Day 3 6/8/04 Curse or No Curse, This Mommy Finally Meets the Mummy
The Cast:
DH 45 - seriously allergic to theme park thrills, easy going all around good guy.
DD 11 middle of the road theme park thrill seeker, drama queen, stuffed animal lover, artsy & sensitive kind of girl.
DS 11 extreme thrill seeker, slightly mischievous, reason why Im on a first name basis with the principal, always has a hug for mom kind of boy.
Myself 40 all time extreme thrill seeker, roller coaster junkie, seeker of missing socks, practical joker, always ruins the punch-line kind of gal.
Day 3 thankfully started out much nicer than day 2 did for the kids. We were up early so that we could use the breakfast vouchers we had received the night before. Down to the Islands Dining Room for their breakfast buffet & it was wonderful. Omelet station had a chef making very delicious made to order omelets. Every kind of breakfast food you could imagine. Of all days to be able to sit & gorge myself, this wasnt the one. I had one thing on my mind The Mummy! We downed the last of our coffee & orange juice & headed over to US. No wait at the lockers to stow my camera & fanny pack & before you knew it we were headed through the queue. Since the park had just opened we were lead through the regular line instead of the express queue. As much as I wanted to take in all things Mummy & enjoy the theming in the queue, I was struggling to keep up with my little tax deductions who were racing like demons ahead of me. DH (who is NEVER in a hurry to line up for a coaster) was pulling up the rear. Got to the platform with no wait and barely had time to notice the minions on the platform before we were off & running. I was scanning for the Dark Marauder, even though I had no clue how I would ID him! We had front seats & we had a clear view of everything. Im glad we got to sit there for our very first ride. (Noticed more air time in subsequent rides farther back & loved that too!) Excellent animatronics & theming throughout was awesome. Kids actually jumped out of their skins in the treasure room with the pop-ups. The launch was a hoot & the coaster part was extremely smooth & fast. Only thing I think Universal could improve on would be the scarab room. Let me start by saying, I dont do bugs. If it creeps, crawls, has more than 4 legs, bulging eyes, antennae, wings & can only be destroyed by a nuclear blast, I dont want to see it! My 11 yr. old DS is the designated bug killer of the house. But the scarab room didnt even send a chill up my spine or raise the hair on the back of my neck! Maybe if they used a combination of the scene that is in use now, but somehow had animatronics on the floor so that as they crawl down you see real bugs near the car that would be more realistic. Also, some sort of air at your feet (my first reaction was to lift my feet!) would improve the illusion. Other than that, I think the ROTM lived up to my very high expectations. Back through the queue a second time, again no time to stop & look as I had impatient people behind me, and the kids were again almost out of my sight in front of me. This time one of the minions came running out of no where & took me by surprise with his warnings to go back before it was too late. Wasnt ready for it & got the old heart rate pumping at that point! Again, practically no wait at the platform. We took one more ride since the lines were so short & were thrilled that all 3 times, the animatronics & everything else worked perfectly.
Below is a pic we bought on our third ride. By that time we knew where the camera was so DH & I decided to ham it up for the pic. I did my Im so frightened that I must cover my eyes & maybe if I dont see anything itll be ok look. (That would NEVER happen in real life!!!) And DH did his I believe I may just die here on this ride, why did I ever let you talk me into this, this should be legitimate grounds for a divorce in any state, its gonna take a crowbar to pry my hands off this thing look! Oh wait ..maybe he wasnt acting! Actually he said he enjoyed the ride & rode it a few more times that week, but was quick to volunteer to sit out when DD didnt want to ride.
After my fill of the Mummy we headed off to do Jimmy Neutron. Just a 5 minute wait with express while they waited to open up the pre-ride room. We all loved this one & regret not getting a chance to do it again later that week. No motion sickness for DH (which is always a plus), & we headed out the gates to hit our favorites in IOA. On our way over, DD looked a little wilted from the heat & humidity which was already so thick you could cut it with a knife, so she asked for DH to take her back to the hotel to swim some. It was only 10:00!! She really looked miserable so we agreed to meet up later & while they went back to the RPR, DS & I continued on to IOA. The Hulk wasnt running & we would later learn it wouldnt be up all day. Back to Dr. Doom for 2 consecutive rides. 5 minute wait with express. Spiderman for 2 rides. On the second ride, it malfunctioned at the drop from the building. Ride op had us re-ride after someone behind us explained about the malfunction. We bought a few more penny presses in the gift shop & moved on to Ripsaw Falls. I really didnt want to get wet at that point so I handed over some quarters to DS to allow him to get others wet with the water cannons. He was thrilled to soak a boat of four 20something girls who appeared to have stayed relatively dry on the ride. They took it all in stride when they saw it was him who surprised them & laughed with him. On to JPRA for another ride. This time I was able to look around & take more of the scenery in. Really like this ride. Took a quick peak at the line for Pteranodon Flyers, but didnt want to wait in the 60 minute line. Off to Dueling Dragons & DS opted for Fire again. Ill say it again that DD was one of the worse express set up in the parks. There was a ride op seated at the express entrance, but he didnt move close enough to the door opening to do anything. DS & I had to just wait there for a few minutes until we could find a spot to merge into the regular line streaming past. Once on the platform, it took about 30 minutes since DS wanted to try front seat. Its a good ride, but I prefer roller coasters that dont flip as much. Once is great, but after that I prefer speed to flips. DS wanted to try Flying Unicorn & we walked right on that. Cute little rollercoaster, nice once ..but definitely too tame for DS. By that time we were due to meet back at the hotel, so we stopped at the Mystic Fountain for a while. I let DS get as wet as he wanted since we were on our way back to the resort. He enjoyed the water & banter with the fountain & after awhile, we said our goodbyes to the fountain for the day & left the park. Met up with DD & DH by the pool & swam from 1:30-3:30. DD told me that while we were at the parks, she got to get in the hot tub for a little bit (there was no one else in there at the time) while Daddy sat in that little tent right next to it & watched TV!! I looked over at DH & said "Umm, sweetheart, thats a cabana & you have to rent them! He justifies it by Well, no one was in it at the time! The best part was there was somones stuff in it at that time. Oh my...Im mortified by this time & silently saying a prayer that I wasnt with him when he made his faux pas. All I can say is if you are reading this and rented the cabana right next to the hot tub at the RP on 6/8 ..I apologize if you saw my DH in it for about 30 minutes!! He doesnt get out much
When the rain started about 3:30, we headed back up to the room to relax for a few minutes before showering for dinner. We left again about 5:00, still raining pretty hard, so took the resort bus to Citywalk. It slows down enough for us to walk from the drop-off to Margaritaville. Citywalk seems pretty crowded about now as a lot of people are exiting the parks due to the rain. As I approach the hostess to inquire about wait times, a woman is walking back to her party in front of me & says to them Still no change
2 hours. Yikes! Im hoping my hotel key will at least get us in within the next hour. Ask the hostess, show her my room key & she says Oh, itll only be about 5 minutes. This time, its me whos kissing my room key! After discussing seating arrangements with kids, the hostess tells us that we can see the volcano quite well from downstairs & if we want to sit at the bar or any of the high top tables, we can sit immediately. Well, sure
.immediately sounds good! We grab a high top table by the bar with a good view of the volcano & immediately love the place. How can you not feel relaxed at Margaritaville?! Cant remember what we all ordered, but I know I had the Cheeseburger in Paradise & we ordered loaded nachos. These were absolutely the best nachos Ive ever had & probably could have been happy with just that. The burger was good & we had a wonderful young waiter who was very personable. He found out we were from Pittsburgh & told us his girlfriend was from Pittsburgh so we had some good conversation. Up to this point in the vacation, I hadnt really imbibed much in the alcoholic line, so I thought
"What better place to start?! Heck
..it would be almost sacrilegious not to!" My drink of choice is usually Capt. & Coke, but the atmosphere had me thinking more along the tropical drink line, so I asked our waiter what he recommended. Out he came with some concoction of rums & various juices which went down wayyyy too easily! By the end of dinner I had finished off two of these (they really were small with all that ice) & noticed only the smallest of a warm flush to my face. The volcano still hadnt gone off & the kids were really wanting to stick around to see it. Finally
.the warning signal goes off & up jump the kids & DH over to get a better look at it. Our waiter comes back & asks how the drinks were
I said Well, they were fine but didnt have quite the punch I was looking for! Hmmm, he suggests a shot of their finest tequila & since I was familiar with fine tequila (in my younger days!) I said Sure
but could you make it quick. Id like to drink it before my kids come back to the table. Now before you all start wondering, no
I dont think my kids have this June Cleaver impression of me & my mothering skills, and yes they know that adults sometimes have alcoholic beverages
.but something about them seeing me throw back a shot of tequila just didnt sit right with me!! (I promise this drawn out story gets better!) He gets the shot back to me pronto (along with the required slice of lemon) & sets the shaker of salt in front of me with a There ya go
.have at it Mom! Gee thanks, I wasnt feeling ancient until that moment. So I can tell the volcano action is winding down, see the kids' backs to me & think
.this is your chance! At this point, Im feeling warmer & a little slow with my reflexes, because without looking down at the table (Im trying to keep my eyes on the kids) I reach down for the lemon
.rub it between my thumb & forefinger (done it many times in my youth) reach for what I think is the salt
dump
.ummm, why does the salt feel wet? You got it
..before my reflexes & brain could connect, Ive dumped three quarters of the shot on my hand!! Of course at this point Im thinking
."Be cool, be real nonchalant & dont even look at anyone in the restaurant!" If I dont look at them, they cant see me, right?! I get the mess cleaned up on the table, wipe my hand, & throw back whats left in the shot glass (can you say 2 drops?) Of course, the waiter appears instantly out of nowhere & asks how it was. Hmmm, a dilemma here
.I could try to be cool
.act like Im in my 20s again & say Smooth
it was smooth! But no, that wont work, he probably watched the whole thing and at this very moment is stifling the laughter thats just dying to get out. So I suck up my embarrassment, turn to him & sheepishly admit to my own faux pas. (Makes DHs cabana ordeal pale in comparison!) He laughs (hopefully with me, not at me) & insists on bringing me another one on the house. Trying to lessen my embarrassment with humor, I suggest he bring a straw this time. 
Get my shot again, kids are wondering the restaurant with DH at this point and are oblivious (maybe when theyre 25 Ill share this story with them) & this time I can concentrate on the mechanics involved in drinking tequila
.lick, drink, suck
that wasnt so hard
.like riding a bike! Before we leave, a hilarious stilt walker comes by the table to entertain the kids. Great personality, very funny & we all left in good spirits (some of us in better spirits than the others). 
By now, its about 6:30 & we decide to try our favorites in US before they close. Straight back to MIB where we ride 5 or 6 times in express with zero wait. Surprisingly enough, this night would be my best scores (maybe because I was seeing double the targets!) Best score of the night was my 520,000 with DH & DS consistently scoring in the 200,000 300,000 range. Poor DD was regularly last in score, so DH threw one game to allow her to win. Then she beat him the next two times without him trying to lose! You go girl! We decide to fittingly end the day with a ride on the Mummy but it wasnt running. The park was just about to close, so we let the kids play a game in the arcade next to ROTM. If you saw my vacation pictures I posted on the other thread you may remember the pic of Gertner's Bakery. While the kids were in the arcade, I told DH I was going over to the bakery next door to find something sweet to take back to the room for the morning! Only after trying the doorknob & sticking my face up against the window to peek inside did I realize it was part of the theming & not a real storefront!
Wow
. I wonder exactly how much rum was in those drinks after all. DH took the pic of the bakery later in the week because he was laughing so hard that night. Time to drag the kids out of the arcade as they want to lock up & I wonder how their $1 had lasted so long
.turns out the 2 racing games they were playing were broke & after their initial $1 was gone, they could just push start & continue playing time after time. Who needs hidden Mickeys
this was a Universal secret they thought was intentional! Left New York just looking around enjoying the theming & loving the relaxing walk with no crowds. A great way to end the night. Back at the RPR, I start packing up for check-out in the morning & enjoy my last nights sleep in paradise.
Coming Soon Day 4 ~ 6/9/04 Oh, Shirley!
The Cast:
DH 45 - seriously allergic to theme park thrills, easy going all around good guy.
DD 11 middle of the road theme park thrill seeker, drama queen, stuffed animal lover, artsy & sensitive kind of girl.
DS 11 extreme thrill seeker, slightly mischievous, reason why Im on a first name basis with the principal, always has a hug for mom kind of boy.
Myself 40 all time extreme thrill seeker, roller coaster junkie, seeker of missing socks, practical joker, always ruins the punch-line kind of gal.
Day 3 thankfully started out much nicer than day 2 did for the kids. We were up early so that we could use the breakfast vouchers we had received the night before. Down to the Islands Dining Room for their breakfast buffet & it was wonderful. Omelet station had a chef making very delicious made to order omelets. Every kind of breakfast food you could imagine. Of all days to be able to sit & gorge myself, this wasnt the one. I had one thing on my mind The Mummy! We downed the last of our coffee & orange juice & headed over to US. No wait at the lockers to stow my camera & fanny pack & before you knew it we were headed through the queue. Since the park had just opened we were lead through the regular line instead of the express queue. As much as I wanted to take in all things Mummy & enjoy the theming in the queue, I was struggling to keep up with my little tax deductions who were racing like demons ahead of me. DH (who is NEVER in a hurry to line up for a coaster) was pulling up the rear. Got to the platform with no wait and barely had time to notice the minions on the platform before we were off & running. I was scanning for the Dark Marauder, even though I had no clue how I would ID him! We had front seats & we had a clear view of everything. Im glad we got to sit there for our very first ride. (Noticed more air time in subsequent rides farther back & loved that too!) Excellent animatronics & theming throughout was awesome. Kids actually jumped out of their skins in the treasure room with the pop-ups. The launch was a hoot & the coaster part was extremely smooth & fast. Only thing I think Universal could improve on would be the scarab room. Let me start by saying, I dont do bugs. If it creeps, crawls, has more than 4 legs, bulging eyes, antennae, wings & can only be destroyed by a nuclear blast, I dont want to see it! My 11 yr. old DS is the designated bug killer of the house. But the scarab room didnt even send a chill up my spine or raise the hair on the back of my neck! Maybe if they used a combination of the scene that is in use now, but somehow had animatronics on the floor so that as they crawl down you see real bugs near the car that would be more realistic. Also, some sort of air at your feet (my first reaction was to lift my feet!) would improve the illusion. Other than that, I think the ROTM lived up to my very high expectations. Back through the queue a second time, again no time to stop & look as I had impatient people behind me, and the kids were again almost out of my sight in front of me. This time one of the minions came running out of no where & took me by surprise with his warnings to go back before it was too late. Wasnt ready for it & got the old heart rate pumping at that point! Again, practically no wait at the platform. We took one more ride since the lines were so short & were thrilled that all 3 times, the animatronics & everything else worked perfectly.
Below is a pic we bought on our third ride. By that time we knew where the camera was so DH & I decided to ham it up for the pic. I did my Im so frightened that I must cover my eyes & maybe if I dont see anything itll be ok look. (That would NEVER happen in real life!!!) And DH did his I believe I may just die here on this ride, why did I ever let you talk me into this, this should be legitimate grounds for a divorce in any state, its gonna take a crowbar to pry my hands off this thing look! Oh wait ..maybe he wasnt acting! Actually he said he enjoyed the ride & rode it a few more times that week, but was quick to volunteer to sit out when DD didnt want to ride.
After my fill of the Mummy we headed off to do Jimmy Neutron. Just a 5 minute wait with express while they waited to open up the pre-ride room. We all loved this one & regret not getting a chance to do it again later that week. No motion sickness for DH (which is always a plus), & we headed out the gates to hit our favorites in IOA. On our way over, DD looked a little wilted from the heat & humidity which was already so thick you could cut it with a knife, so she asked for DH to take her back to the hotel to swim some. It was only 10:00!! She really looked miserable so we agreed to meet up later & while they went back to the RPR, DS & I continued on to IOA. The Hulk wasnt running & we would later learn it wouldnt be up all day. Back to Dr. Doom for 2 consecutive rides. 5 minute wait with express. Spiderman for 2 rides. On the second ride, it malfunctioned at the drop from the building. Ride op had us re-ride after someone behind us explained about the malfunction. We bought a few more penny presses in the gift shop & moved on to Ripsaw Falls. I really didnt want to get wet at that point so I handed over some quarters to DS to allow him to get others wet with the water cannons. He was thrilled to soak a boat of four 20something girls who appeared to have stayed relatively dry on the ride. They took it all in stride when they saw it was him who surprised them & laughed with him. On to JPRA for another ride. This time I was able to look around & take more of the scenery in. Really like this ride. Took a quick peak at the line for Pteranodon Flyers, but didnt want to wait in the 60 minute line. Off to Dueling Dragons & DS opted for Fire again. Ill say it again that DD was one of the worse express set up in the parks. There was a ride op seated at the express entrance, but he didnt move close enough to the door opening to do anything. DS & I had to just wait there for a few minutes until we could find a spot to merge into the regular line streaming past. Once on the platform, it took about 30 minutes since DS wanted to try front seat. Its a good ride, but I prefer roller coasters that dont flip as much. Once is great, but after that I prefer speed to flips. DS wanted to try Flying Unicorn & we walked right on that. Cute little rollercoaster, nice once ..but definitely too tame for DS. By that time we were due to meet back at the hotel, so we stopped at the Mystic Fountain for a while. I let DS get as wet as he wanted since we were on our way back to the resort. He enjoyed the water & banter with the fountain & after awhile, we said our goodbyes to the fountain for the day & left the park. Met up with DD & DH by the pool & swam from 1:30-3:30. DD told me that while we were at the parks, she got to get in the hot tub for a little bit (there was no one else in there at the time) while Daddy sat in that little tent right next to it & watched TV!! I looked over at DH & said "Umm, sweetheart, thats a cabana & you have to rent them! He justifies it by Well, no one was in it at the time! The best part was there was somones stuff in it at that time. Oh my...Im mortified by this time & silently saying a prayer that I wasnt with him when he made his faux pas. All I can say is if you are reading this and rented the cabana right next to the hot tub at the RP on 6/8 ..I apologize if you saw my DH in it for about 30 minutes!! He doesnt get out much
When the rain started about 3:30, we headed back up to the room to relax for a few minutes before showering for dinner. We left again about 5:00, still raining pretty hard, so took the resort bus to Citywalk. It slows down enough for us to walk from the drop-off to Margaritaville. Citywalk seems pretty crowded about now as a lot of people are exiting the parks due to the rain. As I approach the hostess to inquire about wait times, a woman is walking back to her party in front of me & says to them Still no change
2 hours. Yikes! Im hoping my hotel key will at least get us in within the next hour. Ask the hostess, show her my room key & she says Oh, itll only be about 5 minutes. This time, its me whos kissing my room key! After discussing seating arrangements with kids, the hostess tells us that we can see the volcano quite well from downstairs & if we want to sit at the bar or any of the high top tables, we can sit immediately. Well, sure
.immediately sounds good! We grab a high top table by the bar with a good view of the volcano & immediately love the place. How can you not feel relaxed at Margaritaville?! Cant remember what we all ordered, but I know I had the Cheeseburger in Paradise & we ordered loaded nachos. These were absolutely the best nachos Ive ever had & probably could have been happy with just that. The burger was good & we had a wonderful young waiter who was very personable. He found out we were from Pittsburgh & told us his girlfriend was from Pittsburgh so we had some good conversation. Up to this point in the vacation, I hadnt really imbibed much in the alcoholic line, so I thought
"What better place to start?! Heck
..it would be almost sacrilegious not to!" My drink of choice is usually Capt. & Coke, but the atmosphere had me thinking more along the tropical drink line, so I asked our waiter what he recommended. Out he came with some concoction of rums & various juices which went down wayyyy too easily! By the end of dinner I had finished off two of these (they really were small with all that ice) & noticed only the smallest of a warm flush to my face. The volcano still hadnt gone off & the kids were really wanting to stick around to see it. Finally
.the warning signal goes off & up jump the kids & DH over to get a better look at it. Our waiter comes back & asks how the drinks were
I said Well, they were fine but didnt have quite the punch I was looking for! Hmmm, he suggests a shot of their finest tequila & since I was familiar with fine tequila (in my younger days!) I said Sure
but could you make it quick. Id like to drink it before my kids come back to the table. Now before you all start wondering, no
I dont think my kids have this June Cleaver impression of me & my mothering skills, and yes they know that adults sometimes have alcoholic beverages
.but something about them seeing me throw back a shot of tequila just didnt sit right with me!! (I promise this drawn out story gets better!) He gets the shot back to me pronto (along with the required slice of lemon) & sets the shaker of salt in front of me with a There ya go
.have at it Mom! Gee thanks, I wasnt feeling ancient until that moment. So I can tell the volcano action is winding down, see the kids' backs to me & think
.this is your chance! At this point, Im feeling warmer & a little slow with my reflexes, because without looking down at the table (Im trying to keep my eyes on the kids) I reach down for the lemon
.rub it between my thumb & forefinger (done it many times in my youth) reach for what I think is the salt
dump
.ummm, why does the salt feel wet? You got it
..before my reflexes & brain could connect, Ive dumped three quarters of the shot on my hand!! Of course at this point Im thinking
."Be cool, be real nonchalant & dont even look at anyone in the restaurant!" If I dont look at them, they cant see me, right?! I get the mess cleaned up on the table, wipe my hand, & throw back whats left in the shot glass (can you say 2 drops?) Of course, the waiter appears instantly out of nowhere & asks how it was. Hmmm, a dilemma here
.I could try to be cool
.act like Im in my 20s again & say Smooth
it was smooth! But no, that wont work, he probably watched the whole thing and at this very moment is stifling the laughter thats just dying to get out. So I suck up my embarrassment, turn to him & sheepishly admit to my own faux pas. (Makes DHs cabana ordeal pale in comparison!) He laughs (hopefully with me, not at me) & insists on bringing me another one on the house. Trying to lessen my embarrassment with humor, I suggest he bring a straw this time. Get my shot again, kids are wondering the restaurant with DH at this point and are oblivious (maybe when theyre 25 Ill share this story with them) & this time I can concentrate on the mechanics involved in drinking tequila
.lick, drink, suck
that wasnt so hard
.like riding a bike! Before we leave, a hilarious stilt walker comes by the table to entertain the kids. Great personality, very funny & we all left in good spirits (some of us in better spirits than the others). By now, its about 6:30 & we decide to try our favorites in US before they close. Straight back to MIB where we ride 5 or 6 times in express with zero wait. Surprisingly enough, this night would be my best scores (maybe because I was seeing double the targets!) Best score of the night was my 520,000 with DH & DS consistently scoring in the 200,000 300,000 range. Poor DD was regularly last in score, so DH threw one game to allow her to win. Then she beat him the next two times without him trying to lose! You go girl! We decide to fittingly end the day with a ride on the Mummy but it wasnt running. The park was just about to close, so we let the kids play a game in the arcade next to ROTM. If you saw my vacation pictures I posted on the other thread you may remember the pic of Gertner's Bakery. While the kids were in the arcade, I told DH I was going over to the bakery next door to find something sweet to take back to the room for the morning! Only after trying the doorknob & sticking my face up against the window to peek inside did I realize it was part of the theming & not a real storefront!
Wow
. I wonder exactly how much rum was in those drinks after all. DH took the pic of the bakery later in the week because he was laughing so hard that night. Time to drag the kids out of the arcade as they want to lock up & I wonder how their $1 had lasted so long
.turns out the 2 racing games they were playing were broke & after their initial $1 was gone, they could just push start & continue playing time after time. Who needs hidden Mickeys
this was a Universal secret they thought was intentional! Left New York just looking around enjoying the theming & loving the relaxing walk with no crowds. A great way to end the night. Back at the RPR, I start packing up for check-out in the morning & enjoy my last nights sleep in paradise. Coming Soon Day 4 ~ 6/9/04 Oh, Shirley!
