My Celebration Vacation- USO + IOA portion

[havinfun]

Day 3 – Friday, Aug. 8, 2008
Part1

Disney Character Store at Prime Outlet Mall on International Dr. and Islands of Adventure

We started our morning with the Continental breakfast. I wanted to start buying presents for our grandchildren. I had read an old article that the outlet malls had Universal and Disney World outlet stores. It would be great if I could find bargains and beat the park prices. So DH and I took off for the outlet mall. The Prime Outlet Mall on International Drive is very easy to find. Just head north on International and the street ends at the mall. When we got there we checked the store directory. There was no Universal store listed. There was a “Disney Character Store”. I spent about a half an hour in there trying to decide what to buy. Mostly everything there was marked down about 50%. I found a lightweight zipper hooded sweatshirt for me. It was $39.99 marked down to 18.99. For my grandson I found an embroidered Disney World hooded sweatshirt for $9.99 marked down from 38.99. Those were good bargains. I really didn’t see anything for my other two grandchildren. There was lots of High School Musical and some Hannah Montana items. I think it’s worth going to see what there is in the store.

When we came out of the store it started to rain. I did bring our ponchos with us. So we were on our way to Islands of Adventure. This would be our first visit there. It wasn’t open 12 years ago when we went to Universal. We started in City Walk and saw Margaretville. We stopped in the store and checked out the shirts. We noticed that they observe Happy Hour between 3p-5p. Then we entered the Port of Entry.

I found the architecture of the buildings so interesting. It was like stepping into another country. I didn’t even go in the stores.

I was just taking my time looking at all the buildings and signs.

It was still raining lightly. The signs in the park indicated that many of the rides were not operating. This day was not starting off very well. Here is The Hulk, not running.

I did buy the Express Pass for today. Poseidon’s Fury had a 60 min. wait. Since we had the pass I thought we would get in sooner. On our way there we passed through Seuss Landing. I had seen pictures of this part of the park and the colors looked so bright. I found out on a gloomy day the colors aren’t as bright. Here are the pictures I took along the way.

This is the top of the Caro-Seuss-el.

I felt I was walking through a Dr. Seuss book.

I really enjoyed just looking around and feeling like a kid. I only wish I had taken more pictures.

Next Poseidon…

 

[havinfun]

Day 3 – Part 2

After being in Seuss land we now enter The Lost Continent. The Universal web site describes it as “Explore an ageless land of ancient myths and epic legends. From a castle guarded by warring dragons to a battle of titans beneath the sea, heart-pounding adventure awaits around every corner. “

Here is DH at the entrance:

We entered Poseidon’s Fury using our Express Pass, we see people standing in a long line as we walk by. Then the Express line stops. We must have been in line for at least 30 minutes before the pre-show began. I felt bad for the people in the stand-by line. They must have waited forever. When we got to the final show, I wound up in the back of the room and couldn’t see anything. I was so disappointed after waiting all that time. The only good part for me was walking under the water. DH liked this show better than I did.
Here are the pictures I took after exiting the show. The feet and hand are huge. It’s hard to see how big this is by looking at pictures.

Next we passed the Mystic Fountain.

It was having a conversation with some children. I went to take a picture and it said, “Ooh a photo moment.” DH didn’t know about the fountain. He laughed and thought it was cool.

We walked through the Market. I liked the atmosphere; it reminded me of all the black and white movies I used watch on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid. They always took place in exotic places. Now it is time to ride Dueling Dragons. DH does not like roller coasters so I am on my own. DH not riding does have its advantages. He holds the Baggelini that I have loaded. I got in the Express line and started walking, and walking and walking. Once I go into the building the line was not long. It sure is a long walk to the ride. I was so nervous my glasses were going to fall off during the ride. They didn’t. I chose the ice side. I have read that it will look like you are going to collide with the other coaster. The ride was so fast I never saw the fire coaster. I did like the ride. It was smooth. I wish I could have ridden it again, but didn’t want DH waiting forever. He doesn’t mind waiting for me and is just glad I don’t nag him into going. Here is a picture of Dueling Dragons, not a good picture but a picture.

On our way to the Sindbad show we saw where they are starting to build Harry Potter.

The Voyage of Sinbad Show was really good. The stunts were great. Don’t miss this one.

Next installment IOA continues….

 

[havinfun]

Day 3, Part 3

We started our adventure in the Jurassic Park gift shop, then processed to the Jurassic Park River Adventure. We were dressed for the rain and weren’t worried about getting wet. We had bought sandals before we left just to use on the water rides. They really worked out good for us. Our feet were comfortable and we didn’t have to walk around with squishy shoes. Here are the sandals we wore. Neither one of us got blisters.

I had a great time on the Jurassic Park ride. I didn’t take any pictures on the ride or in Jurassic Park. I wish I had. There is a good video online about the river ride. Here is the link.

http://www.universalorlando.com/amu...ttractions/jurassic-park-river-adventure.html

The Discovery Zone looked interesting, but we didn’t go down into it. I wish I had spent more time in Jurassic Park. I think because of the rain I just wanted to keep going and not slow down.

Next was Toon Lagoon.

We stood and watched the boats come down on Dudley Do-Right’s Rip-Saw Falls.

Here is a view from the other side of the bridge.

DH decided not to ride the falls. He didn’t think he would feel comfortable in that little boat. I spoke to the TM and was told the single rider line would be faster than the Express line. I was in line about 20 mins. The ride was fun; there are scenes that the boat goes around until you go down the falls. The drop looks scarier than it really is.

We walked through Toon Lagoon. I took a few pictures. We were on our way to Happy Hour at Margaritaville.

Next Happy hour…. Stay tuned.

 

[Metro West]

I'm really enjoying this trippie and the pix!

 

[pixeegrl]

Hi pixeegrl,


Thanks for reading. Everyday I add a little more. It's been fun writing it.

I see that you are going there in three months. I bet you can't wait.

My son is stationed in Eastern Virginia. I was there once and it was really pretty.

Yes, 3 months and counting!!! We like it here a lot on the Eastern Shore, just wish it was a little closer to Texas lol (that's home). Now keep posting all those great pics so I can live vicariously through your trip until ours.

 

[SallyG]

Hi Peggy! Thanks for sharing your trip. The photos are wonderful. Can't wait to read more! And congrats on your health! What a great way to celebrate.

 

[lazydoxy66]

You are doing a terrific job on this TR.
I want to go to the outlet store. Thanks for the directions.
I'm glad my DH likes roller coasters. He would end up waiting an awful lot if he didn't!
We've got sandals similar to yours. I hate walking around in wet socks and shoes. My feet look bad enough without the wrinkled prune thing that happens. We've been wearing our sandals to make sure we don't get blisters. So far, so good.

Love your pictures!

 

[havinfun]

Hi Peggy! Thanks for sharing your trip. The photos are wonderful. Can't wait to read more! And congrats on your health! What a great way to celebrate.

Hi Sally,

Thanks for the good wishes. Yesterday I didn't do anything on my trip report because I was reading everyone elses trip reports. Tonight I will post more.
Peggy

 

[havinfun]

You are doing a terrific job on this TR.
I want to go to the outlet store. Thanks for the directions.
I'm glad my DH likes roller coasters. He would end up waiting an awful lot if he didn't!
We've got sandals similar to yours. I hate walking around in wet socks and shoes. My feet look bad enough without the wrinkled prune thing that happens. We've been wearing our sandals to make sure we don't get blisters. So far, so good.

Love your pictures!

Hi Lazy,

There is another outlet mall closer to Disney. I am not sure how to get there because I threw out my Disney notebook when my luggae was overweight on our flight home. I guess you could google it. That one also had a Disney Character store. If I remember I will let you know how to get there. We didn't get any blisters.

 

[havinfun]

It quit raining and the sun is out.

Here is the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville. Notice the sign, it says it all.

Across from there is a little outdoor bar called the Lone Palm.

We ordered our 2 for the price of one. With the Happy Hour price, the margaritas were $3.50 a piece. This is the first day since we got to Florida that I didn’t feel rushed. So it was really nice just to sit, drink and people watch.

This is the table top.

The bar is in the front and there are tables and chairs behind the plane.

Here are a couple of pictures of the plane.

These are pictures of Citi-Walk from the Lone Palm.

The Hard Rock

A zoom shot

The Lone Palm

Paradise

That’s the end of Happy Hour. Next I rode the Hulk. That was really fun.

I wanted to go back to Toon Lagoon but it looked like rain again. So we stayed in the Marvel Super Hero Island. We rode Spiderman. That ride is great. This is another don’t miss ride. Now we were hungry and it was raining again. We stopped and ate at Café 4. We each had a meatball sandwich, pasta salad and chocolate cake. It was good. Sorry I forgot to take a picture. We put our ponchos back on. I was wearing an old WXRT poncho and the plastic was flaking off on me. Here are pictures of the rainbow that appeared. So pretty.

I wanted to see if we could catch the Horror make up show. So we walked over to Universal. This picture was taken in front the Hard Rock looking across to the other side of Citi-Walk.

.

When we go to Universal, there were no more Horror Make up shows. Here is a picture of the sign in front of The Monster Café.

We went to see Twister again because there was no wait and then decided we were done. It had been another long and fun day. So we said good-bye to Universal and the Islands of Adventure.

The next day we visited the Kennedy Space Center. I am not sure where to post this part of my trip report. There is no place on the Dis- Boards for Non-Disney/Universal /Sea World. So I will just add it to my Universal report.

The rest of this trip report is on the Kennedy Space Center. Following KSC report I will post the Disney World portion of my trip. Here is the link: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=27125927&posted=1#post27125927

Thanks for reading.

Thanks again to everyone who reads this report.

 

[lookingforward]

Hi Lookingforward,

May your celebration a great one!! and have lots and lots of celebrations. Any plans on what type of celebration you will have. I know I can't celebrate with Disney World every year. We should come up with ideas on how to celebrate because it is a huge milestone.

I saw my oncologist Monday and she said she is very hopeful for me. Even though I had the most aggressive form of breast cancer, my chances are still good. My pathology was clean and the cancer was fought very aggresively.

It's bedtime for me. I have to work in the morning. Thanks for reading my trip report.

That is SUPER news! I am so happy things are going well for you. I met a wonderful women at support group who had Inflamatory BC five years ago and is doing fantastic. Treatment is tough but worth it. I just finished nine months of treatment in July. Stage 2b. Sigh. I can't wait for December to have it one year behind me!

 

[havinfun]

Day 4, Part I
August 9, 2008, Saturday
Kennedy Space Center

After waking up early and eating the continental breakfast at our hotel, we were on our way to the Kennedy Space Center. It took us about an hour to get there. Here is a view of the scenery right before we got there.

After parking in the lot, I took a picture to remember where we parked.

When we got to the ticket booth, the line moved quickly. The extra tours were sold out for the day. They were selling them for the next day. When you purchase a ticket it is good for the next day. We were going to Disney World on the following day, so we didn’t purchase any extra tours. We decided to go on the bus tour first, then explore the Visitor Complex. The bus tour that is included in the general admission rate of $38.00 per adult and $28 per child took us to three different stops. Here are a few pictures I took in line waiting to get on the bus.

Before you get in the line a photographer takes your picture that you may purchase later. You can see the backgrounds that they use in the rear of this picture. Sorry it’s not the greatest picture. I will never win photography awards.

We boarded the bus and passed the Vehicle Assembly Building. Here are two photos:

We were told that this is the tallest one story building in the country. Notice the bus compared to the building.

At the first stop you go into a theater and see a brief movie about the space shuttle program. In the next room there are models of the launch pads. How a space shuttle is launched is explained. The start of a shuttle mission starts when the shuttle lands. It is taken to the Vehicle Maintenance building, where it is checked and any repairs that are needed are done. Here are two pictures of models that were in this building showing the space shuttle.

After the theater and the model building we went outside to LC-39 Observation Gantry. This is a building that is several stories high where you can look out and see the Kennedy Space Center. There are signs that tell you what you are seeing.

Before a launch, the shuttle is taken on a crawler from the vehicle assembly building to the launch pad. Here is the gravel road the crawler travels on.

DH told me to put in my report that The Kennedy Space Center is huge. He was really surprised how big it is. He said tell them it is much bigger then is appears on tv. It did take us about 20 minutes to get to the first stop from the space center. The bus drivers are friendly and informative. This is just a scenery picture taken from the gantry.

This is the end of Part 1. I could really use some feedback. Should I cut back on the details of the Space Center since this is a Universal board? Should I continue explaining what we saw? I am not really sure of the interest level about the KSC. So PLEASE let me know what you would like to see. Thanks for reading. Peggy

 

[lazydoxy66]

I'm not a moderator.
I love it! I've never been to KSC. I'll look at all the pictures you've got. It was a part of your UO trip, I think it's fine.

I won't get back here to your TR until I get back from my trip. Keep the pics coming. I'll catch up sooner or later!

 

[havinfun]

I'm not a moderator.
I love it! I've never been to KSC. I'll look at all the pictures you've got. It was a part of your UO trip, I think it's fine.

I won't get back here to your TR until I get back from my trip. Keep the pics coming. I'll catch up sooner or later!

Thanks Lazy,

I'll keep posting about the KSC. It seems I am never going to get to the Disney part of my trip. After KSC the next day we did go to WDW.
Hope you are having a great time on your trip.

 

[havinfun]

Day 4- PartII

After boarding the bus we were taken to The Apollo/Saturn V Center. First we saw a movie about the space program in the 60’s and the missions.

Next we were led into the Mission Control Center. I had always thought it was a big room, but it was really small.

Our part of the Apollo/Saturn Center was a HUGE room with space equipment. My pictures don’t do it justice.

There were several signs hanging with the flight names and the names of the astronauts that were on these missions.

Here is another view of the rocket. It was broken up into sections. In this picture you can get a better idea on how big the rocket is.

Doug is checking out the rocket.

We decided to get something to eat. There is a cafeteria in this section of the Space Center. It was a little expensive. We each had a cheeseburger, fries and a coke, our bill was $22.00. It would have been very expensive to feed a family there. So if you plan on going with kids, bring some food. There were plastic cups for pop that I almost bought until I saw that it was around seven dollars. They did have regular cups for a much more reasonable price.

Here is the view from outside the cafeteria.

 

[havinfun]

The next stop on the tour was the International Space Station. By this time it was getting later and we still had not visited the Visitors Center. We had spent about 15 minutes waiting for the bus to take us to the Space Station. So we hurried through this part of the tour. I am going to copy from the web page a description of this part of the tour.

“Now it's your turn to climb aboard the International Space Station. The International Space Station is "the dream that seemed impossible" - the most ambitious space program since the Apollo moon landings.
This fascinating facility gives you an up-close glimpse inside the actual facility where NASA is preparing the real components of the International Space Station - the largest, most complex structure ever to be placed into orbit
Enter the full-scale mock-up of the Habitation Module and see the facilities that Space Station crewmembers will use for living, sleeping and working quarters.
An elevated observation room overlooks the actual processing bay where each Space Station component is checked out, processed and readied for its trip into orbit.”

Here is a picture of a shower:

Sign describing the laboratory and the lab.

Did you ever wonder how they sleep without gravity? Here is how they sleep.

That’s all for now. I have to go to bed. I’ll try to post more tomorrow.

 

[phamton]

I'm very happy to see your trip report about KSC. It is fine on this board.

I've enjoyed your trip report so far and congratulations on your anniversary. You certainly deserved a celebration vacation!

 

[havinfun]

Kennedy Space Center – Part III
Looking down are two of the modules that would be hooked up together with nodes.

This what these modules look like on the inside.

The next three photos are the assembly area of the International Space Station where massive pieces are processed and assembled before a launch. We were there on a Saturday so no one was working.

We left the Space Station and boarded the bus for the Visitors Center. It was now about 4:00 pm and the Visitor’s Center closed at 7:00. The Astronaut Hall of Fame that was included with our admission closed at 8:00pm. The Hall of Fame is not in the Visitor Complex. It is nearby on the road that leads to the Visitor Center. We ran out of time and couldn’t visit it. If you just want to visit the Astronaut Hall of Fame it is $17.00 per adult.
Getting back to this report. We did the new Shuttle Launch Experience. It is a simulation of what the astronauts feel on takes off. It has all the warnings about back problems etc. I thought the Epcot Mission Space was more intense, but this ride is good.
Next we went to the mock up of the Space Shuttle. Here are some pictures of the shuttle.

These are tiles on the bottom of the space shuttle

Shuttle Space Suit

Inside the Shuttle

 

[havinfun]

These are pictures of the Astronauts Memorial. The Memorial is really very pretty. It was hard to take a picture this time of day.

I took this picture and it turned out to be interesting. The reflection shows me taking the picture and the Memorial.

There were two 3D movies playing at the IMAX. The one we saw was “Space Station 3D”. It was interesting since we had just seen parts of the space station. The other one was was “Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D”. We had all ready seen that one at Navy Pier in Chicago. It was very good. The visitors center was going to close soon so we spent the rest of our time in the gift shop. It is a nice gift shop with many unique items. I bought my son and his wife a mouse pad from NASA and my daughter a shot glass. She collects them. I bough a pen for me to use at work.

On our way out I took some more pictures. These are the Rocket Garden. here are some of the historical rockets.

Here is Doug checking out an interesting palm tree.

Since I am from Chicago, I really enjoy seeing palm trees.

We left at 7:40. I was dissapointed I didn't get to see more. If you plan to go to the Kennedy Space Center. Get there early. If you can spend two days that's even better. I grew up during the "Space Race". I remember when man first walked on the moon. My grandmother moved to Florida when I was a kid and she could see the rockets take off from her back yard. If your children aren't into space they may be bored. I did find it very interesting and would like to go back. Here is a picture I took on the way back to Orlando.

On the way back we saw a motorcycle accident. It really shook us up, so much we missed our turn.

I think we should have turned at this intersection. We did get back to Orlando, it just took us a little longer. Here is a truck that was in front of us.

When we got back to Orlando the traffic was horrible. We decided to get a pizza and eat in our room. We were also tired, but I did some laundry. The next day we were heading to Disney World.

Please continue to read my trip report. It will be moving to the Disney Trip Report board. Here is the link. http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=27125927&posted=1#post27125927

Thanks for reading.

 

[Chelley00]

Thank you for posting your KSC report! We're going during our trip and it's nice to have an idea of what to expect!

Congrats on your 1 year!!!