Mike Jones
<font color=993300>....nothing clever to say... ju
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2003
- Messages
- 1,372
Following a recent 6 day visit to Florida from the UK, to celebrate my birthday, here's an extract (our full day and night at IOA, US and RPR) from the full trip report I posted on the UK DIS Trip Reports board. If you want to read any more, there's a link at the end. Hope you enjoy it.
Boys Behaving Tour, June 2004 (Mikes 40th!) Part 5 R.P.Resort, IOA, US, Citywalk
The Cast: Mike (39/40) & Scott (43), temporary escapees from their respective families.
Day 5 Wednesday 16th June 2004 Transfer to Royal Pacific Resort, Universal Orlando, lots of FOTL at IOA and US!
Weather: Superb! Hot and sunny all day!
.....We both slept well last night weary bodies and happy minds might just be helping! I awake naturally, before the alarm, at about 05:50. Scott hears me stirring and soon follows. Were not bothering about breakfast this morning, intending to grab something on the hoof at the parks. I make coffee and we follow our balcony ritual for ½ hour or so, chatting about the days plan and events so far. We touch upon the matter of tipping maids when you check out, and I say that it always feels a bit like saying thanks for not stealing my gear! We leave $10 each anyway!
It occurs to me that the 10th floor would be a great place to fly model planes from, so we make paper airplanes for a distance challenge. I go for the traditional dart construction, while Scott prefers a more intricate, broad-winged style. One, two, three go! Mine sails out for a few yards before plunging nearly vertically to the car park! Scotts seems to have caught the wind, though, and makes incredible distance, ending at the top of some tall trees over 100 feet away! Respect!
Its already warm hot and we are showered and packed up by 7:30. Logically, as its our last time here, we try to quit the lift early again, on the 6th floor, but just manage to stay inside til the Lobby! There are no extra charges accrued on our room, and we decline help with the bags. Off across the road to Goodings to stock up on water, and to source some particular bubblegum for DS. We rejoin the 535, manage to miss the I4 East turning completely, (I mean its not as if weve driven past it 100 times!) so throw a Uey and try from the other side! The roads are brisk but free flowing and the journey is straightforward. Along the way I ask Scott to try and take a photograph of the Monster Truck outside RaceRock or RaceTrac at the side of the I4, another request from DS! It comes up a bit quick for us though, and we miss it! (if I forget later, we do get it on the way back from DTD tomorrow!)
I know the access to the theme parks at Universal very well, but concentrate hard to see the turn-off for Royal Pacific Resort oh, there it is turn left .. and then weve gone past!! Another u-turn and a bit more care and we arrive at RPR on the dot of 8:00am. We leave the car at the door and take the cases inside to check-in just walking over the entrance bridge, you can tell that this is a quality hotel! The lobby is light and airy, with Reception off to the left. Obviously our room isnt ready (after 3:00pm apparently) but all we want are those precious Front Of The Line privileges that come with the room key! Scott makes some remark about us not being a couple to the friendly receptionist who proceeds to wind us up by confirming your special request for a room with one king-size bed We get credit card sized cards, printed with our names and the dates of arrival/departure. We leave the bags with the porters, and were off!
Descending from the Lobby to Level 1, which fronts the gardens and pool area, we walk through lush foliage to the boat taxi its so lush, we miss the signs and walk past it first time! Its 8:30 now, the appointed time for the first taxi, and we are fortunate to get the last two spaces. There are some seasoned FOTL professionals on the boat several of them have a wide, Velcro wristband with a clear panel that displays their room key/pass!
The journey is smooth and pleasant literally a few hundred yards and less than 5 minutes to the dock area at Citywalk (the bit opposite Hard Rock). We climb the steps and turn right, heading to Islands of Adventure, taking video and photos along the way. Its only 8:40, but theres a bustle about the place and it looks great in the sunshine!
There are modest lines at the entrance, but we havent long to wait they open for business at 8:45. We walk briskly through Port of Entry and under the creaking bridge, turning left to give Scott his first sight of Hulk! Hulk can wait, however, theres a more important appointment we pass straight through to the middle of Marvel Superhero Island and dash into Spiderman.
The CM isnt interested in our Passes, as there are no lines at the moment. We weave our way through the newsroom chicanes, grab our night-vision specs and are assigned our Scoop vehicle.
This is an incredible attraction technically brilliant there are still parts that I cant quite work out, even after a dozen or more rides! The final, sensory fall from the top of skyscraper just leaves me breathless! Scott is mightily impressed!
We decide not to ride again just now and walk quickly back to Hulk even in the short time weve been on Spidey the crowds have grown significantly.
I guide him to the lockers behind the entrance to the ride, we dump the bags and show our FOTLs to the CM on the gate Stay left, guys, have a great ride! and were off! Through the barriers, up the stairs, right to the front of the line. Theres already a 20 minute standby time, but not for us boys! We are seated within seconds (my only regret about Universal Express at Hulk is that you can not get in the front seats, but being a seated on top coaster the views almost the same anyway!).
WAY-HAYYYYYY!!! The accelerated launch is still incredible! We howl our delight right to the final stop! Whats that Scott? Can we do it again? Can we ever! Straight down the off ramp, bypass the ride pics and present at the front of the line again retrace our steps back up, and here we go again!!! One more go for three so far today and we are starting to wobble slightly might be an idea to try a different way of inducing motion sickness just to reset our balance mechanisms! Dr Dooms Fearfall is at hand, and although Ive never done this here, weve both ridden Ice Blast at Blackpool Pleasure Beach(UK) and another similar one at Southport PB.(UK) For the uninitiated, the ride comprises 2, square, steel towers, with seats on each side on a collar that can slide up and down the columns like a donut on a poker! We are seated and strapped in, and, at this stage we cannot see outside the ride building. The story is that Dr Doom has developed a fiendish device to suck the fear right out of his victims (us!) heads (theres an emotion collector dish above each seat!). The ride starts by raising us a few feet of the floor, so our feet are dangling, and then WHOOOSHH .the seats are flung upwards at a significant rate of knots, then dangling suspended for the briefest time (allowing a stunning view of the immediate area!) before plummeting back to the ground. It bounces around a bit more, but basically thats it! Its nothing like as bad as the anticipation, really quite pleasant, and we are back on terra firma in another minute or so. Good fun! (but not worth queuing for, IMO)
We walk back to retrieve our sacks from the Hulk lockers (free for less than one hour) and strike out for Duelling Dragons! This is virtually at the opposite side of the park/lagoon, and the 10 minute stroll takes us through the paint-factory explosion of Toon Lagoon, with its cartoon soundtrack, whistles, hoots and screams, not to mention the outrageous use of water sculpture and fountains.
Remembering not to go too near Popeye and Blutos Barges, as this is a cul-de-sac that normally fools me at least once per visit, we enter Jurassic Park through the high gateposts, and into a tropical forest!
The theming here is superb, IMO.. I remember reading one review/description of IOA that was mildly critical, stating that the park was compromised because you could see other islands/attractions from various points, such as from Duelling Dragons. I think this point of view is a bit over critical, and it must be almost impossible to avoid. However, back to this morning were hoping for a vendor cart along the way to grab a churro or something, but nowhere is open yet. Tummies grumbling, we enter The Lost Continent and pass the Flying Unicorn to get our first view of the Dragons entrance!
Unlike Hulk, which imposes itself on the crowds below, DD is very discreet you can see the tracks from here, but only just the best place to watch the ride is from the exit path to the left hand side of the entrance.
We stow our bags again in the adjacent (free for an hour) lockers dont forget (a) the locker number (we did, several times this visit!) and (b) which finger you used for the biometric scan! (Dont laugh we saw a family with three kids trying to reclaim their bags at the Mummy ride, when they had obviously forgotten which child had scanned their finger, as they were all taking turns and getting more and more flustered as the crowd of people waiting to use the terminal became more impatient!)
The Universal Express entrance at DD wasnt being manned at this time, and even later when the crowds built up a bit they werent really on top of the system here the only place at US/IOA where we found any failing in this otherwise excellent system. Yes, I know they copied it from Disney, but it is better in a couple of ways firstly, you get UE at virtually every ride, and secondly, on site guests get all day FOTL!
We walk along the UE entrance path anyway, but there is no one on station at the entrance to the Castle. There arent many people inside, although 8 or so are waiting at both Dragons for front seats. The other seats are all walk on at present. We join the front seat line for Ice (right hand Dragon) and wait. And wait. And wait!They are running with only one train per side at present and it takes ages to get to the front (well, ok, about 15 minutes, but Im impatient!) Naturally, as soon as we hit the barrier for next to ride, they decide to put another train on line! This is quite interesting, technically, as the track section in front of the station on each side lifts out of the way before a new section, complete with train, slides over from a central garage. Interesting, yes, but we want to ride please!. The new train is loaded and they have to test it! AARRRGGGHH!! Finally we get on board, although it may be our last front seat ride as there are now fairly long lines at every position for both Dragons. Even with UE privilege there will be at least 80 people in front of you when you get past the UE entrance.
On with the show! Scott is grinning from ear to ear as we clunk up the slope he loses it momentarily when Ice stops briefly dont worry, bud, its just letting Fire catch us up! Were at the top .and ..WHHEEEEEE!!! I love inverted coasters, they whip you round the bends and curves so much better than the normal type I have primed Scott about the three places where the Dragons cross, and he gets the full impact of the second (best!) one where, in the front seats, you are heading horizontally straight towards the other train with a combined closing speed of at least 100 mph!! Fantastic!
I compound my croaky voice problems by yelling joyfully all the way round, and can barely speak when we jump off. We exit through the corridor and find the re-entry doors about 40 feet down. A lot of riders obviously miss this, as they carry on to the true exit, and, in fairness it isnt well signed. The policy seems to be to leave these doors open until the ride is seriously busy, then you would have to walk all the way out and back in again via the endless paths from the main entrance. Ive only ever ridden DD before 11:00am, and never had to do this.. it must happen when Hulk and Spiderman are chocker, forcing the masses deeper into the park.
This time we pick Fire, and choose the first available row, towards the centre. We only wait about 5 minutes, but more and more people are arriving, and we can always come back tomorrow. Another great ride, but time to get on now. We are both STARVING (no breakfast, remember?) and after retrieving our bags (was it locker 313 or 323? Or 413?..oh, right, that was Hulk! It was number 440 here! Or 540 ?!!) we walk straight across into the Enchanted Oak Tavern for an early lunch. (Its 10:55 now).
We both have chicken and rib platters plus cokes, total $28.35. The place is very quiet so early, and we could sit inside in air-conditioned comfort, but we elect to catch some rays and go outside onto a sunny patio overlooking the lake, with views right back to Hulk and Dr Doom. The food is ok without being special, but were only on a fuelling mission anyway! Its sweltering hot out here, so we finish up fairly quickly before making our daily calls home to loved ones. Minor guilt trips for both of us, as its clear the kids are starting to miss us more now! Never mind, we tell them, only another day or so. Yes, loads of prezzies. Yes, everything on your lists. Ok, bye!
We make our way back to Jurassic Park against an increased flow of visitors heading for the Dragons, and find the entrance to Jurassic Park River Adventure. I nip into a nearby restroom to change into swim shorts and a spare vest, (cos Ive done these rides before!), but Scott says hell take his chances! (Im not intrinsically concerned about being wet, but I cant cope with the nappy rash afterwards before my kecks dry out!) We flash the plastic and are waved past the 25 minute standby lines to climb aboard our boat inside 5 minutes.
Great fun this one its basically a big log flume with fancy packaging (and a bit of psychological fear for good measure!) and, of course, a story. The tale is that you are taking a boat tour of the waterways around the JP facility, admiring the grazing (convincing, animatronic) dinosaurs, when, quelle horreur, a startled plant eater bumps the boat and knocks you off course right into the high security Raptor Containment Building!!!! To add further panic, its clear that there has been a breach of the raptor cages and the dangerous maneaters are on the loose and hungry! The none too subtle climb up the big hill follows, inside the tall building, although it is well decorated and gives a fair impression of passing through an industrial facility, with several dinosaur encounters! (Beware the acid spitting one!).. Im sure everyone with any interest knows that the climax is a face to face with the daddy himself (or actually, if biologists are right, probably herself), T Rex!! the only way to escape is to exit at max velocity down the nearly vertical slope with the inevitable splashdown at the end! Wonderful a firm favourite!
We escape with only splashes, and move on in high spirits to our next watery encounter - Dudley's Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls.
Another log flume, with a different twist it has a high speed runoff at the end. Our UE cards turn a 30-minute Standby line into a 5 minute wait. We ride at the front of the boat (me first, Scott next) with two other well-built chaps behind this has the effect of sinking us somewhat deeper than other craft, and we ship water at every bend or hill. Its quite a busy ride, with a couple of down hills before the final biggy, but the cartoon setting leaves me a bit cold. We get to the top of the last hill and fly down at high speed Im not sure now whether it was the first splash, or the slide at the bottom, but we get soaked! (It must be 95 degrees F, in clear blue skies, though, so were not too concerned!)
Our final water ride is the best - Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. Ive done this many times, as it is DSs favourite, and it knocks spots off Kali River Rapids at Disneys Animal Kingdom. Its another cartoon themed ride, but rather better done than Dudley. The UE pass takes us straight on to the loading platform (25 minute standby) and we complete the crew on the next raft. The ride is exuberant no attempt is made to pretend you can stay dry! The cleverest bit for me is that you start the ride half-way up you start to bounce and splash down the river right away the up-hill bit is a minute or two later, disguised as Blutos Boat Wash, with revolving brushes and loads of bubbles! Then you get another rough, downhill section before returning to the start! Smiling like lunatics, we slop our way to the exit, where I nip in the RR opposite to change Scott stays wet!
Its 12:35 now we want to transfer to US soon, but we cant walk past the headliners without riding again! As we approach Marvel Super Hero Island (dont you love that crazy, frenetic music?) the crowds are noticeably denser. Spiderman has a 90 minute wait altogether now, oh no it doesnt! The US room key gets us to the ride vehicles in 3 minutes! Count em and weep, off-site guests, three minutes! I cant get tired of this ride, and Scott definitely gets more out of it than from his first one earlier, as the storyline starts to make sense.
We carry on around to Hulk plaza and push through the crowds to the lockers again. We present at the Entrance (60 minute Standby) and the card performs its magic yet again. I fondly imagine that the sweaty bodies in the long lines to our right are gnashing their teeth as we pass its all I can do not to stop and show them my priceless pass!
We are on and off within 10 minutes, and could keep this up all day, but Universal Studios beckons, and I reckon the truest test of the UE card will come in the afternoon when the parks are full. Going very much against the flow of visitors still entering, we leave through the Port of Entry, get our handstamp and cruise back to Citywalk. I tend to video journeys like this, and we also stop at the Nascar café to take stills shots of the cars. We take more photos at the globe, before passing under the (newly decorated Shrek) arch into the Studios proper. Its 1:30pm, still hot and sunny. Theres no threat of rain today so far at least!
The security check here is as perfunctory as at the WDW parks. Jimmy Neutron is the first attraction we come to, so in we go.
We are admitted immediately to the pre-show area, unlike the 45 minute Standby mob outside. Good, fun ride! Not sure about the finale though . The Birdie Song?!!
Well, the card seems to be just as effective here, so straight across the road to Shrek 4D.
The UE line seems disappointingly long, but as soon as we join it, the doors open and we are in! Great act by the CM - threatening everyone with flogging for any and all infringements, so we dont try to take any piccies or video! The actual preshow is very entertaining, and the film itself? The best 3D theatre show in Florida, IMHO! We wander into the streets beyond the theatre, and catch the end of the Blues Brothers. Were intent on The Mummy next, but we are dehydrated and stop at a cart near the small garden nearby for two supersize cokes, which we drink in the garden (as its also a smoking area!) while Scott phones his GF, Diane.
Right, were ready to enter the fray! As you probably know, the Revenge of the Mummy is a brand new attraction, only recently fully open. The front façade of the building is very imposing, themed as a colonnaded museum, but the impact is diminished somewhat by the temporary barriers and covered locker area.
The barriers force the riders to enter from stage left, so that CMs can divert anyone carrying anything larger than a wallet back to the locker stations there are absolutely no carry-ons here! The lines for the lockers look daunting too, but if you are prepared to squeeze through the sweaty bodies in the right-hand rows, you can get sorted pretty quickly. This area needs a re-think, IMO.
The Standby time is posted at 90 minutes (eek! Ill never wait that long for anything! It only took 2 hours to drive to Siesta Key!) but UE gets us into a slowly moving line through the tomb and to the loading area in 15 minutes.
The ride? In the words of an American teen who rode in the same car AWESOME! As it is a new attraction, I dont want to spoil it for anyone whos yet to ride, so look elsewhere if you desire a full description just be aware that, although the ride vehicles are similar to Spiderman, this is not for the faint-hearted there are elements of high speed roller coaster and some very scary moments indeed! Just do it!
Its about 3:20 now, and stimulants are required. We walk through the superbly detailed street scenes to the Starbucks inside the Italian restaurant.
We get coffee and espresso brownies the brownies are consumed in air-conditioned comfort before walking to the boardwalk at the rear of the Richter Burger Company, overlooking the lagoon. Some jet-ski stunt performers are having a play, simulating crashes and, as a finale, a chase which ends with one rider leaping from her machine onto the back of the lead rider! Good fun!
Coffees finished, we carry on clockwise towards Amity always seems to be the 4th of July here, which I suspect may be an excuse to justify the permanent presence of the fairground stalls! I love Universal, but do they really need to cynically extract more money from people whove already paid the admission charges?
40 minute wait at Jaws or not! We walk straight on to the next boat trip! Enthusiastic, if not quite convincing performance from our lady pilot! We survived! Onward to MIB! Terrible lines here not!! 5 minutes to get a locker, stow the bags and enter, 4 minutes to the ride vehicle!! This is another favourite. I love the inside (queue) area of the MIB Training Facility, the twins on the consoles, and the ride journey itself, obviously! Im not competitive (yeah, right!) but am slightly miffed that the newbie beats my score of 155,000 with his (lucky) 167,000! Must be his army background!
After exiting we head to the adjacent Rest Room and top up our water bottles from the fountain there I drink two bottles straight down and refill again its seriously hot today! Continuing clockwise, we enter Back To The Future (45 minutes standby, 0 minutes UE!). Scott enjoys it, but to be honest, Im a bit jaded about this ride now. It feels its age, when compared to the latest technology.
We stop at the B2TF store and take loads of pics /video of the DeLorean for Scotts nephew, Si, whos B2TF mad! He also buys him a T-shirt.
Five to five now. We take a few minutes off, for a ciggy and a rest, before popping off to save ET. (No UE? Sorry sir, that will be 30 minutes of your time. Oh, I see youre an on-site guest, young sir why not walk straight in and avoid the commoners! This way sirs.)
Our feeble attempt at schoolboy humour fails, when the Goodbye Ant, Goodbye Dec! we set up gets garbled and is inaudible at the rides conclusion! Shame!
5:15 now, and we use our magic keys to UE our way into the pre-show of the Cyberdyne facility. I adore this preshow.. in fact I think its .Soooooooper! The main event? Brill! Ive seen it twice last year, but had forgotten a lot of the details. Quite a performance.
Its close to 6:00pm when we exit, and dinner options need discussing. Do we fancy the Hard Rock? Or other, CityWalk restaurants like Pastamore? No we are empty enough to eat now, so we walk over to Café La Bamba, which is quiet, and order a pork sandwich platter + a Miller for Scott, with a chicken wrap + a Bud for me. $26.59 total.
We sit outside on the sunny patio, watching the world go by and listening to the salsa music piped from inside.
We finished the beers at the covered smoking area at the head of the lagoon, close to Mels Drive In. Quick restroom visit, and then we go back to the Mummy for another encounter. Its a bit quieter now only 50 minutes standby, and a lot quicker in the UE lines the CM swipes our cards as we enter, and when we return for round two (three!) she says, (rather caustically, I think!) You guys just set a new record 11 minutes since you last passed me!) Ha! Stow it, mamma! It says I can ride all day, as many times as I like, and I will!
We wander towards Earthquake, enjoying the sunshine and the smell of the cinnamon nut stand outside Richter Burgers hmmmmm donuts! ..nah, too full! After a discussion about the various options left to us, we bin Earthquake in favour of twister, so turn on our heels and walk back that way, pausing to cool our weary feet in a broken fire-hydrant on a street corner.
We arrive at Twister just as the doors close on the previous group, so have to stand, alone, for 10 minutes or so before the next one kicks off. The CM in attendance is obviously worn out and keen to be home while sweeping up around the wait area, she snaps at Scott for being over the line, and then at some new arrivals for walking down the wrong approach! Pheww! Take a pill! Relax! Youll have a heart attack.
The performance is pretty good, even after two previous encounters, and Scott gives it the thumbs up. I prefer this attraction to Catastrophe Canyon and Earthquake, as it doesnt take hours to do.
7:45 now, and we are tired! The park closes at 8:00 anyway, so we walk slowly back to CityWalk and again grab the last 2 places on the hotel boat.
It only takes a few minutes to dock, and we walk back through the lush gardens and past a couple of gorgeous-looking restaurants to the entrance area and up a flight of stairs to the Lobby. Our room is ready (probably since mid afternoon) we reclaim our bags from the Bell desk, declining the offer to bring them up for us (Im not that tired!) and set off for the 6th floor of Tower 1 (room 1619, if its of any interest)
Its a lovely room, a bit smaller than our last one at LBV, and no Balcony, sadly, but much better appointed with a cracking view of the sunset over Dr Doom and Hulk!
Theres a bottle of water available if we want it, which we do, but $7!!? Ill stay thirsty all the water we bought this morning is still in the trunk of the Sebring (about 15 miles away in my present, weary state!)
Scott collapses on the bed and I fix coffee Ive left the filters at LBV, so I have to use the complimentary coffee bagwhich is a bit weak for our taste. We shower, dress and then wander downstairs in search of entertainment we are tempted to stay at the hotel, as the bars weve passed look very inviting, but decide that, as its our last night, we should take a look at CityWalk.
Its 9:15 and we wait about 5 minutes for the next water taxi. CW is busy, and we take the escalator to the upper level for some photographs before strolling down past the clubs and bars. Most have lines outside, so we dont stop. At the lower end of the street we take a look inside Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville, as theres live music on the veranda, but the atmosphere inside is flat by comparison, so we soon leave. We find sanctuary opposite, at the JBM annexe called the Lone Palm Airport a simple, 4 sided bar set in about 8 palm trees, (not one!) with sand and decking beneath our feet. All the tables are taken, but we pitch up at some stools against the counter overlooking the waterfront and Universal Studios. I try some piccies, but most are blurred due to camera shake.
We order Margaritas (obviously!) at $6 each, and relax. Its a lovely, balmy evening, and we spend an hour or so, and quite a few more drinks, chatting and watching the visitors promenading. A table comes free right on the sidewalk, so we regroup there. The waitress has sussed us now, and just brings more drinks as we finish the last ones!
Two American guys walk over and start chatting they are Peter from Iowa and Gerry from Tennessee, both attending a communications seminar in Orlando and let loose for the night! They are great company for a couple of drinks, but want to press on into some other bars we decline their invitation to accompany them, as we arent long from our beds now!
We have a last drink and return to the waterfront for the boat back. We reach our room at 11:45. I volunteer to walk downstairs to collect the water from the car, and check out the hotel lounge, Orchid Court, as a possible breakfast venue (the guide suggest they open for coffee and continental breakfast at 06:00) It looks very pleasant.
Back upstairs, I call at the ice machine so we can cool the water down a little, before retiring to bed at 12:10.
Another seriously full day! The weathers been perfect, and those permanent UE, Front Of Line Passes? Outstanding! Goodnight!
Mike
(If you want to read any more from this trip, here's the full link)
The Whole Story - Boys Behaving' Tour, June 2004
Boys Behaving Tour, June 2004 (Mikes 40th!) Part 5 R.P.Resort, IOA, US, Citywalk
The Cast: Mike (39/40) & Scott (43), temporary escapees from their respective families.
Day 5 Wednesday 16th June 2004 Transfer to Royal Pacific Resort, Universal Orlando, lots of FOTL at IOA and US!
Weather: Superb! Hot and sunny all day!
.....We both slept well last night weary bodies and happy minds might just be helping! I awake naturally, before the alarm, at about 05:50. Scott hears me stirring and soon follows. Were not bothering about breakfast this morning, intending to grab something on the hoof at the parks. I make coffee and we follow our balcony ritual for ½ hour or so, chatting about the days plan and events so far. We touch upon the matter of tipping maids when you check out, and I say that it always feels a bit like saying thanks for not stealing my gear! We leave $10 each anyway!
It occurs to me that the 10th floor would be a great place to fly model planes from, so we make paper airplanes for a distance challenge. I go for the traditional dart construction, while Scott prefers a more intricate, broad-winged style. One, two, three go! Mine sails out for a few yards before plunging nearly vertically to the car park! Scotts seems to have caught the wind, though, and makes incredible distance, ending at the top of some tall trees over 100 feet away! Respect!
Its already warm hot and we are showered and packed up by 7:30. Logically, as its our last time here, we try to quit the lift early again, on the 6th floor, but just manage to stay inside til the Lobby! There are no extra charges accrued on our room, and we decline help with the bags. Off across the road to Goodings to stock up on water, and to source some particular bubblegum for DS. We rejoin the 535, manage to miss the I4 East turning completely, (I mean its not as if weve driven past it 100 times!) so throw a Uey and try from the other side! The roads are brisk but free flowing and the journey is straightforward. Along the way I ask Scott to try and take a photograph of the Monster Truck outside RaceRock or RaceTrac at the side of the I4, another request from DS! It comes up a bit quick for us though, and we miss it! (if I forget later, we do get it on the way back from DTD tomorrow!)
I know the access to the theme parks at Universal very well, but concentrate hard to see the turn-off for Royal Pacific Resort oh, there it is turn left .. and then weve gone past!! Another u-turn and a bit more care and we arrive at RPR on the dot of 8:00am. We leave the car at the door and take the cases inside to check-in just walking over the entrance bridge, you can tell that this is a quality hotel! The lobby is light and airy, with Reception off to the left. Obviously our room isnt ready (after 3:00pm apparently) but all we want are those precious Front Of The Line privileges that come with the room key! Scott makes some remark about us not being a couple to the friendly receptionist who proceeds to wind us up by confirming your special request for a room with one king-size bed We get credit card sized cards, printed with our names and the dates of arrival/departure. We leave the bags with the porters, and were off!
Descending from the Lobby to Level 1, which fronts the gardens and pool area, we walk through lush foliage to the boat taxi its so lush, we miss the signs and walk past it first time! Its 8:30 now, the appointed time for the first taxi, and we are fortunate to get the last two spaces. There are some seasoned FOTL professionals on the boat several of them have a wide, Velcro wristband with a clear panel that displays their room key/pass!
The journey is smooth and pleasant literally a few hundred yards and less than 5 minutes to the dock area at Citywalk (the bit opposite Hard Rock). We climb the steps and turn right, heading to Islands of Adventure, taking video and photos along the way. Its only 8:40, but theres a bustle about the place and it looks great in the sunshine!
There are modest lines at the entrance, but we havent long to wait they open for business at 8:45. We walk briskly through Port of Entry and under the creaking bridge, turning left to give Scott his first sight of Hulk! Hulk can wait, however, theres a more important appointment we pass straight through to the middle of Marvel Superhero Island and dash into Spiderman.
The CM isnt interested in our Passes, as there are no lines at the moment. We weave our way through the newsroom chicanes, grab our night-vision specs and are assigned our Scoop vehicle.
This is an incredible attraction technically brilliant there are still parts that I cant quite work out, even after a dozen or more rides! The final, sensory fall from the top of skyscraper just leaves me breathless! Scott is mightily impressed!
We decide not to ride again just now and walk quickly back to Hulk even in the short time weve been on Spidey the crowds have grown significantly.
I guide him to the lockers behind the entrance to the ride, we dump the bags and show our FOTLs to the CM on the gate Stay left, guys, have a great ride! and were off! Through the barriers, up the stairs, right to the front of the line. Theres already a 20 minute standby time, but not for us boys! We are seated within seconds (my only regret about Universal Express at Hulk is that you can not get in the front seats, but being a seated on top coaster the views almost the same anyway!).
WAY-HAYYYYYY!!! The accelerated launch is still incredible! We howl our delight right to the final stop! Whats that Scott? Can we do it again? Can we ever! Straight down the off ramp, bypass the ride pics and present at the front of the line again retrace our steps back up, and here we go again!!! One more go for three so far today and we are starting to wobble slightly might be an idea to try a different way of inducing motion sickness just to reset our balance mechanisms! Dr Dooms Fearfall is at hand, and although Ive never done this here, weve both ridden Ice Blast at Blackpool Pleasure Beach(UK) and another similar one at Southport PB.(UK) For the uninitiated, the ride comprises 2, square, steel towers, with seats on each side on a collar that can slide up and down the columns like a donut on a poker! We are seated and strapped in, and, at this stage we cannot see outside the ride building. The story is that Dr Doom has developed a fiendish device to suck the fear right out of his victims (us!) heads (theres an emotion collector dish above each seat!). The ride starts by raising us a few feet of the floor, so our feet are dangling, and then WHOOOSHH .the seats are flung upwards at a significant rate of knots, then dangling suspended for the briefest time (allowing a stunning view of the immediate area!) before plummeting back to the ground. It bounces around a bit more, but basically thats it! Its nothing like as bad as the anticipation, really quite pleasant, and we are back on terra firma in another minute or so. Good fun! (but not worth queuing for, IMO)
We walk back to retrieve our sacks from the Hulk lockers (free for less than one hour) and strike out for Duelling Dragons! This is virtually at the opposite side of the park/lagoon, and the 10 minute stroll takes us through the paint-factory explosion of Toon Lagoon, with its cartoon soundtrack, whistles, hoots and screams, not to mention the outrageous use of water sculpture and fountains.
Remembering not to go too near Popeye and Blutos Barges, as this is a cul-de-sac that normally fools me at least once per visit, we enter Jurassic Park through the high gateposts, and into a tropical forest!
The theming here is superb, IMO.. I remember reading one review/description of IOA that was mildly critical, stating that the park was compromised because you could see other islands/attractions from various points, such as from Duelling Dragons. I think this point of view is a bit over critical, and it must be almost impossible to avoid. However, back to this morning were hoping for a vendor cart along the way to grab a churro or something, but nowhere is open yet. Tummies grumbling, we enter The Lost Continent and pass the Flying Unicorn to get our first view of the Dragons entrance!
Unlike Hulk, which imposes itself on the crowds below, DD is very discreet you can see the tracks from here, but only just the best place to watch the ride is from the exit path to the left hand side of the entrance.
We stow our bags again in the adjacent (free for an hour) lockers dont forget (a) the locker number (we did, several times this visit!) and (b) which finger you used for the biometric scan! (Dont laugh we saw a family with three kids trying to reclaim their bags at the Mummy ride, when they had obviously forgotten which child had scanned their finger, as they were all taking turns and getting more and more flustered as the crowd of people waiting to use the terminal became more impatient!)
The Universal Express entrance at DD wasnt being manned at this time, and even later when the crowds built up a bit they werent really on top of the system here the only place at US/IOA where we found any failing in this otherwise excellent system. Yes, I know they copied it from Disney, but it is better in a couple of ways firstly, you get UE at virtually every ride, and secondly, on site guests get all day FOTL!
We walk along the UE entrance path anyway, but there is no one on station at the entrance to the Castle. There arent many people inside, although 8 or so are waiting at both Dragons for front seats. The other seats are all walk on at present. We join the front seat line for Ice (right hand Dragon) and wait. And wait. And wait!They are running with only one train per side at present and it takes ages to get to the front (well, ok, about 15 minutes, but Im impatient!) Naturally, as soon as we hit the barrier for next to ride, they decide to put another train on line! This is quite interesting, technically, as the track section in front of the station on each side lifts out of the way before a new section, complete with train, slides over from a central garage. Interesting, yes, but we want to ride please!. The new train is loaded and they have to test it! AARRRGGGHH!! Finally we get on board, although it may be our last front seat ride as there are now fairly long lines at every position for both Dragons. Even with UE privilege there will be at least 80 people in front of you when you get past the UE entrance.
On with the show! Scott is grinning from ear to ear as we clunk up the slope he loses it momentarily when Ice stops briefly dont worry, bud, its just letting Fire catch us up! Were at the top .and ..WHHEEEEEE!!! I love inverted coasters, they whip you round the bends and curves so much better than the normal type I have primed Scott about the three places where the Dragons cross, and he gets the full impact of the second (best!) one where, in the front seats, you are heading horizontally straight towards the other train with a combined closing speed of at least 100 mph!! Fantastic!
I compound my croaky voice problems by yelling joyfully all the way round, and can barely speak when we jump off. We exit through the corridor and find the re-entry doors about 40 feet down. A lot of riders obviously miss this, as they carry on to the true exit, and, in fairness it isnt well signed. The policy seems to be to leave these doors open until the ride is seriously busy, then you would have to walk all the way out and back in again via the endless paths from the main entrance. Ive only ever ridden DD before 11:00am, and never had to do this.. it must happen when Hulk and Spiderman are chocker, forcing the masses deeper into the park.
This time we pick Fire, and choose the first available row, towards the centre. We only wait about 5 minutes, but more and more people are arriving, and we can always come back tomorrow. Another great ride, but time to get on now. We are both STARVING (no breakfast, remember?) and after retrieving our bags (was it locker 313 or 323? Or 413?..oh, right, that was Hulk! It was number 440 here! Or 540 ?!!) we walk straight across into the Enchanted Oak Tavern for an early lunch. (Its 10:55 now).
We both have chicken and rib platters plus cokes, total $28.35. The place is very quiet so early, and we could sit inside in air-conditioned comfort, but we elect to catch some rays and go outside onto a sunny patio overlooking the lake, with views right back to Hulk and Dr Doom. The food is ok without being special, but were only on a fuelling mission anyway! Its sweltering hot out here, so we finish up fairly quickly before making our daily calls home to loved ones. Minor guilt trips for both of us, as its clear the kids are starting to miss us more now! Never mind, we tell them, only another day or so. Yes, loads of prezzies. Yes, everything on your lists. Ok, bye!
We make our way back to Jurassic Park against an increased flow of visitors heading for the Dragons, and find the entrance to Jurassic Park River Adventure. I nip into a nearby restroom to change into swim shorts and a spare vest, (cos Ive done these rides before!), but Scott says hell take his chances! (Im not intrinsically concerned about being wet, but I cant cope with the nappy rash afterwards before my kecks dry out!) We flash the plastic and are waved past the 25 minute standby lines to climb aboard our boat inside 5 minutes.
Great fun this one its basically a big log flume with fancy packaging (and a bit of psychological fear for good measure!) and, of course, a story. The tale is that you are taking a boat tour of the waterways around the JP facility, admiring the grazing (convincing, animatronic) dinosaurs, when, quelle horreur, a startled plant eater bumps the boat and knocks you off course right into the high security Raptor Containment Building!!!! To add further panic, its clear that there has been a breach of the raptor cages and the dangerous maneaters are on the loose and hungry! The none too subtle climb up the big hill follows, inside the tall building, although it is well decorated and gives a fair impression of passing through an industrial facility, with several dinosaur encounters! (Beware the acid spitting one!).. Im sure everyone with any interest knows that the climax is a face to face with the daddy himself (or actually, if biologists are right, probably herself), T Rex!! the only way to escape is to exit at max velocity down the nearly vertical slope with the inevitable splashdown at the end! Wonderful a firm favourite!
We escape with only splashes, and move on in high spirits to our next watery encounter - Dudley's Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls.
Another log flume, with a different twist it has a high speed runoff at the end. Our UE cards turn a 30-minute Standby line into a 5 minute wait. We ride at the front of the boat (me first, Scott next) with two other well-built chaps behind this has the effect of sinking us somewhat deeper than other craft, and we ship water at every bend or hill. Its quite a busy ride, with a couple of down hills before the final biggy, but the cartoon setting leaves me a bit cold. We get to the top of the last hill and fly down at high speed Im not sure now whether it was the first splash, or the slide at the bottom, but we get soaked! (It must be 95 degrees F, in clear blue skies, though, so were not too concerned!)
Our final water ride is the best - Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. Ive done this many times, as it is DSs favourite, and it knocks spots off Kali River Rapids at Disneys Animal Kingdom. Its another cartoon themed ride, but rather better done than Dudley. The UE pass takes us straight on to the loading platform (25 minute standby) and we complete the crew on the next raft. The ride is exuberant no attempt is made to pretend you can stay dry! The cleverest bit for me is that you start the ride half-way up you start to bounce and splash down the river right away the up-hill bit is a minute or two later, disguised as Blutos Boat Wash, with revolving brushes and loads of bubbles! Then you get another rough, downhill section before returning to the start! Smiling like lunatics, we slop our way to the exit, where I nip in the RR opposite to change Scott stays wet!
Its 12:35 now we want to transfer to US soon, but we cant walk past the headliners without riding again! As we approach Marvel Super Hero Island (dont you love that crazy, frenetic music?) the crowds are noticeably denser. Spiderman has a 90 minute wait altogether now, oh no it doesnt! The US room key gets us to the ride vehicles in 3 minutes! Count em and weep, off-site guests, three minutes! I cant get tired of this ride, and Scott definitely gets more out of it than from his first one earlier, as the storyline starts to make sense.
We carry on around to Hulk plaza and push through the crowds to the lockers again. We present at the Entrance (60 minute Standby) and the card performs its magic yet again. I fondly imagine that the sweaty bodies in the long lines to our right are gnashing their teeth as we pass its all I can do not to stop and show them my priceless pass!
We are on and off within 10 minutes, and could keep this up all day, but Universal Studios beckons, and I reckon the truest test of the UE card will come in the afternoon when the parks are full. Going very much against the flow of visitors still entering, we leave through the Port of Entry, get our handstamp and cruise back to Citywalk. I tend to video journeys like this, and we also stop at the Nascar café to take stills shots of the cars. We take more photos at the globe, before passing under the (newly decorated Shrek) arch into the Studios proper. Its 1:30pm, still hot and sunny. Theres no threat of rain today so far at least!
The security check here is as perfunctory as at the WDW parks. Jimmy Neutron is the first attraction we come to, so in we go.
We are admitted immediately to the pre-show area, unlike the 45 minute Standby mob outside. Good, fun ride! Not sure about the finale though . The Birdie Song?!!
Well, the card seems to be just as effective here, so straight across the road to Shrek 4D.
The UE line seems disappointingly long, but as soon as we join it, the doors open and we are in! Great act by the CM - threatening everyone with flogging for any and all infringements, so we dont try to take any piccies or video! The actual preshow is very entertaining, and the film itself? The best 3D theatre show in Florida, IMHO! We wander into the streets beyond the theatre, and catch the end of the Blues Brothers. Were intent on The Mummy next, but we are dehydrated and stop at a cart near the small garden nearby for two supersize cokes, which we drink in the garden (as its also a smoking area!) while Scott phones his GF, Diane.
Right, were ready to enter the fray! As you probably know, the Revenge of the Mummy is a brand new attraction, only recently fully open. The front façade of the building is very imposing, themed as a colonnaded museum, but the impact is diminished somewhat by the temporary barriers and covered locker area.
The barriers force the riders to enter from stage left, so that CMs can divert anyone carrying anything larger than a wallet back to the locker stations there are absolutely no carry-ons here! The lines for the lockers look daunting too, but if you are prepared to squeeze through the sweaty bodies in the right-hand rows, you can get sorted pretty quickly. This area needs a re-think, IMO.
The Standby time is posted at 90 minutes (eek! Ill never wait that long for anything! It only took 2 hours to drive to Siesta Key!) but UE gets us into a slowly moving line through the tomb and to the loading area in 15 minutes.
The ride? In the words of an American teen who rode in the same car AWESOME! As it is a new attraction, I dont want to spoil it for anyone whos yet to ride, so look elsewhere if you desire a full description just be aware that, although the ride vehicles are similar to Spiderman, this is not for the faint-hearted there are elements of high speed roller coaster and some very scary moments indeed! Just do it!
Its about 3:20 now, and stimulants are required. We walk through the superbly detailed street scenes to the Starbucks inside the Italian restaurant.
We get coffee and espresso brownies the brownies are consumed in air-conditioned comfort before walking to the boardwalk at the rear of the Richter Burger Company, overlooking the lagoon. Some jet-ski stunt performers are having a play, simulating crashes and, as a finale, a chase which ends with one rider leaping from her machine onto the back of the lead rider! Good fun!
Coffees finished, we carry on clockwise towards Amity always seems to be the 4th of July here, which I suspect may be an excuse to justify the permanent presence of the fairground stalls! I love Universal, but do they really need to cynically extract more money from people whove already paid the admission charges?
40 minute wait at Jaws or not! We walk straight on to the next boat trip! Enthusiastic, if not quite convincing performance from our lady pilot! We survived! Onward to MIB! Terrible lines here not!! 5 minutes to get a locker, stow the bags and enter, 4 minutes to the ride vehicle!! This is another favourite. I love the inside (queue) area of the MIB Training Facility, the twins on the consoles, and the ride journey itself, obviously! Im not competitive (yeah, right!) but am slightly miffed that the newbie beats my score of 155,000 with his (lucky) 167,000! Must be his army background!
After exiting we head to the adjacent Rest Room and top up our water bottles from the fountain there I drink two bottles straight down and refill again its seriously hot today! Continuing clockwise, we enter Back To The Future (45 minutes standby, 0 minutes UE!). Scott enjoys it, but to be honest, Im a bit jaded about this ride now. It feels its age, when compared to the latest technology.
We stop at the B2TF store and take loads of pics /video of the DeLorean for Scotts nephew, Si, whos B2TF mad! He also buys him a T-shirt.
Five to five now. We take a few minutes off, for a ciggy and a rest, before popping off to save ET. (No UE? Sorry sir, that will be 30 minutes of your time. Oh, I see youre an on-site guest, young sir why not walk straight in and avoid the commoners! This way sirs.)
Our feeble attempt at schoolboy humour fails, when the Goodbye Ant, Goodbye Dec! we set up gets garbled and is inaudible at the rides conclusion! Shame!
5:15 now, and we use our magic keys to UE our way into the pre-show of the Cyberdyne facility. I adore this preshow.. in fact I think its .Soooooooper! The main event? Brill! Ive seen it twice last year, but had forgotten a lot of the details. Quite a performance.
Its close to 6:00pm when we exit, and dinner options need discussing. Do we fancy the Hard Rock? Or other, CityWalk restaurants like Pastamore? No we are empty enough to eat now, so we walk over to Café La Bamba, which is quiet, and order a pork sandwich platter + a Miller for Scott, with a chicken wrap + a Bud for me. $26.59 total.
We sit outside on the sunny patio, watching the world go by and listening to the salsa music piped from inside.
We finished the beers at the covered smoking area at the head of the lagoon, close to Mels Drive In. Quick restroom visit, and then we go back to the Mummy for another encounter. Its a bit quieter now only 50 minutes standby, and a lot quicker in the UE lines the CM swipes our cards as we enter, and when we return for round two (three!) she says, (rather caustically, I think!) You guys just set a new record 11 minutes since you last passed me!) Ha! Stow it, mamma! It says I can ride all day, as many times as I like, and I will!
We wander towards Earthquake, enjoying the sunshine and the smell of the cinnamon nut stand outside Richter Burgers hmmmmm donuts! ..nah, too full! After a discussion about the various options left to us, we bin Earthquake in favour of twister, so turn on our heels and walk back that way, pausing to cool our weary feet in a broken fire-hydrant on a street corner.
We arrive at Twister just as the doors close on the previous group, so have to stand, alone, for 10 minutes or so before the next one kicks off. The CM in attendance is obviously worn out and keen to be home while sweeping up around the wait area, she snaps at Scott for being over the line, and then at some new arrivals for walking down the wrong approach! Pheww! Take a pill! Relax! Youll have a heart attack.
The performance is pretty good, even after two previous encounters, and Scott gives it the thumbs up. I prefer this attraction to Catastrophe Canyon and Earthquake, as it doesnt take hours to do.
7:45 now, and we are tired! The park closes at 8:00 anyway, so we walk slowly back to CityWalk and again grab the last 2 places on the hotel boat.
It only takes a few minutes to dock, and we walk back through the lush gardens and past a couple of gorgeous-looking restaurants to the entrance area and up a flight of stairs to the Lobby. Our room is ready (probably since mid afternoon) we reclaim our bags from the Bell desk, declining the offer to bring them up for us (Im not that tired!) and set off for the 6th floor of Tower 1 (room 1619, if its of any interest)
Its a lovely room, a bit smaller than our last one at LBV, and no Balcony, sadly, but much better appointed with a cracking view of the sunset over Dr Doom and Hulk!
Theres a bottle of water available if we want it, which we do, but $7!!? Ill stay thirsty all the water we bought this morning is still in the trunk of the Sebring (about 15 miles away in my present, weary state!)
Scott collapses on the bed and I fix coffee Ive left the filters at LBV, so I have to use the complimentary coffee bagwhich is a bit weak for our taste. We shower, dress and then wander downstairs in search of entertainment we are tempted to stay at the hotel, as the bars weve passed look very inviting, but decide that, as its our last night, we should take a look at CityWalk.
Its 9:15 and we wait about 5 minutes for the next water taxi. CW is busy, and we take the escalator to the upper level for some photographs before strolling down past the clubs and bars. Most have lines outside, so we dont stop. At the lower end of the street we take a look inside Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville, as theres live music on the veranda, but the atmosphere inside is flat by comparison, so we soon leave. We find sanctuary opposite, at the JBM annexe called the Lone Palm Airport a simple, 4 sided bar set in about 8 palm trees, (not one!) with sand and decking beneath our feet. All the tables are taken, but we pitch up at some stools against the counter overlooking the waterfront and Universal Studios. I try some piccies, but most are blurred due to camera shake.
We order Margaritas (obviously!) at $6 each, and relax. Its a lovely, balmy evening, and we spend an hour or so, and quite a few more drinks, chatting and watching the visitors promenading. A table comes free right on the sidewalk, so we regroup there. The waitress has sussed us now, and just brings more drinks as we finish the last ones!
Two American guys walk over and start chatting they are Peter from Iowa and Gerry from Tennessee, both attending a communications seminar in Orlando and let loose for the night! They are great company for a couple of drinks, but want to press on into some other bars we decline their invitation to accompany them, as we arent long from our beds now!
We have a last drink and return to the waterfront for the boat back. We reach our room at 11:45. I volunteer to walk downstairs to collect the water from the car, and check out the hotel lounge, Orchid Court, as a possible breakfast venue (the guide suggest they open for coffee and continental breakfast at 06:00) It looks very pleasant.
Back upstairs, I call at the ice machine so we can cool the water down a little, before retiring to bed at 12:10.
Another seriously full day! The weathers been perfect, and those permanent UE, Front Of Line Passes? Outstanding! Goodnight!
Mike
(If you want to read any more from this trip, here's the full link)
The Whole Story - Boys Behaving' Tour, June 2004
Thoroughly enjoyable reading. Thanks for taking the time to allow us to enjoy your trip through your reports. Sounds like you and your mate Scott could have fun anywhere. 
