TLinden16
Scotty and Ray at Jelly Rolls are the best!
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2002
- Messages
- 16,243
Day 2Friday, December 5, 2003
I woke up at about 6:00 and couldnt fall back to sleep after just two and a half hours of sleep. I got up, dressed, and headed to the Old Port Royale for breakfast. I got French Toast and Breakfast Potatoes. It was very good, but it could have been a bit warmer.
I then took the Mears Motor Coach to Universal. The Motor Coach picked me up right on time at 8:35. After dropping a family off at Discovery Cove, we arrived at Universal Studios just a few minutes after 9:00. I walked directly to Islands of Adventure and went to the Cat in the Hat Ride. This ride is really cute. I love the way the cars swing around. My cell phone actually rang while I was on the ride, and I took it out, but then decided it wasnt a good idea to be talking on the phone while the car spun around.
I then went over to the Hulk Roller Coaster. I usually take my glasses off for a ride on the coasters at Universal, but this time I brought an old pair of glasses that I wouldnt care if they fell off. Riding that coaster is a lot more thrilling when you can actually see where you are going.
I then went and rode on the Spiderman ride twice. This is one of the best rides in any theme park. The 3D effects are fantastic (I have an eye condition that keeps me from seeing most 3D effects, but I can see these ones). The second time I rode, some parents brought their child on the ride kicking and screaming. I really hate it when parents force their kids on a ride. This poor little boy was terrified, and the other people in the vehicle had to listen to him screech while they were trying to enjoy the ride. Please dont force your kids to go on any ride that they are apprehensive about. Its not fair to your child or to the other people trying to enjoy that ride.
After riding Spiderman, I started to head toward the Jurrassic Park ride. I had decided to skip the raft and log flume rides because it was too cool out for me to be walking around in wet clothes all day. One of these days, Ill have to go to Universal in the summer so that I can actually ride these rides and not mind getting drenched.
On my way to Jurrassic Park, I ran into a few charactersPopeye, Olive Oyl, and Bullwinkle. I had my picture taken with Popeye.
I then rode on Jurrassic Park. I have never actually seen the Jurrassic Park movies, but I like this ride. The big drop is a lot of fun. The only thing that bugs me about the ride is when the heavy lap bar squishes my stomach on the way up.
I then headed over to Dueling Dragons and rode on Fire and Ice back to back. When I got in line for ice, a very nice employee named Brady offered me a seat in the front row without waiting in line for it. Let me tell you, riding Dueling Dragons from the front row is the place to be. When you sit further back, you dont get the same thrill of the near misses that you get when you are in the front row. And wearing my glasses made the ride even more thrilling because I could see where I was going. I thanked Brady repeatedly for letting me ride up front.
I started to head out of the park and head to Universal Studios when I saw the line to meet the Grinch. There was a 20 minute wait, and I debated whether or not I wanted to wait. One of the staff at the line told me it was worth the wait, so I jumped in line, figuring that I could use it for my Christmas card this year. The 20 minute wait was well over a half hour. I was entertained while I waited in line by the cutest little boy six year old from England named Jay. He kept on doing magic tricks for me. He could take my eyes away. He would cover his eye, and then close it. He must have did this 20 times for me. Finally he said to me, Do you like me? I told him that I did like him, and thought he was the best magician. He was so cute.
After being in line 30 minutes, I was a bit frustrated that I had been waiting for so long. There was still another 15 minutes worth of people in front of me. Part of me wanted to get out of line, but I figured that I already put that much time in so I better keep on waiting for the Grinch. I looked up and saw the Grinch walking through the line. He pointed at me and said, You. How many people in your party? I replied, Just me. He said, Follow me. So I followed the Grinch through the line joking to all the people I cut that I had a date with the Grinch. I had my picture taken with the Grinch and Max.
I shelled out $36 for two 5x7 in frames and eight wallet size pictures. I have to say that this was one area where I noticed the difference between how Disney handles things and how Universal handles things. Everytime Ive gotten pictures at Disney, they put the pictures in the frames, and have them sized properly. At Universal, they just printed the pictures, and threw them in a folder.
After meeting the Grinch, I went to Universal Studios and got in line for the Jimmy Neutron ride. It was fun, but I prefer the old Hanna Barbera ride. Im a huge Flintstones and Jetsons fan, so I always loved that one. But I guess the kids like the Nicelodeon characters so thats fine. When I exited the ride, I was first in line to meet Spongebob Square Pants.
I grabbed some lunch at the Monster Café, and it was probably the worst meal of my trip. I got a pepperoni pizza, and it was the worst pizza Ive ever had. I wound up throwing most of it out.
I then went and rode on Men In Black. I really like this ride. I was the top scorer in my car (go me). I then headed over to ET. This ride is cute, but its getting a little tired. I think they should give this one a good update.
I then went to do some shopping at the big store at the entrance to Universal Studios. I have to say that the quality of the clothing at Universal was horrible. Everything seemed thin and cheaply made. I tried on a polar fleece pull over, and the one that fit me was two sizes below my normal size. The sleeves on the shirt were so long that youd have to be a gorilla for them to fit. I wound up buying a few pins and some stickers at Universal Studios.
I headed to the bus stop to wait for my Mears shuttle back to the Caribbean Beach Resort. The shuttle was 20 minutes late. I had to call to get them to send a van to pick me up. I finally made it back to my room around 3:30.
I quickly got ready for my big evening out at the Drink Around the World Meet and Jellyrolls. I headed over to Epcot and activated my annual pass. The lines to get into Epcot were terrible. I waited a good 10 minutes in line just to get through the turnstyles. I dont know why it was so busy to get in that night.
I went to the Electric Umbrella to grab a bite to eat. I had a quick and casual dinner voucher from connections, so I got a cheeseburger and fries, chocolate cream pie, and a diet coke. I have to say that the quality of the burgers at Disney World has gone way down hill. Even when I loaded it with condiments, it still tasted horrible. I wound up throwing half of it away. The chocolate cream pie was very good, though.
After dinner, I had some time to kill before the Drink Around the World Meet, so I did some browsing in the Mouse Gear shop. I always seem to have luck in this store. I made mental note of some items that I would purchase later in the week.
I then walked to the United Kingdom to meet the Drink Around the World group. They were easy to spot thanks to Towncriers Drink Around the World flag. It was great to finally meet some Disers who I had PMd and chatted with in the past year. It was great to be able to put faces to the Dis user names. Im not even going to begin to list all of the wonderful Disers I met that night for fear that I would leave someone off the list. Ill just say that everyone I met was super nicethe group greatly exceeded any expectations that I had for the Dis group.
I left the Drink Around the World meet at 7:30 to head over to Jellyrolls for the meet that I had set up. I was a bit nervous about my first big meet because I was afraid that no one would be there. But those fears quickly went away when I saw the a lime green Dis lanyard. Navtivetxn, MackeyMouse, and WebmasterDoc and his lovely wife were waiting outside when I got there. It was so wonderful to meet all of them. I work about two miles from MackeyMouses house, and I joked about how I work so close to her, but had to travel 1100 miles to meet her. We stood outside for a while and waited for more Disers to show up.
I went into Jellyrolls shortly before 9:00 and saw One_Cat and his lovely wife Wendy sitting in there having a great time. We quickly grabbed a couple of tables, and waited for everyone else to show up. The Drink Around the World group showed up shortly before 10:00, and at the height of the meet, we had about 30 Disers at Jellyrolls. I was really overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up, and meeting everyone all at once. Again, Im not going to even attempt to list the names of all of the folks who were there because I dont want to miss anyone. Ill just say that I loved being at Jellyrolls with a great group of people, and loved everyone I met.
One of the piano guys, Tommy Bell, had asked what our group was, and we explained it to him. He kept on teasing us throughout the night. If we werent singing along, or singing loud enough, Tommy picked on us. I had warned Tommy the night before that we would be there. At the end of the night, I thanked Tommy for putting up with us, and he said that we were a really fun group.
Everyone seemed to be having a blast at Jellyrolls. FigmentVI was quite the dancing fool. Everytime I looked over at her, she was up dancing with her daughter Sydally9367. We pitched in and asked the piano guys to play Lime Green Submarine. It didnt go as well as I had hoped because I had requested it when my least favorite piano guyDrewwas onstage. Im just not a big fan of hishe seems bored onstage and has zero personality. He seemed a bit annoyed by the request. But we still had fun anyways.
I actually got onstage during the night. They were having a sing off between the two sides of the bar, and they needed an impartial judge. I volunteered to be the judge, promising Drew that I would be totally impartial. I had the support of my Dis friends as Drew made the decision to pick me to be the judge. The other side of the room sang first, and I completely blew them off. When it was the Dis side turn to sing, I motioned for them to get louder and louder. Of course the Dis side of the room was louder, and me, being the impartial judgenotpicked the Dis side of the room as the winner. Drew quickly threw me off the stage for my obvious favoritism towards the Dis side of the room, and he brought up a bouncer to be the judge. The other side of the room wound up winning the singing contest. Maybe they were louder, but we were having more fun.
We were very amused by one drunk girl at the bar that night. She was dancing like an idiot, and no matter what song was on, she started doing the motions that go along with The Unicorn song that they do at Jellyrolls every night. When she stopped, I tried to get KathyTX to get up and start doing the motions with me so that we could get the drunk girl going again.
Another funny moment happened when FigmentVI tried to outbid someone who was requesting a Jimmy Buffet song. She jumped on stage, and kept on putting more money on the piano. The other guy finally put more money on the piano to hear the song. I tried to console FigmentVI as she listened to the Buffet song. Tommy Bell did do another song for her that night.
KathyTX, FigmentVI, Sydally9367 and her hubby Tim, Alex, Travelin Tigger, JerseyDizDreamer, and I wound up closing down Jellyrolls that night. I really had a blast meeting everyone, and this was probably the best night of my trip! I cant believe how great everyone was, and it was nice to have so many new Dis friends.
I woke up at about 6:00 and couldnt fall back to sleep after just two and a half hours of sleep. I got up, dressed, and headed to the Old Port Royale for breakfast. I got French Toast and Breakfast Potatoes. It was very good, but it could have been a bit warmer.
I then took the Mears Motor Coach to Universal. The Motor Coach picked me up right on time at 8:35. After dropping a family off at Discovery Cove, we arrived at Universal Studios just a few minutes after 9:00. I walked directly to Islands of Adventure and went to the Cat in the Hat Ride. This ride is really cute. I love the way the cars swing around. My cell phone actually rang while I was on the ride, and I took it out, but then decided it wasnt a good idea to be talking on the phone while the car spun around.
I then went over to the Hulk Roller Coaster. I usually take my glasses off for a ride on the coasters at Universal, but this time I brought an old pair of glasses that I wouldnt care if they fell off. Riding that coaster is a lot more thrilling when you can actually see where you are going.
I then went and rode on the Spiderman ride twice. This is one of the best rides in any theme park. The 3D effects are fantastic (I have an eye condition that keeps me from seeing most 3D effects, but I can see these ones). The second time I rode, some parents brought their child on the ride kicking and screaming. I really hate it when parents force their kids on a ride. This poor little boy was terrified, and the other people in the vehicle had to listen to him screech while they were trying to enjoy the ride. Please dont force your kids to go on any ride that they are apprehensive about. Its not fair to your child or to the other people trying to enjoy that ride.
After riding Spiderman, I started to head toward the Jurrassic Park ride. I had decided to skip the raft and log flume rides because it was too cool out for me to be walking around in wet clothes all day. One of these days, Ill have to go to Universal in the summer so that I can actually ride these rides and not mind getting drenched.
On my way to Jurrassic Park, I ran into a few charactersPopeye, Olive Oyl, and Bullwinkle. I had my picture taken with Popeye.
I then rode on Jurrassic Park. I have never actually seen the Jurrassic Park movies, but I like this ride. The big drop is a lot of fun. The only thing that bugs me about the ride is when the heavy lap bar squishes my stomach on the way up.
I then headed over to Dueling Dragons and rode on Fire and Ice back to back. When I got in line for ice, a very nice employee named Brady offered me a seat in the front row without waiting in line for it. Let me tell you, riding Dueling Dragons from the front row is the place to be. When you sit further back, you dont get the same thrill of the near misses that you get when you are in the front row. And wearing my glasses made the ride even more thrilling because I could see where I was going. I thanked Brady repeatedly for letting me ride up front.
I started to head out of the park and head to Universal Studios when I saw the line to meet the Grinch. There was a 20 minute wait, and I debated whether or not I wanted to wait. One of the staff at the line told me it was worth the wait, so I jumped in line, figuring that I could use it for my Christmas card this year. The 20 minute wait was well over a half hour. I was entertained while I waited in line by the cutest little boy six year old from England named Jay. He kept on doing magic tricks for me. He could take my eyes away. He would cover his eye, and then close it. He must have did this 20 times for me. Finally he said to me, Do you like me? I told him that I did like him, and thought he was the best magician. He was so cute.
After being in line 30 minutes, I was a bit frustrated that I had been waiting for so long. There was still another 15 minutes worth of people in front of me. Part of me wanted to get out of line, but I figured that I already put that much time in so I better keep on waiting for the Grinch. I looked up and saw the Grinch walking through the line. He pointed at me and said, You. How many people in your party? I replied, Just me. He said, Follow me. So I followed the Grinch through the line joking to all the people I cut that I had a date with the Grinch. I had my picture taken with the Grinch and Max.
I shelled out $36 for two 5x7 in frames and eight wallet size pictures. I have to say that this was one area where I noticed the difference between how Disney handles things and how Universal handles things. Everytime Ive gotten pictures at Disney, they put the pictures in the frames, and have them sized properly. At Universal, they just printed the pictures, and threw them in a folder.
After meeting the Grinch, I went to Universal Studios and got in line for the Jimmy Neutron ride. It was fun, but I prefer the old Hanna Barbera ride. Im a huge Flintstones and Jetsons fan, so I always loved that one. But I guess the kids like the Nicelodeon characters so thats fine. When I exited the ride, I was first in line to meet Spongebob Square Pants.
I grabbed some lunch at the Monster Café, and it was probably the worst meal of my trip. I got a pepperoni pizza, and it was the worst pizza Ive ever had. I wound up throwing most of it out.
I then went and rode on Men In Black. I really like this ride. I was the top scorer in my car (go me). I then headed over to ET. This ride is cute, but its getting a little tired. I think they should give this one a good update.
I then went to do some shopping at the big store at the entrance to Universal Studios. I have to say that the quality of the clothing at Universal was horrible. Everything seemed thin and cheaply made. I tried on a polar fleece pull over, and the one that fit me was two sizes below my normal size. The sleeves on the shirt were so long that youd have to be a gorilla for them to fit. I wound up buying a few pins and some stickers at Universal Studios.
I headed to the bus stop to wait for my Mears shuttle back to the Caribbean Beach Resort. The shuttle was 20 minutes late. I had to call to get them to send a van to pick me up. I finally made it back to my room around 3:30.
I quickly got ready for my big evening out at the Drink Around the World Meet and Jellyrolls. I headed over to Epcot and activated my annual pass. The lines to get into Epcot were terrible. I waited a good 10 minutes in line just to get through the turnstyles. I dont know why it was so busy to get in that night.
I went to the Electric Umbrella to grab a bite to eat. I had a quick and casual dinner voucher from connections, so I got a cheeseburger and fries, chocolate cream pie, and a diet coke. I have to say that the quality of the burgers at Disney World has gone way down hill. Even when I loaded it with condiments, it still tasted horrible. I wound up throwing half of it away. The chocolate cream pie was very good, though.
After dinner, I had some time to kill before the Drink Around the World Meet, so I did some browsing in the Mouse Gear shop. I always seem to have luck in this store. I made mental note of some items that I would purchase later in the week.
I then walked to the United Kingdom to meet the Drink Around the World group. They were easy to spot thanks to Towncriers Drink Around the World flag. It was great to finally meet some Disers who I had PMd and chatted with in the past year. It was great to be able to put faces to the Dis user names. Im not even going to begin to list all of the wonderful Disers I met that night for fear that I would leave someone off the list. Ill just say that everyone I met was super nicethe group greatly exceeded any expectations that I had for the Dis group.
I left the Drink Around the World meet at 7:30 to head over to Jellyrolls for the meet that I had set up. I was a bit nervous about my first big meet because I was afraid that no one would be there. But those fears quickly went away when I saw the a lime green Dis lanyard. Navtivetxn, MackeyMouse, and WebmasterDoc and his lovely wife were waiting outside when I got there. It was so wonderful to meet all of them. I work about two miles from MackeyMouses house, and I joked about how I work so close to her, but had to travel 1100 miles to meet her. We stood outside for a while and waited for more Disers to show up.
I went into Jellyrolls shortly before 9:00 and saw One_Cat and his lovely wife Wendy sitting in there having a great time. We quickly grabbed a couple of tables, and waited for everyone else to show up. The Drink Around the World group showed up shortly before 10:00, and at the height of the meet, we had about 30 Disers at Jellyrolls. I was really overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up, and meeting everyone all at once. Again, Im not going to even attempt to list the names of all of the folks who were there because I dont want to miss anyone. Ill just say that I loved being at Jellyrolls with a great group of people, and loved everyone I met.
One of the piano guys, Tommy Bell, had asked what our group was, and we explained it to him. He kept on teasing us throughout the night. If we werent singing along, or singing loud enough, Tommy picked on us. I had warned Tommy the night before that we would be there. At the end of the night, I thanked Tommy for putting up with us, and he said that we were a really fun group.
Everyone seemed to be having a blast at Jellyrolls. FigmentVI was quite the dancing fool. Everytime I looked over at her, she was up dancing with her daughter Sydally9367. We pitched in and asked the piano guys to play Lime Green Submarine. It didnt go as well as I had hoped because I had requested it when my least favorite piano guyDrewwas onstage. Im just not a big fan of hishe seems bored onstage and has zero personality. He seemed a bit annoyed by the request. But we still had fun anyways.
I actually got onstage during the night. They were having a sing off between the two sides of the bar, and they needed an impartial judge. I volunteered to be the judge, promising Drew that I would be totally impartial. I had the support of my Dis friends as Drew made the decision to pick me to be the judge. The other side of the room sang first, and I completely blew them off. When it was the Dis side turn to sing, I motioned for them to get louder and louder. Of course the Dis side of the room was louder, and me, being the impartial judgenotpicked the Dis side of the room as the winner. Drew quickly threw me off the stage for my obvious favoritism towards the Dis side of the room, and he brought up a bouncer to be the judge. The other side of the room wound up winning the singing contest. Maybe they were louder, but we were having more fun.
We were very amused by one drunk girl at the bar that night. She was dancing like an idiot, and no matter what song was on, she started doing the motions that go along with The Unicorn song that they do at Jellyrolls every night. When she stopped, I tried to get KathyTX to get up and start doing the motions with me so that we could get the drunk girl going again.
Another funny moment happened when FigmentVI tried to outbid someone who was requesting a Jimmy Buffet song. She jumped on stage, and kept on putting more money on the piano. The other guy finally put more money on the piano to hear the song. I tried to console FigmentVI as she listened to the Buffet song. Tommy Bell did do another song for her that night.
KathyTX, FigmentVI, Sydally9367 and her hubby Tim, Alex, Travelin Tigger, JerseyDizDreamer, and I wound up closing down Jellyrolls that night. I really had a blast meeting everyone, and this was probably the best night of my trip! I cant believe how great everyone was, and it was nice to have so many new Dis friends.
