We were in Islands for 10.30 am, the weather hot but overcast. I think it took longer to get into the park than it took to actually get on a ride.
First choice this morning was the Popeye ride. This is a ride that is guaranteed to get you soaked. Those warning signs about getting soaked are true dont doubt them. Also do not wear jeans or carry electronics on you, other than in bags. A lad was on with us and for some reason I dont think he heeded the warnings as he had his phone on him. He was also wearing jeans but they dont warn you about this (take forever to dry out) - you learn this from experience. We all had our swim things on and place shoes that are not waterproof in the central storage area. Made the mistake of wearing trainers and socks one year, not pleasant walking round squelching. All in all we did Popeye 4 times in a row.
Thoroughly soaked we made our way to Dudley Do Rights Ripsaw Falls. This is a log ride with a few drops before the big 75 ft drop. It is quite steep and has a bump in the track after the drop. You get pretty wet on it and even wetter if some evil guys have brought some credits to put in the water guns, all positioned to get you in the face. Needless to say the kids enjoy doing this to those least expecting it, ie usually the ones just taking off their macs!
Quickly following this was the River Adventure, another water ride. This takes you round in a large raft around an area where the Jurassic Park dinosaurs have escaped before climbing up a huge ramp. Another short viewing of dinosaurs follow before coming face to face with a huge t rex that is positioned just on top of the drop. This drop is 85 ft but you dont usually get that wet on it , not that you are bothered after the previous two rides.
From here to the Lost Continent there is a new walking area and building work can be seen for the new Harry Potter land which opens in 2009 or 2010.
The Lost Continent saw us leave DH as the rollercoasters are a bit too much for his tum. There are 2 dragons, fire and ice. They duel in the sky taking you with them, starting with a 100 ft drop, it twists and loops and has 3 near misses. Both rides differ and you sit with your feet dangling. You go upside a lot. I like it but sometimes it is a little hard to walk straight afterwards.
It started to rain at this point, once those large drops start to fall you know it is best getting under cover. We headed to the nearest shop and had a browse for 10 minutes.
Then we hit The Hulk. We like the beginning of this, the coaster goes from 0 to 40 mph in 2 seconds and goes as fast as 65 mph. The loops are 100 ft up and cause you to feel weightless. It blasts you out of a tunnel and all you can see is sky before twisting to the right. Depending on where you sit you can get bumped around a bit on it.
We followed this with a quick blast up Dr Dooms tower. DS17 is desperately wanting me to go on this with my hands in the air, like them, are they mad. I need to hold on for dear life as I am shot up into the air 200 ft very fast. At the top I physically leave my seat for 12 inches, serious air time that I could do without. DH doesnt leave his seat at all, so it is a very different ride to him and they wonder why I need to grip on.
After here we went on Spiderman, a ride that you travel around in little cars (scoops) with 3 D glasses on, viewing various screens and real scenery. Various villains blast you with fire, ice, etc before you plummet down a virtual building. It is clever how they have done this because you actually feel like you are doing that.
We headed back to the pool for lunch. I had a portobello pannini which I shared with DS17. DH and DS19 had burgers. I also tried a Touch of Grey cocktail which was nice. DH thought it tasted of paint stripper - how he knows what this tastes off I dont know.
We had almost finished lunch when the winds stuck up and drops of rain started to fall. One minute they are drops the next it is like someone has turned the power shower on. I hid under a towel till I had finished then we legged it back to the room.
As we were pondering what to do next, DS17 looked out the door through the safety peep hole and saw a load of kids running down the corridor being followed by a larger kid, rolling a huge beach ball after them, shouting ball of death. He thought it was funny because he wasnt expecting to see anything.
We ended up going back to the Florida Mall. I wandered round by myself whilst they went to the Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch shops. I just waited for them to phone me then we met back up.
We popped back into the Chipolte for a mexican wrap on the way back, it is just near the Mall. I shared my chicken one WIth DS17, DH and DS19 had a highly spiced one which made DH break out in hiccups.
We returned to the hotel, then went out to Universal. We headed straight to the Men in Black ride. As we were going to get on to the ride we saw the kids hero from last year, Carlos, a MiB helper, who made them laugh a lot actually on the ride. We had a couple of blasts around on this before we separated. The kids stayed on this whilst we did Jaws, The Mummy x 2 and the Irish Pub.
We met back up outside the Mummy, the kids were dead chuffed because they ended up on a ride sitting right next to Carlos. He gave them loads of tips and secret stuff. They usually get very high scores on this ride in any case but learnt quite a few tips from him. DS19 later went on to get 99999 on it. They bought the photo with Carlos sitting next to them.
We headed back to the hotel, the kids went down to the pool for a swim and to watch the movie, Spiderman, till 11 pm. They returned and then decided to go to the Hard Rock shop in the hotel. They had only been back a while when DS17 came in to say he had lost his room key. Naturally he thought I over reacted because the key is linked to the credit card so I had to go down to reception and get his card cancelled. I had just got them to cancel it, when he met me in reception saying he had found it, typical.
Then I got back to the room and the computer had froze after spending quite a while typing this blog up. I was mad. Fortunately, this blog site automatically saves a draft every few minutes or so, thank goodness for that.
Right I am off to sleep now, cya.
.x.
took a while to dry out...DD loved Ripsaw and Hulk! and Spiderman.
