
We talked about what to do for lunch during our marathon Spiderman wait and decided to go to Margaritaville. SIL and I were in the mood for margaritas. It was a delightful lunch, albeit rather expensive. I showed my AAA card for a 10% discount, but the bill still came to $96 plus tax. Ouch!
I had a crabcake sandwich that was very good, and everyone else had a version of "cheeseburger in paradise." The atmosphere was very enjoyable and cooling after being in the hot sun all day. We enjoyed watching "Parrot Vision" television, and the gift shop was very nice. The prices for things like T-shirts and shot glasses (which my DH collects) seemed more fair than Disney's. DS and I thought the painted lounge chairs outside were way cool.
After this relaxing break, we headed over to the Studios. One thing about touring with SILs family--we enjoyed being with them immensely. They were excellent company, but boy, do they like to shop! I was a champion shopper in my day, but DH detests it, so its something we do very little of in the parks. They kept stopping to look at stuff, and it was driving him crazy.
It was close to 3:00 at this point and we were running out of steam. I was hoping to catch a few movie attractions, but it wasn't looking like we'd get much done. We hit the first big attraction we happened on--Terminator 3-D. Wow! What an excellent attraction, but its loudness scared my DS quite a bit. The poor baby was getting very overtired by then anyway.
We moved toward the ET attraction and found some characters to visit. Man, you gotta feel for the people who play the characters on days like this one. Very hot and sunny; no rain all day to cool things down. We met Crash from the Playstation game, Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat, and Woody Woodpecker. Woody! Where have you been all my life? Youre one of my all-time favorite cartoon characters.
We attempted to get an Express pass for ET, but they were sold out for the day. So we went on the standby line, with my husband saying that it was the last thing he was doing. He's just not a marathon park tourist. Lorenzo said he wanted to do Nickelodeon afterward, and my son started saying he wanted to go there, too.
I slammed my foot into a "pedal" while boarding the ET attraction. Ouch! It got blue and blue later. We enjoyed the attraction although DS was worried something scary was going to happen. I kept reassuring him, but he was really close to his limit at that point.
After ET, DS was close to a meltdown, my husband had begun one, and the Mears bus runs only once an hour. It was after 4:30 at this point, so wed have to catch the 5:30 bus or wait for the 6:30 one. We walked over to the Nickelodeon since it was on the way out and then realized it was a show beginning at 5:00. There was no way we could see it and still make the 5:30 bus, so DH said, "see ya" to his sister and we turned around to walk out.
DS took a fit and a half at that point. He thought he was missing out on getting slimed! He wanted to see the show so much; Id have left him with his aunt, but I was afraid he'd meltdown anyway, and I really couldnt let her deal with that. So we dragged him out of the park, kicking and screaming up a storm. It was awful.
On the bus, he got quiet and wouldnt sit with us. I tried to talk to him and he said, "youre ruining my whole vacation. I hate you, and I hate him (points at daddy)." O.K.
Later on the bus ride, he seemed to brighten up a bit, so I asked what his favorite thing at Universal was. His answer: "if I had done Nickelodeon, that would have been my favorite thing, but since I didnt, nothing was my favorite."
Back to the room where it was like a meat locker. My husband put the thermostat on 60 degrees before we left in the morning, and it was brutally cold. Eek! We didnt bother with the pool then.
After rests and showers, we went down to the food court to eat dinner. Lunch was pretty expensive, so we figured wed give our wallets a break that night. After dinner, we meandered around the resort, then headed down to the beach to see the Electric Water Pageant and fireworks. We met SILs family there, but they were just on their way to dinner at the Whispering Canyon. They left Universal after the Nickelodeon show and caught the 6:30 bus back.
DH and I each took a chaise lounge, while DS played in the playground behind us. He made a couple of friends in no time and was having a ball. Those chaises are so comfy! The beach gets a wonderful breeze at night, too.
Before the EWP, another family came to the beach. The father pulled two chaise lounges closer to the water. He whacked the second one into my husbands chaise when he pulled it. What he did next completely amazed me. Instead of just pulling it forward, he moved it over a few feet, so that he was smack in front of my husband and ruining his view. There werent a lot of people there, so it was hardly necessary. The guy was just a thoughtless oaf. I said (loudly), "gee, honey, did you wear a kick-me sign to Florida? First the big lady on the plane, and now this guy blocking your view."
I meant for the guy to hear me, but if he did, he didnt budge. DH was too tired to care much, but I thought it was funny. My DH is a big man; usually other guys wont mess with him, but this guy was out in space. Later on, his kids got into a fight with some other kids, and he had to break it up. He got very upset, and my DH laughed and said it couldnt happen to a nicer guy. We went back to our room and hit the hay not long after the fireworks and EWP. BTW, the view of the EWP is MUCH better on this beach than from the boardwalk near the other boat dock. And I just love the EWP to pieces!
Lorenzo called around 7:45 to say he was going down to see the characters. Louis (DS) was still sleeping soundly, so I grabbed my camcorder and went down without him. I figured he'd wake up for the second round. (The Character Caravan comes twice; at 7:50 and 8:50.) I met up with Lorenzo and his sister (Nicolette) and took their pictures while they got autographs.
When I got back to the room, Louis had just woken up and was more than a little cranky. He was not happy that I met characters without him. Poor baby! After fussing a while, he suddenly said, "I just took my happy pills, and I feel much better now. Can we go meet the characters?" Happy pills! Where does this kid get his material?
I got him showered and dressed and then we went down for the next Character Caravan. Goofy and his son Max were on one line; Foul Fellow (from Pinocchio--I was calling him the Big Bad Wolf until a CM corrected me) was on another; Pinocchio himself; and Friar Tuck (from Robin Hood). We quickly met Pinocchio, Foul Fellow and Friar Tuck, then waited for Goofy and Max, where there was a long line. A CM came around to say theyd be there for only 5 minutes more. We got in just in time to see the Goofster and Max; one other family behind us in line got to see them, but that was it. There were some mighty disappointed children after that.
So here's a tip--get there early for the Character Caravan. The lines build quickly, and since the Caravan has other resorts to go to, they can't keep the characters waiting for you.
The rest of the family came down to the lobby, and we all went out front to meet the Mears bus to Universal. I made my biggest mistake of this trip then--I wore my sandals to Universal. I thought my feet would be cooler that way, but they weren't used to the straps. We had a cool spring in New Jersey, and I hadn't worn them yet. Ouch! I wound up with blisters and a rash, and my feet ached the remainder of the trip. Next trip I know to stick with socks and sneakers for park touring and to bring a can of Gold Bond powder.
The bus went to the Contemporary (the hedges out front were looking pretty shaggy--shame, shame on this less than perfect piece of landscaping), then the Polynesian (funny, Lorenzo said it looked like the Bradys go to Hawaii and he swore he never heard that before), and then the Grand Floridian. Then, we stopped at SeaWorld and finally Universal. The whole trip took a good hour and seemed to be a harbinger of the week to come (although it was a Mears bus, not Disney's).
We thought the moving sidewalks from the parking lot to the park entrance area were cool. The kids sure got a kick out of them. I bought our tickets over the 'net (floridaorlandotickets.net) and was very glad I did. I paid $101 for each adult ticket, which was a three-day, never-expiring park hopper (between IOA and the Studios); DSs ticket was $84. It appeared that Universal changed either its pricing or ticket structure since my purchase because they weren't offering anything like that.
Rocco waited on line to buy tickets for his family while we waited at the entrance gate. I spotted Bullwinkle the moose just inside the Islands of Adventure gate and told DS, who got excited at the prospect of meeting him. He and I went inside to see him while DH waited for his sister's family, but Bullwinkle was gone before we could get to him. DS was quite annoyed! (So far, his character meetings weren't going so well.)
Finally, everyone made it into the park, and wow, we were all so amazed at how beautiful it is. I can't believe we all hadn't bothered to come here on our last trips; its really as fabulous to look at as anywhere in Disney World.
First stop was Spiderman, and here is where we made our biggest mistake of the day: we got on the standby line. We did not realize Universal had a Fastpass system similar to Disney's. I was under the impression that they offering FoTL passes only to their resort guests. While waiting for Rocco to buy tickets, they were announcing you could buy 5 Express passes for $15, so we werent aware of any free Fastpass-type option. After we invested a good amount of time on the line, Linda and I both read on the map that we could have gotten an Express pass. At that point, we should have gotten off the line to get them, but we didn't know how many mazes we would encounter when we got inside the building.
The estimated time was 45 minutes when we got in line. Finally, about an hour and 10 minutes, we were at the boarding area. The man who loaded us into the ride vehicle asked if we'd ever done the attraction before, and when we said no, he said, "brace yourselves! Theres a 50 foot drop!"
@#*! jerk! There is not! I dont want to put a spoiler in here, so let me just say thats not true. There is a part where the vehicle drops, but it's more of an optical illusion than a physical plunge. His warning ruined it for me. Im not good on drops and I was so worried about it, it was difficult to enjoy the attraction properly. If what he said were true however, I'd have been grateful for the info.
Well, the attraction was amazing even though Louis and I were very scared. After that, we decided to go "Express" the rest of the day. We backtracked to Seuss Landing and got Express passes for the Cat in the Hat ride, then did "One Fish, Two Fish" and the Carrousel while waiting for the Cat in Hat Express pass. We did that (very charmingreminded me of the Pooh ride in MK) and then set out for the Jurassic River Adventure. We enjoyed the scenery and theming very much along the way.
We got our River Adventure Express passes and then went on the Pterodon Flyers, which was way more fun than it looked. Had my SILs family not been with us and had it not been late (it was close to 1:30 by then), wed have done the Triceratops Encounter since that is my sons kind of thing. (He has quite an imagination.)
We did the River Adventure, and it was great! It scared DS quite a bit, but the rest of us loved it! Lorenzo had to buy our photo (which I could have done without--I looked so bad in that picture).
On the map I received through the ticket broker, it appeared that there was a boat from this area of the park to the entrance/exit area, which is where we wanted to go next. I checked with a few employees to find out that the boat rides are no longer offered.
So we continued walking in the same direction we came into the Jurassic area from. We passed through Toon Lagoon, and frankly, I couldnt imagine enjoying any of these rides without having a change of clothes. Next time we're in town, I'd like to stay on Universal property for a few nights--I could see doing these attractions then.
We went through the exit, getting our hands stamped by the sweetest guy ever in a wheelchair. It does my heart good to see differently-abled people employed in what seem to be fun jobs.
We talked about what to do for lunch during our marathon Spiderman wait and decided to go to Margaritaville. SIL and I were in the mood for margaritas. It was a delightful lunch, albeit rather expensive. I showed my AAA card for a 10% discount, but the bill still came to $96 plus tax. Ouch!
I had a crabcake sandwich that was very good, and everyone else had a version of "cheeseburger in paradise." The atmosphere was very enjoyable and cooling after being in the hot sun all day. We enjoyed watching "Parrot Vision" television, and the gift shop was very nice. The prices for things like T-shirts and shot glasses (which my DH collects) seemed more fair than Disney's. DS and I thought the painted lounge chairs outside were way cool.
After this relaxing break, we headed over to the Studios. One thing about touring with SILs family--we enjoyed being with them immensely. They were excellent company, but boy, do they like to shop! I was a champion shopper in my day, but DH detests it, so its something we do very little of in the parks. They kept stopping to look at stuff, and it was driving him crazy.
It was close to 3:00 at this point and we were running out of steam. I was hoping to catch a few movie attractions, but it wasn't looking like we'd get much done. We hit the first big attraction we happened on--Terminator 3-D. Wow! What an excellent attraction, but its loudness scared my DS quite a bit. The poor baby was getting very overtired by then anyway.
We moved toward the ET attraction and found some characters to visit. Man, you gotta feel for the people who play the characters on days like this one. Very hot and sunny; no rain all day to cool things down. We met Crash from the Playstation game, Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat, and Woody Woodpecker. Woody! Where have you been all my life? Youre one of my all-time favorite cartoon characters.
We attempted to get an Express pass for ET, but they were sold out for the day. So we went on the standby line, with my husband saying that it was the last thing he was doing. He's just not a marathon park tourist. Lorenzo said he wanted to do Nickelodeon afterward, and my son started saying he wanted to go there, too.
I slammed my foot into a "pedal" while boarding the ET attraction. Ouch! It got blue and blue later. We enjoyed the attraction although DS was worried something scary was going to happen. I kept reassuring him, but he was really close to his limit at that point.
After ET, DS was close to a meltdown, my husband had begun one, and the Mears bus runs only once an hour. It was after 4:30 at this point, so wed have to catch the 5:30 bus or wait for the 6:30 one. We walked over to the Nickelodeon since it was on the way out and then realized it was a show beginning at 5:00. There was no way we could see it and still make the 5:30 bus, so DH said, "see ya" to his sister and we turned around to walk out.
DS took a fit and a half at that point. He thought he was missing out on getting slimed! He wanted to see the show so much; Id have left him with his aunt, but I was afraid he'd meltdown anyway, and I really couldnt let her deal with that. So we dragged him out of the park, kicking and screaming up a storm. It was awful.
On the bus, he got quiet and wouldnt sit with us. I tried to talk to him and he said, "youre ruining my whole vacation. I hate you, and I hate him (points at daddy)." O.K.
Later on the bus ride, he seemed to brighten up a bit, so I asked what his favorite thing at Universal was. His answer: "if I had done Nickelodeon, that would have been my favorite thing, but since I didnt, nothing was my favorite."
Back to the room where it was like a meat locker. My husband put the thermostat on 60 degrees before we left in the morning, and it was brutally cold. Eek! We didnt bother with the pool then.
After rests and showers, we went down to the food court to eat dinner. Lunch was pretty expensive, so we figured wed give our wallets a break that night. After dinner, we meandered around the resort, then headed down to the beach to see the Electric Water Pageant and fireworks. We met SILs family there, but they were just on their way to dinner at the Whispering Canyon. They left Universal after the Nickelodeon show and caught the 6:30 bus back.
DH and I each took a chaise lounge, while DS played in the playground behind us. He made a couple of friends in no time and was having a ball. Those chaises are so comfy! The beach gets a wonderful breeze at night, too.
Before the EWP, another family came to the beach. The father pulled two chaise lounges closer to the water. He whacked the second one into my husbands chaise when he pulled it. What he did next completely amazed me. Instead of just pulling it forward, he moved it over a few feet, so that he was smack in front of my husband and ruining his view. There werent a lot of people there, so it was hardly necessary. The guy was just a thoughtless oaf. I said (loudly), "gee, honey, did you wear a kick-me sign to Florida? First the big lady on the plane, and now this guy blocking your view."
I meant for the guy to hear me, but if he did, he didnt budge. DH was too tired to care much, but I thought it was funny. My DH is a big man; usually other guys wont mess with him, but this guy was out in space. Later on, his kids got into a fight with some other kids, and he had to break it up. He got very upset, and my DH laughed and said it couldnt happen to a nicer guy. We went back to our room and hit the hay not long after the fireworks and EWP. BTW, the view of the EWP is MUCH better on this beach than from the boardwalk near the other boat dock. And I just love the EWP to pieces!
