SnackyStacky
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 29, 2002
- Messages
- 6,799
I wrote these journal entries before going to bed each night. They're not as detailed as some of the ones I've read, but oh heck, I was bored! 
All of my daily reports are linked on one site with digital camera photos as well. Click here to see them.
Cast:
Me, Dan, 23 years old, church music director with a serious Disney addiction
Lisa, roomate, 26 years old, law student praying that a law firm will hire her.
I don't know if I mention it in the entries, but we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Downtown Disney.
Monday, 9/2/02
Well, it's 4:54. My feet hurt, as does my head, but I'm happy! Our flight wasn't bad at all. And for the first time in a long time, I didn't need a seat belt extender. It was a good feeling!
We got to the airport and immediately got our rental car. My first thought as we walked outside to get the car was that the heat wasn't bad. Getting to the hotel was very easy. Lots of signs and traffic signals made for an easy drive in our Hyundai Elantra.
We stayed in the same hotel where we stayed in January, but this time we knew what to ask for. There are two areas of the hotel. A tower area, that is right off the lobby, and a "wing" area that is all the way in the back of the hotel. Normally, it wouldn't be a long walk to the wing, but last time we learned, after a long day in the parks, that walk seemed like 10 miles. So when we checked in, we requested a tower room. A woman named Wanda was very helpful, and told us all she had was a tower room that was right next to the interstate. She told us we could stay there and just request a room change tomorrow.
We put our stuff down, and got our bags together that we'd take with us to Universal Studios.
Parking was expensive. $8 versus Disney's $6. Universal has two parking garages that are connected to City Walk, Universal's answer to Downtown Disney; an area with lots of shops, clubs, and restaurants. You had to walk through this area to get to the theme parks. It was a long walk from the garages to the park, but they had people movers to ease tired feet.
I had been trying to decide between the Studios and Islands of Adventure. I choose the Studios because Kongfrontation was closing and Islands of Adventure won't be changing anytime soon.
So we headed over to the Studios. We just started walking down the main drag way. We saw Twister and decided to get in line; or what we thought would be a line. We walked right onto the ride. The attraction itself was interesting. The pre-show area was so amazingly well themed. You believed you were inside of a home that had been hit by a tornado. The pre-show movie hyped the ride up a lot, so the show itself was sort of a letdown to me. They had special effects and sounds that created a tornado environment. I think the funniest part was when a cow flew through mid-air in front of our eyes.
We left Twister and just kept walking until we hit Kongfrontation. I am very glad that I got to ride this before it closed, but I can see why they are closing it. It just can't compete with all the other rides they have. You ride a tram through New York City, and go by King Kong on the way. There was also a few parts where they simulated Kong pulling on the tram wires. His breath actually smelled like bananas. I think the best part though was the New York City subway station they created in the queue area. It looked exactly like a New York City subway station!
The next thing we passed as we walked was Earthquake. This was really neat. This ride had four areas. They had a pre-show area where they showed how they do rain, wind, and snow effects. We then moved into an area where they showed us (again) how they do rain effects, and how they use slow motion and rapid film movement to get certain effects in movies. We then moved in and saw how they use miniatures for the big shots in movies. The last area was the actual "ride" part of the ride. We boarded a San Francisco subway that pulled into the Golden Gate Bridge stop, and created an earthquake that would have measured 8.3 on the Richter scale. I wasn't really able to enjoy it much because I was paranoid about getting wet, but I remained dry. They had an 18-wheeler fall through and almost hit the train, as well as another subway train that derailed and ran into our subway car.
We then continued walking until we hit Jaws. They had this ride cleverly disguised as the Amityville Boat tour. You were supposedly taking a boat ride to tour Amityville, where Jaws was shot, and they assure you that they have captured him. Obviously, things go awry when Jaws starts swimming around and under our boat. Our captain fried him with a flamethrower, and all was good. The shark was very obviously steel and fiberglass, but the ride was fun nonetheless.
We then came to Men In Black. There was some confusion because there were signs that we didn't see until we were at the front of the line that all of our bags had to be put in lockers because they weren't allowed on the ride. So I had to RUN to get a locker, and run back. Fortunately, the locker was free. We got inside, and it was too cool. It looked exactly like MIB HQ in the movie. The ride took you through the streets of New York, and you had a laser gun that you used to shoot aliens. You were in competition with another car, and if they saw that there was an alien in your car, they shot a target on your car, which made it spin out. And it spun OUT.
We then headed over to Back to the Future. Lisa had hyped this ride like it was the ultimate ride and told me how I wouldn't get motion sick. While it wasn't as bad as the Disney simulators, it was still a simulator, and I did get slightly nauseous. Not to mention that they we sat in the back row, and the back wall and ceiling were so close, I continually hit my head and had a headache by the end of the ride.
After some good-natured ribbing to Lisa, we went to ride E.T. This ride was very cool, and one of my favorites of the ones we rode. It was similar to Peter Pan at Disney World, but in outer space instead of Never Never Land. You board "bikes" and help get E.T. back to his home planet, because he is the only one who can save it from death (yes, his planet is dying). At the end, E.T. is supposed to say your name, but I got gypped! He didn't say my name!
We were going to look for the Bates Motel set, but it was getting hot, and neither one of us felt like trudging around for a picture, so we just skipped it and headed out.
We got back on I-4, but I went the wrong way! So we got to see some of downtown Orlando, which was very nice. Unexpected, but nice.
We got back to the hotel. After showering, napping, and relaxing, we took the car and headed for the Boardwalk. It was a nice little area, and there was NOBODY there. It was basically deserted. I had been craving a corn dog like I'd seen on Great Hotels on the Travel Channel. It was so tasty and definitely worth the wait.
Before we went back to the room, we stopped and picked up some snack food and breakfast items at the grocery store. It was expensive! $30 for some fat free Pringles, pretzels, triscuits, pop tarts, granola bars,6 pack of water, 1 liter of ginger ale, and some plastic cups!
Now it's time to go to sleep. Have to be well rested for the Animal Kingdom, and MGM tomorrow!
All of my daily reports are linked on one site with digital camera photos as well. Click here to see them.
Cast:
Me, Dan, 23 years old, church music director with a serious Disney addiction
Lisa, roomate, 26 years old, law student praying that a law firm will hire her.
I don't know if I mention it in the entries, but we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Downtown Disney.
Monday, 9/2/02
Well, it's 4:54. My feet hurt, as does my head, but I'm happy! Our flight wasn't bad at all. And for the first time in a long time, I didn't need a seat belt extender. It was a good feeling!
We got to the airport and immediately got our rental car. My first thought as we walked outside to get the car was that the heat wasn't bad. Getting to the hotel was very easy. Lots of signs and traffic signals made for an easy drive in our Hyundai Elantra.
We stayed in the same hotel where we stayed in January, but this time we knew what to ask for. There are two areas of the hotel. A tower area, that is right off the lobby, and a "wing" area that is all the way in the back of the hotel. Normally, it wouldn't be a long walk to the wing, but last time we learned, after a long day in the parks, that walk seemed like 10 miles. So when we checked in, we requested a tower room. A woman named Wanda was very helpful, and told us all she had was a tower room that was right next to the interstate. She told us we could stay there and just request a room change tomorrow.
We put our stuff down, and got our bags together that we'd take with us to Universal Studios.
Parking was expensive. $8 versus Disney's $6. Universal has two parking garages that are connected to City Walk, Universal's answer to Downtown Disney; an area with lots of shops, clubs, and restaurants. You had to walk through this area to get to the theme parks. It was a long walk from the garages to the park, but they had people movers to ease tired feet.
I had been trying to decide between the Studios and Islands of Adventure. I choose the Studios because Kongfrontation was closing and Islands of Adventure won't be changing anytime soon.
So we headed over to the Studios. We just started walking down the main drag way. We saw Twister and decided to get in line; or what we thought would be a line. We walked right onto the ride. The attraction itself was interesting. The pre-show area was so amazingly well themed. You believed you were inside of a home that had been hit by a tornado. The pre-show movie hyped the ride up a lot, so the show itself was sort of a letdown to me. They had special effects and sounds that created a tornado environment. I think the funniest part was when a cow flew through mid-air in front of our eyes.
We left Twister and just kept walking until we hit Kongfrontation. I am very glad that I got to ride this before it closed, but I can see why they are closing it. It just can't compete with all the other rides they have. You ride a tram through New York City, and go by King Kong on the way. There was also a few parts where they simulated Kong pulling on the tram wires. His breath actually smelled like bananas. I think the best part though was the New York City subway station they created in the queue area. It looked exactly like a New York City subway station!
The next thing we passed as we walked was Earthquake. This was really neat. This ride had four areas. They had a pre-show area where they showed how they do rain, wind, and snow effects. We then moved into an area where they showed us (again) how they do rain effects, and how they use slow motion and rapid film movement to get certain effects in movies. We then moved in and saw how they use miniatures for the big shots in movies. The last area was the actual "ride" part of the ride. We boarded a San Francisco subway that pulled into the Golden Gate Bridge stop, and created an earthquake that would have measured 8.3 on the Richter scale. I wasn't really able to enjoy it much because I was paranoid about getting wet, but I remained dry. They had an 18-wheeler fall through and almost hit the train, as well as another subway train that derailed and ran into our subway car.
We then continued walking until we hit Jaws. They had this ride cleverly disguised as the Amityville Boat tour. You were supposedly taking a boat ride to tour Amityville, where Jaws was shot, and they assure you that they have captured him. Obviously, things go awry when Jaws starts swimming around and under our boat. Our captain fried him with a flamethrower, and all was good. The shark was very obviously steel and fiberglass, but the ride was fun nonetheless.
We then came to Men In Black. There was some confusion because there were signs that we didn't see until we were at the front of the line that all of our bags had to be put in lockers because they weren't allowed on the ride. So I had to RUN to get a locker, and run back. Fortunately, the locker was free. We got inside, and it was too cool. It looked exactly like MIB HQ in the movie. The ride took you through the streets of New York, and you had a laser gun that you used to shoot aliens. You were in competition with another car, and if they saw that there was an alien in your car, they shot a target on your car, which made it spin out. And it spun OUT.
We then headed over to Back to the Future. Lisa had hyped this ride like it was the ultimate ride and told me how I wouldn't get motion sick. While it wasn't as bad as the Disney simulators, it was still a simulator, and I did get slightly nauseous. Not to mention that they we sat in the back row, and the back wall and ceiling were so close, I continually hit my head and had a headache by the end of the ride.
After some good-natured ribbing to Lisa, we went to ride E.T. This ride was very cool, and one of my favorites of the ones we rode. It was similar to Peter Pan at Disney World, but in outer space instead of Never Never Land. You board "bikes" and help get E.T. back to his home planet, because he is the only one who can save it from death (yes, his planet is dying). At the end, E.T. is supposed to say your name, but I got gypped! He didn't say my name!
We were going to look for the Bates Motel set, but it was getting hot, and neither one of us felt like trudging around for a picture, so we just skipped it and headed out.
We got back on I-4, but I went the wrong way! So we got to see some of downtown Orlando, which was very nice. Unexpected, but nice.
We got back to the hotel. After showering, napping, and relaxing, we took the car and headed for the Boardwalk. It was a nice little area, and there was NOBODY there. It was basically deserted. I had been craving a corn dog like I'd seen on Great Hotels on the Travel Channel. It was so tasty and definitely worth the wait.
Before we went back to the room, we stopped and picked up some snack food and breakfast items at the grocery store. It was expensive! $30 for some fat free Pringles, pretzels, triscuits, pop tarts, granola bars,6 pack of water, 1 liter of ginger ale, and some plastic cups!
Now it's time to go to sleep. Have to be well rested for the Animal Kingdom, and MGM tomorrow!
