Well I'm finally back to continue my ever so long trip report! I haven't had time the last week because you know what happens at work after you take a vacation....you PAY big time...LOL! In my case this meant working a bunch of 12 hour shifts (oh the joys of the healthcare profession!) which totally exhausted me. My schedule is back to normal now, so I can continue....
We had decided that this morning we were going to try to get to IOA even earlier than the day before at Universal, so we left the condo and arrived at the parking garage about 8:25 this time. We still ended up in the King Kong section however and still had the same tiring walk. The heat was already unbearable , but we were armed with our frozen water bottles. DH volunteered to carry the backpack today, he finally caught on that the frozen water bottles on your back feel pretty good!
We of course turn to the left this time and head into IOA. Entry and backpack check went as usual. I must say I really like the Port of Entry area. I think its very well done. We had already mapped out our plan of attack the night before, however as we all know PLANS CHANGE. We were so darn hot we decided to head right for the water rides (after DH got our Express passes for Spiderman, of course). Out of all the parks we have visited all over the US (and we have been to quite a few) my favorite rides are always the ones like Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges. I love these so much because the whole family can ride together and of course everyone always has a competition to see who can get the least wet. Well it isn't happening on this ride!!! When they say "YOU WILL GET WET", they darn well mean it! I'm not talking "Oh my shorts are wet" either, I'm talking "OH MY GOD MY UNDERWARE ARE DRIPPING!!!". I have never gotten this wet on this type of ride before, but I have to tell you we all LOVED IT. I'd advise anyone who doesn't want soggy EVERYTHING to wear a bathing suit, or bring a change of clothes. We actually didn't mind walking around dripping however, it was so hot it felt delightful! This ride also seemed like the longest and "wildest" of these type of rides we had been on, and that was a nice change too. The only downer happened to be the two "barbie" ride operators. They insisted on packing the barge absolutely full even though there were hardly any people around and no ride wait whatsoever. They were sending several of them down the course absolutley empty (like the two before AND after us) yet they insisted on packing ours completely full. I can understand this if it is busy, but nobody was even in line, and they held us up waiting for more people to come. They were snippy too! Good thing it was such a fun ride.
We exited the ride wringing out what we could and decided that since we were already wet, we may as well hit all the water rides. We walked over to Ripsaw Falls next, and DS (the blooming coaster chicken) says "Oh mom that looks like a really big drop!" DH tells him it just looks worse than it is, and promises he will have fun. They take off, and I of course sit down at a bench and make notes for my trip report. I HATE big drops and it looks VERY BIG to me. NO WAY! I am a full fledged drop chicken! My family is back within 10 minutes, they walked right on and everyone but DS had a great time..."Mom that drop is HUGE, I thought I was going to fly out...I never want to go on a ride like that again....." Uh ohhhhh.... I guess that's why he got so darn mad at what happened next..........
DH decides that he wants to do Jurrasic Park next (since we are already wet of course) so we head over to check it out. DS is complaining all the way over about the drop on Ripsaw Falls, so I figure he will end up sitting with me. WRONG! The thing with Jurrasic Park is that you don't actually see the whole flume part (just the car coming out) so DD is able to talk DS into getting on (teenagers can be so evil to their younger sibs, can't they?)the ride. Next thing I know they all head off and once again, I am sitting and making notes. I KNOW about the drop and NO WAY am I doing that. If Steven Speilberg asked to be let off before the drop than that's good enough for me! About 15 minutes later they all come back with DS VERY mad at his sister. He is repeatedly trying to puch her wherever he can and DH is laughing his butt off (why do men always laugh at these sort of things?). As expected, DS if not happy about being tricked onto yet ANOTHER drop ride (although he enjoyed everything else) and is now refusing to ride ANYTHING else for the rest of the day, unless Mom gets on too (well its about time he made this connection!). DH and DD LOVED the ride (they said the setting was great), although they had some colorful teens sitting behind them that kept up a stream of lewd conversations within their own group as well as yelling "interesting" things at the dinos (I've TOLD DH to have that talk with DS, now he had no choice...).
We look at our watches and realize we barely have enough time to make out Express passes for Spiderman! RUN!!!! We get to the Express line with 2 minutes to spare and start the walk in. We then hear that Spidey is experiencing "technical difficulties". Not again!! That makes three rides in 2 days. Oh well. After about 20 minutes they announce everything is all better and about 10 minutes after that we get on. Can I just say how much I LOVE Spiderman? It is the coolest ride. It really pulls you in and has to be the best simulator ride I've ever been on. We all love it and decide we must do it again while we are in town (we had bought the 5 day passes and will be coming back again this week).
We jump off Spiderman and DD and DH want to go get Express passes for Hulk. I warn DH to try the seat out front first however (he played football in college as a linebacker and has HUGE shoulders and upper body) because after reading info on the boards I'm afraid he wont' buckle. I'm right. No way is the seat going to buckle. He is disappointed because he loves coasters and has ridden them all over the US with no problems. DD doesn't want to go on alone so we decide to skip it (no way am I getting on that thing with her!). She briefly tries to bribe DS but he has caught on to his sister and refuses. We decide to move on.
Storm Force is next ( a snazzy set of teacups IMHO) and after about a 25 minute wait we get on. All four of us get on one cup and DH spins the living heck out of us. We have a great time, although the ride is short. We get off, dizzy of course (DUH!) and decide its not worth another try. Once is enough.
We then decide to try Dr. Doom. Once more we have DH try the seat out front (can I just say how crappy it is that these seats are sitting right out in front of all these people just staring at you? As if you aren't embarressed enough, you need people staring!) and once more it will not buckle. By this time DD is highly ticked and starts fussing that "this stupid park is just made for midgets and anorexic teenagers", LOL.....I assure her this is not the case and we have already ridden many rides today. The problem is, she really wanted to ride this (and Hulk) with her dad and could not. I encourage her to go ahead and get on while we wait, but no way....Miss Teenager is highly P.O'd and wants to leave and go back to Universal, where we could all get on everything. Secretley I agree with her, and I'm touched at her support of her dad (as anyone who has teens know, these moments can be few and far between...LOL!) but I assure her there is still more to do here!
We decide to check out some of the stores in Marvel Comic land, and DH finds a nice Hulk print for his office (he is a big Marvel fan) . While we are there, Spiderman shows up in the store and DS is ecstatic! He loves Spidey and runs to get his pic taken and talk to him. This seems to make him forget all about everything else, and he can't stop talking about Spidey. We then see Captain America, Storm, Wolverine and Rogue running to get on their four wheelers and head out. We take lots of pics and DS is in 7th heaven! After some more stores we stop in the Marvel Comic Cafe for lunch and to take a rest. It is soooo hot outside we are all feeling just YUCK! After an overpriced and tasteless meal we step outside and realize just how LOUD the music is. I guess it didn't register before we went in and had some quiet, but BOY is that stuff loud. I feel a headache coming on. We gotta move.
By now of course, the park is getting VERY crowded (and its only Wednesday!) and its hard just to move without running into someone. We walk and walk, just checking out various shops, looking for a Christmas ornament (its a tradition in our family to get an ornament with the year we went from each park we go to) but none of the stores seem to have one. We had already found our Disney one at Downtown Disney on our first day, so we were surprised. We stop and ask some of the cashiers, and nobody seems to know where we can find one. Oh well, we'll just keep looking. We end up around the Lost Continent and and sit and take a break. We consider trying Dueling Dragons, but figure we will run into the same situation as Hulk and Dr. Doom, and since everyone is back in a good mood, why mess it up? We decide it is just to stinking hot to be out and head for the exit. On the way we stop at the arcade in Marvel Comic Land and DD gets her DDR fix. For those of you that aren't familiar with DDR, its a dancing video game that is pretty popular in our area. It's actually great exercise (although my coordination, or lack of, I should say....means I STINK at it) and DD LOVES it. We have the home version as well, on Playstation 2, which comes with a pad you do the dancing on. The one in the arcade is very nice and DD has a great time. After this break we head back out Port of Entry, pick up DH's Hulk print at the candy store (and a tube of that "make your own combo" of sour powder that DS begs for) and head for the parking garage. It's only 3pm, but with the heat and the crowds, we have had enough! Besides, we have 5 day tickets and will be back later in the week!
We head to the parking garage (I swear that walk gets longer every time you make it!) find our van and decide to head to the Belz Outlets, where we get some great deals and best of all TOTAL AIR CONDITIONING!! Later we swim in the pool at our condo, have a nice dinner in, and try to recoup from the heat. Tomorrow, DH and DS head for Kennedy Space Center and DD and I head to Epcot!!
We had decided that this morning we were going to try to get to IOA even earlier than the day before at Universal, so we left the condo and arrived at the parking garage about 8:25 this time. We still ended up in the King Kong section however and still had the same tiring walk. The heat was already unbearable , but we were armed with our frozen water bottles. DH volunteered to carry the backpack today, he finally caught on that the frozen water bottles on your back feel pretty good!
We of course turn to the left this time and head into IOA. Entry and backpack check went as usual. I must say I really like the Port of Entry area. I think its very well done. We had already mapped out our plan of attack the night before, however as we all know PLANS CHANGE. We were so darn hot we decided to head right for the water rides (after DH got our Express passes for Spiderman, of course). Out of all the parks we have visited all over the US (and we have been to quite a few) my favorite rides are always the ones like Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges. I love these so much because the whole family can ride together and of course everyone always has a competition to see who can get the least wet. Well it isn't happening on this ride!!! When they say "YOU WILL GET WET", they darn well mean it! I'm not talking "Oh my shorts are wet" either, I'm talking "OH MY GOD MY UNDERWARE ARE DRIPPING!!!". I have never gotten this wet on this type of ride before, but I have to tell you we all LOVED IT. I'd advise anyone who doesn't want soggy EVERYTHING to wear a bathing suit, or bring a change of clothes. We actually didn't mind walking around dripping however, it was so hot it felt delightful! This ride also seemed like the longest and "wildest" of these type of rides we had been on, and that was a nice change too. The only downer happened to be the two "barbie" ride operators. They insisted on packing the barge absolutely full even though there were hardly any people around and no ride wait whatsoever. They were sending several of them down the course absolutley empty (like the two before AND after us) yet they insisted on packing ours completely full. I can understand this if it is busy, but nobody was even in line, and they held us up waiting for more people to come. They were snippy too! Good thing it was such a fun ride.
We exited the ride wringing out what we could and decided that since we were already wet, we may as well hit all the water rides. We walked over to Ripsaw Falls next, and DS (the blooming coaster chicken) says "Oh mom that looks like a really big drop!" DH tells him it just looks worse than it is, and promises he will have fun. They take off, and I of course sit down at a bench and make notes for my trip report. I HATE big drops and it looks VERY BIG to me. NO WAY! I am a full fledged drop chicken! My family is back within 10 minutes, they walked right on and everyone but DS had a great time..."Mom that drop is HUGE, I thought I was going to fly out...I never want to go on a ride like that again....." Uh ohhhhh.... I guess that's why he got so darn mad at what happened next..........
DH decides that he wants to do Jurrasic Park next (since we are already wet of course) so we head over to check it out. DS is complaining all the way over about the drop on Ripsaw Falls, so I figure he will end up sitting with me. WRONG! The thing with Jurrasic Park is that you don't actually see the whole flume part (just the car coming out) so DD is able to talk DS into getting on (teenagers can be so evil to their younger sibs, can't they?)the ride. Next thing I know they all head off and once again, I am sitting and making notes. I KNOW about the drop and NO WAY am I doing that. If Steven Speilberg asked to be let off before the drop than that's good enough for me! About 15 minutes later they all come back with DS VERY mad at his sister. He is repeatedly trying to puch her wherever he can and DH is laughing his butt off (why do men always laugh at these sort of things?). As expected, DS if not happy about being tricked onto yet ANOTHER drop ride (although he enjoyed everything else) and is now refusing to ride ANYTHING else for the rest of the day, unless Mom gets on too (well its about time he made this connection!). DH and DD LOVED the ride (they said the setting was great), although they had some colorful teens sitting behind them that kept up a stream of lewd conversations within their own group as well as yelling "interesting" things at the dinos (I've TOLD DH to have that talk with DS, now he had no choice...).
We look at our watches and realize we barely have enough time to make out Express passes for Spiderman! RUN!!!! We get to the Express line with 2 minutes to spare and start the walk in. We then hear that Spidey is experiencing "technical difficulties". Not again!! That makes three rides in 2 days. Oh well. After about 20 minutes they announce everything is all better and about 10 minutes after that we get on. Can I just say how much I LOVE Spiderman? It is the coolest ride. It really pulls you in and has to be the best simulator ride I've ever been on. We all love it and decide we must do it again while we are in town (we had bought the 5 day passes and will be coming back again this week).
We jump off Spiderman and DD and DH want to go get Express passes for Hulk. I warn DH to try the seat out front first however (he played football in college as a linebacker and has HUGE shoulders and upper body) because after reading info on the boards I'm afraid he wont' buckle. I'm right. No way is the seat going to buckle. He is disappointed because he loves coasters and has ridden them all over the US with no problems. DD doesn't want to go on alone so we decide to skip it (no way am I getting on that thing with her!). She briefly tries to bribe DS but he has caught on to his sister and refuses. We decide to move on.
Storm Force is next ( a snazzy set of teacups IMHO) and after about a 25 minute wait we get on. All four of us get on one cup and DH spins the living heck out of us. We have a great time, although the ride is short. We get off, dizzy of course (DUH!) and decide its not worth another try. Once is enough.
We then decide to try Dr. Doom. Once more we have DH try the seat out front (can I just say how crappy it is that these seats are sitting right out in front of all these people just staring at you? As if you aren't embarressed enough, you need people staring!) and once more it will not buckle. By this time DD is highly ticked and starts fussing that "this stupid park is just made for midgets and anorexic teenagers", LOL.....I assure her this is not the case and we have already ridden many rides today. The problem is, she really wanted to ride this (and Hulk) with her dad and could not. I encourage her to go ahead and get on while we wait, but no way....Miss Teenager is highly P.O'd and wants to leave and go back to Universal, where we could all get on everything. Secretley I agree with her, and I'm touched at her support of her dad (as anyone who has teens know, these moments can be few and far between...LOL!) but I assure her there is still more to do here!
We decide to check out some of the stores in Marvel Comic land, and DH finds a nice Hulk print for his office (he is a big Marvel fan) . While we are there, Spiderman shows up in the store and DS is ecstatic! He loves Spidey and runs to get his pic taken and talk to him. This seems to make him forget all about everything else, and he can't stop talking about Spidey. We then see Captain America, Storm, Wolverine and Rogue running to get on their four wheelers and head out. We take lots of pics and DS is in 7th heaven! After some more stores we stop in the Marvel Comic Cafe for lunch and to take a rest. It is soooo hot outside we are all feeling just YUCK! After an overpriced and tasteless meal we step outside and realize just how LOUD the music is. I guess it didn't register before we went in and had some quiet, but BOY is that stuff loud. I feel a headache coming on. We gotta move.
By now of course, the park is getting VERY crowded (and its only Wednesday!) and its hard just to move without running into someone. We walk and walk, just checking out various shops, looking for a Christmas ornament (its a tradition in our family to get an ornament with the year we went from each park we go to) but none of the stores seem to have one. We had already found our Disney one at Downtown Disney on our first day, so we were surprised. We stop and ask some of the cashiers, and nobody seems to know where we can find one. Oh well, we'll just keep looking. We end up around the Lost Continent and and sit and take a break. We consider trying Dueling Dragons, but figure we will run into the same situation as Hulk and Dr. Doom, and since everyone is back in a good mood, why mess it up? We decide it is just to stinking hot to be out and head for the exit. On the way we stop at the arcade in Marvel Comic Land and DD gets her DDR fix. For those of you that aren't familiar with DDR, its a dancing video game that is pretty popular in our area. It's actually great exercise (although my coordination, or lack of, I should say....means I STINK at it) and DD LOVES it. We have the home version as well, on Playstation 2, which comes with a pad you do the dancing on. The one in the arcade is very nice and DD has a great time. After this break we head back out Port of Entry, pick up DH's Hulk print at the candy store (and a tube of that "make your own combo" of sour powder that DS begs for) and head for the parking garage. It's only 3pm, but with the heat and the crowds, we have had enough! Besides, we have 5 day tickets and will be back later in the week!
We head to the parking garage (I swear that walk gets longer every time you make it!) find our van and decide to head to the Belz Outlets, where we get some great deals and best of all TOTAL AIR CONDITIONING!! Later we swim in the pool at our condo, have a nice dinner in, and try to recoup from the heat. Tomorrow, DH and DS head for Kennedy Space Center and DD and I head to Epcot!!
