wicket2005
<font color=deeppink><marquee behavior=alternate>H
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2005
- Messages
- 5,959
Very much enjoying your report, thank you for posting.
A Disney-Universal Hootenanny Trip Report - Completed!
- Thread starter xmattodx
- Start date
Where were we?
Yes, that’s right we were at the entrance to Universal Studios Orlando.
<b>Me</b> “Ma, you don’t need to show your ID for everyone’s tickets that doesn’t make any sense at all.”
<b>Ma</b> “Well when I printed the tickets at home it said that I, the purchaser, would be asked for my ID when we first used the tickets.”
<b>Me</b> “Why would they care about your ID for <i>my</i> ticket? So silly. You won’t need to show your ID.”
<b>Guy at gate</b> “Is this the first use of your 7 day ticket?”
<b>Me</b> “Yes.”
<b>Guy at gate</b> “I’ll need to see the ID of the person who purchased the tickets.”
<b>Ma</b> looking smug. “Here you go.”
Now I don’t care that they required my Ma to produce ID. What I do care is that they had to ask me for the ID when the rest of my family was using a different turnstile and not being asked for my Ma’s ID. Why do I care?
‘Cause my Ma was able to look smug at my expense.
Tears were shed.
Cheese standing on his tiptoes at the measuring sign. Note the blue change purse thingie gift from Loews hotel.
For some reason we lost our minds upon entering Universal Studios. Rather than avoid the crowd we just followed them. Our front of the line passes in hand we couldn’t be stopped.
We first joined the very short line for Shrek 4-D which everyone very much enjoyed. It’s always fun to go with someone who hasn’t seen it before. Their reactions are usually worth the price of admission. A very funny and fun show.
The only problem (and probably not something others think about) is that I have great difficulty fusing 3D movies. If the image is stable I can see depth quite well but once I start moving or the image moves it either becomes flat or double. It’s because I have a touch of convergence excess and really have to r-e-l-a-x to make the images jump out. I know I should relax. I know that deep breathing will help make the show more 3D but I just can’t do it while the show is going on. This causes headaches and a slight decrease in the enjoyment of the show. Still fun though.
After Shrek we crossed the street to go to Jimmy Neutron. We really enjoyed this ride last year and were looking forward to it this year. We so enjoyed it that:
<b>Me</b> to motion sick prone Ma “It’s not that bad Ma. I think you won’t have any problems on it. It is a lot of fun!”
<b>Ma</b> “Are you sure?”
<b>Me</b> “Sure. You’ll like it! Come on!”
Ride starts. Ma sitting next to me.
<b>Me</b> “Sorry.”
<b>Ma</b> Groan. Moan.
We enjoyed it more last year. It seemed that the chicken dance lasted longer last year but it was still fun and the boys enjoyed themselves.
We just kept making our way around the park and stopped at Twister. Now Cami was excessively nervous about this attraction. I’m not really sure why as he wasn’t alive during Edmonton’s “Black Friday” Tornado. His uncle, Jill, however, was and I will always have the image of him running around our basement screaming in fear. Funny now. Then? Not so much.
Cami was talked into going in and at the conclusion said: “That was ok. But I’m not doing it again!” Good enough.
Revenge of the Mummy was next. Cheese wasn’t tall enough to do this one. He knew he wasn’t tall enough. He was told he wasn’t tall enough many times long before the trip started. He was fine with not being tall enough until he was reminded he had to stay with Grandma while we went on the ride. He didn’t like that at all. This was the first time he couldn’t go on a ride with all of us (aside from Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster but his Ma sat out with him that time.) He cried. A little.
We left joined the express line and when I say line I really mean we joined the empty space as we walked past all the other poor saps in the stand by line. Right on to the ride with nary a break in stride. Great ride and everyone really enjoyed it.
As soon as we got out we couldn’t find G-Ma and Cheese. Where did they go? We all fanned out and searched. Eventually finding them in the arcade next to Revenge of the Mummy. Cheese was, apparently fine with not riding as soon as we left and they enjoyed their very few minutes waiting for us.
Just as we all regrouped the Blues Brothers were beginning their show. Not wanting to see said show most of us returned to the Mummy but Mustard, JDL and Cheese stayed behind to watch the show.
Next stop was to be Men in Black. We first stopped in at Finnegans as it is a tradition to have lunch there when visiting Universal Studios. We stopped to find out if they take reservations – they don’t – and check their hours. We decided to do Men in Black first and then head back for lunch.
On the way to MIB I think we stopped at Fear Factor Live as it was just starting. It is always an enjoyable show and with three young boys it is extra enjoyable.
We arrived at MIB walked the length of the express line only to stop and wait. And wait. And wait.
After 10 minutes or so the announcement that they were experiencing technical difficulties began. Not a big deal as we had FOTL. We left the line as there was no point waiting it out when we could just come back later and get to the front of the line quickly. That is one of the good things about FOTL. When you’re in a regular standby line you invest a lot of time into any given line. If the ride goes down you have a big decision to make. Do you risk investing more time or do you cut your losses – which can be quite large losses – and leave the line to head elsewhere. With FOTL the choice is simple. Leave. Come back later.
We did.
I think Earthquake was next. Cami was dead set against riding this one as he had enough of the natural disasters. He eventually decided to ride as his brothers were going to and I’m sure he didn’t want to be the only one too scared to ride.
We went through the enjoyable pre-show and ride and when it was all said and done Cami said: “That was fun. Way better than Twister.”
Lunch was next.
We stopped for a quick break so Jill could cheat on his girlfriend.
Sorry for the short update. I’m writing a couple of papers and have been hit with some deadlines. More soon.
Yes, that’s right we were at the entrance to Universal Studios Orlando.
<b>Me</b> “Ma, you don’t need to show your ID for everyone’s tickets that doesn’t make any sense at all.”
<b>Ma</b> “Well when I printed the tickets at home it said that I, the purchaser, would be asked for my ID when we first used the tickets.”
<b>Me</b> “Why would they care about your ID for <i>my</i> ticket? So silly. You won’t need to show your ID.”
<b>Guy at gate</b> “Is this the first use of your 7 day ticket?”
<b>Me</b> “Yes.”
<b>Guy at gate</b> “I’ll need to see the ID of the person who purchased the tickets.”
<b>Ma</b> looking smug. “Here you go.”
Now I don’t care that they required my Ma to produce ID. What I do care is that they had to ask me for the ID when the rest of my family was using a different turnstile and not being asked for my Ma’s ID. Why do I care?
‘Cause my Ma was able to look smug at my expense.
Tears were shed.
Cheese standing on his tiptoes at the measuring sign. Note the blue change purse thingie gift from Loews hotel.
For some reason we lost our minds upon entering Universal Studios. Rather than avoid the crowd we just followed them. Our front of the line passes in hand we couldn’t be stopped.
We first joined the very short line for Shrek 4-D which everyone very much enjoyed. It’s always fun to go with someone who hasn’t seen it before. Their reactions are usually worth the price of admission. A very funny and fun show.
The only problem (and probably not something others think about) is that I have great difficulty fusing 3D movies. If the image is stable I can see depth quite well but once I start moving or the image moves it either becomes flat or double. It’s because I have a touch of convergence excess and really have to r-e-l-a-x to make the images jump out. I know I should relax. I know that deep breathing will help make the show more 3D but I just can’t do it while the show is going on. This causes headaches and a slight decrease in the enjoyment of the show. Still fun though.
After Shrek we crossed the street to go to Jimmy Neutron. We really enjoyed this ride last year and were looking forward to it this year. We so enjoyed it that:
<b>Me</b> to motion sick prone Ma “It’s not that bad Ma. I think you won’t have any problems on it. It is a lot of fun!”
<b>Ma</b> “Are you sure?”
<b>Me</b> “Sure. You’ll like it! Come on!”
Ride starts. Ma sitting next to me.
<b>Me</b> “Sorry.”
<b>Ma</b> Groan. Moan.
We enjoyed it more last year. It seemed that the chicken dance lasted longer last year but it was still fun and the boys enjoyed themselves.
We just kept making our way around the park and stopped at Twister. Now Cami was excessively nervous about this attraction. I’m not really sure why as he wasn’t alive during Edmonton’s “Black Friday” Tornado. His uncle, Jill, however, was and I will always have the image of him running around our basement screaming in fear. Funny now. Then? Not so much.
Cami was talked into going in and at the conclusion said: “That was ok. But I’m not doing it again!” Good enough.
Revenge of the Mummy was next. Cheese wasn’t tall enough to do this one. He knew he wasn’t tall enough. He was told he wasn’t tall enough many times long before the trip started. He was fine with not being tall enough until he was reminded he had to stay with Grandma while we went on the ride. He didn’t like that at all. This was the first time he couldn’t go on a ride with all of us (aside from Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster but his Ma sat out with him that time.) He cried. A little.
We left joined the express line and when I say line I really mean we joined the empty space as we walked past all the other poor saps in the stand by line. Right on to the ride with nary a break in stride. Great ride and everyone really enjoyed it.
As soon as we got out we couldn’t find G-Ma and Cheese. Where did they go? We all fanned out and searched. Eventually finding them in the arcade next to Revenge of the Mummy. Cheese was, apparently fine with not riding as soon as we left and they enjoyed their very few minutes waiting for us.
Just as we all regrouped the Blues Brothers were beginning their show. Not wanting to see said show most of us returned to the Mummy but Mustard, JDL and Cheese stayed behind to watch the show.
Next stop was to be Men in Black. We first stopped in at Finnegans as it is a tradition to have lunch there when visiting Universal Studios. We stopped to find out if they take reservations – they don’t – and check their hours. We decided to do Men in Black first and then head back for lunch.
On the way to MIB I think we stopped at Fear Factor Live as it was just starting. It is always an enjoyable show and with three young boys it is extra enjoyable.
We arrived at MIB walked the length of the express line only to stop and wait. And wait. And wait.
After 10 minutes or so the announcement that they were experiencing technical difficulties began. Not a big deal as we had FOTL. We left the line as there was no point waiting it out when we could just come back later and get to the front of the line quickly. That is one of the good things about FOTL. When you’re in a regular standby line you invest a lot of time into any given line. If the ride goes down you have a big decision to make. Do you risk investing more time or do you cut your losses – which can be quite large losses – and leave the line to head elsewhere. With FOTL the choice is simple. Leave. Come back later.
We did.
I think Earthquake was next. Cami was dead set against riding this one as he had enough of the natural disasters. He eventually decided to ride as his brothers were going to and I’m sure he didn’t want to be the only one too scared to ride.
We went through the enjoyable pre-show and ride and when it was all said and done Cami said: “That was fun. Way better than Twister.”
Lunch was next.
We stopped for a quick break so Jill could cheat on his girlfriend.
Sorry for the short update. I’m writing a couple of papers and have been hit with some deadlines. More soon.
bubba's mom
<font color=red>Proud Redhead<br><font color=darko
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2004
- Messages
- 13,823
Lookin' forward to it 
Alright lets just finish this now.
This is taking far too long and Im even boring myself.
When we last left off we were going to lunch.
Lunch was had. It was uneventful other than the strange appetizer that the good one and Jill decided to share.
It was a boiled egg. Wrapped in some type of meat product and then deep fried!
Heart attack on a plate.
They said it was good. They shared a bit with anyone else who wanted to try it.
I did not!
Our afternoon was filled with doing what we hadnt had a chance to do yet. At some point we saw the makeup show which was, as always, a hoot. We went on ET eventually. We really love the queue in ET. We also finally got on MIB.
This was the worst ride I had been on the whole week. Dont get me wrong I enjoyed it the times I rode it in the past but this ride, this day was nauseating. For some reason toward the end of the ride the car across from us was at a stand still. We, however, were still moving. They took pot shots at our exhaust port. We spun. And spun.
And spun some more. We must have done 10 revolutions. It just left me feeling ill.
And my score sucked.
I mean sucked.
The five year old beat me.
(Swell and I rode again a few days later and it was much more enjoyable and I scored much better. Still not great but over 350,000. I was happy about that.)
About 4:30ish we had done everything everyone wanted to do and we headed back to the hotel via the water taxi.
It was our first time seeing the rooms. They were great. Plenty big enough. Everyone was very happy with the rooms.
About half a second after getting into the room there were three boys standing in their bathing suits yelling: LETS GO TO THE POOL!
The plan was for G-Ma to take them to the pool while the rest of us returned to Universal Studios to go on more rides.
We all left together to check out the pool. It was a great looking pool. If I had any desire to ever enter a pool it would be this one. A nice slide. Not too busy. Quiet.
The boys had a blast although G-Ma wasnt impressed with the lifeguard situation. Were worriers by nature so that didnt help. I cant even look when a child, any child, is standing near a railing. G-Ma didnt let the boys out of her sight (although she was able to lose all four of the room keys! I dont recall if she found them again or if they just made her new ones) and was surprised to see the littlest one coming down the slide sans life jacket. We were told that a lifeguard would be at the top of the slide and would measure all the kids and give lifejackets to the shorties.
A mix up occurred and little cheese came down the slide without a life jacket and at the bottom went right when he should have gone left which led him to deeper water. I believe the life guards helped him out a little bit and were sure to get him a jacket his next time down the slide.
I should mention that during my interactions with the pool staff they were very friendly. We were very impressed with all of the staff everywhere in the hotel.
The rest of us caught the water taxi back to the Universal Studios side where we were determined to ride The Mummy again. We had only done it twice and JDL only once. Upon arriving at the ride it was down.
Boo hoo.
Rather than repeat the mornings activities we headed over to Islands of Adventure and went on Spiderman.
This was the first ride on Spiderman for JDL, BBL, and the good one. Im not sure why JDL and the Good one didnt do it the last time they were in Orlando but they didnt.
It is always fun to go on a ride with first-timers.
We had been building up this ride as the best ride in the world and saying it was so much fun.
It didnt disappoint. We let the girls have the first row and they loved it. It truly is an amazing experience. BBL was so excited to be able to go on it the next day with her three boys and was happy that they could all sit in the same row.
I went over to talk to the worker dude at the front entrance to ensure Cheese was tall enough. I was certain that I read he would be. The worker dude told us the minimum height requirement and we were stoked that he would be able to ride.
Next was The Hulk.
Side rant: Folks. I know that the test seats are a fun place to hang out. Right in front of a ride. A place to sit. It may seem like a great place to party.
It isnt. Please go hang out somewhere else. Your presence makes a touchy situation that much more difficult. When I ask you to stop your kids from using the test seats as monkey bars so that we can have someone test them out by all means just get them off the chairs and stare at us. You make us feel very comfortable. Your inclusion in our seat testing made our trip that much more fun.
Rant over.
Because people are a little dimwitted when told where to wait for the ride our group was about to be separated. (Two people rather than ride with two strangers waited for the next car thus throwing our 4 and 4 off. Losers)
The worker dudes after being a little confused moved the whole group from rows 6 and 7 to 2 and 3. It was cool that we got near the front and it seemed like they were rewarding us for the stupidity of others.
After Hulk we headed to Dueling Dragons where we rode Ice. Our intention was not to enjoy the park today, rather we were just going to enjoy some of the bigger rides that we wouldnt all be able to do the next day. So we flew over to dueling dragons and rode Ice. It was of course fun (BTW yet more people hanging out/on the test seats.).
After Ice. Pa had to go back to Universal Studios to get my Ma a piece of cake at the Cheesecake Factory. He was then going to go back to the hotel to bring it to her. He left.
Three minutes after he left the BBL, JDL and the Good one decided they too wanted to return to Universal to see if they could go on the Mummy again.
They left. The rest of us were determined to ride Fire so that we could compare the two rides.
After we rode Fire most of us decided that we liked it better although we would change our minds back and forth over the next day.
After Fire I think we went and did something else although I dont really remember what it was. By the time we were done that ride it was 9:20 pm. We decided we, too, would go back on the Mummy. We hoofed it over to Universal (taking the Blue Man Group shortcut) and were in line for the Mummy by 9:30pm. Although we were in the express line we hit a wall of people. Turns out that they were still having some problems and were only loading from one side of the loading platform. Bummer. We eventually got one and rode the back row which was awesome. I think the back row is the best on this one.
We decided it was so fun that we would do it again. So back through the line, this time not even having to break stride until we were sitting despite a fairly lengthy line in stand by.
Again a great ride. We were trying to go on a third time but the ride was closed.
We then went back to PBH where we had some pizza for dinner. Very good pizza.
The next morning we caught the first or second water taxi leaving PBH and were soon in IOA. First, second and third ride was Spiderman. The boys, of course loved it. We would end up riding five or 6 times with them.
After Spiderman we were confused as to what to do next. What to do. What to do. Being the fools that we are we decided that we might as well get wet.
We headed for Rip Saw Falls.
I was in the back log with family in two logs before us.
We rode the ride and loved it. It was my first time on it as last time we were in Orlando it was down all day.
The first tiny little drop, not even really a drop, just a bump at the start of the ride soaked me. I mean soaked me. I was dripping wet before the ride had even started. I knew it was going to be great. We laughed and rode and enjoyed ourselves (Jill, Me, Swell and Swells dad were in this log). When we got to the unloading zone I saw my pa get out of the log and immediately start talking to the attendant.
As I got out of our log I heard: it just came flying right off at the bottom of the last drop
Attendent: Were going to have to shut it down then
I was confused. I was a little annoyed that something we did (I didnt know what we did) might cause them to have to shut down the ride. I didnt want anyone to miss out on our count.
It turns out that as my Pas log was going down the last drop the Law of Inertia took over. As the log went down his body stayed somewhat in the air. That wasnt the bad thing. As his body went down his super-duper cool Loews hotel change purse thingie hanging from his neck didnt. It just kind of floated away. Apparently everyone sitting behind him in the log saw a blue blur fly by as the log continued downward.
The unloading attendant radioed someone something as we exited the ride without Pa.
I was relieved as we were exiting to continue to see log after log come down the drop. They didnt end up shutting the ride down and soon we saw Pa exiting the ride with a Mountie by his side. They were without blue thingie.
Not a problem right? Just go to guest services and get a new ticket and a new room key right? Right. That wasnt a problem.
Problem was
the rental van keys were in there with his ticket and room key.
Pa told us to go off and do some more rides and he and Ma would continue to work with the (very friendly) staff at Rip-Saw falls.
What did we do? We did Rips-Saw Falls again of course.
It can steal our keys but it cant defeat us!
After the second ride (which was also very fun) we couldnt find the folks. Dang folks. Lost the keys, lost the folks.
As I was beginning to think it was a great ploy on their part to fly their family to Orlando and then leave them there I realized that they probably went off to customer service.
As everyone went on Blutos I ran off to find my parents.
They were at customer service at the front of the park. Pas ticket and key had already been replaced. He was on hold with the car rental place.
As he was on hold he and Ma were telling me that customer service is the saddest place in the park. In the 30 minutes or so that they had been there they saw people come in tears due to lost money and lost cameras. They were the only ones that day with a run away Loews hotel change purse thingie.
I sat my parents down and told them they were not to run off like that anymore. I told them they were to tell us where they were going and set up a meeting time and place.
We decided 1 oclock at the entrance to the Jurassic Park ride.
I ran back to the family at Blutos and got to them just as they were sloshing out the exit. What do we do next? Blutos of course.
We soaked ourselves again and had a good time doing it. We felt a little sad as this was Mas favourite ride but we knew with FOTL we could do it again. And again. And again.
I think after we got soaked enough we decided to head back to Spiderman. Sorry if you had our seats after us. Our bad.
We continued to party like rockstars doing whatever we wanted as we had no parental supervision. We threw our shirts off (men and women), we double fisted beers (men and women and children!), we started to curse and hit people. It was a great time. (We actually spent a lot of time in Seussland.)
Eventually 1 oclock rolled around and we met up with the folks at Jurassic Park.
Wait, there is Ma, where is Pa?
Well here is a little bit of trivia for you. Did you know that rental car companies do NOT have spare keys for their cars?
They dont.
So Pa had to go back to the hotel to meet up with a locksmith.
I asked Ma, when and where are we going to meet Pa.
Ma: Dunno. Didnt think to ask him.
Me: Ma, Didnt we just talk about his?
Ma: I guess. Hell find us.
Me: Ma this place is huge how will he ever find us?
Ma: Itll work out.
We then went on Jurassic Park. This is really a great ride. Swell is very scared of it, however. It is her least favourite ride. She is a slender gal and is forced to sit with non-slender folk, therefore, the lap bar doesnt really come very close to her lap. She is thus able to get a lot of airtime on a very steep drop. She doesnt like that.
At all.
We are going through the ride enjoying the sites. The closer we get to the drop the more and more scared Swell becomes. She is quite nervous as we see the T-Rex. As we crest the hill our anticipation builds. Were about 1 second away from the big drop when
we come to a complete stop.
The T-Rex roars again.
We still dont move.
The T-Rex makes the motion of a roar but there is no sound.
We still dont move.
Swell begins to perspire. She is more scared of dropping without warning than she is of just dropping. She begins to worry that out of the blue theyll turn the ride on and well plummet to our deaths.
My family is in the second and third rows. The folks in the front row (a very funny family) are hanging out over the drop. The front of the boat is right at the start of the drop. We are so close.
The announcements start. The ride is experiencing technical difficulties. The kid from behind the glass comes out and says basically the same thing and not to worry. The family in the front row begins to ask for lunch. The kid jokes back and forth with the people in the boat. Very calming, very entertaining. After 10 or 15 minutes we see a maintenance guy who is also funny. He tells us that it will be fixed shortly and not to worry there will be a warning prior to our drop.
Our 25 or 30 minutes stuck on the boat were really some of the best minutes of the whole trip. No one on the boat was upset/angry/etc. Everyone was jovial and just chatting back and forth. It was great fun.
They announce that the ride is restarting and we take our plunge.
At the unload zone we realize how lucky we really were. We were stuck inside. Those stuck at the unload zone were sitting in the heat and sun for 30 minutes! Poor saps.
After JP it was time for Lunch. As we ate lunch who should appear but Pa. How he found us I do not know. He didnt have a cell phone. Ma didnt have a cell phone. He just found us.
Ma to me looking smug: Told you.
Pa had the new key. The locksmith suggested that whenever you rent a car that you take the key to a cheap key cutter and have a spare key cut and leave the original in the car. That way if you lose the key they can recover the original. This is especially useful for those cars that have expensive keys with door openers/trunk openers etc.
After lunch a bunch went on Spiderman again. And Jill, Swell, her Dad and I went on the Hulk.
We then all wanted to get wet again so we did Rip-Saw again and Blutos twice. It was great fun.
After that the boys were tired and decided it was time to go home. They wanted to swim in the house pool one last night so they left along with their Ma, my Ma and Pa and Swells Dad.
The rest of us stayed behind riding rides. Hulk, Dueling Dragons, Spiderman, Poseidons Fury (which was fun. We had never done it before). And whatever else we came across.
At 9 JDL, the Good one, and Swell were done. Their feet hurt. They were tired and they just wanted to leave. We had to wait for Pa (who missed our earlier meeting time) so they went to the meeting location to wait for him.
Jill and I went on Hulk and the being the adventurous folk we are decided that what better thing would there be to do at 9:20 pm then go on Rip-Saw Falls.
We flew through the line and were give our very own log.
Jill had never ridden in the front so he hops in the very front row.
What do I do? Well I saw a big empty log. Lots of seats to choose from.
So I size up the seats and sit
right behind my brother.
I mean the seat directly behind him.
He was basically sitting in my lap. I felt like a fool riding the ride, just the two of us on top of each other. It was a blast though. We laughed and got wet.
As we were approaching the unloading zone some fool standing on the bridge zapped us good with the water sprayers. We were SOAKED!
What do you do when youre soaked? You decide that you need to conduct a scientific experiment. Would we get as wet at the back of the log?
So on we went again.
This time we sat in the middle and last seats. Again had a blast.
And got soaked.
So what do you do when youre soaked?
You go on Jurassic Park. It was awesome at night. A lot of fun. We were the only ones in the boat. Just the two of us both in the front row holding hands.
We got SOAKED. It was a hoot.
We then ran to Dueling Dragons but were turned away.
It was a great night, and a great trip.
My family left for home the next day (my Birthday) but Swell, her Dad and I checked back into PBH where I was lucky enough to get a birthday basket.
We didnt do any parks on my birthday. We went to Bubba Gumps for lunch which had slow service but really good food and all-in-all it was fun. (Although it was FREEZING inside.)
We also bought the movie deal where you get a movie and dinner for some amount of money. It was a good, relaxing day and a fun night of dinner and a movie but not in that order.
Swell and I spent the next two days just relaxing at the hotel, going to the parks for a bit and hitting another movie. Just a fun relaxing vacation. Nothing exciting happened while we were there on our own. Just rode a lot of rides and enjoyed hanging out together.
Once my family left we never set foot on a water taxi again. It is a really nice walk from PBH to the parks. Not that far at all. About 10 minutes to Hard Rock Hotel and then another 10 minutes from there. Not bad.
All in all it was an amazing trip. A great time to hang out with family and a nice time away from the stresses of life.
Now we're back home and no more vacations... until October 3-7 when we'll be in Vegas... for a conference... so we won't have any fun.
This is taking far too long and Im even boring myself.
When we last left off we were going to lunch.
Lunch was had. It was uneventful other than the strange appetizer that the good one and Jill decided to share.
It was a boiled egg. Wrapped in some type of meat product and then deep fried!
Heart attack on a plate.
They said it was good. They shared a bit with anyone else who wanted to try it.
I did not!
Our afternoon was filled with doing what we hadnt had a chance to do yet. At some point we saw the makeup show which was, as always, a hoot. We went on ET eventually. We really love the queue in ET. We also finally got on MIB.
This was the worst ride I had been on the whole week. Dont get me wrong I enjoyed it the times I rode it in the past but this ride, this day was nauseating. For some reason toward the end of the ride the car across from us was at a stand still. We, however, were still moving. They took pot shots at our exhaust port. We spun. And spun.
And spun some more. We must have done 10 revolutions. It just left me feeling ill.
And my score sucked.
I mean sucked.
The five year old beat me.
(Swell and I rode again a few days later and it was much more enjoyable and I scored much better. Still not great but over 350,000. I was happy about that.)
About 4:30ish we had done everything everyone wanted to do and we headed back to the hotel via the water taxi.
It was our first time seeing the rooms. They were great. Plenty big enough. Everyone was very happy with the rooms.
About half a second after getting into the room there were three boys standing in their bathing suits yelling: LETS GO TO THE POOL!
The plan was for G-Ma to take them to the pool while the rest of us returned to Universal Studios to go on more rides.
We all left together to check out the pool. It was a great looking pool. If I had any desire to ever enter a pool it would be this one. A nice slide. Not too busy. Quiet.
The boys had a blast although G-Ma wasnt impressed with the lifeguard situation. Were worriers by nature so that didnt help. I cant even look when a child, any child, is standing near a railing. G-Ma didnt let the boys out of her sight (although she was able to lose all four of the room keys! I dont recall if she found them again or if they just made her new ones) and was surprised to see the littlest one coming down the slide sans life jacket. We were told that a lifeguard would be at the top of the slide and would measure all the kids and give lifejackets to the shorties.
A mix up occurred and little cheese came down the slide without a life jacket and at the bottom went right when he should have gone left which led him to deeper water. I believe the life guards helped him out a little bit and were sure to get him a jacket his next time down the slide.
I should mention that during my interactions with the pool staff they were very friendly. We were very impressed with all of the staff everywhere in the hotel.
The rest of us caught the water taxi back to the Universal Studios side where we were determined to ride The Mummy again. We had only done it twice and JDL only once. Upon arriving at the ride it was down.
Boo hoo.
Rather than repeat the mornings activities we headed over to Islands of Adventure and went on Spiderman.
This was the first ride on Spiderman for JDL, BBL, and the good one. Im not sure why JDL and the Good one didnt do it the last time they were in Orlando but they didnt.
It is always fun to go on a ride with first-timers.
We had been building up this ride as the best ride in the world and saying it was so much fun.
It didnt disappoint. We let the girls have the first row and they loved it. It truly is an amazing experience. BBL was so excited to be able to go on it the next day with her three boys and was happy that they could all sit in the same row.
I went over to talk to the worker dude at the front entrance to ensure Cheese was tall enough. I was certain that I read he would be. The worker dude told us the minimum height requirement and we were stoked that he would be able to ride.
Next was The Hulk.
Side rant: Folks. I know that the test seats are a fun place to hang out. Right in front of a ride. A place to sit. It may seem like a great place to party.
It isnt. Please go hang out somewhere else. Your presence makes a touchy situation that much more difficult. When I ask you to stop your kids from using the test seats as monkey bars so that we can have someone test them out by all means just get them off the chairs and stare at us. You make us feel very comfortable. Your inclusion in our seat testing made our trip that much more fun.
Rant over.
Because people are a little dimwitted when told where to wait for the ride our group was about to be separated. (Two people rather than ride with two strangers waited for the next car thus throwing our 4 and 4 off. Losers)
The worker dudes after being a little confused moved the whole group from rows 6 and 7 to 2 and 3. It was cool that we got near the front and it seemed like they were rewarding us for the stupidity of others.
After Hulk we headed to Dueling Dragons where we rode Ice. Our intention was not to enjoy the park today, rather we were just going to enjoy some of the bigger rides that we wouldnt all be able to do the next day. So we flew over to dueling dragons and rode Ice. It was of course fun (BTW yet more people hanging out/on the test seats.).
After Ice. Pa had to go back to Universal Studios to get my Ma a piece of cake at the Cheesecake Factory. He was then going to go back to the hotel to bring it to her. He left.
Three minutes after he left the BBL, JDL and the Good one decided they too wanted to return to Universal to see if they could go on the Mummy again.
They left. The rest of us were determined to ride Fire so that we could compare the two rides.
After we rode Fire most of us decided that we liked it better although we would change our minds back and forth over the next day.
After Fire I think we went and did something else although I dont really remember what it was. By the time we were done that ride it was 9:20 pm. We decided we, too, would go back on the Mummy. We hoofed it over to Universal (taking the Blue Man Group shortcut) and were in line for the Mummy by 9:30pm. Although we were in the express line we hit a wall of people. Turns out that they were still having some problems and were only loading from one side of the loading platform. Bummer. We eventually got one and rode the back row which was awesome. I think the back row is the best on this one.
We decided it was so fun that we would do it again. So back through the line, this time not even having to break stride until we were sitting despite a fairly lengthy line in stand by.
Again a great ride. We were trying to go on a third time but the ride was closed.
We then went back to PBH where we had some pizza for dinner. Very good pizza.
The next morning we caught the first or second water taxi leaving PBH and were soon in IOA. First, second and third ride was Spiderman. The boys, of course loved it. We would end up riding five or 6 times with them.
After Spiderman we were confused as to what to do next. What to do. What to do. Being the fools that we are we decided that we might as well get wet.
We headed for Rip Saw Falls.
I was in the back log with family in two logs before us.
We rode the ride and loved it. It was my first time on it as last time we were in Orlando it was down all day.
The first tiny little drop, not even really a drop, just a bump at the start of the ride soaked me. I mean soaked me. I was dripping wet before the ride had even started. I knew it was going to be great. We laughed and rode and enjoyed ourselves (Jill, Me, Swell and Swells dad were in this log). When we got to the unloading zone I saw my pa get out of the log and immediately start talking to the attendant.
As I got out of our log I heard: it just came flying right off at the bottom of the last drop
Attendent: Were going to have to shut it down then
I was confused. I was a little annoyed that something we did (I didnt know what we did) might cause them to have to shut down the ride. I didnt want anyone to miss out on our count.
It turns out that as my Pas log was going down the last drop the Law of Inertia took over. As the log went down his body stayed somewhat in the air. That wasnt the bad thing. As his body went down his super-duper cool Loews hotel change purse thingie hanging from his neck didnt. It just kind of floated away. Apparently everyone sitting behind him in the log saw a blue blur fly by as the log continued downward.
The unloading attendant radioed someone something as we exited the ride without Pa.
I was relieved as we were exiting to continue to see log after log come down the drop. They didnt end up shutting the ride down and soon we saw Pa exiting the ride with a Mountie by his side. They were without blue thingie.
Not a problem right? Just go to guest services and get a new ticket and a new room key right? Right. That wasnt a problem.
Problem was
the rental van keys were in there with his ticket and room key.
Pa told us to go off and do some more rides and he and Ma would continue to work with the (very friendly) staff at Rip-Saw falls.
What did we do? We did Rips-Saw Falls again of course.
It can steal our keys but it cant defeat us!
After the second ride (which was also very fun) we couldnt find the folks. Dang folks. Lost the keys, lost the folks.
As I was beginning to think it was a great ploy on their part to fly their family to Orlando and then leave them there I realized that they probably went off to customer service.
As everyone went on Blutos I ran off to find my parents.
They were at customer service at the front of the park. Pas ticket and key had already been replaced. He was on hold with the car rental place.
As he was on hold he and Ma were telling me that customer service is the saddest place in the park. In the 30 minutes or so that they had been there they saw people come in tears due to lost money and lost cameras. They were the only ones that day with a run away Loews hotel change purse thingie.
I sat my parents down and told them they were not to run off like that anymore. I told them they were to tell us where they were going and set up a meeting time and place.
We decided 1 oclock at the entrance to the Jurassic Park ride.
I ran back to the family at Blutos and got to them just as they were sloshing out the exit. What do we do next? Blutos of course.
We soaked ourselves again and had a good time doing it. We felt a little sad as this was Mas favourite ride but we knew with FOTL we could do it again. And again. And again.
I think after we got soaked enough we decided to head back to Spiderman. Sorry if you had our seats after us. Our bad.
We continued to party like rockstars doing whatever we wanted as we had no parental supervision. We threw our shirts off (men and women), we double fisted beers (men and women and children!), we started to curse and hit people. It was a great time. (We actually spent a lot of time in Seussland.)
Eventually 1 oclock rolled around and we met up with the folks at Jurassic Park.
Wait, there is Ma, where is Pa?
Well here is a little bit of trivia for you. Did you know that rental car companies do NOT have spare keys for their cars?
They dont.
So Pa had to go back to the hotel to meet up with a locksmith.
I asked Ma, when and where are we going to meet Pa.
Ma: Dunno. Didnt think to ask him.
Me: Ma, Didnt we just talk about his?
Ma: I guess. Hell find us.
Me: Ma this place is huge how will he ever find us?
Ma: Itll work out.
We then went on Jurassic Park. This is really a great ride. Swell is very scared of it, however. It is her least favourite ride. She is a slender gal and is forced to sit with non-slender folk, therefore, the lap bar doesnt really come very close to her lap. She is thus able to get a lot of airtime on a very steep drop. She doesnt like that.
At all.
We are going through the ride enjoying the sites. The closer we get to the drop the more and more scared Swell becomes. She is quite nervous as we see the T-Rex. As we crest the hill our anticipation builds. Were about 1 second away from the big drop when
we come to a complete stop.
The T-Rex roars again.
We still dont move.
The T-Rex makes the motion of a roar but there is no sound.
We still dont move.
Swell begins to perspire. She is more scared of dropping without warning than she is of just dropping. She begins to worry that out of the blue theyll turn the ride on and well plummet to our deaths.
My family is in the second and third rows. The folks in the front row (a very funny family) are hanging out over the drop. The front of the boat is right at the start of the drop. We are so close.
The announcements start. The ride is experiencing technical difficulties. The kid from behind the glass comes out and says basically the same thing and not to worry. The family in the front row begins to ask for lunch. The kid jokes back and forth with the people in the boat. Very calming, very entertaining. After 10 or 15 minutes we see a maintenance guy who is also funny. He tells us that it will be fixed shortly and not to worry there will be a warning prior to our drop.
Our 25 or 30 minutes stuck on the boat were really some of the best minutes of the whole trip. No one on the boat was upset/angry/etc. Everyone was jovial and just chatting back and forth. It was great fun.
They announce that the ride is restarting and we take our plunge.
At the unload zone we realize how lucky we really were. We were stuck inside. Those stuck at the unload zone were sitting in the heat and sun for 30 minutes! Poor saps.
After JP it was time for Lunch. As we ate lunch who should appear but Pa. How he found us I do not know. He didnt have a cell phone. Ma didnt have a cell phone. He just found us.
Ma to me looking smug: Told you.
Pa had the new key. The locksmith suggested that whenever you rent a car that you take the key to a cheap key cutter and have a spare key cut and leave the original in the car. That way if you lose the key they can recover the original. This is especially useful for those cars that have expensive keys with door openers/trunk openers etc.
After lunch a bunch went on Spiderman again. And Jill, Swell, her Dad and I went on the Hulk.
We then all wanted to get wet again so we did Rip-Saw again and Blutos twice. It was great fun.
After that the boys were tired and decided it was time to go home. They wanted to swim in the house pool one last night so they left along with their Ma, my Ma and Pa and Swells Dad.
The rest of us stayed behind riding rides. Hulk, Dueling Dragons, Spiderman, Poseidons Fury (which was fun. We had never done it before). And whatever else we came across.
At 9 JDL, the Good one, and Swell were done. Their feet hurt. They were tired and they just wanted to leave. We had to wait for Pa (who missed our earlier meeting time) so they went to the meeting location to wait for him.
Jill and I went on Hulk and the being the adventurous folk we are decided that what better thing would there be to do at 9:20 pm then go on Rip-Saw Falls.
We flew through the line and were give our very own log.
Jill had never ridden in the front so he hops in the very front row.
What do I do? Well I saw a big empty log. Lots of seats to choose from.
So I size up the seats and sit
right behind my brother.
I mean the seat directly behind him.
He was basically sitting in my lap. I felt like a fool riding the ride, just the two of us on top of each other. It was a blast though. We laughed and got wet.
As we were approaching the unloading zone some fool standing on the bridge zapped us good with the water sprayers. We were SOAKED!
What do you do when youre soaked? You decide that you need to conduct a scientific experiment. Would we get as wet at the back of the log?
So on we went again.
This time we sat in the middle and last seats. Again had a blast.
And got soaked.
So what do you do when youre soaked?
You go on Jurassic Park. It was awesome at night. A lot of fun. We were the only ones in the boat. Just the two of us both in the front row holding hands.
We got SOAKED. It was a hoot.
We then ran to Dueling Dragons but were turned away.
It was a great night, and a great trip.
My family left for home the next day (my Birthday) but Swell, her Dad and I checked back into PBH where I was lucky enough to get a birthday basket.
We didnt do any parks on my birthday. We went to Bubba Gumps for lunch which had slow service but really good food and all-in-all it was fun. (Although it was FREEZING inside.)
We also bought the movie deal where you get a movie and dinner for some amount of money. It was a good, relaxing day and a fun night of dinner and a movie but not in that order.
Swell and I spent the next two days just relaxing at the hotel, going to the parks for a bit and hitting another movie. Just a fun relaxing vacation. Nothing exciting happened while we were there on our own. Just rode a lot of rides and enjoyed hanging out together.
Once my family left we never set foot on a water taxi again. It is a really nice walk from PBH to the parks. Not that far at all. About 10 minutes to Hard Rock Hotel and then another 10 minutes from there. Not bad.
All in all it was an amazing trip. A great time to hang out with family and a nice time away from the stresses of life.
Now we're back home and no more vacations... until October 3-7 when we'll be in Vegas... for a conference... so we won't have any fun.
the next time you go to universal, take me with you and the family.
you guys have all the fun!
supper trip report
Thanks! You are more than welcome to join us.
Your typo describes the family perfectly though. We are a supper family so our trip was supper as well!
bubba's mom
<font color=red>Proud Redhead<br><font color=darko
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2004
- Messages
- 13,823
I wasn't bored...I loved your trip report..... some of my favorite lines:
(It's a "Mom" thing.... )Sounds like you had a great time...and your folks are a hoot!! A shame about the rental car keys ..... what a pain!! Your birthday gift is way cool
Thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks! You are more than welcome to join us.
Your typo describes the family perfectly though. We are a supper family so our trip was supper as well!
hahahaha, you got my supper/super.
i think food time with all of you was so funny....
Metro West
On the west side of Orlando
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2005
- Messages
- 46,678
Great report...thanks for sharing!
Disney MAINEiac
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2006
- Messages
- 984
Hi , we have the identical photo of the baby giraffe...U don't think its animatronic do you?
PS. love the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil ToT photo...good job
PS. love the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil ToT photo...good job
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