themepark
Wanted: Your trip reports!<br><font color=00cc22>I
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2003
- Messages
- 1,469
Cast of Characters:
Me...36 yr old mother of two
DD...10 yr old social events planner
DS... 7 yr old who thinks he is too old to hold his mother's hand
Tuesday, March 23
We all woke up at 8:00am. This is amazing for DS as he is usually up at 6:30 unless of course it's a school day then I have to drag him out of bed. We had breakfast in the room, fruit, poptarts and stuff I brought from home. Then we headed out down the walking path to IOA. I enjoyed walking through Port of Entry and soaking up the atmosphere. Someday I will spend more time going through the shops there. We first headed over to Spiderman and walked right on. Then we battled our way through the crowds to Cat In The Hat. They were having technical difficulties so the kids played for awhile in If I Ran the Zoo. We browsed through the shops in Seuss Landing and had pictures made with the Grinch who was making kissing noises to me and DD and he was also following DD around trying to scare her. I took pictures of the kids with The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. Then I saw a character I had not seen before. It's the guy from Green Eggs and Ham. He was with Sam I Am (who was holding a platter of green eggs and ham). Does that guy have a name?? Great picture! Sam I Am gave DS the fork with green eggs on it to hold. We went back to CITH ride and got on this time. When we exited the ride, I saw a someone I knew from home! I knew they were going to Orlando but I didn't imagine that we would actually run into them. I talked to the family for awhile and we all agreed that IOA was much more crowded than US had been the day before. We chatted so long that it was almost lunch time.
The kids and I headed for Mythos. Oh by the way, Tuesday was my day to pick where we ate. DD actually suggested we go to "that cave place" for lunch so I let her think she actually made the choice. I had the pan seared scallops from the low carb menu. I have been low carbing at home but did a terrible job while in Orlando except for this one meal. Anyway the dish was delicious and I would order it again. But it was not as good as the cedar planked bay of fundy salmon I had last summer. Yummm! I wanted to ruin my low carb plan and try the warm gooey banana dessert everyone raves about, but my server was obviously concerned about my diet because he disappeared and never came back to the table. Another server finally came with our bill. We left Mythos after taking a few photos and headed for the Flying Unicorn. We rode it 4 times and stopped only because it was time for the Sindbad Show. We enjoyed the show. I liked it better than last year, possibly because it wasn't August and we weren't sweating like pigs.
DS especially liked Kabob "I'm OK!" Sheesh Kabob!
After the show, we rode the Flying Unicorn 3 more times then I started feeling bad for passing all those same people up in line so we headed over to Jurassic Park. Fare Thee Well Flying Unicorn! We went on the Triceratops Discovery Trail and I don't know what I was expecting with this, but I expected it to be a little more than it was. Well it was neat to do once. The kids played in Camp Jurassic for a long time and I got a great picture of Ripsaw Falls from up there. It wasn't open, but they did have the water running and were sending empty boats down. We declined getting in line for Pteranadon Flyers because the posted wait time was 60 minutes. We are far too spoiled with FOTL to wait in that line.
The park was fairly crowded by now and I was trying to hold DS's hand to get through some of the more crowded spots but he wouldn't hear of it. What's up with that? He's only 7!
The weather was great...sunny and breezy but sometimes the breeze was quite strong so we opted not to do JPRA or Popeye's. I love Popeye's and was disappointed but I knew we would all be miserable after riding. We saw Popeye, Bluto, and Bullwinkle in Toon Lagoon. I bought the kids pretzels and a drink and we walked over to Marvel Super Hero Island. I bought myself an ice cream (so much for low carbing). It was a wonderful swirl ice cream in a waffle cone. I wish I had one now. After our snacks, we went to Spiderman but it was having technical difficulties so we decided to bid farewell to IOA for the day. DS is not tall enough to ride Dr. Doom (just a hair too short) or the Hulk and I cannot tolerate spinning rides like Storm Force so we had done all we wanted and could to do at IOA for the day.
We walked on over to US and entered through the Hard Rock entrance. The kids always want to ride Jimmy Neutron first and this day was no exception. DD really wanted to see a Ghostbusters show and luckily it was almost time for the last show of the day. We walked down and arrived just as it was starting. We sat on a red carpet and really enjoyed the show. We had only seen part of it the last time we were there. Both kids thought the show was hilarious. There were tables set up all around the outside of the Mummy. I assume the red carpet was also out for whatever it was that was going on. Beetlejuice made some cracks about the red carpet but I know it wasn't for us. I saw alot of people and executive types hustling around the Mummy. I assume there was some kind of preview/big to do going on that evening. They were starting to set up bar areas and food tables along with the tables with tablecloths and glassware.
We walked on to MIB and had a long wait even in the express line. I scored the highest in our car which was nothing to brag about...a measly 145,900. I have read the tips but it doesn't help me one bit. DD got the bonus and I was too busy trying to figure out where to shoot the big bug so I missed it. Afterwards, the kids rode Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster twice. While they were waiting the first time, I saw more people I know from home on the coaster. I didn't even know these folks were going to Orlando. We saw DD's friend and her dad and spoke with them for just a second before the kids got on the ride. DD's friends mother was DS's kindergarten teacher but we didn't see her around the KidZone. She must have been off with their older daughter riding something else. How bizarre running into two different families from our community! Before leaving the park, we rode Shrek once. I love when everyone screams "ewwwwww" when Donkey sneezes. I love alot of things about this ride including the preshow. When the ride was over it was starting to get really chilly. The sun was going down and the wind was blowing a very cool breeze. I will be wanting that breeze when we return this summer, but for now it was cold to us in our shorts and t-shirts.
Since it was my day to choose our dinner location, I chose the Hard Rock Cafe so we could use one of the half price GC's I had. We exited the park using the Hard Rock exit and found the wait to be longer than we wanted to wait. The kids were tired and cold plus they were anxious to watch American Idol at 8:00 so we decided to walk back to RPR and have dinner there. We checked out the menues and Jakes and Islands but then decided we were tired and just wanted to go to the room. I went against all my principles of cost-cutting and saving money and ordered room service. DS and I shared chicken fingers and fries and DD had a cheeseburger and fries. She didn't eat much. She was feeling better but still wasn't up to par. I have determined that the appetizer chicken fingers on the room service menu are the best bargain. You at least get a good portion of food. They charge you a $3 fee plus add on a 20% tip. It was worth the cost as we were tired and the food hit the spot. We were all asleep by 10:00pm.
What a great day! I have pictures that I will post when I have more time. Stay tuned for Wednesday's adventures!
Me...36 yr old mother of two
DD...10 yr old social events planner
DS... 7 yr old who thinks he is too old to hold his mother's hand
Tuesday, March 23
We all woke up at 8:00am. This is amazing for DS as he is usually up at 6:30 unless of course it's a school day then I have to drag him out of bed. We had breakfast in the room, fruit, poptarts and stuff I brought from home. Then we headed out down the walking path to IOA. I enjoyed walking through Port of Entry and soaking up the atmosphere. Someday I will spend more time going through the shops there. We first headed over to Spiderman and walked right on. Then we battled our way through the crowds to Cat In The Hat. They were having technical difficulties so the kids played for awhile in If I Ran the Zoo. We browsed through the shops in Seuss Landing and had pictures made with the Grinch who was making kissing noises to me and DD and he was also following DD around trying to scare her. I took pictures of the kids with The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. Then I saw a character I had not seen before. It's the guy from Green Eggs and Ham. He was with Sam I Am (who was holding a platter of green eggs and ham). Does that guy have a name?? Great picture! Sam I Am gave DS the fork with green eggs on it to hold. We went back to CITH ride and got on this time. When we exited the ride, I saw a someone I knew from home! I knew they were going to Orlando but I didn't imagine that we would actually run into them. I talked to the family for awhile and we all agreed that IOA was much more crowded than US had been the day before. We chatted so long that it was almost lunch time.
The kids and I headed for Mythos. Oh by the way, Tuesday was my day to pick where we ate. DD actually suggested we go to "that cave place" for lunch so I let her think she actually made the choice. I had the pan seared scallops from the low carb menu. I have been low carbing at home but did a terrible job while in Orlando except for this one meal. Anyway the dish was delicious and I would order it again. But it was not as good as the cedar planked bay of fundy salmon I had last summer. Yummm! I wanted to ruin my low carb plan and try the warm gooey banana dessert everyone raves about, but my server was obviously concerned about my diet because he disappeared and never came back to the table. Another server finally came with our bill. We left Mythos after taking a few photos and headed for the Flying Unicorn. We rode it 4 times and stopped only because it was time for the Sindbad Show. We enjoyed the show. I liked it better than last year, possibly because it wasn't August and we weren't sweating like pigs.
DS especially liked Kabob "I'm OK!" Sheesh Kabob! After the show, we rode the Flying Unicorn 3 more times then I started feeling bad for passing all those same people up in line so we headed over to Jurassic Park. Fare Thee Well Flying Unicorn! We went on the Triceratops Discovery Trail and I don't know what I was expecting with this, but I expected it to be a little more than it was. Well it was neat to do once. The kids played in Camp Jurassic for a long time and I got a great picture of Ripsaw Falls from up there. It wasn't open, but they did have the water running and were sending empty boats down. We declined getting in line for Pteranadon Flyers because the posted wait time was 60 minutes. We are far too spoiled with FOTL to wait in that line.
The park was fairly crowded by now and I was trying to hold DS's hand to get through some of the more crowded spots but he wouldn't hear of it. What's up with that? He's only 7!
The weather was great...sunny and breezy but sometimes the breeze was quite strong so we opted not to do JPRA or Popeye's. I love Popeye's and was disappointed but I knew we would all be miserable after riding. We saw Popeye, Bluto, and Bullwinkle in Toon Lagoon. I bought the kids pretzels and a drink and we walked over to Marvel Super Hero Island. I bought myself an ice cream (so much for low carbing). It was a wonderful swirl ice cream in a waffle cone. I wish I had one now. After our snacks, we went to Spiderman but it was having technical difficulties so we decided to bid farewell to IOA for the day. DS is not tall enough to ride Dr. Doom (just a hair too short) or the Hulk and I cannot tolerate spinning rides like Storm Force so we had done all we wanted and could to do at IOA for the day.We walked on over to US and entered through the Hard Rock entrance. The kids always want to ride Jimmy Neutron first and this day was no exception. DD really wanted to see a Ghostbusters show and luckily it was almost time for the last show of the day. We walked down and arrived just as it was starting. We sat on a red carpet and really enjoyed the show. We had only seen part of it the last time we were there. Both kids thought the show was hilarious. There were tables set up all around the outside of the Mummy. I assume the red carpet was also out for whatever it was that was going on. Beetlejuice made some cracks about the red carpet but I know it wasn't for us. I saw alot of people and executive types hustling around the Mummy. I assume there was some kind of preview/big to do going on that evening. They were starting to set up bar areas and food tables along with the tables with tablecloths and glassware.
We walked on to MIB and had a long wait even in the express line. I scored the highest in our car which was nothing to brag about...a measly 145,900. I have read the tips but it doesn't help me one bit. DD got the bonus and I was too busy trying to figure out where to shoot the big bug so I missed it. Afterwards, the kids rode Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster twice. While they were waiting the first time, I saw more people I know from home on the coaster. I didn't even know these folks were going to Orlando. We saw DD's friend and her dad and spoke with them for just a second before the kids got on the ride. DD's friends mother was DS's kindergarten teacher but we didn't see her around the KidZone. She must have been off with their older daughter riding something else. How bizarre running into two different families from our community! Before leaving the park, we rode Shrek once. I love when everyone screams "ewwwwww" when Donkey sneezes. I love alot of things about this ride including the preshow. When the ride was over it was starting to get really chilly. The sun was going down and the wind was blowing a very cool breeze. I will be wanting that breeze when we return this summer, but for now it was cold to us in our shorts and t-shirts.
Since it was my day to choose our dinner location, I chose the Hard Rock Cafe so we could use one of the half price GC's I had. We exited the park using the Hard Rock exit and found the wait to be longer than we wanted to wait. The kids were tired and cold plus they were anxious to watch American Idol at 8:00 so we decided to walk back to RPR and have dinner there. We checked out the menues and Jakes and Islands but then decided we were tired and just wanted to go to the room. I went against all my principles of cost-cutting and saving money and ordered room service. DS and I shared chicken fingers and fries and DD had a cheeseburger and fries. She didn't eat much. She was feeling better but still wasn't up to par. I have determined that the appetizer chicken fingers on the room service menu are the best bargain. You at least get a good portion of food. They charge you a $3 fee plus add on a 20% tip. It was worth the cost as we were tired and the food hit the spot. We were all asleep by 10:00pm.
What a great day! I have pictures that I will post when I have more time. Stay tuned for Wednesday's adventures!
