Motherfletcher
<font color=red>Proud Redhead<br><font color=peach
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2003
- Messages
- 3,823
I awoke early as always, jumped in the shower and couldn't wait to don my new MIB employee shirt. I dragged the kids up with the promise of a McDonald's breakfast and we walked next door to get it. I read the paper while the kids checked out the game room. On the drive to Universal I thought Friday the 13th might be an ironically lucky day to buy lotto tickets so we stopped at the 7-11 on I-drive at Sandlake. The radio was reporting that gas was hard to get because the Tampa distribution sites were closing so we went across the street and filled up. The guy said he had plenty of gas and more on the way. We had to stop at the largest McD's and play the Simpson's pinball machine. I had a little gallery of kids watching the Wizard crack off 2 games in less than a minute. I even gave a game away so we could make it to the USO gates before they opened at 7:45. The times were posted for US but nothing for IOA. The attendant said IOA would not be opening.
We were first at the turnstiles and quickly struck up the conversation of the day- "Charley". No one was too excited and most were offering us good wishes as the hurricane's target. The right 2 turnstiles of the right side were reserved for the Mummy's early entry. About 20 people were let in at around 8:20 after they showed their special letter. The girl that was taking the letters was telling us that they had flew in some guys from California to try fix the one animitron that kept screwing up causing the ride to shut down.
Dick came by with the park guides/map and they put them under the turnstile stations so they wouldn't blow away. Dick is 89 and I think Universal should throw a 90th birthday party for him. He is a retired doctor (millionaire) and has never missed a day at USO. I have turned him in for outstanding service and received a letter of acknowledgement from management. What an inspiration!
A guy in an IOA uniform showed up and they told him to go back. They decided in the last minute to open IOA. They opened the park 15 minutes early and the kids raced to the Mummy. I walked to MIB and Bob was out front. The last time I talked to him in June he was working 7 days a week. He said that they would be closing early. He liked the shirt.
Time to kill Aliens! I rode 3 or 4 times with no one in my car and no competition. Then they put me on the green side against an MIB employee. By this time there was a couple of kids that showed up in the regular line and they saw the MIB shirt against the MIB shirt and thought something was happening. I was nervous and after the practice area I was feeling about as sharp as bubble wrap but I hung in there. I nailed the baby carriage pretty good and by the time we got to the "6 against One" ambush area I was feeling pretty good. I stared her down through the first scanner and drew an early bead on her exhaust port. It was awesome, I broke away just in time to nail the drop down bugs and still had her spinning like Cat in the Hat! When I was turning to face the Big Bug I knew I had her because she had to resort to shooting her own exhaust port. After the smokey spin and before Will gave the scores I she glanced over as I put the pickle gun to my lips and blew the smoke out as to say, "I smoked you , Darling!" When Will let her know the score she just hung her head in shame and my good sportsmanship wouldn't allow me to yell, "In your face!" but I was thinking it. In the words of Bullwinkle J. Moose, "I was cuke as a coolcumber." When the kids showed up we rode 4 or 5 more times before there was any kind of line.
We moved on to Jaws where there was no line and requested the back seat. The explosion felt hotter than usual. Back seat?
When we disembarked (Wait, you only disembark at WDW) DS16 was lured by the cash-depleting midway games of chance. I gave him $5. He waited until the 3rd and last ball to make the basket and win yet another basketball. Since I gave DS money DD had to have her birth month guessed. She picked a $10 Pimp hat as the prize. The guy guessed between January and December and my idiot son says, "Nope, October!" The guy wrote down his answer after trying to explain that all birthdays fall between Jan. and Dec. He threw us a bone with a March guess and DD10 now resembled Huggybear.
We walked by Earthquake and DS16 turned into a 5 year old begging to go on it. "Come on, Dad, I'll even volunteer. Come on, Come ON! Oh, alright. I made him volunteer to ride the Sub since the last time we rode it I was the stunt man. We got in the car pretty close to the right end and had a great view. The guys working there had comments about the shirt.
We walked by the Mummy and I asked the kids if I should try it again and they lit up! I was lucky that there was a 10 minute wait and I told them that was too long. "Lets go to Twister so you can have a glimpse of what we will go through tonight". It was a walk on and DD asked if cows would be flying by.
Next we stopped at Jimmy to catch up on our "Chicken Dancing". I came out of the store squeezing my fingers and thumbs together and got a smile out of an USO employee. We left the park via the Hard Rock Cafe exit. When we got to IOA we made a conscious effect to go straight to Mythos. We were only distracted by the Caro-Seuss-sel. I had my DS rolling on the ground by throwing back my balance hand holding the pimp hat and spurring my Thingamajig for all I was worth. The only other distraction was Cat In The Hat the character where we got photos and the kids got annoying noise makers. We arrived at Mythos to find out they were closed! "Damn! Now where? Eenie, meanie, chili beanie, the spirits are about to speak. Wimpy's for chili dogs!" We stopped at Jurassic Park and got the back seat. The Park Ranger ride attendant who sat us said I was in the wrong park because of my shirt. As we ascended the first climb I turned to DS and asked, "Does this go upside down?" Some guy actually turned around and said "No" to reassure me. At Hydrosaur Cove I said, "Aren't we supposed to go that way?" and "Oh, no they got Jennifer." As we made the 13 story ascent the people in front turned to witness my horror. I didn't let them down. When it came to the 85' drop though we went over like synchronized swimmers with arms angled as prearranged. At the bottom DD10 said that there has to be a million gallons or water and I told her 1.5 million. I went on to tell her how Spielberg worked on the ride long before the movie came out and the drop is the longest (85'), fastest (50 MPH) and steepest (50 degrees) water descent ride anywhere. The guy that told me that it didn't go upside down turned and gave me a look of disgust. I bet he liked our photo. We left JP in a hurry.
We passed the dim bulb, square jawed Mountie ride heading straight for the gastric goodies at Wimpy's. I grabbed a table overlooking the Bilge Rat Barge's first drop and white water raging rapids. I like their chili dogs but I wouldn't recommend the onion rings. On every trip I try to find something new to show the kids. This trip I showed my daughter the spinach spinet piano on the 2nd floor of Me Ship, the Olive. If you play the color coded notes on the piano that are painted on the music sheet in plays the Popeye Theme Song. She got a kick out of showing her brother who was busy ambushing unsuspecting raft riders with the free water cannons. He wasn't impressed. It took all my parental control to not allow them to ride the rafts but DD had shoes that would have been ruined and I would have had to buy yet another pair of sandals or more socks or another Whatsamatta U shirt.
Rounding the corner leaving Toon Lagoon I saw... Can it be? Hokey Smokes, its Frostbite Falls, Minnesota's own Bullwinkle J. Moose! Like in the movies I ran in slow motion and we met in a hug spinning him disoriented. When he came to he pointed at my MIB on my shirt. I said, "Hey thats you, Man In Bullwinkle!" He started making gestures as if he was shooting aliens. I had to stop and remind him of Episode 4 when the moon men Gidney and Cloyde leveled their weapon and 'scrooched' him into a Moosesicle that took No-goodnik Boris 8 hours to thaw out. He looked at me like the RCA dog then turned his attention to DD and her pimp hat. He tried feverously to hang it from an antler. DD finally did it for him and they posed for a photo. No one was around so after the photo he hugged her. And I hollered, "Hey, hey, hey! Just because Tigger got off for copping a feel doesn't mean I will stand still while you Moose-handle my daughter!"
Meanwhile there is still nobody but us and the characters and DS16 is snuggling up to Betty Boop. DD is hanging back by me and I have the camera to my eye. Betty says, "You can join us, Honey!" So I drop the camera and put a finger on my chest and say, "Me?" Well she loses her regular pucker pose and starts laughing. DS said he wanted her all to himself. Boop, boop be doop.
Still no guests so we see how we can harass Popeye. I had to get in the picture and DS was on the other side. I asked if he'd won the Swee'Pea paternity suit? All the while we are doing this Bluto has been leaning up against the wall and hasn't moved a muscle. I told DD that he was just a mannequin and she approached cautiously. All of a sudden Bluto threw his arms up and started chasing us. We all ran and all the Characters clapped.
Look out Spidey. Nothing new here but I still get the willies with the 40 story sensory plummet at the end.
The kids want to conquer the Hulk and there is no wait. While I'm waiting I felt a drop or 2 of rain and heard the announcement that "Due to the inclement weather we are postponing our tour..." Yeah, I wondered how you could operate in this downpour! We decided to call it a day because it was after 1 and looked like rain was eminent. As we exited there were attendants at the turnstiles giving free passes for use on Saturday or Sunday. That was pretty cool. We took them even though we are all APH. We made it all the way to the garage without getting rained on. Employees were scurrying around to get everything secured. Next chapter has precious little USO/IOA involvement in fact it really blows! But stay tuned if you want to hear first hand tales of Charley...
We were first at the turnstiles and quickly struck up the conversation of the day- "Charley". No one was too excited and most were offering us good wishes as the hurricane's target. The right 2 turnstiles of the right side were reserved for the Mummy's early entry. About 20 people were let in at around 8:20 after they showed their special letter. The girl that was taking the letters was telling us that they had flew in some guys from California to try fix the one animitron that kept screwing up causing the ride to shut down.
Dick came by with the park guides/map and they put them under the turnstile stations so they wouldn't blow away. Dick is 89 and I think Universal should throw a 90th birthday party for him. He is a retired doctor (millionaire) and has never missed a day at USO. I have turned him in for outstanding service and received a letter of acknowledgement from management. What an inspiration!
A guy in an IOA uniform showed up and they told him to go back. They decided in the last minute to open IOA. They opened the park 15 minutes early and the kids raced to the Mummy. I walked to MIB and Bob was out front. The last time I talked to him in June he was working 7 days a week. He said that they would be closing early. He liked the shirt.
Time to kill Aliens! I rode 3 or 4 times with no one in my car and no competition. Then they put me on the green side against an MIB employee. By this time there was a couple of kids that showed up in the regular line and they saw the MIB shirt against the MIB shirt and thought something was happening. I was nervous and after the practice area I was feeling about as sharp as bubble wrap but I hung in there. I nailed the baby carriage pretty good and by the time we got to the "6 against One" ambush area I was feeling pretty good. I stared her down through the first scanner and drew an early bead on her exhaust port. It was awesome, I broke away just in time to nail the drop down bugs and still had her spinning like Cat in the Hat! When I was turning to face the Big Bug I knew I had her because she had to resort to shooting her own exhaust port. After the smokey spin and before Will gave the scores I she glanced over as I put the pickle gun to my lips and blew the smoke out as to say, "I smoked you , Darling!" When Will let her know the score she just hung her head in shame and my good sportsmanship wouldn't allow me to yell, "In your face!" but I was thinking it. In the words of Bullwinkle J. Moose, "I was cuke as a coolcumber." When the kids showed up we rode 4 or 5 more times before there was any kind of line.
We moved on to Jaws where there was no line and requested the back seat. The explosion felt hotter than usual. Back seat?
When we disembarked (Wait, you only disembark at WDW) DS16 was lured by the cash-depleting midway games of chance. I gave him $5. He waited until the 3rd and last ball to make the basket and win yet another basketball. Since I gave DS money DD had to have her birth month guessed. She picked a $10 Pimp hat as the prize. The guy guessed between January and December and my idiot son says, "Nope, October!" The guy wrote down his answer after trying to explain that all birthdays fall between Jan. and Dec. He threw us a bone with a March guess and DD10 now resembled Huggybear.
We walked by Earthquake and DS16 turned into a 5 year old begging to go on it. "Come on, Dad, I'll even volunteer. Come on, Come ON! Oh, alright. I made him volunteer to ride the Sub since the last time we rode it I was the stunt man. We got in the car pretty close to the right end and had a great view. The guys working there had comments about the shirt.
We walked by the Mummy and I asked the kids if I should try it again and they lit up! I was lucky that there was a 10 minute wait and I told them that was too long. "Lets go to Twister so you can have a glimpse of what we will go through tonight". It was a walk on and DD asked if cows would be flying by.
Next we stopped at Jimmy to catch up on our "Chicken Dancing". I came out of the store squeezing my fingers and thumbs together and got a smile out of an USO employee. We left the park via the Hard Rock Cafe exit. When we got to IOA we made a conscious effect to go straight to Mythos. We were only distracted by the Caro-Seuss-sel. I had my DS rolling on the ground by throwing back my balance hand holding the pimp hat and spurring my Thingamajig for all I was worth. The only other distraction was Cat In The Hat the character where we got photos and the kids got annoying noise makers. We arrived at Mythos to find out they were closed! "Damn! Now where? Eenie, meanie, chili beanie, the spirits are about to speak. Wimpy's for chili dogs!" We stopped at Jurassic Park and got the back seat. The Park Ranger ride attendant who sat us said I was in the wrong park because of my shirt. As we ascended the first climb I turned to DS and asked, "Does this go upside down?" Some guy actually turned around and said "No" to reassure me. At Hydrosaur Cove I said, "Aren't we supposed to go that way?" and "Oh, no they got Jennifer." As we made the 13 story ascent the people in front turned to witness my horror. I didn't let them down. When it came to the 85' drop though we went over like synchronized swimmers with arms angled as prearranged. At the bottom DD10 said that there has to be a million gallons or water and I told her 1.5 million. I went on to tell her how Spielberg worked on the ride long before the movie came out and the drop is the longest (85'), fastest (50 MPH) and steepest (50 degrees) water descent ride anywhere. The guy that told me that it didn't go upside down turned and gave me a look of disgust. I bet he liked our photo. We left JP in a hurry.
We passed the dim bulb, square jawed Mountie ride heading straight for the gastric goodies at Wimpy's. I grabbed a table overlooking the Bilge Rat Barge's first drop and white water raging rapids. I like their chili dogs but I wouldn't recommend the onion rings. On every trip I try to find something new to show the kids. This trip I showed my daughter the spinach spinet piano on the 2nd floor of Me Ship, the Olive. If you play the color coded notes on the piano that are painted on the music sheet in plays the Popeye Theme Song. She got a kick out of showing her brother who was busy ambushing unsuspecting raft riders with the free water cannons. He wasn't impressed. It took all my parental control to not allow them to ride the rafts but DD had shoes that would have been ruined and I would have had to buy yet another pair of sandals or more socks or another Whatsamatta U shirt.
Rounding the corner leaving Toon Lagoon I saw... Can it be? Hokey Smokes, its Frostbite Falls, Minnesota's own Bullwinkle J. Moose! Like in the movies I ran in slow motion and we met in a hug spinning him disoriented. When he came to he pointed at my MIB on my shirt. I said, "Hey thats you, Man In Bullwinkle!" He started making gestures as if he was shooting aliens. I had to stop and remind him of Episode 4 when the moon men Gidney and Cloyde leveled their weapon and 'scrooched' him into a Moosesicle that took No-goodnik Boris 8 hours to thaw out. He looked at me like the RCA dog then turned his attention to DD and her pimp hat. He tried feverously to hang it from an antler. DD finally did it for him and they posed for a photo. No one was around so after the photo he hugged her. And I hollered, "Hey, hey, hey! Just because Tigger got off for copping a feel doesn't mean I will stand still while you Moose-handle my daughter!"
Meanwhile there is still nobody but us and the characters and DS16 is snuggling up to Betty Boop. DD is hanging back by me and I have the camera to my eye. Betty says, "You can join us, Honey!" So I drop the camera and put a finger on my chest and say, "Me?" Well she loses her regular pucker pose and starts laughing. DS said he wanted her all to himself. Boop, boop be doop.
Still no guests so we see how we can harass Popeye. I had to get in the picture and DS was on the other side. I asked if he'd won the Swee'Pea paternity suit? All the while we are doing this Bluto has been leaning up against the wall and hasn't moved a muscle. I told DD that he was just a mannequin and she approached cautiously. All of a sudden Bluto threw his arms up and started chasing us. We all ran and all the Characters clapped.
Look out Spidey. Nothing new here but I still get the willies with the 40 story sensory plummet at the end.
The kids want to conquer the Hulk and there is no wait. While I'm waiting I felt a drop or 2 of rain and heard the announcement that "Due to the inclement weather we are postponing our tour..." Yeah, I wondered how you could operate in this downpour! We decided to call it a day because it was after 1 and looked like rain was eminent. As we exited there were attendants at the turnstiles giving free passes for use on Saturday or Sunday. That was pretty cool. We took them even though we are all APH. We made it all the way to the garage without getting rained on. Employees were scurrying around to get everything secured. Next chapter has precious little USO/IOA involvement in fact it really blows! But stay tuned if you want to hear first hand tales of Charley...
Can't wait for tomoorow's details.
Great post !
