Author's note: Day 7 was just too long to put into one post, so for your inconvenience, I have divided it into two.
Me: 33, fifth WDW trip
DH Dan: 36, first-timer
Say Pal, what Disney park are we visiting today?
Conversations about todays destination have to take place outside of our room, for fear of Pal Mickey hearing.
He isn't on to us yet, but he sure is asking a lot of questions.
Mick, you cant come with us today. Were, uh, going to Blizzard Beach and we dont want you to get all sandy and wet. And that would be bad for your circuitry and stuff.
Dan, I think he bought it. Lets get out of here!
We practically trip over each other sprinting toward the door. We run downstairs and have to collect our breath before catching the Mears bus.
Universal Studios is clean, the employees are very friendly, but things just arent the same, I guess. For starters, getting tickets took almost twenty-five minutes. Long lines, you ask? Oh contraire, mon frere more like ten folks ahead of us. The problem is there are only two booth people selling them, Booth Man and Booth Lady, neither one seems to know what they are doing and each guest is spending a good 3 to 5 minutes buying tickets. Booth Man is even worse than Booth Lady, averaging about 7 to 8 minutes per customer. Meanwhile the line behind us is snaking past the ropes and everyone in line is grumbling about how ridiculously long this process is taking. I kept thinking, were not even IN the park and most of us in line are already irritated. Is selling tickets to guests such an arduous process? Is this a sample of what we are to expect inside the park? Dan and I spent the twenty-five minutes arguing if we should buy tickets for just Universal, or spend the extra cash and go to Islands of Adventure, too. Should we? Shouldnt we? The main reason we questioned the value of buying two park tickets was that Dan, my 65 280-pound husband, is terrified of coasters. Deathly. He will gladly wait an hour safely on the ground while I coaster my tail off. He has no problem waiting, as long as he doesnt have to ride anything remotely scary. And since IOA is notorious for its Dueling Dragons and Hulk coasters, was it worth the extra cash for him to be a mere spectator? We kept going back and forth on this for the entire wait, right up until we walked up to Booth Lady. At the last minute we decided to purchase for two parks. We present our coupon to Booth Lady. Oh, this coupon is only good for the parks if we are a party of 5 dressed in drag and come after 4pm on an unofficial government holiday when the winds are blowing from the northeast? No wonder buying tickets is taking so long she has to argue with everyone who has a coupon about why it isnt valid. Well then, what are you waiting for? Charge us the full amount lady, so we can get our butts in the park!
Weve got the tickets! Yee haw! Wait, did I just say yee haw? What is this place doing to me? Dan needs a cigarette after that mess. This time I feel like I need one.
We hit the bathrooms. Mind you, the park just opened. So why some of the soap dispensers are void of soap is beyond me. Evidently this isnt Disney.
Here is a first for the entire trip: Dan has been here, but I havent. But its been over 10 years and he doesnt remember much, so its almost a new experience for both of us. Plus there are lots of new rides here, and we have a whole other park to explore, at full price mind you.
Jimmy Neutron is first. Not bad, they are getting a little more inventive with the virtual attractions. We sit in these pods and get bashed around pretty good. I suppose this is even cooler to those who know who Jimmy Neutron is.
Next we head across the street to Shrek 4D. This is when I start to notice another difference between Disney and Universal: queuing. We are ushered into a preshow area in an anarchistic sort of fashion. Fill in all spaces, please. They arent kidding. Every few seconds we are asked to move forward, keep moving forward people. Pretty soon we are counting nose hairs of the person next to us and still asked to press forward. Just when Im thinking I could possibly stand any closer to the person in front of me, they urge us again to please, for the love of God, move up! Dude, any more forward, and Im spooning with the guy in front of me. This time I frankly refuse to budge. Any closer and it will go from uncomfortably close to X-rated. If the employees cant figure out that it would break all laws of physics to squeeze any more people in here, will we ever get to actually experience this show? Finally mercifully the packing requests end and they shut the doors behind us. Of course, now we cannot breathe in fear that well actually touch each other. Oh no, someone near me has gas. This is bad. The preshow is uncomfortably long, Flatulence Boy is just making this worse. It is so long, in fact, that after a while I begin wondering if this IS the Shrek show. Until at last the doors ahead of open and we slowly squeeze our way toward the theatre. On the other side of the doors, everyone exhales (while I inhale), then finds a seat.
By now were on to them. Dan and I search the chairs for signs of waterspouts, things that tickle the feet, or the like. Nope, nothing here, its safe. So we thought. Theyre getting better about masking just what will happen during these little shows. Anyway, its a well-done 4D show, you just gotta love Shrek, although the whole spider part could be eliminated. <shudder>
On to Terminator. Ive heard fantastic things about it, so Im geeked about seeing the attraction. Fortunately, there are less people here and its a bigger preshow room. So spooning with your neighbor was simply an option. We watch the preshow and the doors ahead to the theatre open. Again, I cant quite tell why, but it seems like there are larger bottlenecks and more chaos in this park. So it feels like an eternity before all of us pile into the theatre.
We sit down. I look down the row of seats and elbow Dan. These seats are ripped. Dan follows my gaze and sees that most of the chairs are ripped on the seats or arms. What a turnoff, especially for such a technologically advanced attraction unless of course those rips indicate a truly interactive attraction. No matter, the show is starting. Lets enjoy this high tech experience!
The film begins. After a minute or so, my eyes go buggy. Have we been transported to the Aladdin game? I lift up my glasses and see that the film is off the projector, thus destroying the three-dimensional effect. After a few more seconds the crowd has gone into a low-to-medium murmur and is wondering when the problem is going to get fixed. A couple minutes later (yeah not kidding we had to sit there and endure double vision for quite a while), the film finally shuts off, the lights click on, and a voiceover says, This technically advanced wonder is currently experiencing some technical difficulties. Were sorry for the inconvenience and ripped seats. Please exit the theatre to your left and return at a later time if you wish to see the attraction as we originally intended it to look. Ah crap.
We walk down the street toward World Expo Land. I hear music coming. Oh look, an impromptu parade. Well, sort of. Its Woody Woodpecker on a bus. No make that two Woody Woodpeckers on a bus. Wait, why are there two? Am I the only one who notices this paradox? I shake my head, mutter Universal sucks, and walk to Back to the Future.
I think that I would have enjoyed Back to the Future if I had not had the back seat right next to the door. My head kept slamming against the side whenever we jerked side to side (which was often), so I tried to keep my head still throughout the ride to avoid a headache and more double vision. Instead of enjoying the attraction, I was anticipating turns and bumps and keeping my head unnaturally rigid. When it was over, Dan complained that it was the exactly as he remembered it some 10 years back. I would have heard him if I had not been holding my head and moaning in agony.
Then we hit the ET ride. Nicely detailed queuing area, with mist and forest atmosphere. My favorite part of the ride was the beginning, flying over the agents. Ah, I remember when I was a little girl and actually thought this was a good movie. Actually the ride itself isnt bad, although obviously dated subject matter. ET is SO twenty years ago. Wait, did ET just say my name?
After another cigarette break (and no Pal Mickey to remind us where the designated areas are, but plenty of guilt for leaving him behind not that hes welcomed here), its time to hit Men In Black. Mostly I just want to see Will Smith, so he better be all over this attraction. The Unofficial Guide called this Buzz Lightyear on steroids, and theyre not kidding. I knew this was an interactive shoot-em-up ride, but I was not expecting something so unbelievably freaking cool as this. Even the walk-through sets were elaborate, detailed, and really set the tone for the ride. The aliens throughout the attraction interact with your shots. I tell you, this ride is well executed. And of course, the best part afterwards Will Smith makes a little appearance to tell you who got the higher points. Methinks he needs a bigger role in this ride. Once we left the building, we hopped right back in line. This ride is just too cool to ride only once.
Earthquake, Twister, and Jaws are not bad, but nothing to experience twice. Not sure what the problem with Jaws was, though. The line to get in was the longest we would have to endure all day. So you can imagine was a letdown it was when I finally experienced it. Lets forget that Jaws is almost older than I am and badly needs to be updated. Oh well, its lunchtime.
Good news! Universal believes in vegetarians and veggie burgers. Richters Burger Co has veggie burgers, and they are mmm mighty tasty. Even better than Cosmic Rays. They also have a toppings bar, and this is one yummy toppings bar. So needless to say, I enjoyed lunch. Dan? I guess he liked it too. Does it really matter, though?
After lunch, after Dan burns another one, we head back to Terminator to see if its back to its normal technologically advanced state. Yes, the ride is up, and yes, the seats are still ripped. This time we actually get to see the show in its entirety and enjoy it very much. It was cool how they kept blending between live actors and virtual animation.
Stay tuned for Day 7, Part 2. I know you're dying to find out how the rest of our adventure to The Other Park went.
Me: 33, fifth WDW trip
DH Dan: 36, first-timer
Say Pal, what Disney park are we visiting today?
Conversations about todays destination have to take place outside of our room, for fear of Pal Mickey hearing.
He isn't on to us yet, but he sure is asking a lot of questions.
Mick, you cant come with us today. Were, uh, going to Blizzard Beach and we dont want you to get all sandy and wet. And that would be bad for your circuitry and stuff.
Dan, I think he bought it. Lets get out of here!
We practically trip over each other sprinting toward the door. We run downstairs and have to collect our breath before catching the Mears bus.
Universal Studios is clean, the employees are very friendly, but things just arent the same, I guess. For starters, getting tickets took almost twenty-five minutes. Long lines, you ask? Oh contraire, mon frere more like ten folks ahead of us. The problem is there are only two booth people selling them, Booth Man and Booth Lady, neither one seems to know what they are doing and each guest is spending a good 3 to 5 minutes buying tickets. Booth Man is even worse than Booth Lady, averaging about 7 to 8 minutes per customer. Meanwhile the line behind us is snaking past the ropes and everyone in line is grumbling about how ridiculously long this process is taking. I kept thinking, were not even IN the park and most of us in line are already irritated. Is selling tickets to guests such an arduous process? Is this a sample of what we are to expect inside the park? Dan and I spent the twenty-five minutes arguing if we should buy tickets for just Universal, or spend the extra cash and go to Islands of Adventure, too. Should we? Shouldnt we? The main reason we questioned the value of buying two park tickets was that Dan, my 65 280-pound husband, is terrified of coasters. Deathly. He will gladly wait an hour safely on the ground while I coaster my tail off. He has no problem waiting, as long as he doesnt have to ride anything remotely scary. And since IOA is notorious for its Dueling Dragons and Hulk coasters, was it worth the extra cash for him to be a mere spectator? We kept going back and forth on this for the entire wait, right up until we walked up to Booth Lady. At the last minute we decided to purchase for two parks. We present our coupon to Booth Lady. Oh, this coupon is only good for the parks if we are a party of 5 dressed in drag and come after 4pm on an unofficial government holiday when the winds are blowing from the northeast? No wonder buying tickets is taking so long she has to argue with everyone who has a coupon about why it isnt valid. Well then, what are you waiting for? Charge us the full amount lady, so we can get our butts in the park!
Weve got the tickets! Yee haw! Wait, did I just say yee haw? What is this place doing to me? Dan needs a cigarette after that mess. This time I feel like I need one.
We hit the bathrooms. Mind you, the park just opened. So why some of the soap dispensers are void of soap is beyond me. Evidently this isnt Disney.
Here is a first for the entire trip: Dan has been here, but I havent. But its been over 10 years and he doesnt remember much, so its almost a new experience for both of us. Plus there are lots of new rides here, and we have a whole other park to explore, at full price mind you.
Jimmy Neutron is first. Not bad, they are getting a little more inventive with the virtual attractions. We sit in these pods and get bashed around pretty good. I suppose this is even cooler to those who know who Jimmy Neutron is.
Next we head across the street to Shrek 4D. This is when I start to notice another difference between Disney and Universal: queuing. We are ushered into a preshow area in an anarchistic sort of fashion. Fill in all spaces, please. They arent kidding. Every few seconds we are asked to move forward, keep moving forward people. Pretty soon we are counting nose hairs of the person next to us and still asked to press forward. Just when Im thinking I could possibly stand any closer to the person in front of me, they urge us again to please, for the love of God, move up! Dude, any more forward, and Im spooning with the guy in front of me. This time I frankly refuse to budge. Any closer and it will go from uncomfortably close to X-rated. If the employees cant figure out that it would break all laws of physics to squeeze any more people in here, will we ever get to actually experience this show? Finally mercifully the packing requests end and they shut the doors behind us. Of course, now we cannot breathe in fear that well actually touch each other. Oh no, someone near me has gas. This is bad. The preshow is uncomfortably long, Flatulence Boy is just making this worse. It is so long, in fact, that after a while I begin wondering if this IS the Shrek show. Until at last the doors ahead of open and we slowly squeeze our way toward the theatre. On the other side of the doors, everyone exhales (while I inhale), then finds a seat.
By now were on to them. Dan and I search the chairs for signs of waterspouts, things that tickle the feet, or the like. Nope, nothing here, its safe. So we thought. Theyre getting better about masking just what will happen during these little shows. Anyway, its a well-done 4D show, you just gotta love Shrek, although the whole spider part could be eliminated. <shudder>
On to Terminator. Ive heard fantastic things about it, so Im geeked about seeing the attraction. Fortunately, there are less people here and its a bigger preshow room. So spooning with your neighbor was simply an option. We watch the preshow and the doors ahead to the theatre open. Again, I cant quite tell why, but it seems like there are larger bottlenecks and more chaos in this park. So it feels like an eternity before all of us pile into the theatre.
We sit down. I look down the row of seats and elbow Dan. These seats are ripped. Dan follows my gaze and sees that most of the chairs are ripped on the seats or arms. What a turnoff, especially for such a technologically advanced attraction unless of course those rips indicate a truly interactive attraction. No matter, the show is starting. Lets enjoy this high tech experience!
The film begins. After a minute or so, my eyes go buggy. Have we been transported to the Aladdin game? I lift up my glasses and see that the film is off the projector, thus destroying the three-dimensional effect. After a few more seconds the crowd has gone into a low-to-medium murmur and is wondering when the problem is going to get fixed. A couple minutes later (yeah not kidding we had to sit there and endure double vision for quite a while), the film finally shuts off, the lights click on, and a voiceover says, This technically advanced wonder is currently experiencing some technical difficulties. Were sorry for the inconvenience and ripped seats. Please exit the theatre to your left and return at a later time if you wish to see the attraction as we originally intended it to look. Ah crap.
We walk down the street toward World Expo Land. I hear music coming. Oh look, an impromptu parade. Well, sort of. Its Woody Woodpecker on a bus. No make that two Woody Woodpeckers on a bus. Wait, why are there two? Am I the only one who notices this paradox? I shake my head, mutter Universal sucks, and walk to Back to the Future.
I think that I would have enjoyed Back to the Future if I had not had the back seat right next to the door. My head kept slamming against the side whenever we jerked side to side (which was often), so I tried to keep my head still throughout the ride to avoid a headache and more double vision. Instead of enjoying the attraction, I was anticipating turns and bumps and keeping my head unnaturally rigid. When it was over, Dan complained that it was the exactly as he remembered it some 10 years back. I would have heard him if I had not been holding my head and moaning in agony.
Then we hit the ET ride. Nicely detailed queuing area, with mist and forest atmosphere. My favorite part of the ride was the beginning, flying over the agents. Ah, I remember when I was a little girl and actually thought this was a good movie. Actually the ride itself isnt bad, although obviously dated subject matter. ET is SO twenty years ago. Wait, did ET just say my name?
After another cigarette break (and no Pal Mickey to remind us where the designated areas are, but plenty of guilt for leaving him behind not that hes welcomed here), its time to hit Men In Black. Mostly I just want to see Will Smith, so he better be all over this attraction. The Unofficial Guide called this Buzz Lightyear on steroids, and theyre not kidding. I knew this was an interactive shoot-em-up ride, but I was not expecting something so unbelievably freaking cool as this. Even the walk-through sets were elaborate, detailed, and really set the tone for the ride. The aliens throughout the attraction interact with your shots. I tell you, this ride is well executed. And of course, the best part afterwards Will Smith makes a little appearance to tell you who got the higher points. Methinks he needs a bigger role in this ride. Once we left the building, we hopped right back in line. This ride is just too cool to ride only once.
Earthquake, Twister, and Jaws are not bad, but nothing to experience twice. Not sure what the problem with Jaws was, though. The line to get in was the longest we would have to endure all day. So you can imagine was a letdown it was when I finally experienced it. Lets forget that Jaws is almost older than I am and badly needs to be updated. Oh well, its lunchtime.
Good news! Universal believes in vegetarians and veggie burgers. Richters Burger Co has veggie burgers, and they are mmm mighty tasty. Even better than Cosmic Rays. They also have a toppings bar, and this is one yummy toppings bar. So needless to say, I enjoyed lunch. Dan? I guess he liked it too. Does it really matter, though?
After lunch, after Dan burns another one, we head back to Terminator to see if its back to its normal technologically advanced state. Yes, the ride is up, and yes, the seats are still ripped. This time we actually get to see the show in its entirety and enjoy it very much. It was cool how they kept blending between live actors and virtual animation.
Stay tuned for Day 7, Part 2. I know you're dying to find out how the rest of our adventure to The Other Park went.
HE did not think it was lame! Oye... the looks I got with my screaming, scared to death son throughout the ride. 
He actually asked if every ride had sharks for the next 2 years! 
oops... major parental blunder, there. 
