disneycub
King of Hugs & Smoochies!
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2000
- Messages
- 2,388
Monday, 10/01/01 Islands of Adventure, or You May Get Wet? Ha!
The sun arose on Monday with the promise of more adventure. I dont believe I asked the Mouse to wake us up on that day. I do remember that I woke up feeling good and ready to roll.
Malcolm and I had gotten in the habit of eating at one of the breakfast buffets on International Drive ($2.99 buffet!!!! Drinks Extra) on the days we didnt have a PS scheduled and today was no exception. Malcolm thrives on breakfast aside from bacon and maybe an English Muffin, I think breakfast is disgusting. Id rather eat pizza and hot dogs. In any case, we had some food and made our way to Universal/Islands of Adventure.
Im a big fan of Islands of Adventure. I think its a well-organized, well-themed amusement park with some incredibly intense rides (adventures, if you will). Before entering the park, we went to guest services and bought add-ons to our 2-day passes for Halloween Horror Nights XI for Friday (originally set for Saturday more on that later). I think the add-ons ran around $22.00 apiece.
For all intents and purposes, Islands of Adventure was very quiet. In other words, no lines to speak of. I know the term is walk on but it would be more accurate to say the adventures were all run-ons. We rode the Incredible Hulk coaster twice in rapid succession. Good morning America how are ya! Im really awake now. For the uninitiated, Hulk is a monster steel coaster (green of course) that shoots you out of a cannon type structure at a kazillion miles per hour and puts the train through twists, loops, and an underground tunnel full of mist. It rates a 10 on the Lose Your Lunch scale, but is a great deal of fun once you get over the fear factor.
We proceeded on to Dr. Dooms Fear Fall. You are shot up in the air around 150 feet and experience 0 gravity on the way down. We rated DDFF a 10 on the Lame-O-Meter. It didnt even come close to the theming, subtlety and suspense of the Tower of Terror.
Before leaving Marvel Super Hero Island, we took in the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. Spidey himself was in the queue posing for pictures, which we could pick up on our way out. Malcolm bought one for himself, and one for me. Anyway, the Spiderman ride is part motion simulator, part 3-D Imax-type movies, part tactile effects (like fire and water) in a real three-dimensional environment. The technology is amazing. The climax is a free fall done with film from high atop a New York City skyscraper. Of course, Spidey saves the day, and saves your traveling pod from certain doom. The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman is an absolute must see at Islands of Adventure.
Now comes the fun part. We entered Toon Lagoon and rode Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls. I have to admit that there were signs posted that said You Will Get Wet. Whatever. I figured wet as in Splash Mountain wet. WRONG! The signs should have said You Will Get Positively Drenched Beyond All Recognition. Bad Hair Day Immediately Follows. The ride is fairly cute, where Dudley saves the lovely Nell from the evil Snidley Whiplash. Not up to Splash Mountain standards by any stretch. Favorite line in the ride: Nell to Snidley UNHAND ME YOU BEAST!!! which I had to repeat ad infinitum throughout the day. Im really 4 years old.
In any case, before you go over the falls (which are pretty intense and fast) you come to a section where there are two little waterfalls on either side of your vehicle. Oh, this is nothing! Wrong! Just as you are passing by the little waterfalls, a HUGE waterfall comes down on top of the vehicle, completely drenching all who are underneath it. And I do mean soaked through the skin drenched. Clue #1: Use the lockers to store your stuff, including wallets before entering the ride. Unfortunately, you are not able to ride buck nekkid. After the falls where you go through an exploding shack, there is a section like Splash where water hops from place to place. Unlike Splash, the water doesnt stop before it hits you full force in the head and face. Talk about adding insult to injury! By the time we got off the ride, Malcolm and I were water-sopped. Conveniently, IOA has a kiosk right outside the exit where you can buy towels and t-shirts. No complete outfits, however.
The falls Yes, you actually go over them.
Mount Dudleymore
Fortunately the sun was out and we were able to kind of dry off. Shirts came off, shorts came off (not really
). We were soaked through and through for the rest of the day. Clue #2: bring along an extra set of clothes. All I can say is: good thing I wasnt wearing white shorts that day
After spending probably a half hour trying to dry off (didnt work), we proceeded through Jurassic Park and traveled to the Lost Continent where we rode Dueling Dragon. Except they werent dueling on that day. Due to the lack of crowds, only one side (dragon) was operating, changing sides each hour. Dueling Dragons is a double-sided inverted steel rollercoaster where the two coasters, if running concurrently, make for some interesting almost collisions, where your feet come within about 12 inches of the opposing coaster. Even without the dueling feature, these coasters rate a 10 on the Where Did Our Love (I Mean My Mind) Go? scale. After riding 2 times on the Fire coaster, Malcolm was feeling a bit beaten up, so we slowed the pace down a bit.
We walked into Mythos (slosh, slosh) for lunch. Mythos is a very upscale restaurant (with prices to match) that is one of the best places to eat in any theme park. Malcolm had some kind of fish, I had a hamburger (told you I was 2 I mean 4 years old!). Both dishes were presented beautifully, and had wonderful flavor. Price including tip: $40.
We ended our day at Islands of Adventure with 2 shows: Poseidens Fury (?) and the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad. PF is a multi-media show that has changed since last time we saw it. Poseiden is now the good guy, and battles some kind of demon-type. Lots of fire explosions and water (we stayed far back from the action, thank you!). You still travel through a water vortex to get to the main auditorium, where the projected images are displayed on curtains of mist and water.
The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad is a stunt show. Lots of eye candy for both men and women, as Sinbad and the lovely Princess are rather scantily clad. No complaints here. All in all, it was pretty entertaining. It would have been much campier, however, if they had used bad actors for the parts. Im thinking Oh help me, Sinbad! in a think of the worst possible actress you can think of voice. But all were pretty good in their parts.
We walked over the City Walk to take a break and have some dinner at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville. We sat out on the patio and listened to a guitarist (who wasnt bad he played and sang well too) and had margaritas (Malcolm), a milkshake (me) and nachos. My appetite had pretty much plunged due to my not feeling well, so I was a cheap date for the evening. Price including tip: $25.
We got back to the AKL where I took a very long, warm shower, and went out to the balcony to watch the animals frolic.
Part 4 coming up Magic Kingdom, or disneycub sniffles his way through Share A Dream Come True parade".
The sun arose on Monday with the promise of more adventure. I dont believe I asked the Mouse to wake us up on that day. I do remember that I woke up feeling good and ready to roll.
Malcolm and I had gotten in the habit of eating at one of the breakfast buffets on International Drive ($2.99 buffet!!!! Drinks Extra) on the days we didnt have a PS scheduled and today was no exception. Malcolm thrives on breakfast aside from bacon and maybe an English Muffin, I think breakfast is disgusting. Id rather eat pizza and hot dogs. In any case, we had some food and made our way to Universal/Islands of Adventure.
Im a big fan of Islands of Adventure. I think its a well-organized, well-themed amusement park with some incredibly intense rides (adventures, if you will). Before entering the park, we went to guest services and bought add-ons to our 2-day passes for Halloween Horror Nights XI for Friday (originally set for Saturday more on that later). I think the add-ons ran around $22.00 apiece.
For all intents and purposes, Islands of Adventure was very quiet. In other words, no lines to speak of. I know the term is walk on but it would be more accurate to say the adventures were all run-ons. We rode the Incredible Hulk coaster twice in rapid succession. Good morning America how are ya! Im really awake now. For the uninitiated, Hulk is a monster steel coaster (green of course) that shoots you out of a cannon type structure at a kazillion miles per hour and puts the train through twists, loops, and an underground tunnel full of mist. It rates a 10 on the Lose Your Lunch scale, but is a great deal of fun once you get over the fear factor.
We proceeded on to Dr. Dooms Fear Fall. You are shot up in the air around 150 feet and experience 0 gravity on the way down. We rated DDFF a 10 on the Lame-O-Meter. It didnt even come close to the theming, subtlety and suspense of the Tower of Terror.
Before leaving Marvel Super Hero Island, we took in the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. Spidey himself was in the queue posing for pictures, which we could pick up on our way out. Malcolm bought one for himself, and one for me. Anyway, the Spiderman ride is part motion simulator, part 3-D Imax-type movies, part tactile effects (like fire and water) in a real three-dimensional environment. The technology is amazing. The climax is a free fall done with film from high atop a New York City skyscraper. Of course, Spidey saves the day, and saves your traveling pod from certain doom. The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman is an absolute must see at Islands of Adventure.
Now comes the fun part. We entered Toon Lagoon and rode Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls. I have to admit that there were signs posted that said You Will Get Wet. Whatever. I figured wet as in Splash Mountain wet. WRONG! The signs should have said You Will Get Positively Drenched Beyond All Recognition. Bad Hair Day Immediately Follows. The ride is fairly cute, where Dudley saves the lovely Nell from the evil Snidley Whiplash. Not up to Splash Mountain standards by any stretch. Favorite line in the ride: Nell to Snidley UNHAND ME YOU BEAST!!! which I had to repeat ad infinitum throughout the day. Im really 4 years old.
In any case, before you go over the falls (which are pretty intense and fast) you come to a section where there are two little waterfalls on either side of your vehicle. Oh, this is nothing! Wrong! Just as you are passing by the little waterfalls, a HUGE waterfall comes down on top of the vehicle, completely drenching all who are underneath it. And I do mean soaked through the skin drenched. Clue #1: Use the lockers to store your stuff, including wallets before entering the ride. Unfortunately, you are not able to ride buck nekkid. After the falls where you go through an exploding shack, there is a section like Splash where water hops from place to place. Unlike Splash, the water doesnt stop before it hits you full force in the head and face. Talk about adding insult to injury! By the time we got off the ride, Malcolm and I were water-sopped. Conveniently, IOA has a kiosk right outside the exit where you can buy towels and t-shirts. No complete outfits, however.
The falls Yes, you actually go over them.
Mount Dudleymore
Fortunately the sun was out and we were able to kind of dry off. Shirts came off, shorts came off (not really
). We were soaked through and through for the rest of the day. Clue #2: bring along an extra set of clothes. All I can say is: good thing I wasnt wearing white shorts that day
After spending probably a half hour trying to dry off (didnt work), we proceeded through Jurassic Park and traveled to the Lost Continent where we rode Dueling Dragon. Except they werent dueling on that day. Due to the lack of crowds, only one side (dragon) was operating, changing sides each hour. Dueling Dragons is a double-sided inverted steel rollercoaster where the two coasters, if running concurrently, make for some interesting almost collisions, where your feet come within about 12 inches of the opposing coaster. Even without the dueling feature, these coasters rate a 10 on the Where Did Our Love (I Mean My Mind) Go? scale. After riding 2 times on the Fire coaster, Malcolm was feeling a bit beaten up, so we slowed the pace down a bit.
We walked into Mythos (slosh, slosh) for lunch. Mythos is a very upscale restaurant (with prices to match) that is one of the best places to eat in any theme park. Malcolm had some kind of fish, I had a hamburger (told you I was 2 I mean 4 years old!). Both dishes were presented beautifully, and had wonderful flavor. Price including tip: $40.
We ended our day at Islands of Adventure with 2 shows: Poseidens Fury (?) and the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad. PF is a multi-media show that has changed since last time we saw it. Poseiden is now the good guy, and battles some kind of demon-type. Lots of fire explosions and water (we stayed far back from the action, thank you!). You still travel through a water vortex to get to the main auditorium, where the projected images are displayed on curtains of mist and water.
The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad is a stunt show. Lots of eye candy for both men and women, as Sinbad and the lovely Princess are rather scantily clad. No complaints here. All in all, it was pretty entertaining. It would have been much campier, however, if they had used bad actors for the parts. Im thinking Oh help me, Sinbad! in a think of the worst possible actress you can think of voice. But all were pretty good in their parts.
We walked over the City Walk to take a break and have some dinner at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville. We sat out on the patio and listened to a guitarist (who wasnt bad he played and sang well too) and had margaritas (Malcolm), a milkshake (me) and nachos. My appetite had pretty much plunged due to my not feeling well, so I was a cheap date for the evening. Price including tip: $25.
We got back to the AKL where I took a very long, warm shower, and went out to the balcony to watch the animals frolic.
Part 4 coming up Magic Kingdom, or disneycub sniffles his way through Share A Dream Come True parade".
