It's alright, I'm still alive! a TR -- Day 11: Aquatica-- Updated 4/27

[disneyhockeymad]

We were getting hungry again and opted to head towards World Showcase to get something 'international', we chose Morocco, more specifically the Tangerine Cafe. It was good, really good!!!

My brother and I both chose the meatballs, Mum and dad chose the wrap...

After dinner we wandered around World Showcase again and saw Illuminations being set up for the night, it was so interesting to watch, the fireworks are all on barges and they are transported to the of the lake, it looked like they were going to tip over, I swear they shouldn't go that fast!!

Right I'm going to leave it here, I didn't quite manage to finish on food, but it was close!!

Stay tuned for one of Florida's favourite rainstorms, the debate whether Illuminations was being put on and an ABBA tribute band!!

 

[disneyhockeymad]

After we'd seen that we headed to try another new ride, well I say new, the same ride plus 3 new birds!! The 3 cabellero's was good, it's pretty much the same as the old mexico river journey, only with a few more friendly faces! I took this photo, it's a bit blurry but you get the idea.

We ran into 3 Cabellero's Donald Duck outside, he was the first character that I had seen, I was almost to excited to see him. The photopass photographer was laughing so much at me, apparently he hadn't seen someone look so excited in a long long while!! He busied himself taking numerous photos of me and my shock and surprise!! haha

We'd had enough of WS for now so we went to SE, one of my favourite favourite rides, was so so looking forward to seeing the changes, I had read so much on the DIS and was super excited to see how it had been updated!!
And it got a massive thumbs up from me, it was just as good as I remember it and more! I loved the new screens in the seat and I loved the fact they asked you questions that you then answered to predict your future!! I stupidly got so caught up in the moment I forgot to take a picture of them, but I did manage to take this one!!

The new games at the end of SE are fantastic too, I loved the screen where are your future pictures are put up and then sent to which ever part of the world you came from, it was interesting seeing just how many people weren't from the USA or indeed the UK, more than I had ever thought! We came out of the door and were immediately greeted by another Florida thunderstorm. We joined the many other people sheltering under the cover and attempted to work out a plan! We decided after a while to run, and run quickly! It was so much fun, I love running through the rain, which is strange due to my hatred of water rides, maybe it's something about being in the happiest place on earth?!

We ran to MS and straight onto the green side (after my family hating the orange one, I didn't have much of a choice!) I didn't think it was as good as the orange one, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly!! Soon after that our time was up to use fastpasses for Soarin', so off we trundled! Not only did we skip past a 120 minute queue, which people were still joining... (I never understand that personally!!) we were put on the front row, which was AMAZING! no feet to get in the way, it felt so real! Definately my favourite ride of the day! The call of Season's beckoned to us after we came off the ride, the cakes just looked to delicious! That's the thing with Disney, you do some much walking you can afford to eat what you want, I love it!!!

From the bottom left I chose the chocolate cake, Dad had some apple thing (!), my brother chose a ricecrispie square and Mum the keylime pie. They were delicious!

We had heard that Bjorn Again were playing at the theatre opposite the USA (whose name completely escapes me right now!) in WS and Mum and Dad wanted to see them so we wandered off over there, and I have to say, they were very very good!! Everyone was dancing and singing along!

After that we stalked out a spot for Illuminations, and thanks to TourGuide Mike got a very very nice one! I miss the parade that came before Illuminations, Tapestry of Nations or something, it used to be so good, I was gutted to hear they'd stoped it!! (Now you can see how long it's been since we last went!) The fireworks were as awesome as I remembered, I loved them!!

When Illuminations finished we were shattered! We had hit it a bit hard on our first day, but we didn't mind, we had put in lots of rest stops in various cafe's (aided by a bit of cake!) but we were definately ready to go home, so back home we headed. The journey home was uneventful, but when we got back we looked out from the balcony and saw the MK fireworks. Definately a great ending to a fantastic day!!

 

[RachelNinja]

YAY! You're back! I didn't realize you started posting again a the beginning of January, but boy am I thrilled to have your TR to read Glad to know your pictures are safe and sound!

Day 3 brought Epcot.... it's a sort of tradition in our family that that's the first park we head to first... now I know what you're thinking, why not MK, well I think it's something to do with the fact that the very first time we went to WDW that was the very first park that we ever went to, it makes it kind of special don't you agree, for that reason Epcot has always had a soft spot in our family and I see no reason to change that!!

Awww, that's cute. It's true that I see a lot of people always say they have to go to MK first. I don't know that we really have a particular park we must go see first (although I love MK). We kind of go by the weather because we think Epcot is easier to deal with in the heat (MINUS World Showcase, of course!).

On a little side note I did hear a funny... a man went up to a CM mid surge and asks him which way to Soarin', to which the reply was... honestly Sir, I don't think you have much chance of going anywhere else!!

LOL! I think this is what scares me about heading to a park at rope drop. The whole mass of people moving in one direction and possibly being split up from my group is frightening! Of course, we could always head in the opposite direction, but I would also want FP to Soarin' or something like that as well! But thankfully, the two times we've gone to Epcot, we've been able to get FP for Soarin' as well as ride it once without that long of a wait even though we didn't get there at rope drop.

I had read quite a lot about Soarin' and honestly wasn't all that impressed by the write ups, but now I can see they just don't do it justice, and in many ways I don't think they will ever be able to.

Definitely agree with you! I mean, it's just hard to explain in words. Once you're strapped into the seat and you lift off ... it's a feeling like no other! I'm also amazed at the technology behind it with the lifting and the bubble-like screen thingie (haha, don't you love my technological jargon?).

Infact I don't think we could have gotten 2 more serious people, they were obviously a couple, but I think they were slightly annoyed at the fact that they were split up between the front and the back of the car, well if you do get in the single riders lane what do you expect?!

EXACTLY! They have signs and CMs saying, "You will be separated from your group." What do they expect? Even so, I love the single rider line. I can ride it as many times as I want, and I particularly love riding with people who've never been on TT before. I love their reactions (especially from the truck in the tunnel!). It would've been fun to ride with you and your family. I'd definitely join in with the wacky faces!

It still makes me heart leap out of my chest everytime I go on that ride now, even though I know what will happen there is always the vague possibility Disney has changed the ride for some reason!!!

I'm always afraid that Disney's going to change something about the trolls and ... um, polar bears? I forgot if that's what they were. That suddenly they'll move a little closer or they'll put another one somewhere else to frighten guests!

I feel for sure the CM saw us, but I was sheepishly avoiding her glance, so I can't tell you for definate!!

Hehe, I never feel guilty about leaving. I mean, I learned enough on the ride. You know, trolls. And polar bears ...

By this time it was about 12 o'clockish I think, so we decided that it was time, for our elevenses so off we headed towards America for a good old cake and coffee

I like that you said elevenses.

Now after discussing this in AGPrincess' TR I had to take a picture of it myself, I don't know what it is about it but pineapples just don't grow like this in my head... is it just me!?

Haha, I remember this discussion! And I still find it hard to believe that that's how pineapples grow! But when I try to think about how I thought they grew beforehand, I can't really imagine it. I guess I never gave it much thought.

Not only did we skip past a 120 minute queue, which people were still joining... (I never understand that personally!!)

I once waited 3 hours for Splash Mountain during the time WAY before FP. We didn't have a choice because my family and another family really wanted to ride it and we couldn't wait until later to see if the line would ease up. Now with FP, I can't imagine waiting that long for anything!

Looking forward to moreeeeeeeeeeee

 

[disneyhockeymad]

YAY! You're back! I didn't realize you started posting again a the beginning of January, but boy am I thrilled to have your TR to read Glad to know your pictures are safe and sound!

heyyy!!! welcome back, so nice to hear from you again!!

Awww, that's cute. It's true that I see a lot of people always say they have to go to MK first. I don't know that we really have a particular park we must go see first (although I love MK). We kind of go by the weather because we think Epcot is easier to deal with in the heat (MINUS World Showcase, of course!).

I agree, most definately!!

LOL! I think this is what scares me about heading to a park at rope drop. The whole mass of people moving in one direction and possibly being split up from my group is frightening! Of course, we could always head in the opposite direction, but I would also want FP to Soarin' or something like that as well! But thankfully, the two times we've gone to Epcot, we've been able to get FP for Soarin' as well as ride it once without that long of a wait even though we didn't get there at rope drop.

We kinda worked out that it was impossible to not be seperated! There was so much of a squish sometimes you had no choice!!

Definitely agree with you! I mean, it's just hard to explain in words. Once you're strapped into the seat and you lift off ... it's a feeling like no other! I'm also amazed at the technology behind it with the lifting and the bubble-like screen thingie (haha, don't you love my technological jargon?).

I love your technical jargo

I'm always afraid that Disney's going to change something about the trolls and ... um, polar bears? I forgot if that's what they were. That suddenly they'll move a little closer or they'll put another one somewhere else to frighten guests!

Hehe, I never feel guilty about leaving. I mean, I learned enough on the ride. You know, trolls. And polar bears ...

I like that you said elevenses.[/QUOTE/

British word

Looking forward to moreeeeeeeeeeee

more coming up

 

[disneyhockeymad]

Well today was the day we were going to be a bit naughty.... we decided to go to the rival of all rivals... Universal Studios (and Islands of Adventure). We slept in slighty later this morning and were at the park by 9:30 instead of our usual rush for no later than 8:30 at Disney. It was a nice change!!

If there is one idea Disney should definately take from US it is without a doubt the moving walkways that take you from your car to the park, it's not so much of an issue in the morning, but after a long long day when you're legs have pretty much given up, they're definately welcome, you just step on and let them do the work for you!! When we arrived in City Walk we had a vote on which park to head to first, it was a pretty easy vote with IoA winning 3-1 (my brother always has to be difficult), so off we headed.

GRUMBLE- I don't like the ticket machines, or indeed the ticket attendants in the Universal complex as it were, they finger scanners they had never picked up our finger print despite the fact we used the same finger and whenever we had a problem they were always so rude to us about it. If Disney have managed to master it why can't Universal!? Grumble over!!

We made a b-line straight for Spiderman, it is our favourite ride in IoA, it's so real and I love the fact it's 3D. Even though my mum can't see 3D she still gets a massive kick out of the way the car moves and tends to react along with our faces, which are, apparently, always hilarious!! We only had a 5min wait too so we weren't complaining!!!

Next was the Hulk, mum doesn't like this rollercoaster, neither does my brother so they waited outside whilst my dad and I went on. The Hulk always gets mixed reviews in my books, I love the way it starts with the hidden speed burst when you're least expecting it but after the initial loops and such it gets a bit boring!! I still enjoyed it though!! It looks pretty spectacular though!!

The park was still ridiculously empty after we had come off the Hulk so we decided to wander and go on whatever took our fancy, we made our way to Seuss Land- which is by far the best best best themed land in Florida! I love the fact it is themed right down to the door handles and even the toilets!!

We noticed that the 'High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride' (what a mouthful!) queue had a less than 5 minute wait, and seeing as we had never been on it before we decided to give it a go... despite the fact it was designed for little kids! It was fantastic!! After the initial embarrassment of the rhymes we had to say to get 'the train started' we were off and the views were amazing! It's essentially a ride that tours the whole of Seuss land from the sky... if you get me.

the beginning...

the track and the end...

I hope from the photos you understand what I mean!!

After the HitSSTTR (see what I did there!!) We walked round to Duelling Dragons, again my brother and mum wouldn't ride so dad and I took advantage of the 5 minute queue and rode both dragons. Loved it!! Disney need a suspended roller coaster, I love the fact your feet dangle!!

After Duelling Dragons we were getting slightly hungry and yup you guess it decided to stop for our elevenses... (I did have a picture somewhere but it appears to have gone missing so if I come across it I'll stick it here!!) We got these amazing cakes, my brother and I shared a muffin again, and my mum and dad had a huge yummy looking cake each!!

After food we had had enough of IoA so decided to cross over to US and ride some rides there

First up was ET, I love the cute little cards you get when you go in.

The ride vehicles are really exciting, the bike type thing make it so much more real! The way ET says all your names at the end is just too cool too!

After ET Men In Black called out to us, so dutifully we followed. In my opinion this ride is miles better than Buzz Lightyear and not only because I always do so much better! I like the set up and the fact you can hit the aliens anywhere you want and score, it annoys me that there are targets on Buzz, I always always miss them!! I like the fact there are 2 lots of cars going at the same time too, and the fact you get the chance to shoot at them, makes it much more fun, especially when you're hit (although that's not the objective... I just like the spinning!)

After MIB we rode the Mummy, now dad and I rode this when it had it's soft opening, we were some of the first people to ride it, and we loved it. I don't really remember it but I do know it has changed a lot since we were last on it. That's not to say the changes were bad, I think they were just accomodating the popularity of the ride because the ride vehicles were much much bigger and everything seemed far more 'rollercoaster-esq' at the end. The mummy in the film scares the absolute cr*p out of me, so the only thing I didn't like about the ride was the giant upclose and personal meet and greet with it, but I closed my eyes so I guess all was ok. I made my family promise before they took me that we wouldn't sit in the front row because I couldn't handle being that close to the Mummy, but oh no guess where we were put, and unfortunately we didn't get much of a say in it. I have to say though the ride was definately better upfront, I just closed my eyes during the bits I didn't like!!

Next up: the rest of US and a trip back to HS for some Disney fun!

 

[BTDTGB]

Not only are the moving side walks great, so is the parking garage. It is nice getting into a car that has been parked under a cover all day. Please tell me you guys road the Simpson's Ride.

 

[AGPrincess]

Great updates!! You're making me so hungry with your food/dessert pics...I've always wanted to try the food in Morocco, but my family isn't very adventurous!

 

[jmskinner]

Just got caught up, glad you were able to get your pictures back.

That is cool that you got to see Illuminations set up, we got to see the drawbridge and the ball coming out a couple of weeks ago and it doesn't look that big out in the lagoon, but it is actually huge! I agree, it does look like it will tilt over at any moment.

I love Figment also. After riding him the first time I had to have a Figment pin.

Love the pics of IoA and US. Hopefully we can make it this Summer.

Keep the updates coming!

 

[disneyhockeymad]

Not only are the moving side walks great, so is the parking garage. It is nice getting into a car that has been parked under a cover all day. Please tell me you guys road the Simpson's Ride.

I agree... so much nicer to get into a cool car!! We did ride the Simpson's ride, but not until much later in our holiday, the queue time was already 90 minutes by this point and we didn't want to wait!!

Great updates!! You're making me so hungry with your food/dessert pics...I've always wanted to try the food in Morocco, but my family isn't very adventurous!

Thanks : It's the first time we've eaten in Morocco but we will definately eat there again! I'm sure you're family will come around, I'm not very adventurous either so there is always hope!!

Just got caught up, glad you were able to get your pictures back.

That is cool that you got to see Illuminations set up, we got to see the drawbridge and the ball coming out a couple of weeks ago and it doesn't look that big out in the lagoon, but it is actually huge! I agree, it does look like it will tilt over at any moment.

I love Figment also. After riding him the first time I had to have a Figment pin.

Love the pics of IoA and US. Hopefully we can make it this Summer.

Keep the updates coming!

Thanks It is huge isn't it!! Another update is on it's way!

 

[disneyhockeymad]

After the Mummy we made a short walk to Disaster Studios, I don't remember much from the first time we went to US but I do vaguely remember a ride that was in the same place but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was, as far as I was aware it was the same ride. It wasn't! Looking back on it I do remember the old Earthquake that was there instead, but I much prefer the new ride that incorporates it, far more fun!!

The queing area was somewhat interesting and slightly scary all at the same time, they had lots of models of the disasters in movies, like this one...

I liked the fact that it was all set up around making stunt disaster films, it was a really good laugh and definately racked up as one of my favourite rides in US, especially because I think we got some of the funniest presenters and people who were selected to take part, they definately played their part. It was fun to spot yourself on the video too, I liked the way they changed the Earthquake bit and filmed it, meaning that those who weren't chosen for the first bit could take part anyways.

We had spotted a little Italian cafe thing walking down the main street which we had earmarked for lunch and as we were starving by this point we made towards it. It was set up very cutely, it was like a little Italian bistro but with a counter service place at the far end, it sold typical Italian dishes like pizza and pasta as well as salads so it was well suited to our needs. I chose a plain margarehitta pizza along with a side salad, Dad a chicken caesar salad with garlic bread, my brother the meatballs and Mum a pepper pizza.

The pizza's were nice, and my dad gave the thumbs up to the salad but I don't think my brother was all that impressed with the meatballs, he ate all the pasta but only managed one meatball. I think that it was a combination of having superb mearballs at Morocco the day before and the fact that the meat in the meatballs couldn't really be defined. Still he wasn't as hungry as us so it wasn't too bad!!

As we walked out of the 'bistro' there was a crowd gathering for the next show of the Blues Brothers, and as we had just eaten it seemed like a perfect opportunity to sit and watch, so we did We have a bit of a family love for the Blues Brothers, and when we discovered that 'they' played US last time we were in Florida we immediately made a mental note to see them the next time we were here. I adore how real it all is, they arrived in the car and everything

they singing was brilliant as always and the saxophanist was amazing too,

they got everyone dancing and shaking their tale feathers, it was such fun to watch!

When they had finished we wandered for a bit unsure of what to do and finally decided on Jimmy Neutron, it's hard to decide whether it was indeed the ride or the pull of the misting fans in the queing area which made us choose this but choose it we did. Dad however refused to ride it as I don't think he liked it much last time and he wasn't up for being thrust about with a full stomach, so he stayed outside whilst we took advantage of the amazingly low queue time of 15minutes.

It was a good ride but I remember it having more pazaz (sp) the first time, still I guess beggers cant be choosers and what not, it was still cheesily fun!!

After we came off it was getting very very hot and finally our typical British bodies were sucumbing to the extreme heat that we were subject too and we decided enough was enough and headed back to the condel.... I've decided seeing as I have no idea what to call where we stayed I shall mix the two together, so condel it is!! The moving walkways definately came into play here, it was soo good not to walk anywhere, although it was quite quiet as we came out so I'm ashamed to say when no one was around to get caught up in it my dad, brother and I had races running down the wrong moving walkway, so against the flow! I did stop long enough to snap these pictures though, which really should have gone at the beginning of this day!!

We rested a bit in the hotel and as soon as we had cooled down we were once more raring to go, but only this time we headed to HS again to try and catch my all time favourite night show, Fantasmic. It was around 6ish by the time we arrived and we were hungry yet again... (I swear it's the heat!) so we stopped in teh ABC cafe briefly and grabbed a snack, I don't even remember what we had... I may have shared a curry with my brother!! It was so good to see this site after US this morning...

After 'dinner' we wandered for a fair bit just soaking up the atmosphere of the park, have I mentioned that I love the music the play in HS, it just makes me want to dance all the time!!! We came across the Prince Caspian walk through and one was about to start, so we joined the queue....

Aslan's table...

Costumes...

continued in next post...

 

[disneyhockeymad]

The animation tour was next, another firm favourite for me, possibly because when I was little this was all I wanted to do, become an animator, things have since changed and I'm now studying law, but there is always hope!!!

We met this little guy, I never thought it was possible to fall in love with a robot, but I did!!

Finally it was time for the late showing of Fantasmic, besides the benefits of having the park all to yourself going to the later showing there is also the bonus of getting a better seat and we got a fab one!! Here are my pictures as I can't even begin to describe how excited I was or indeed the size of the smile that came over my face when I saw the theatre once more

(favourite princess ever!!...)

Leaving was sad, but exciting at the same time, the park was nearly empty, so we got to take in so much more of the atmosphere...

 

[disneyhockeymad]

A new morning brought with it a new park, Animal Kingdom. I was so excited about visiting this park again, especially as I had heard fantastic reviews of EE and I was psyched to ride it! We woke up early again as I was determined to see the opening show, I'm so glad I woke up early, I got my breakfast and sat outside on our little balcony, this was the first time I had been able to see the view from our balcony properly and boy was it amazing, I was completely in awe, it's such a fantastic site to wake up and see. If you look closely you can pick out a few 'landmarks'!

It was so hot so I decided to make use of my newly found Winnie the Pooh and Tigger clips that my friend had bought me for my birthday one year, they definately put me in the mood!

The drive in the car was uneventful but I was happy because mum had decided that she wasn't keen on sitting in the front on the wrong side, so I got to sit upfront for the rest of the trip, which lead to some awesome photos!

As we wandered into the park the towering tree came into view, it always amazes me how they've made it.

We made it into the park for the opening show and I'm so glad we did, it was fantastic!!

We followed the rush after the rope drop towards EE, I love how the CM's deliberately walk slowly, it made me laugh! We followed them s..l...o..w...l...y towards EE and into the queue, I was amazed by the sheer amount of people who headed towards to the FP machines, it seemed to have a bigger queue that the ride itself!! (My only gripe was the amount of tourguide leaders in there putting what seemed like hundereds of passes in there at one time, I can understand why they didn't want to send every member of the group through at one time as by looking at the wadge of tickets it would have been ridiculous, but surely WDW can sort something out where they just give them the FP's, they must have used up at least half an hour in FP time to get all the tickets through!!) Anyway.... We made it through the queue and we surprised to get on to the platform to see 2 empty trains pull away, then when we were loaded into the trains it was announced that we were riding the first train of the day I don't know how we managed it, but we had got on the first ride for Soarin' two days before and now the first on EE, we were loving this Disney luck!!

I loved EE!! It was fantastic, soooo good! Definately lived up to the rating's that I had read! When we were last at WDW we saw EE being constructed and now to ride it was definately something special. It soon became my favourite ride in AK!! As soon as we came off it we got a FP for it, we had to ride it again!!

After EE we headed to Dinosaur, this ride ALWAYS scares me. I wish I had bought the photos that were taken each time we rode it, they were hilarious. I did sneakily snap a photo of one ride we had, it still makes me laugh.

After Dinosaur, we headed to our all time favourite family ride at WDW, don't ask me why, we just have so much fun riding it... Primeval Whirl As we had expected it was fantastic, and we laughed the entire way through. That's what Disney is about to me!

Once we had laughed our way off we walked round to the Maharajah Jungle Trek as we fancied a walk through ride, I picked this plainly because I love seeing the Tigers, they're my favourite animals, I think it may be because they reminded me of Tigger when I was little and I have loved them since then!! I snapped some good-ish photos of the animals.

It was soon time for our EE FP (we got a pretty early time which we were pleasantly surprised about!) so off we went, spying these as we walked on by

We were getting hungry after coming off EE (which was fantastic again, we were sat a row from the front!!) We walked to the Kusa Firi Coffee Shop and grabbed some cakes

It was getting quite hot by this time, so spying that the queue for Kali River Rapids was quite low (a respectable 20minutes) my family headed for that, I of course sat out on a bench and soaked (without getting wet!!) up the atmosphere, the time flew by, but I did make sure I watched my family getting soaked by the water jets by the exit!

We went for a wander after that and happened to walk past the Nemo theatre where a show as 20minutes off starting. Now I had read reviews of it being full a good hour before at the busiest of times, and seeing as it was less that 2 days before Independence day I didn't hold out much hope. We asked the CM as we walked past and she said there were still spaces with a view so we followed the advice and headed on in.

It was a good show, I can see why it's so popular, but in my opinion I think that the Lion King show is better.

We had had enough of AK for the time being as seeing as we had a ADR booked for a Tusker House breakfast in a few days time we decided to head to a water park to cool off. We had gotten into the habit of just leaving our swimming costumes in the boot of the car so whenever we fancied a cool down we could just drive there instead of going back to the hotel. We drove to BB as that was the closest but we soon realised that was a mistake as the car park was just full of yellow school buses, we turned around and headed to TL instead. We had a great time and even managed to grab a good spot on a 'beach'. However it was cut short somewhat by a huge thunderstorm that decided to hit just as we were getting settled meaning that we had to evacuate the pool. We decided that instead of waiting it out to just head back to the condel, so we did!

Stay tuned for our first glimpse of the castle (I know we waited this long!!)

 

[RachelNinja]

LOVE LOVE LOVE your updates! I'm getting a little bummed about because it's almost February. Initially my family was going to go to Disney in 2 weeks, but we decided against it. Well, I should say my dad decided against it. I understand his reasoning (with the terrible economy, it wouldn't be financially prudent to do that). But of course, I still yearn for some WDW! But reading your TR is definitely comforting

British word

Hehe, I actually remember this word from Lord of the Rings, one of my all-time favorite non-Disney movie.

Well today was the day we were going to be a bit naughty.... we decided to go to the rival of all rivals... Universal Studios (and Islands of Adventure).

Even though it's US and IOA and NOT Disney, I still really liked reading about it. The last time I went to US was when I was a kid and there was the Back to the Future ride! I don't know any of these new rides or the "lands" that are set up. I'd definitely want to go there the next time I'm in Orlando. Maybe I wouldn't do all the rollercoasters you did, but everything else seems fun!

We made a b-line straight for Spiderman, it is our favourite ride in IoA, it's so real and I love the fact it's 3D.

When this ride first came out, Rosie O'Donnell (talk show host) went on it with Steven Spielberg. This was a LONG time ago. I can't believe I still haven't ridden it myself! I vaguely remember seeing on that video that there was a truck that you almost go into? Something like that, something similar to the truck in Test Track?

Seuss Land- which is by far the best best best themed land in Florida! I love the fact it is themed right down to the door handles and even the toilets!!

Haha, how exactly did they theme the toilets? I'm curious to know!

'High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride'

Ooo, it reminds me of the TTA in MK!

The ride vehicles are really exciting, the bike type thing make it so much more real! The way ET says all your names at the end is just too cool too!

I remember when I was itty-bitty, I was too scared to go on the bikes. But when I finally did the next time, I realized what I was missing all along! Especially with ET popping out of the basket every so often. Did ET end up saying everyone's names? I remember that they used to pick and choose, but it'd be so cool if everyone had the chance to hear it!

After ET Men In Black called out to us, so dutifully we followed. In my opinion this ride is miles better than Buzz Lightyear and not only because I always do so much better! I like the set up and the fact you can hit the aliens anywhere you want and score, it annoys me that there are targets on Buzz, I always always miss them!! I like the fact there are 2 lots of cars going at the same time too, and the fact you get the chance to shoot at them, makes it much more fun, especially when you're hit (although that's not the objective... I just like the spinning!)

WOW, MIB sounds a lot more elaborate than Buzz! That means if the other car shoots you, you spin? So every ride is absolutely different! Even though it can get frustrating with Buzz's targets, I think that's part of the challenge. Of course, I'm still itching to try MIB and TSM!

We met this little guy, I never thought it was possible to fall in love with a robot, but I did!!

He definitely is a cutie!

Here are my pictures as I can't even begin to describe how excited I was or indeed the size of the smile that came over my face when I saw the theatre once more

Great Fantasmic pictures! I always see pictures of the images being shown on the water? Something like that. But I don't recall seeing the pictures you posted. I've never seen it before so I put bits and pieces together from everyone's TR! All I know is that it's usually really crowded and people line up really early. I guess it makes more sense to just wait for the later show!

It was so hot so I decided to make use of my newly found Winnie the Pooh and Tigger clips that my friend had bought me for my birthday one year, they definately put me in the mood!

Cute! They look great in your curly hair!

As we wandered into the park the towering tree came into view, it always amazes me how they've made it.

Haha, in your picture, the first animal I saw was the buffalo! Eek!

(My only gripe was the amount of tourguide leaders in there putting what seemed like hundereds of passes in there at one time, I can understand why they didn't want to send every member of the group through at one time as by looking at the wadge of tickets it would have been ridiculous, but surely WDW can sort something out where they just give them the FP's, they must have used up at least half an hour in FP time to get all the tickets through!!)

And are you like me ... you see that it's a shorter line so you stand on that to get your FP but then you realize that the person in front of you has a MILLION tickets to send through the machine and all the other lines around you that were longer initially are actually moving a lot faster?!?

We drove to BB as that was the closest but we soon realised that was a mistake as the car park was just full of yellow school buses, we turned around and headed to TL instead.

Hehe, this got me cracking up because I was just picturing it in my head how you just turned around!

YAY for updates

 

[RachelNinja]

I knew I missed clicking the quote button on one of your installments!

The queing area was somewhat interesting and slightly scary all at the same time, they had lots of models of the disasters in movies, like this one...

OOO, that huge shark scared me! I might have to bury my head in someone's shoulder and close my eyes just to walk by it!

Aslan's table...

I'm a huge Narnia fan so seeing Aslan's table was great! I know people don't really rave about this part of the park, but I would love to see it. Now, if only I could get to MGM/DHS sometime soon before they take it away ...

 

[jmskinner]

Another great update. See, we never get to be the first ride on the rides like EE because we are some of the people that grab FP's first and then ride.

Of course, we haven't ever gotten to see the opening shows, so obviously we don't ever get there early enough to be the first ride.

I haven't really wanted to go to US, but your report has really gotten me interested. Have to see when we can.

 

[Tiffanova]

I'll be sure to wear it when ever I can!!!


I wish I could do the DCP... the only prob is that I live in England and they only offer it to American's They do this seasonal work program though which I've been researching which I can do in the summer between years at uni. Think I'm gonna try and do that. I would love more than anything to do the DCP though!

DLP is great, if you have the chance to take your family I would strongly recommend it! I've been up the Eiffel Tower and that's pretty cool too, it's huge! It does this cool light show thing a bit like Disney as well!!

Hey, I know you posted this forever ago, but did you know they also have the International College Program? It's not just for the summer, but usually an entire year I believe, which is much longer than the CP for Americans. Just wanted to pass that along in case you didn't know about it.

http://www.disneyinternationalprograms.com/icp.html

 

[disneyhockeymad]

After our rest was over we realised that we had been in Florida for a total of 5 days, seen all the other Disney parks but the most magnificient of them all, why hadn't we been to MK?! With this in mind we jumped in the car and without any hesitation followed the road to MK. We parked up and hopped on the monorail, usually we take the boat on our first trip but we were so eager to get there. Soon we spied this

and 2 minutes later this:

It's like a wave of excitement, emotion and joy hit you all at the same time, I didn't quite know how to react, no matter how many times I go it still has the same effect of me, the castle is just magnificient!

We were fairly hungry as we hadn't eaten anything since our snack at AK earlier in the morning as as it as early evening we decided diner was probably in order, so off we headed to Cosmic Rays, partly because we wanted to see if there were any FP's left for SM (we didn't hold out much hope... and there weren't) and partly because we love to see this guy

doing his bit

I love the way Cosmic Ray's is set out, different counters for the different types of food, my parents knew what they wanted but my brother and I couldn't decide to we were handed money and told to find them when we were done. After about 10minutes deciding we finally settled on BBQ chicken and ribs between us, my parents got chilli cheese dogs each- they love them!!

After we had finished our food we made straight to Buzz as we had picked up FP's for them before we had eaten, it was seriously surprising just how many FP's there were left, we got ones that were about half an hour ahead of the time we picked them up and by the time we came to use them they had only increased by 20 minutes or so. Buzz was great but as I have already mentioned not as good as MiB is, we still had a whale of a time though as my brother and I are seriously competative!

After Buzz a new ride to us, Monsters Inc beckoned, so we answered the call and dutifully joined the queue, I wasn't sure what to expect but I loved loved loved it. We managed to get a showing where a women who had been on earlier and who had obviously picked as person they were going to pick on all show had returned and the 'monsters' immediately recognised her, they spent all show ridiculing her for what she was wearing (she looked like a jail bird in a black and white stripped shirt and black shorts!), I later found out after we rode again that they were completely ab-libbing and not sticking to the script at all!! It was hilarious!!

Once we emerged back into Tomorrow Land we wandered around MK for a bit and sound found ourselves in Fantasy Land, where I begged to go on one of my favourite favourite rides, Winnie the Pooh, I am a HUGE fan as this ride has always been my favourite, especially as we don't have one in DLP. I was totally in my element singing along and what not, the CM's loved it and started to make me dance too!

Don't you just love the bit where you bounce with Tigger, he's my absolute favourite character so I adore this bit!!

We came out of Winnie the Pooh just in time for Wishes and stood between the castle and Dumbo watching it. It's a good viewing but doesn't half ache your neck, you're constantly moving back and forth depending on where they're firing from, but it really did feel like you were right in the heart of it, was amazing!!

As we wanted to catch the later showing of Spectro we hopped on IASW quickly as there was a minimal queue and as is expected from everyone, sang along

The good old English!

(I do love how these are our icons!)

We had just enough time to ride HM as well so off we trotted, I don't have any pictures but I definately like the new updates, good move Disney!! The face on the bride in the attic scares me though, it doesn't belong there and looks more like a man!!

We hightailed it to Liberty Square in time for Spectro and as the music started I got that tingly feeling I got when I walked into the park. Spectro has to be my favourite parade, I love everything about it, the lights the cars and of course the music, I challenge anyone to listen to it without getting a smile on your face!!

Did you know the float with the 3 little pigs on it transforms from white lights to colour lights to show the transformation of Disney from black and white to colour... how exciting is that?!!

Spectro was fantastic and by the time it had finished we were knackered so we made our way down Main Street out of the park into the car and back to the Condel to gain a well earned rest!!

Tomorrow: amazing burgers, shopping shopping and more shopping and more competativeness!!

 

[disneyhockeymad]

LOVE LOVE LOVE your updates! I'm getting a little bummed about because it's almost February. Initially my family was going to go to Disney in 2 weeks, but we decided against it. Well, I should say my dad decided against it. I understand his reasoning (with the terrible economy, it wouldn't be financially prudent to do that). But of course, I still yearn for some WDW! But reading your TR is definitely comforting

aww thanks I'm sorry you're not going to WDW, I'm so glad we went when we did, we would definately not be able to afford it now, we're trying to save up for a 2011 trip... hopefully that'll happen!!

Even though it's US and IOA and NOT Disney, I still really liked reading about it. The last time I went to US was when I was a kid and there was the Back to the Future ride! I don't know any of these new rides or the "lands" that are set up. I'd definitely want to go there the next time I'm in Orlando. Maybe I wouldn't do all the rollercoasters you did, but everything else seems fun!

I miss the Back to the Future Ride, it as still there up until 2007ish I think, now they've put in the Simpson's ride, it's definately not as good!

When this ride first came out, Rosie O'Donnell (talk show host) went on it with Steven Spielberg. This was a LONG time ago. I can't believe I still haven't ridden it myself! I vaguely remember seeing on that video that there was a truck that you almost go into? Something like that, something similar to the truck in Test Track?

Yer that's it!!!

Haha, how exactly did they theme the toilets? I'm curious to know!

hahaha it's difficult to explain, but they're just very Seuss like, all colourful, twirly thins everywhere hahaha

Did ET end up saying everyone's names? I remember that they used to pick and choose, but it'd be so cool if everyone had the chance to hear it!

ET say everyone's names now.... they give you a little card, I think I posted a picture of it, with your name on it and ET reads that. It's wicked

WOW, MIB sounds a lot more elaborate than Buzz! That means if the other car shoots you, you spin? So every ride is absolutely different! Even though it can get frustrating with Buzz's targets, I think that's part of the challenge. Of course, I'm still itching to try MIB and TSM!

Yup there's a certain part of the game to do it, so much fun, it's a battle of who can hit each other first

And are you like me ... you see that it's a shorter line so you stand on that to get your FP but then you realize that the person in front of you has a MILLION tickets to send through the machine and all the other lines around you that were longer initially are actually moving a lot faster?!?

Yup, so annoying!!

Another great update. See, we never get to be the first ride on the rides like EE because we are some of the people that grab FP's first and then ride.

Of course, we haven't ever gotten to see the opening shows, so obviously we don't ever get there early enough to be the first ride.

I haven't really wanted to go to US, but your report has really gotten me interested. Have to see when we can.

You should definately try to get there for the shows if you can, they're well worth it, especially the MK one!! And definately try US, it's well worth a visit!

Hey, I know you posted this forever ago, but did you know they also have the International College Program? It's not just for the summer, but usually an entire year I believe, which is much longer than the CP for Americans. Just wanted to pass that along in case you didn't know about it.

http://www.disneyinternationalprograms.com/icp.html

Thanks!! I saw that a few months ago but didn't really know much about it, I looked at the link and I'm definately going to look into doing it summer 2010

 

[disneyhockeymad]

Today we decided to go back to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure to do the rides we hadn't done a couple of days before, and to combat the fact it was the day before 4th July when we knew Disney would be heaving. This was however not without a lie in. I think it was safe to say that we were shattered! It was non stop the previous days as we were trying to get as much done as we could before the holiday crowds came in for July 4th, so today we fancied a lazy day around a park where it didn't matter what we went on!

We arrived at US around 12:30pm and followed our ears until we reached this show going on outside of Mel's Drive In, I forget the name but it was good none the less

Not long after this appeared carrying all the universal characters,

does anyone remember the bus at Epcot? I loved that bus and I'm gutted they stopped it. I remember that on my first ever visit to WDW I was so excited to see it as it as the first park we had been to and the first ever characters that I had seen, when the bus stopped Minnie came off, grabbed my hand and I was first in line to see her, that made my entire holiday!

Anyways after that we had a wander around and eventually ended up at MiB, which had a wait time of all of 10 minutes so we took advantage of that and rode it a couple of times!

We were just in time to catch the next showing of Beetle Juice when we came out of the ride so we quickly hurried towards that to get a seat. I'm ashamed to say I got so caught up in the show I totally forgot to take pictures but you'll have to take my word for it that it was amazing! I love the way they act and the way the effects that they use, it's a definate must see for us!!

We had had enough of US by the time this had finished so we exited the park and walked over to IoA, not before I spied and bought this though I love it, it's a huge because it's a man's hoodie (size small and it still swamps me!) but it was a steal at about £7/$15 because it was in the sale and it's great to wear around my flat when I'm having a lazy day!

close up of the design:

We didn't really fancy any rides straight away when we got into IoA so instead we decided to walk around and admire some of the beautiful scenery around the lake. We stopped in Seussland because I was getting a bit peckish and had spied something a couple of days before that I had to try...

Doesn't it look fantastic!! Unfortunately it wasn't quite as nice as it looked, I'm not a big fan of toffee and despite asking the staff whether it did have it or whether it was just a chocolate coated apple with M&M's it had toffee on it. It was good to start off with but it made it such hard going trying to eat it and the chocolate just went everywhere so eventually it ended up like this...

I did eat the chocolate that I chipped off though!! The apple was goood!!

We wandered and wandered and eventually came across the space set out for The Magical World of Harry Potter (or whatever it is!), it didn't look like anything spectacular though

Here are some more shots that I took as we wandered

(another amazingly themed land!)

As we walked past the Hulk we noticed that the ride time had dropped considerably from 60minutes to 15 so we (by we I mean my dad, brother and I... I had finally persuaded my brother to have a ride!) took advantage and queded up leaving mum to soak up the sunshine.

When we came off the teacups... or the 'Storm Force Accelatron' were empty so my brother and I took mum for a ride on those as a thankyou for waiting, what we neglected to tell her was how fast we liked it, I think she was laughing until she cried!!

 

[disneyhockeymad]

We had spotted the Hard Rock Cafe before we had entered IoA and knew we definately wanted to eat there as we loved the one we ate in Barcelona last summer so after regaining our balance from the tea-cups we had a wander to see if there were any tables. There were, we were in luck

It was so pretty in there! I love how the decorate all the HRC, I've eaten in 3 so far, Barcelona, London and Orlando and the theming in all of them is so unique and 'historic'! They have lots of famous guitars and merchandise from various rock bands, I couldn't stop taking photos!

The car in the centre, it was moving round in a circle,

We ordered our meals, each of us, apart from Dad who just got a caesar salad, ordering a variation on a burger as theirs are literally to die for!!

They were delicious! We got pudding but I think they were gone too quickly for me to take a photo of, they were also very good!!

It was approaching time for Universal 360 so after we had finished our meal and paid we quickly visited the shop attached to the HRC, I have a habit of collecting t-shirts and have started to collect the HR ones as well, I have one from Barcelona but not from London (they were the same designs at the Orlando ones and I didn't want 2 of the same and I figure I can go there whenever and get one!) so I needed one from Orlando, well I found this one and immediately bought it, I love it!!

Close up of the design:

The back:

After we had finished, my brother bought a tshirt too, we made our way back into Universal and round the lake thing to watch Universal 360.

At first I wasn't entirely sure what was happening as all we could see were these giant white balls in the water until suddenly they lit up and displayed different movie clips on them to go with the music they were playing

at different intervals fireworks were going off and buildings were lit up too

It was quite exciting but had nothing to match the grandour of Disney, we were glad we saw it but didn't want to see it again!!

With that another day ended and we headed back to the condel for a mega early start in order to get to MK before the 4th July crowds (we're stupid yes?... no!!) Stay tuned!