My DSD came for a visit & didn't stay for our trip to WDW??? Update 1/13Kadani Villag

[irky416]

Sounds like you had a good start to your morning at IoA! The Cat in the hat ride is fun! I want to hear if you liked Spiderman!!

Oh and Happy Birthday!!!!!!

SimmerBaggins: I love all your pictures from AKL. It looks amazing. It must have been a great time staying there!

And it's me who hates birds!!!!! You had warnings before all your pictures, so it's all good! Thanks for that!

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Not Dising yesterday - so a Belated Happy Birthday Melissa!

Enjoyed the update - Suess Landings is really fun - can't wait to read more!

Di x

 

[SimmerBaggins]

I was eager to do Downtown Disney, so we packed up a little and went to the AKL bus stop. This is the one for Jambo, but there is one for Kadani Village, as well.

I really kind of liked going on the buses, for the most part. When they were crowded, not so much. There were some really crowded times during our trip!

During our bus trip, Melissa texted me that they were leaving the park due to a storm coming in. I knew they were not really close to where we were, but this bothered me.
Now, for some reason, some of these pics are blurry, so my apologies…What you will notice is the clouds. The storm was coming.

This castle was in the World of Disney store…I had to get a pic.

They always have something cool outside the Lego store…these were pretty realistic looking! About this time, we went into the Lego store and decided to put on our ponchos before we came out, as it had begun to sprinkle.

When we got out of the store, it had really started thundering and lightning (in fact, one strike was so close that people screamed), so we shopped a little more for some pins , then headed back.
Now…those of you with children will understand this picture. When you’re on a budget and the kids are too young to understand it, it becomes a little more stressful…after our shopping excursion, we were walking back to the bus stop and I saw this…had to snap it.

 

[jmskinner]

Its been Dis bliss this morning catching up on so many updates!!!!

Jmskinner:

Love the Universal pics. Those express passes seem to really make a difference. You got almost everything done. I am really enjoying all the photos. Emma also liked ET - she thought the ending was really cool too!

SimmerBaggins:

Loving your report so far! The resort looks gorgeous and how nice to be conceirge! You must feel really special staying there!!! The resort is somewhere I have always thought would be great to stay in so loving all the pics!

We were able to do almost everything using those passes and we weren't there at opening until closing either.

Hi Melissa

I love the pain au chocolate from that bakery at IOA, just delicious. Seuss is great fun for me, the kids love the rides and I love taking pics as its so wildly coloured and brilliantly designed.....One Fish Two Fish was a riot for our two on the last trip......they just loved to get wet, then more wet, then even more wet!

Gordon

Loved One Fish, Two Fish and now I need to go back and try the pain au chocolate.

Thanks, ScotsMinnie! We were really spoiled by that great "Opening Act" of AKV!

Now, YAY -- I get to be the first to say this on the Dis Boards:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MELISSA!!! LOVE YOU, GIRL!!!!!



Heh, heh!

Thank you Vickie!

Happy Birthday Melissa!!!

Thank you!

Happy Birthday!!! Hope you have a great day!!!!!

Thank you!

Sounds like you had a good start to your morning at IoA! The Cat in the hat ride is fun! I want to hear if you liked Spiderman!!

Oh and Happy Birthday!!!!!!

SimmerBaggins: I love all your pictures from AKL. It looks amazing. It must have been a great time staying there!

And it's me who hates birds!!!!! You had warnings before all your pictures, so it's all good! Thanks for that!

about the birds. Eventually I will get to Spiderman, but there is still a lot more before that.

Not Dising yesterday - so a Belated Happy Birthday Melissa!

Enjoyed the update - Suess Landings is really fun - can't wait to read more!

Di x

Thank you. I didn't Dis the last two days myself.

Vickie, didn't quote your update. We have never taken a family shot at DTD, need to do that sometime. Those clouds were crazy that night. Ok, on to the TR and more Suess Landing and more!

 

[jmskinner]

I've been away a couple of days, but I'm now back and need to get caught up to Vickie again. She just finished Wednesday and I am just beginning, so there will be many updates today.

We were One Fish, Two Fish and headed over to

We enjoyed this, espically as we noticed we could do something with the characters we were riding, I had a bell and I think Jacob's head turned. It was a nice ride and themed fantastically.

Yup, this was our next ride. I had heard a lot of nice things about this ride and couldn't wait to get some pictures.

We tried to warn Jacob about the loop:

Ok, that was not the ride we were on, but that was the last pic I took from the ride platform, again NO PICS Allowed. I need to change the name of this portion of my TR to "NO PICS ALLOWED" I think. This was driving me nuts. I know I probably could have taken some, but one thing I have learned in my life is if I am going to do something wrong, even if everyone else is doing the same thing, I will get caught. From looking in new homese that everyone else in the neighborhood does, but I get told I shouldn't be doing that, to getting a ticket for turning left after the BFF said, "Oh do it, everyone else does." Remember that one Vickie? So, I follow the rules.

After that we went into a store while Jonas and Jacob headed to the restroom. I thought these guys were cool just hanging around:

So, that was it for Seuss Landing. It was a lot of fun and would love to go back. But, this is when Jonas started mentioning how Universal wasn't kept up as well as WDW. We noticed some small cracks on the Caraseussel and I was noticing that Seuss Landing need to be painted because parts of it looked as though the sun had faded it. Nothing real bad, but we noticed it.

So, where would our walk across the bridge take us:

I was loving the theming of this area. Next up was The Poisendon's Fury.

Poseidon's Fury was a cool attraction, I thought a great idea. It isn't a ride, but an interative journey where you travel through several rooms, trying to find your way out with the help of your guide. The last room has an amazing fire, water, and lazer show. At one point we lost Kara, but she had ended up several rows ahead of us in the last room and had a much better viewing area. Also, one of the first rooms, we got in the very back and Jacob couldn't see so Jonas held him up. Instead of having Jacob at his waist, he set him up on his shoulder, of course the people behind him weren't too happy and I could understand. Kara and I both stated, "You have people behind you." Jonas went on to say he wanted Jacob to see. I was trying to explain that if he hold him lower on his waist he would still be able to see and so could the people behind us, but Jonas didn't pay attention. We finally found a spot for Jacob down lower than us.

 

[jmskinner]

We had found our way and survived Poseidon's Fury.

Isn't that sky pretty? This was the buildup to the storm Vickie mentioned in her update. Just the calm before the storm. We headed into a store to get Kara some more shades.

I know, I already posted the above photo, but inside this building is not a ride, not an attraction, well, sort of an attraction, it is a restaurant called Mythos. I had read a lot about it and wanted to try it. Noticed they had salads and thought that sounded good on such a hot day. Jonas told me to check to see if we could make a reservation for around 1:00. I went in and the hostess said they don't take reservations, but she would put my name on the list for around one and that should get me seated quickly. While I was doing this, Jonas let Jacob play with another sledgehammer. I walked up just in time to grab some pics:

This was not a good place for this since people were walking by, not noticing a kid with a sledgehammer. Jacob swung back once and almost got someone.

This was a good workout for Jacob. Would have been for Dad also.

Jonas noticed this poster with all of the Scotland Coat of Arms and so he found his clan.

Harry Potter construction:

This was the entrance for The Eigth Voyage of Sinbad.

Sadly we didn't have time to see it. Hoped we would make it back, but we didn't.

Crows! A lot of crows!

We had found our way to Jurassic Park and Jacob was ready to defend us from the Dino with the sword he had won ringing the bell with the sledgehammer:

Now, Kara and Jonas headed off to duel with the dragons, that is ride the Dueling Dragons Rollercoaster. Those of you who have been before probably remember the two dragons at the entrance and I couldn't wait to show Jacob, but before we left on our trip I had read that they were no longer there.

While Jacob and I waited for Kara and Jonas we headed over to:

This was a fantastic place and perfect for waiting for others, it had air conditioning. It seemed like most in there were waiting for someone else.

As Jacob and I were wandering around people in white lab coats ran around trying to gather everyone to watch an egg hatch. It was a Dinosaur egg.

More to come about the Discovery Center and also, do Jonas and Kara survive the Dragons?

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Wow that looks like a great day so far.

I can't believe you couldn't even take pictures on the kids rides . But now I know why I haven't been able to find many pictures on the TR's in the Universal Forum.

Can't wait to see the rest of the Jurassic Park area and the restaurant. That looks cool

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

I'm here!!!

 

[ScotsMinnie]

So, that was it for Seuss Landing. It was a lot of fun and would love to go back. But, this is when Jonas started mentioning how Universal wasn't kept up as well as WDW. We noticed some small cracks on the Caraseussel and I was noticing that Seuss Landing need to be painted because parts of it looked as though the sun had faded it. Nothing real bad, but we noticed it.

I cut and copied this form my TR last year...

I also thought that it was looking a bit tatty. IOA was lovely when new but there didn’t seem to be much done for upkeep. For example the carousel in the Dr Seuss area had chips in the paint of all the animals on it and the paintwork everywhere was looking dirty and was peeling off. I know I probably have a Disney bias!!!!!!!

I thought it was very noticable how it is not kept as well as Disney especially in the Dr Suess section of the park. Maybe due to the bright colours? Glad I am not the only one!!!

Can't believe the no pics rule! Don't they know how much we love pics in the TRs!!!!

I liked the trolley ride aswell but thought it was very short. I didn't know that each side is a different ride so you only see half of it. We didn't want to line up again to ask to ride the other side.

Do they still have the baby Dinosaur in the Discovery Centre? I thought that was amazing.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi there Melissa and Simmerbaggins!

great updates from you both! I especially liked the photo of the poster from World of Disney!

Sounds like you're having a fun day at IOA so far - despite the no photos rule!!!

Di x

 

[jmskinner]

Wow that looks like a great day so far.

I can't believe you couldn't even take pictures on the kids rides . But now I know why I haven't been able to find many pictures on the TR's in the Universal Forum.

Can't wait to see the rest of the Jurassic Park area and the restaurant. That looks cool

I went through the whole "Picture of the Day" thread on the Universal side and also wondered why so few ride pics, there are a few out there.

You won't have to wait long, getting started on another update now.

I'm here!!!

Thanks for joining and

I cut and copied this form my TR last year...

I also thought that it was looking a bit tatty. IOA was lovely when new but there didn’t seem to be much done for upkeep. For example the carousel in the Dr Seuss area had chips in the paint of all the animals on it and the paintwork everywhere was looking dirty and was peeling off. I know I probably have a Disney bias!!!!!!!

I thought it was very noticable how it is not kept as well as Disney especially in the Dr Suess section of the park. Maybe due to the bright colours? Glad I am not the only one!!!

Can't believe the no pics rule! Don't they know how much we love pics in the TRs!!!!

I liked the trolley ride aswell but thought it was very short. I didn't know that each side is a different ride so you only see half of it. We didn't want to line up again to ask to ride the other side.

Do they still have the baby Dinosaur in the Discovery Centre? I thought that was amazing.

So, we weren't the only ones to notice the difference in upkeep compared to WDW.

I had heard about the baby Dinosaur, but never saw him anywhere. I really wanted to. There were employees carrying around eggs for people to hold and Jonas kept saying maybe that is what you heard about. I kept trying to explain how it is a baby dinosaur that looks real.

Even Jonas seemed frustrated with the no pics rule.

 

[jmskinner]

Hi there Melissa and Simmerbaggins!

great updates from you both! I especially liked the photo of the poster from World of Disney!

Sounds like you're having a fun day at IOA so far - despite the no photos rule!!!

Di x

I forgot to mention that picture from WDW. Wonder how many kids walk by it and ask their parents if they can have all of that.

I can't believe I hadn't heard of the photo rule at Universal before getting there. And I thought I did a little research.

 

[jmskinner]

After watching the dinosaur egg hatch, Jacob and I explored the center more. He found these neat scanners:

Jonas called asking where we were, so I told him where to find us and we started playing a game while waiting on him:

As we are playing the game, Jonas sneaks up behind me and scares me. He takes over my game, and I leave the bag and camera with him. Kara and I are off to ride the Dragons.

Jonas and Jacob explore the Discovery Center some more:

While the boys were on their adventure, Kara and I had headed to the Dueling Dragons. I remember getting mad that this group of Brazilian kids had just left the ride and jumped over the rope to ride again getting in front of us, but we had the express pass so we eventually we left them behind. We merged with the standby line right when you decide between Fire and Ice. I believe we went with Fire. Which was fortunate because the Ice side broke down. I was disappointed that happened because I wanted to see what it was like to ride with the other going also, but it just wasn't going to happen. It was a great ride, but I noticed something. I was dizzy and not feeling well afterwards. Either I was getting too old for these things, or I was needing food.

Hopefully it was just hunger, so off to Mythos.

I checked in with the hostess and found a seat to rest. I wasn't feeling very well after the Dragons.

We were called for our table after a few minutes and treated to a great experience. And guess what, no one told me NO PICTURES, so guess what, I took a lot. I had been going through withdrawals and all.

Jonas and Kara were happy to be in air conditioning and sitting down.

I looked like I had been in the park all day, not just a few hours.

I was sitting next to a little window and here is my view:

They brought out bread:

Food Porn! I ordered a Ceasar Salad with Steak

Jacob had his usual Chicken Nuggets (I ate some of the fries and Jonas had the corn)

Jonas had some other salad with blueberries and chicken (he said it was really good)

Kara had a chicken sandwich:

This meal ended up being about $50 which was about what we payed for that horrible meal at Busch Gardens. Plus Kara got the Banana Split:

We paid for the meal and snapped some more pics on the way out:

We were on the way back to Jurassic Park. More to come later.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

That looked like a pretty good dining experience. Great decor too. Do you remember what else was on the kids menu? It seems Jacob and Jacks eat habits are very similar except Jack wouldn't even have touched that chicken, he only eats nuggets not strips

Glad you got to take some pictures, hope you were feeling better after the meal

 

[jmskinner]

That looked like a pretty good dining experience. Great decor too. Do you remember what else was on the kids menu? It seems Jacob and Jacks eat habits are very similar except Jack wouldn't even have touched that chicken, he only eats nuggets not strips

Glad you got to take some pictures, hope you were feeling better after the meal

ok, that's kind of funny. Jacob will still eat nuggets, but he hates the nuggets served at WDW, only likes the chicken strips.

Found this link for you with the kids menu:Mythos Kids Menu

I kept thinking someone was going to tell me not to take pictures.

 

[SimmerBaggins]

From looking in new homese that everyone else in the neighborhood does, but I get told I shouldn't be doing that, to getting a ticket for turning left after the BFF said, "Oh do it, everyone else does." Remember that one Vickie? So, I follow the rules.

Okay, despite what Melissa said, I wasn’t quite done with my day! LOL And, why am I surprised that she mentions the “Go ahead, everyone else does it!” episode? It is that kind of moment in your life when you realize you can create a catastrophe in someone else’s life with your words! To elaborate, we were young college kids, and it was midday…we had just finished eating at Sonic. Melissa is driving her spiffy little RX-7, and I am the only passenger (2-seater)…as she comes to the end of the Sonic driveway, there’s a sign that says “No left turn.” Well, everyone in our little town knew why that sign was there – to deter the weekend, late-night kids from using Sonic as a turn-around for their cruise on the drag. But in the daytime, I had seen people make left-hand turns! Seeing as it was indeed, as I mentioned, DAYTIME, I made that fateful comment.

Life lesson learned: Treat others with more caution and carefulness than you would do for yourself, out of care for their well-being….

Because, perfectly at that moment that she is in full turn out of the driveway, a police car comes cruising over the hill we couldn’t see past. No excuse was good enough.

And despite my propensity for getting her in trouble, she is still my friend, for which I am extremely grateful.

 

[jmskinner]

Okay, despite what Melissa said, I wasn’t quite done with my day! LOL And, why am I surprised that she mentions the “Go ahead, everyone else does it!” episode? It is that kind of moment in your life when you realize you can create a catastrophe in someone else’s life with your words! To elaborate, we were young college kids, and it was midday…we had just finished eating at Sonic. Melissa is driving her spiffy little RX-7, and I am the only passenger (2-seater)…as she comes to the end of the Sonic driveway, there’s a sign that says “No left turn.” Well, everyone in our little town knew why that sign was there – to deter the weekend, late-night kids from using Sonic as a turn-around for their cruise on the drag. But in the daytime, I had seen people make left-hand turns! Seeing as it was indeed, as I mentioned, DAYTIME, I made that fateful comment.

Life lesson learned: Treat others with more caution and carefulness than you would do for yourself, out of care for their well-being….

Because, perfectly at that moment that she is in full turn out of the driveway, a police car comes cruising over the hill we couldn’t see past. No excuse was good enough.

And despite my propensity for getting her in trouble, she is still my friend, for which I am extremely grateful.

Well, I blame you, but then again I don't blame you. If you had been driving we wouldn't have been caught. Like I said, everything I do I get caught. It's a funny memory from those college years. How long ago was that? LOL

And in Vickie's defense, I didn't have to listen to her.

 

[ScotsMinnie]

That caesar salad with steak looked seriously yummy! Hope the food settled your stomach and you felt a bit better!

 

[jmskinner]

That caesar salad with steak looked seriously yummy! Hope the food settled your stomach and you felt a bit better!

It was yummy! And yes, I did feel better. Update coming up.

 

[jmskinner]

Well Vickie, I'm still not up to where you are, so looking forward to the rest of your day, but we were still looking for Jurassic Park over at the Island.

And I haven't been posting them, but I was continuously taking pics of the flowers and greenery.

We finally found the ride Jurassic Park and got in line.

I figured no pictures could be taken so I went ahead and put the camera in the bag to protect it. I carry my old Kodak for water rides since I'm not too worried about it getting wet, but figured no pics would be allowed so I didn't take it out either. Guess what, you could take pics. I didn't know whether to or .

This was a fun ride and the drop was fantastic. A guy up front lost his hat, the whole raft saw it happen. I almost did but Jonas caught it, so don't ever think that because you have your ponytail through it, it won't come off.

Jacob had to hit the splash zone:

Jacob wanted to get splashed some more, so I took pics of flowers while he got soaked:

Finally a soaked Jacob showed up:

IoA also has some of the flyers for kids, but Jacob didn't want to do them. Looks like they go in a circle instead of just our and back like at Busch Gardens.

So, now we were in Toon Lagoon. Why is it called "Lagoon" because it should be called "Toon Soaked". First up was Dudley Do Rights Ripsaw Falls.

See these poor folks:

This is what happened to them:

I did have my Kodak out even though again they said no pics, but it was the Kodak and I've been lazy and haven't uploaded those pics, so I will get that done, but this ride was great. Themed really well. Very impressive! Except for one section which I guess was part of the story, but there was just no theming in this one section. Everything was painted black. Jonas mentioned how weird it was also, but other than that great ride. And we all got wet.

Next up, my one picture from the ride and can we get wetter?