Mike Jones
<font color=993300>....nothing clever to say... ju
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2003
- Messages
- 1,372
The Cast:
Mike, 39, chief organiser, driver and brew maker
Heather, 40, wife and mum
Bethany, 11 (going on 20!), coaster addict, hates getting wet.
Adam, 9, (going on 8!), hates coasters (except BTMRR), LOVES getting wet!
DAY 6 TUESDAY 23RD DECEMBER 2003
Todays plan : Coaster day! Islands of Adventure!
Woken at 600am by my alarm (I use my Nokia mobile as an alarm clock on holiday, instead of trying to work out the functions of the villa one, usually by discovering what makes it go off at 0300am!) Went to the kitchen to make coffee and was annoyed to hear another alarm going off in the bedrooms must be Adam with his wristwatch. I trot back to admonish him, fearing that he will wake Heather (and theres no tea ready yet, does he not understand the consequences of such foolishness?) only to discover that its coming from our room I must have hit the snooze function in the dark! Burst in, hoping Heather hadnt woken, only to find her beating hell out of the villa alarm clock in a very befuddled state! Oops! Made amends by doing the tea thing!
Weather forecast is getting a bit monotonous sunny and 77 degrees predicted for today. All up and sorted for 805am arrived at Universal Orlando at 830. Regular parking is $8, but am intrigued by the preferred option for $12. Given the distance between the car lots and the entrance to Citywalk, let alone the parks, I wondered whether we might end up at, say, the side of the multiplex cinema? In for a cent, in for a dollar, as they say, so I stumped up the extra $$ and got a window ticket stuck under the wiper for the CMs to see and direct us accordingly. I must admit to mild disappointment with the result of the experiment, as preferred status simply places you on the 3rd level of one of the 2 huge multi-storey car parks, i.e. at the same level as the moving walkways and possibly a bit closer to the hub where the two lots are connected. Conclusion: $4 to avoid climbing two, short escalators! (In fairness, if you dont arrive early, when you will automatically get a low-ish floor and probably near the walkways, it may save a bit of time, but I cant actually say wed ever be likely to arrive at Universal after 830 for any reason we come here for the rides and attractions at both parks, not to mooch and chill as we do at Epcot, and by late morning the crowds are unacceptable to us.)
We walk through Citywalk and go straight to the IOA gate, arriving at 840am. This time the park IS open and we march smartly to Hulk to get Universal Express passes (1000am 1100am return window) for Bethany and I, before all dashing to Spiderman (everyone in our familys favourite attraction in ANY of the parks bar none!) (we get 4, as Heather and Adam wont ride coasters). This takes maybe 2 minutes, and we run back to the corner where we left Adam and Heather to find DS on his own. He informs me that Heather has strolled off to the Restrooms. I cant believe that she would allow bodily functions to sabotage my intensive touring plan she wasnt supposed to pee until after wed split up following Spiderman! I can feel myself getting hot and starting to sweat when she FINALLY returns (perhaps 2 minutes later, poor girl!) and I whip them all past Dr Dooms Fearfall (never tried this one Beth and I have done similar rides in the UK and werent massively thrilled) and into Spidey. I look even sillier now, as its a walk-on and we are back out by 900am!!
What can you say about Spiderman? Id read loads about it before riding for the first time last trip, and I hadnt got even close to the essence of the experience. Sure, its a moving ride/ simulator that also uses 3D effects, but that tells you NOTHING! Just do it its safe (IMO) for young and old alike, frail or hearty, and I would shake my head sadly if I bumped into you in the future and learned that youd missed it for some reason.
Heather and Adam express a desire to ride again, but Beth and I are itching for Dragons. We split up, arranging to meet at 1030 below Hulk, in case the walkie-talkies dont work later. Me n Beth get our skates on and proceed swiftly through Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park to the Lost Continent I always feel a bit guilty about not lingering longer in these beautifully themed areas, but its their own fault for putting roller coasters in the park too! We arrive at Duelling Dragons to see that wonderful sight Wait Time 0 minutes. We make use of the free lockers adjacent to the entrance (remember the fingerprint scanners at MIB? Same here now) and enter the ride. For those who have never experienced DD, be warned the next 10 minutes is spent getting to the loading area through what must be between 0.25 and 0.5 mile of winding, twisting paths, dungeons and labyrinths, first outside and then within the ride building (castle themed). Its a real marathon, and weve only ever done it when the ride was completely quiet! I certainly would not want to be here after lunch in July or August you would wish you were actually in jail! The theming inside and outside the castle is detailed and carefully presented, but we always dash past with only the most cursory of inspections we want to RIDE to paraphrase Del Boy sightseeings for wimps!
At a certain point close to the end of the dungeons there are fairly discreet signs indicating the two options Ice Dragon or Fire Dragon. We pick Ice and are being seated within seconds! (There is a modest line of maybe 6 people for the front seats, but the rest of the carriages are empty!) We sit in the second row and are off! DD is an inverted coaster, where you are suspended from above and your feet swing freely below (think Nemesis at Alton Towers in the UK.) This, I believe, makes loops much more of an experience (fun!) than on conventional coasters! The two coasters aim to set off up the hill together, and even if they dont, the lead one will stop briefly, part way up for the other to catch up. We ride, and its as good as ever! On exit, when DD is quiet, they open Return to The Dragons gates just outside the exit, so you can line up again without doing the dungeon marathon first! We take immediate advantage of this thoughtful design feature and choose Fire next! This time we wait for the front seats (only two trains later) and take our positions with glee! Whilst there is always a better view and more fear factor in the front seats of any similar ride, Dragons has a couple of extras which make this even more special at a couple of places the two coasters paths intersect and they are separated by only a few feet an almost collision that really tightens your bits up! The best one is where they are both screaming along opposing, horizontal paths, CLEARLY about to smash head-on at a combined speed of about 100mph (and youre in the front seats, remember!) when they both transition to vertical tracks at the critical moment and you shoot skywards again! Ive done this quite a few times now, and I swear that the feet of the passengers in the two trains are only about a foot apart as they separate! Pheww!
We use the re-entry gates for another ride on each Dragon and then decide that its close enough to 1000am for us to be making tracks back to Hulk for our next adrenalin fix. Final point Ive seen quite a lot of debate on various boards about which is the best ride, Ice or Fire? To be honest, they are both fantastic and very similar. If tortured in the castle dungeon, I might have to admit a very slight preference for Fire it feels a touch smoother, but Id not swear to it in court!
We retrieve our bags from the lockers (first 1.25 hours free) and walk back the way we came to Marvel Super Hero Island and enter the UE return gate (so we think) for Hulk. Now, I am sure that the park design team intended Hulk to dominate this side of the park, and they deliberately kept it NOISY! It howls and drones above you (like a howly, droney thing) and with the clashing muzak from the adjacent Super Hero street it creates audio anarchy around the ride entrance. Add to this the effects of the crowds that form in the area very early on, and chaos never seems far away. Now why the heck did I ramble on about this you say? Because it may explain how Bethany and I ended up in the Single Rider line on the loading platform! The CMs looked pityingly at the pretty English girl with the idiot father and allowed us to slip under the rope and join the correct side. Beth promises to keep hold of my hand from now on and wipe the drool from my chin before it messes the seats and we are loaded quickly and RIDE! This is, in my humble opinion, probably the best coaster in Florida. Although its a conventional sitting above the track beastie, its fast, long and smoooooth! But the real news is the launch remember all those clunk-clunk-clunk ascents on every coaster from Blackpool Pleasure Beachs Big Dipper to Duelling Dragons? Nuh-huh! Not here, matey! This beauty RAMS you up the enclosed launch tube hydraulically, to exit into daylight 100 ft or so higher, upside down, doing about 45 mph! In fairness, the Rock N Roller Coaster at MGM Studios has a similar claim to fame, but (and I love the RnRC) as its inside and dark, I dont think it competes with Hulk for sheer outrage.
Heres some more good news although we had a total of 4 UE passes for this ride, guess what? We STILL have a total of 4 UEs, as we bypassed the point in the entrance process when you are relieved of them by being in the single rider line! We ride again, relinquishing 2 passes this time (and I remove my bandana as a cunning disguise, in case the CMs at the loading area remember us.) Same, superb experience! My only regret with Hulk is that, as we always ride with UEs, we never get in the front seats these are reserved for the poor souls who have waited upwards of an hour (and then, I guess, another 30 minutes or so for the front!) in the stand-by line. Never mind!
Much to Beths annoyance, I make an executive decision that we should now quit, while were ahead, and not use the last 2 passes to ride again. Time is moving ever onwards and we should be trying to catch up with Heather and Adam now. We lurk around the entrance to Hulk looking for a couple with sad faces. We spot a pair and offer them our spare UEs. They are pleased to accept and we wish them fun before calling at the adjacent restrooms and raising Heather and Adam on the W/Ts. We meet at 1035 as planned, below Hulk. In the last 1.5 hours, Adam & Heather have repeat-ridden Spiderman, done Cat in the Hat, Carro-seuss-el, and Adam has done a seasonal, ice slidey thing called Mount Crumpit Snow Plummit in the same area. They have also taken a picture of Heather next to the wonderfully twisty Seuss Christmas Tree and with her favourite character, The Cat in the Hat himself!
Heather Adam and I all like the CITH ride a lot and we decide to ride again. Bethany opted out last trip, as she wasnt demeaning herself doing kiddie rides, Cool-Coastress that she was. However, this time we insist she tries it. Slight hitch though stand-by time is posted at 40 minutes, so we opt for UEs. Given that it is 1055 now, we are surprised and pleased to see that the return window is 1100-1200. We wander the stores in the locality to kill the 5 minutes off and Heather buys a CITH t-shirt (to wear when we see the film back home). We enter the ride at 1102 and smugly bypass the lengthy Stand-by lines (if only they knew!). The ride is a cracker and we all come out smiling, even Beth,(but dont tell anyone!)
Coffee lag has set in now, so we go back to the Port of Entry for coffee and cookies at The Croissant Moon bakery. Theres a bit of a line here, probably longer than any of the rides weve done in the park today! Soon sorted, though, and we sit outside in the warm sunshine to enjoy our bounty. At this point we are virtually ready to call it a day, having done most of our favourite stuff (although if alone I would do the Jurassic River Adventure, but Beth wont do wet rides and Adam doesnt do steep drops and Heather wont do either! LOL!). However, Adam is somewhat miffed at missing Popeye & Blutos Bilge Rat Barge ride, so I agree to go on with him, as, if we are leaving, I can get a change of clothes at the villa. We return to Toon Lagoon and we visit the restroom to strip off underwear and socks etc. The ride was a walk-on, about 5 minutes to boarding, and we set off. Heather has positioned herself above the start and videos the event for posterity! Several of our co-riders have taken great pains to wrap up in ponchos and cagoules and look pityingly at our temporarily dry state. For newbies, this ride is the daddy of the Orlando options. Its much longer, and rougher (and wetter!) than Kali River rapids at AK, although the theming is obviously animation characters and scenery rather than pseudo-naturalistic rain forest. We love it! Theres an escalator after the first downhill sections, cunningly disguised as Blutos Boat Wash, and you get a second, bonus descent. Guess what? We get modestly splashed, but in no way saturated! It all depends on luck and which way you are facing at critical moments. Some of the other, cling-filmed riders get SOAKED! Ha!
Its about 110pm now and still warm, although a bit cloudier. The park is starting to feel very busy and we are glad to leave. We notice, in passing, that Spiderman is now a 90 minute wait, and I bet all the UEs have gone for the day! Ive said it before, NO ride is worth a 90 minute wait to me. We make a quick stop in the bigger store at Port of Entry and succeed in finding the packable shorts for my dad.
Quick conflab on the way to the car and we decide to visit the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts to survey and have a late lunch at Beaches n Cream. Our confidence navigating WDW has grown enormously since our first visit and thanks to my mighty mental map we are soon approaching the Y&BC. We tell security our cunning plan and he just waves us through without ID check. We decide to Valet Park so that we can feel like proper guests. It backfires slightly, if humorously, when we try to pay only to be advised that, dont worry, sir, well charge it to your room! Well, we HAVE to enter the hotel lobby now, dont we, or else the games up. They can throw me off Disney property later, but first I need a burger! We walk out onto the little boardwalk bit (with views across to the real Boardwalk over the lake) and admire the sandy beach and the pool areas. I ask a Life Guard for directions and we are soon at the doors of this esteemed diner. I must admit, it appears a lot more restrained externally than I had imagined, but once inside we are pleased with the freshness and the 50s styling. Even the servers (here I actually prefer waitress) uniforms are spot on. Although busy, (1:45pm now) we are seated at the last empty table, near the Jukebox and entrance. Teri introduces herself and we order shakes all round, (2 strawberry for the ladies, choc for Adam and Pecan for me). We all want cheeseburgers (mines a double) with fries and a side of onion rings. The food is first-class and we finish the oversized portions with some effort. We decline Teris kind offer of dessert (even if shed been paying, I would have had to say no!) and we marvel at the two families trying to get outside Kitchen Sinks! There was enough ice cream in the shake for me, thanks! Check was $70 incl decent tip . Possibly a bit steep for burger and chips and a milkshake at Macky Dees back home, but this was worth every penny!
We retrieve our car from Valet Services, with a suitable explanation and payment, and are on the way back at 2:50pm. We call in at the Winn Dixie store near home for more beer and are showered and in-pool by 3:30. Deck thermometer reads 80 F, and even if it is in the sun, Im preening in the heat! AT & T rang shortly after to sell us cheaper call-time. Had a heck of a job persuading them that we were tenants and that the bill-payer lived in England!
Even Heather made it into the pool today she normally sneaks off for a crafty kip when Im outside with the kids! We lounged and swam, hot-tubbed and lazed until 600pm, when it got dark and started to cool off too much for skin. Kids discovered The Simpsons on TV so we watched until 7:00pm. I took orders for subs and drove back to the 192 for tea from Subway. On my return Adam had fallen asleep on one of the sofas (we have 3, by the way!) so we ate without him. We watched Crocodile Dundee on telly for a while. Bethany went for bath & bed at 9:00pm. Heather and I chatted about tomorrows agenda and tested a few beers to make sure they hadnt gone off. Adam awoke at 10:00pm to be put to bed! He was a bit annoyed at missing his sub, but I think it was more on principle than anything else, as he was asleep again in 5 minutes! We only lasted until 1030 and fell into bed.
Tomorrows plan: (Christmas Eve) Magic Kingdom and PS at Spoodles.
Thanks for reading!
Mike
Mike, 39, chief organiser, driver and brew maker
Heather, 40, wife and mum
Bethany, 11 (going on 20!), coaster addict, hates getting wet.
Adam, 9, (going on 8!), hates coasters (except BTMRR), LOVES getting wet!
DAY 6 TUESDAY 23RD DECEMBER 2003
Todays plan : Coaster day! Islands of Adventure!
Woken at 600am by my alarm (I use my Nokia mobile as an alarm clock on holiday, instead of trying to work out the functions of the villa one, usually by discovering what makes it go off at 0300am!) Went to the kitchen to make coffee and was annoyed to hear another alarm going off in the bedrooms must be Adam with his wristwatch. I trot back to admonish him, fearing that he will wake Heather (and theres no tea ready yet, does he not understand the consequences of such foolishness?) only to discover that its coming from our room I must have hit the snooze function in the dark! Burst in, hoping Heather hadnt woken, only to find her beating hell out of the villa alarm clock in a very befuddled state! Oops! Made amends by doing the tea thing!
Weather forecast is getting a bit monotonous sunny and 77 degrees predicted for today. All up and sorted for 805am arrived at Universal Orlando at 830. Regular parking is $8, but am intrigued by the preferred option for $12. Given the distance between the car lots and the entrance to Citywalk, let alone the parks, I wondered whether we might end up at, say, the side of the multiplex cinema? In for a cent, in for a dollar, as they say, so I stumped up the extra $$ and got a window ticket stuck under the wiper for the CMs to see and direct us accordingly. I must admit to mild disappointment with the result of the experiment, as preferred status simply places you on the 3rd level of one of the 2 huge multi-storey car parks, i.e. at the same level as the moving walkways and possibly a bit closer to the hub where the two lots are connected. Conclusion: $4 to avoid climbing two, short escalators! (In fairness, if you dont arrive early, when you will automatically get a low-ish floor and probably near the walkways, it may save a bit of time, but I cant actually say wed ever be likely to arrive at Universal after 830 for any reason we come here for the rides and attractions at both parks, not to mooch and chill as we do at Epcot, and by late morning the crowds are unacceptable to us.)
We walk through Citywalk and go straight to the IOA gate, arriving at 840am. This time the park IS open and we march smartly to Hulk to get Universal Express passes (1000am 1100am return window) for Bethany and I, before all dashing to Spiderman (everyone in our familys favourite attraction in ANY of the parks bar none!) (we get 4, as Heather and Adam wont ride coasters). This takes maybe 2 minutes, and we run back to the corner where we left Adam and Heather to find DS on his own. He informs me that Heather has strolled off to the Restrooms. I cant believe that she would allow bodily functions to sabotage my intensive touring plan she wasnt supposed to pee until after wed split up following Spiderman! I can feel myself getting hot and starting to sweat when she FINALLY returns (perhaps 2 minutes later, poor girl!) and I whip them all past Dr Dooms Fearfall (never tried this one Beth and I have done similar rides in the UK and werent massively thrilled) and into Spidey. I look even sillier now, as its a walk-on and we are back out by 900am!!
What can you say about Spiderman? Id read loads about it before riding for the first time last trip, and I hadnt got even close to the essence of the experience. Sure, its a moving ride/ simulator that also uses 3D effects, but that tells you NOTHING! Just do it its safe (IMO) for young and old alike, frail or hearty, and I would shake my head sadly if I bumped into you in the future and learned that youd missed it for some reason.
Heather and Adam express a desire to ride again, but Beth and I are itching for Dragons. We split up, arranging to meet at 1030 below Hulk, in case the walkie-talkies dont work later. Me n Beth get our skates on and proceed swiftly through Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park to the Lost Continent I always feel a bit guilty about not lingering longer in these beautifully themed areas, but its their own fault for putting roller coasters in the park too! We arrive at Duelling Dragons to see that wonderful sight Wait Time 0 minutes. We make use of the free lockers adjacent to the entrance (remember the fingerprint scanners at MIB? Same here now) and enter the ride. For those who have never experienced DD, be warned the next 10 minutes is spent getting to the loading area through what must be between 0.25 and 0.5 mile of winding, twisting paths, dungeons and labyrinths, first outside and then within the ride building (castle themed). Its a real marathon, and weve only ever done it when the ride was completely quiet! I certainly would not want to be here after lunch in July or August you would wish you were actually in jail! The theming inside and outside the castle is detailed and carefully presented, but we always dash past with only the most cursory of inspections we want to RIDE to paraphrase Del Boy sightseeings for wimps!
At a certain point close to the end of the dungeons there are fairly discreet signs indicating the two options Ice Dragon or Fire Dragon. We pick Ice and are being seated within seconds! (There is a modest line of maybe 6 people for the front seats, but the rest of the carriages are empty!) We sit in the second row and are off! DD is an inverted coaster, where you are suspended from above and your feet swing freely below (think Nemesis at Alton Towers in the UK.) This, I believe, makes loops much more of an experience (fun!) than on conventional coasters! The two coasters aim to set off up the hill together, and even if they dont, the lead one will stop briefly, part way up for the other to catch up. We ride, and its as good as ever! On exit, when DD is quiet, they open Return to The Dragons gates just outside the exit, so you can line up again without doing the dungeon marathon first! We take immediate advantage of this thoughtful design feature and choose Fire next! This time we wait for the front seats (only two trains later) and take our positions with glee! Whilst there is always a better view and more fear factor in the front seats of any similar ride, Dragons has a couple of extras which make this even more special at a couple of places the two coasters paths intersect and they are separated by only a few feet an almost collision that really tightens your bits up! The best one is where they are both screaming along opposing, horizontal paths, CLEARLY about to smash head-on at a combined speed of about 100mph (and youre in the front seats, remember!) when they both transition to vertical tracks at the critical moment and you shoot skywards again! Ive done this quite a few times now, and I swear that the feet of the passengers in the two trains are only about a foot apart as they separate! Pheww!
We use the re-entry gates for another ride on each Dragon and then decide that its close enough to 1000am for us to be making tracks back to Hulk for our next adrenalin fix. Final point Ive seen quite a lot of debate on various boards about which is the best ride, Ice or Fire? To be honest, they are both fantastic and very similar. If tortured in the castle dungeon, I might have to admit a very slight preference for Fire it feels a touch smoother, but Id not swear to it in court!
We retrieve our bags from the lockers (first 1.25 hours free) and walk back the way we came to Marvel Super Hero Island and enter the UE return gate (so we think) for Hulk. Now, I am sure that the park design team intended Hulk to dominate this side of the park, and they deliberately kept it NOISY! It howls and drones above you (like a howly, droney thing) and with the clashing muzak from the adjacent Super Hero street it creates audio anarchy around the ride entrance. Add to this the effects of the crowds that form in the area very early on, and chaos never seems far away. Now why the heck did I ramble on about this you say? Because it may explain how Bethany and I ended up in the Single Rider line on the loading platform! The CMs looked pityingly at the pretty English girl with the idiot father and allowed us to slip under the rope and join the correct side. Beth promises to keep hold of my hand from now on and wipe the drool from my chin before it messes the seats and we are loaded quickly and RIDE! This is, in my humble opinion, probably the best coaster in Florida. Although its a conventional sitting above the track beastie, its fast, long and smoooooth! But the real news is the launch remember all those clunk-clunk-clunk ascents on every coaster from Blackpool Pleasure Beachs Big Dipper to Duelling Dragons? Nuh-huh! Not here, matey! This beauty RAMS you up the enclosed launch tube hydraulically, to exit into daylight 100 ft or so higher, upside down, doing about 45 mph! In fairness, the Rock N Roller Coaster at MGM Studios has a similar claim to fame, but (and I love the RnRC) as its inside and dark, I dont think it competes with Hulk for sheer outrage.
Heres some more good news although we had a total of 4 UE passes for this ride, guess what? We STILL have a total of 4 UEs, as we bypassed the point in the entrance process when you are relieved of them by being in the single rider line! We ride again, relinquishing 2 passes this time (and I remove my bandana as a cunning disguise, in case the CMs at the loading area remember us.) Same, superb experience! My only regret with Hulk is that, as we always ride with UEs, we never get in the front seats these are reserved for the poor souls who have waited upwards of an hour (and then, I guess, another 30 minutes or so for the front!) in the stand-by line. Never mind!
Much to Beths annoyance, I make an executive decision that we should now quit, while were ahead, and not use the last 2 passes to ride again. Time is moving ever onwards and we should be trying to catch up with Heather and Adam now. We lurk around the entrance to Hulk looking for a couple with sad faces. We spot a pair and offer them our spare UEs. They are pleased to accept and we wish them fun before calling at the adjacent restrooms and raising Heather and Adam on the W/Ts. We meet at 1035 as planned, below Hulk. In the last 1.5 hours, Adam & Heather have repeat-ridden Spiderman, done Cat in the Hat, Carro-seuss-el, and Adam has done a seasonal, ice slidey thing called Mount Crumpit Snow Plummit in the same area. They have also taken a picture of Heather next to the wonderfully twisty Seuss Christmas Tree and with her favourite character, The Cat in the Hat himself!
Heather Adam and I all like the CITH ride a lot and we decide to ride again. Bethany opted out last trip, as she wasnt demeaning herself doing kiddie rides, Cool-Coastress that she was. However, this time we insist she tries it. Slight hitch though stand-by time is posted at 40 minutes, so we opt for UEs. Given that it is 1055 now, we are surprised and pleased to see that the return window is 1100-1200. We wander the stores in the locality to kill the 5 minutes off and Heather buys a CITH t-shirt (to wear when we see the film back home). We enter the ride at 1102 and smugly bypass the lengthy Stand-by lines (if only they knew!). The ride is a cracker and we all come out smiling, even Beth,(but dont tell anyone!)
Coffee lag has set in now, so we go back to the Port of Entry for coffee and cookies at The Croissant Moon bakery. Theres a bit of a line here, probably longer than any of the rides weve done in the park today! Soon sorted, though, and we sit outside in the warm sunshine to enjoy our bounty. At this point we are virtually ready to call it a day, having done most of our favourite stuff (although if alone I would do the Jurassic River Adventure, but Beth wont do wet rides and Adam doesnt do steep drops and Heather wont do either! LOL!). However, Adam is somewhat miffed at missing Popeye & Blutos Bilge Rat Barge ride, so I agree to go on with him, as, if we are leaving, I can get a change of clothes at the villa. We return to Toon Lagoon and we visit the restroom to strip off underwear and socks etc. The ride was a walk-on, about 5 minutes to boarding, and we set off. Heather has positioned herself above the start and videos the event for posterity! Several of our co-riders have taken great pains to wrap up in ponchos and cagoules and look pityingly at our temporarily dry state. For newbies, this ride is the daddy of the Orlando options. Its much longer, and rougher (and wetter!) than Kali River rapids at AK, although the theming is obviously animation characters and scenery rather than pseudo-naturalistic rain forest. We love it! Theres an escalator after the first downhill sections, cunningly disguised as Blutos Boat Wash, and you get a second, bonus descent. Guess what? We get modestly splashed, but in no way saturated! It all depends on luck and which way you are facing at critical moments. Some of the other, cling-filmed riders get SOAKED! Ha!
Its about 110pm now and still warm, although a bit cloudier. The park is starting to feel very busy and we are glad to leave. We notice, in passing, that Spiderman is now a 90 minute wait, and I bet all the UEs have gone for the day! Ive said it before, NO ride is worth a 90 minute wait to me. We make a quick stop in the bigger store at Port of Entry and succeed in finding the packable shorts for my dad.
Quick conflab on the way to the car and we decide to visit the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts to survey and have a late lunch at Beaches n Cream. Our confidence navigating WDW has grown enormously since our first visit and thanks to my mighty mental map we are soon approaching the Y&BC. We tell security our cunning plan and he just waves us through without ID check. We decide to Valet Park so that we can feel like proper guests. It backfires slightly, if humorously, when we try to pay only to be advised that, dont worry, sir, well charge it to your room! Well, we HAVE to enter the hotel lobby now, dont we, or else the games up. They can throw me off Disney property later, but first I need a burger! We walk out onto the little boardwalk bit (with views across to the real Boardwalk over the lake) and admire the sandy beach and the pool areas. I ask a Life Guard for directions and we are soon at the doors of this esteemed diner. I must admit, it appears a lot more restrained externally than I had imagined, but once inside we are pleased with the freshness and the 50s styling. Even the servers (here I actually prefer waitress) uniforms are spot on. Although busy, (1:45pm now) we are seated at the last empty table, near the Jukebox and entrance. Teri introduces herself and we order shakes all round, (2 strawberry for the ladies, choc for Adam and Pecan for me). We all want cheeseburgers (mines a double) with fries and a side of onion rings. The food is first-class and we finish the oversized portions with some effort. We decline Teris kind offer of dessert (even if shed been paying, I would have had to say no!) and we marvel at the two families trying to get outside Kitchen Sinks! There was enough ice cream in the shake for me, thanks! Check was $70 incl decent tip . Possibly a bit steep for burger and chips and a milkshake at Macky Dees back home, but this was worth every penny!
We retrieve our car from Valet Services, with a suitable explanation and payment, and are on the way back at 2:50pm. We call in at the Winn Dixie store near home for more beer and are showered and in-pool by 3:30. Deck thermometer reads 80 F, and even if it is in the sun, Im preening in the heat! AT & T rang shortly after to sell us cheaper call-time. Had a heck of a job persuading them that we were tenants and that the bill-payer lived in England!
Even Heather made it into the pool today she normally sneaks off for a crafty kip when Im outside with the kids! We lounged and swam, hot-tubbed and lazed until 600pm, when it got dark and started to cool off too much for skin. Kids discovered The Simpsons on TV so we watched until 7:00pm. I took orders for subs and drove back to the 192 for tea from Subway. On my return Adam had fallen asleep on one of the sofas (we have 3, by the way!) so we ate without him. We watched Crocodile Dundee on telly for a while. Bethany went for bath & bed at 9:00pm. Heather and I chatted about tomorrows agenda and tested a few beers to make sure they hadnt gone off. Adam awoke at 10:00pm to be put to bed! He was a bit annoyed at missing his sub, but I think it was more on principle than anything else, as he was asleep again in 5 minutes! We only lasted until 1030 and fell into bed.
Tomorrows plan: (Christmas Eve) Magic Kingdom and PS at Spoodles.
Thanks for reading!
Mike
