March Trip Report -- Part 2: Sea World -- Ovaltine, What’s With This Stuff?

[BarryHom]

March 9, 2001

The cast:
Me (the 29 year old)
Donna (aka Molokai Gram, didn't ask age, from Hawaii)
Ohai (Donna's DH, didn't ask age either, from Hawaii)

We arrived at Kraken and waited for people to show up. I didn't expect anyone to show up since no one signed up. We waited about 10 minutes and no one came. Donna and Ohai wanted to rest, so I took a ride on Kraken. This was probably the longest Kraken line I've seen. The front row line was running down the ramp. I haven't seen it that long. The other rows were about 8 to 10 people deep. Still, the wait was about five minutes. I rode in the third row. Wow! I think lunch was still digesting because my stomach was doing more flip-flops than usual. I got my Kraken fix for today!

Next ride was Journey Into Atlantis. We thought the wait was 45 minutes, but we turned the corner and it was 5! We stowed our gear in a locker and boarded. I advised Donna and Ohai not to sit in the front seat because that is the wettest. Donna and Ohai sat in the next to the last row and I sat in the last row. We did not get very wet. We just got a few splashes. The people who sat in the front were soaked. Their shirts, shorts, and legs were all wet! It was like they just got off Popeye at IOA! Donna wondered why I did not warn her about the end. That would have taken the fun out of it! Donna bought the on-ride photo. Ohai had his hands up! Now here is a guy who does not ride roller coasters, yet he has his hands up during the drop! They both enjoyed the ride. It was refreshing to get a little wet.

Donna wanted to go to the Hawaiian Rhythms show. A board visitor wanted to know if the show was authentic. I saw this once a while ago. I almost fell asleep during it. I remember updating my trip report while watching the show. I thought it was OK this time, but it seemed like something you would see at a bad Hawaiian tourist show. Donna pointed out the inaccuracies after the show. I posed with one of the dancers.

Next was the Intensity Games. Ohai wanted to sit and relax. Donna said that back in 1994, she saw a ski show with cowboys. I know the show was once Baywatch. The cowboy ski show sounded worse than Baywatch! The show was pretty entertaining and we sat on the Blue Thunder side. If I were to remember one thing about the show is that a young girl kept on yelling "Boo!" when the Green Machine appeared or was going to do their stunt. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't leaned over and yelled right beside my ear!

The last thing that Donna wanted to do was eat conch fritters at Captain Pete's Island Eats. Donna had eaten half of one and she did not like it. She did not finish the other half. The fritters were too chewy and seemed overcooked. It was kind of bland. The spicy mustard did not help! Donna was disappointed, since she was really looking forward to eat the conch fritters. Donna said that the fritters were something she craved, like Ovaltine. She never got to eat Ovaltine when she was growing up. When she finally got her own place and bought the stuff, she ate it and hated it! All I could think was what George said on “Seinfeld:” “Ovaltine, what’s with this stuff? The box is round, the food is round…it should be called Roundtine!”

It was getting close to 6 pm and it looked like rain, so we headed out. I gave them a ride back to the Hard Rock Hotel. They bought me food, so I will drive them back. Donna said that she took a free shuttle from the Hard Rock Hotel to Sea World. The bus was probably going to be crowded now since it was near the park’s closing time.

I dropped them off at the Hard Rock Hotel. Then I checked into the Portifino.

Barry Hom
Moderator, Universal and Sea World Boards

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[Molokai Gram]

Aloha,
I’m sending Barry the pictures so he can scan and post them.
Nope, didn’t ride Kraken...first roller coaster had to be Hulk. Journey Into Atlantis - actually it was Ohai who wondered about the warning for the ending. I had read about it and was aware of the ending. But Barry was very good to warn us about sitting in the front. At the bottom, we go around a curve and the water is like a mini-tsunami and overflows the front seat completely! The lady in that seat had a yellow shirt and white pants on, which became almost transparent after the soaking! Why does anyone go on water rides with thin light-colored clothes? Saw a lady who looked older than me (which means she was ancient) dressed in all-white who must have been seated in the
front seat. Believe me it was not a pretty sight.

Hawaiian Rhythms was the worse Hawaiian show and was a total embarrassment!
Klutzy me can dance a better hula and I am awful. The Tahitian dancing was horrible.
It was the first time I saw Tahitian dancers who were unable to shake smoothly or while
walking. Watch the hands, the hips were stuck! The Maori costumes and dancing
were good, but overall the show was not authentic. Barry and Ohai were very concerned that they would be pulled up to participate and so did not want to sit up front. (Actually, they
probably could have danced better than the girls did!)

The ski show, Intensity Games, was thrilling. No one water skies on our island and so it is all new to us. The kids were good and seemed so young. No one dared yell in my ear, so I enjoyed the show totally.

Conch fritters were such a disappointment. We have conch shells, but use them to blow like a horn in ethnic dancing and I do not know of anyone who eats them...maybe different kind of conch???
But Barry is right, it was an Ovaltine experience. Expectations definitely not met!
(BTW, my spell check suggested ovulating in place of Ovaltine????)

Didn’t know until Barry’s report that he only drove us home because we fed him. I thought
he did it because he enjoyed our company. But he is right that we would have been able to take the free shuttle from the HRH to and from Sea World.

Aloha, now what Barry???
Donna

 

[No11's Mom]

Thank you both for the reports. It is nice to have to takes on the same experience. Gives you more of an overall picture. Sounds like yall had a great time. Keep the reports coming!

 

[Robinrs]

You guys are crazy!

Again, WISH I WAS THERE!

-------------------------

MOM
Mother of Michael
Proverbs 3:5-6

<font color=purple>Co-Moderator of the Community and Universal/IOA Boards</font color=purple>