Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Universal Edition. Pictures Galore! COMPLETE

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

The next logical place to visit after The Lost Continent is Seuss Landing. When we had speed walked through earlier that morning it looked really cool and I had been looking forward to exploring it more. Walking into Seuss Landing was just like walking into a Dr. Seuss book, all colourful and crazy!

It looks crowded in the above picture but it really wasn't bad at all.

I headed into the washroom to rinse out my souvenir butterbeer cup before stuffing it in Mom's bag. The bathroom was very large, very clean, and deserted!

Alek and Erich studied the park map while I washed out the cup.

We explored a bit more before getting on a ride. There was so much to look at!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Mom once again pole danced in honour of Rosie.

Hilarious and slightly inappropriate shirts!

Having explored that one small section of Seuss Landing we decided it was time to get on a ride. Which one would be head to first?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

Having oohed and awwed over the decor of Seuss Landing, we decided it was time to get on a ride. We went on the first one we had seen upon entering this section of the park, the "High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride". The ride is themed after Suess' Star-Bellied Sneetches story. There are big pictures depicting the story as you go through the queue.

The queue gradually inclines, no inclined moving sidewalk here! Once you get to the top ride platform you are directed to the left or the right, we went to the right. Once again there were signs up saying no photography, you already know what I think about that!

If you want to compare this to a WDW ride it would be most similar to the TTA/Peoplemover.You sit in a car that takes you around an area of the park and through some buildings. You get great views of the surrounding area, there are no surprises, just a nice calm ride around Seuss Landing from up high.

A blurry picture of Mythos and Hogwarts.

The ride was fine and definitely good for all ages and people which is a plus in a park that does not have a lot that is available for the whole family whether it is because of age, height, or non-thrill seekers.

We stopped in the candy shop/bakery and drooled over all the baked goods.

We proceeded through Seuss Landing to find our next ride.

Would it be

or

or

We opted for The Cat in the Hat, I believe it was Mom who championed this ride.

The Cat in the Hat is your traditional dark ride but it seemed to be a little more amped up than the dark rides we had been on at Disney. The turns seemed a bit faster and a little more "violent". They definitely whipped the ride car around a few times. Alek and Erich were not bothered by this but it definitely had its effect on Mom, because of her MS she is very susceptible to motion sickness from that kind of movement. Even I felt a little green when I got off but I was not nearly as bad Mom. I think most people would be fine on this ride like Alek and Erich. It is another ride that is good for the whole family.

After Cat in the Hat we did not go on any more rides in Seuss Landing. We skipped over the fish ride and the carousel. Both looked like good family friendly fun and I dare you to find a cooler looking carousel!

Alek and Erich were drawn in by this

They decided that they would return there for dinner.

With that we left Seuss Landing, it was 1:45 and we had already experienced half of the park with a table service meal!

 

[DrDoofenshmirtz]

This is really a terrific trip report! I very much enjoyed the latest installment, as I'm a big Seuss geek. Honestly, I'm as psyched about this part of the park as any other.

Thanks!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

This is really a terrific trip report! I very much enjoyed the latest installment, as I'm a big Seuss geek. Honestly, I'm as psyched about this part of the park as any other.

Thanks!

Thanks, I'm glad you are enjoying it! Seuss Landing was pretty cool and I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the entire park actually!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

On to our next adventure! We were leaving Seuss Landing and heading over to Marvel Super Hero Island! Home of The Incredible Hulk Coaster, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Doctor Doom's Freefall, and Storm Force Accelerator.

You have to pass through the far end of Port of Entry to get to Super Hero Island from Seuss Landing as they are the two "islands" to either side of the entrance of the park. They had these "giants" out for pictures. Over the two days we spent at the Universal park we found that Universal really likes to put characters up on stilts.

They are probably meant to be the local residents of the imaginary country depicted in the Port of Entry.

There is a great open area along the water here where you can get pictures.

Jurassic Park and Hogwarts

Mythos

The Hulk

It was now time for the ride Alek and I had been eagerly anticipating, The Hulk! Mom and Erich, of course, sat out this one.

It was a walk-on. Wait time was posted at 5 minutes and that was pretty much just allowing for the walk through the queue. As with all new rides I started to get nervous the closer we got, a strange neurosis of mine.

Let me just say, IT WAS AWESOME! I hadn't read up on the coaster so it was all a surprise for me. For instance, I had no idea that it had an accelerated start. Once you get on the ride and start to climb the hill, instead of climbing nice and slow and steady like most coasters it was BOOM! You are off! I think it was even thrilling for Alek who is hard to impress when it comes to coasters. We enjoyed the whole ride, there was no head banging side to side like on some coasters, it was a smooth, fast, thrilling and enjoyable ride. It is now on my list of favourite coasters.

When we got off the ride it was tempting to jump back in line and go again since there was not much of a wait but we decided not to since Mom and Erich were waiting for us.

Right next to The Hulk are Doctor Doom's Freefall which is one of those you go up and then drop straight down rides. We skipped it. Also next to The Hulk were the Storm Force Accelerators which is basically just a tea cup ride, we also skipped this.

We moved further into Super Hero Island and took everything in. Super Hero Island is designed to look like you are in a comic book. There are big comic versions of Marvel heroes and villains all over the place on the buildings etc. I have read that some don't like the theme and think it looks cheap. I didn't mind it, sure, it wasn't pretty like The Lost Continent or crazy and colourful like Seuss Landing but it was fun in its own way.

There is a shop set-up with a Spider-Man meet and greet. The line wasn't long so we decided to go for it. What happens at this meet and greet is that you pose with Spider-Man in front of a white screen. You are free to take pictures with your own camera but Universal will also take a picture and that white backdrop in their picture is then turned into a fun background. It looked neat but we didn't buy it.

With flash

Without flash

We saw this Iron Man for sale in the same shop that has the Spider-Man meet and greet. It is made of metal, no price attached, just a sign that says to ask a sales clerk for info. That must mean the price is insane.

Next up was The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. Erich and Mom decided to sit this out. Mom knew she couldn't handle it and Erich was unsure if he would like it because of the description in the guide book.

Alek LOVED this ride. He loved the queue which played a cartoon episode of Spider-Man that correlated with the ride. Then the ride was pretty awesome as well. I did not appreciate the whole experience as much as Alek since I did not watch Spider-Man cartoons growing up, that was more his and Erich's thing, but I still had a lot of fun on the ride as well. It turns out that it was definitely a ride that Erich could handle, it is just a simulated ride, an awesome simulated ride, but a simulated ride none the less.

What did Mom and Erich do while they waited for us? Took pictures! Some Marvel characters had come out for pictures. Erich got his picture with the Green Goblin(?). Please excuse me if I get these character names wrong, I am not all that familiar with super heroes/villains. I am pretty much only familiar with the main ones: Superman, Spider-Man, Batman.

We didn't want Erich to miss out on a ride we knew he would love so when we exited the ride we talked him into trying it out. So, Alek went back on the ride with Erich and I stayed outside with Mom.

 

[jimmytammy]

Loving your trip report! We are WDW fans but planning a DVC stay in late March, with 4 day US/IOA passes, so we will drive over weekdays like you folks did. Cant wait to read the rest!

 

[macraven]

sounds like you enjoyed universal.

your pictures turned out very nice!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Loving your trip report! We are WDW fans but planning a DVC stay in late March, with 4 day US/IOA passes, so we will drive over weekdays like you folks did. Cant wait to read the rest!

Driving over for the Universal days was definitely the way to go for us. Much for convenient that having to pack up the room and move hotels for only a few days.

sounds like you enjoyed universal.

your pictures turned out very nice!

We really did, Islands of Adventure was a blast!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

Before Alek and Erich made their way back into the queue for Spider-Man Alek grabbed a character photo with Green Goblin.

Mom and I grabbed a seat on the curb and relaxed while we waited for the boys. I spent the time taking pictures. I spotted a few things out of place.

While Alek and Erich were gone a bunch of characters came out so I took pictures of them and I also snapped some shots of the park scenery.

Is this Doctor Doom?

The costumes for the characters in this section of the park are awesome, so well done.

Alek and Erich came out soon after the characters drove in. They just had to get pictures with them, since they looked so "amazing".

Forgive me if I get the character names wrong.

Rogue from X-Men

Cyclops? from X-Men

Wolverine from X-Men

Captain America

The traditional butt shot, those are some high quality costumes!

After the character shots we started to make our way out of Super Hero Island.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

See the Ben and Jerry's behind this guy? Well don't be fooled, it is not a real Ben Jerry's, they only served soft serve!

Super Hero Island was fun, we only did two out of the four rides (skipped the free fall and "tea cups"). The two rides we did go on though were the headliners and they were awesome! Even if you aren't into the Super Hero theme you should check this area out as the rides are a blast!

Next up was Toon Lagoon!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

Onwards to Toon Lagoon! The first thing we saw after leaving Super Hero Island was this pair of characters. I have no idea who they are but Mom seemed excited to see them. I am sure that Mom told me at the time but I have forgotten.

Then we ran into Bullwinkle. This is the one and only picture you will see of me from this day, I looked awful!

Toon Lagoon was a fun place to hang out. It is designed to be as though you are walking through comic strips. There are lots of phrase bubbles you can stand under and pretend that you are a comic strip character.

Hey, Heathcliff!

Nice face Mom! (Please don't kill me for posting this!)

Toon Lagoon is all about getting wet. The rides here are water rides and as you can see above there are fountains to play in as well.

Our next ride! Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. I had heard lots about this ride and everything I had heard indicated that this was a water raft ride not to be missed. Unlike Kali Rapids where you can easily escape the ride with only a few drops of water gracing your clothing, this ride has you leaving completely drenched.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

This is not an exaggeration!

They are not kidding!

Another walk on ride!

I got to make good use of the waterproof function of my camera on this ride. These are some of my favourite pictures from the trip. Alek and Erich look like they are having tons of fun and it is not exaggerated posed photos like we usually take (well for the most part, there is a little bit of exaggeration).

As you can see the boys were completely soaked by the end of the ride and Mom and I were in no better condition. We LOVED this ride, it was so much fun! It is how every water raft/rapids ride should be.

There are those body drying machines near the exit that you can pay to use. You stand in them for a few minutes and they dry your clothes. We didn't waste our money, it was a warm summer day in Florida, we would dry soon enough and besides, we were off to another water ride!

 

[DrDoofenshmirtz]

May 17th continued

Onwards to Toon Lagoon! The first thing we saw after leaving Super Hero Island was this pair of characters. I have no idea who they are but Mom seemed excited to see them. I am sure that Mom told me at the time but I have forgotten.

These two fine fellows are from Mort Walker's classic comic strip "Beetle Bailey". In fact, that's Beetle on the far right. The fellow in the middle is Private Zero.

Yes, I am a nerd...

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

These two fine fellows are from Mort Walker's classic comic strip "Beetle Bailey". In fact, that's Beetle on the far right. The fellow in the middle is Private Zero.

Yes, I am a nerd...

Thanks for refreshing my memory!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

Before moving on I realized that I missed posting a few photos of our time in Toon Lagoon pre-soaking.

Little Nemo! Growing up we loved the movie "Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland". Did any of you ever see it?

Back to our regularly scheduled programming:

After getting completely drenched on Bilge-Rat Barges we decided that it was simply not acceptable to have even one dry spot on us so in order to remedy the situation we made our way over to Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls!

Ripsaw Falls is a log flume ride and just like on Bilge-Rat Barges you are guaranteed to get soaked. This is not like Splash Mountain where you could easily get off the ride only a little damp, you will get soaked on this ride!

For those who don't know, Dudley Do-Right is a cartoon comedy about an inept Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman commonly known as Mounties. They have the ride attendants dressed up in modified/mock Mountie uniforms which I thought was hilarious.

Once again it was just Alek and I going on the ride. There was hardly any wait. Maybe 10-15 minutes, the queue took forever to walk through, it is really long!

There were humorous signs and posters throughout the queue.

This one says "Three Men and a Grizzly". Speaking of, have you heard that a third movie, "Three Men and a Bride" is in development? I don't know about you but I loved Three Men and a Baby/Lady.

Once again I wanted to break the no camera rule, I wanted to film as we went down the big drop. Well, my camera delinquency finally caught up with me. I pulled the camera out and started filming as we approached the big drop. Well, I got caught! They paused our log and yelled at me over the speaker to put away the camera! I did put it away quickly but I was so annoyed! Disney lets you use your camera on Splash! Hmph!

Luckily for you I caught my chastisement on video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re_XqndzBfA

After we got off I complained to Alek, he didn't realize it was me that had been yelled at, he thought it was the person behind him.

We met up with Mom and Erich and took a few minutes to wring our clothes out.

Overall, we loved Toon Lagoon! It was a blast! We all enjoy water rides and don't mind getting soaked on a hot day so this part of the park was a winner in our books. We only had one more "island" to explore before returning to the Wizarding World, Jurassic Park!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Howdy from one of your Ontario neighbours!

Just wanted to say that I'm loving your trip report (just joining in now....I know, I know, I'm a little late to the table!).

Your photos are fabulous and are helping to feed our excitement about our upcoming "first trip" to Universal Studios and IOA!

And for the record.....your brothers look like they're a hoot! .

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Howdy from one of your Ontario neighbours!

Just wanted to say that I'm loving your trip report (just joining in now....I know, I know, I'm a little late to the table!).

Your photos are fabulous and are helping to feed our excitement about our upcoming "first trip" to Universal Studios and IOA!

And for the record.....your brothers look like they're a hoot! .

Welcome and thanks for joining in!

A Christmas/New Year's trip! That should be a blast, I haven't been down to Orlando for the holidays since 97! I am dying to go back one of these days.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

Next we entered Jurassic Park (The music from this movie has been playing in my head all day!).

Normally I would have been really excited for this section of the park but the main ride, Jurassic Park River Adventure, was down for refurb. It was unfortunate timing as it opened up again a few days after our visit.

Despite the main ride being closed we still made our way into this section of the park looking to have fun!

For the most part this area was pretty dead due to the ride closure with the exception of Camp Jurassic, a kid's play area.

Even though River Adventure was closed the neighbouring gift shop was still open so we went in to check out the merch.

A cute teddy bear cuddling a veloceraptor, something doesn't jive here!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

We wandered into the Jurassic Park Discovery Centre which is designed to look like the one in the movie, I think they did a decent job. There are dinosaur displays, interactive games, food and shopping available inside.

While Alek and Erich were playing with the games I wandered out back.

Alek and Erich were still playing with everything so I wandered back out to the front where Mom was waiting and grabbed a nice spot in the sun to wait and dry off at the same time (I was still soaked from Toon Lagoon).

Here are some of Erich's pictures from Jurassic Park

Having finished up at Jurassic Park we had done a full circuit of the park and we still had tons of time left in the day. Sure we skipped a few rides but not many so it really is manageable to explore the whole park without buying an Express Pass (unless you are traveling in high crowd season such as Christmas).

Next Time: More Wizarding Fun!