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

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Following along and enjoying every minute!!! I have been on the fence about taking my 7 year old DS to Universal and IOA for awhile now, but after reading your report, I think I may just have to bring him next summer for a few days!!! I went to Universal in Hollywood last April and I have to say, the Orlando park looks so much better!!!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Wow the themeing for the Jurassic park looks great. Much more interesting than I remember the one in California, though they could've changed it by now.

That last ride looks cool too. I saw it on a video on youtube. Probably won't get to ride it, but it does look fun.

 

[jmskinner]

Following along and enjoying every minute!!! I have been on the fence about taking my 7 year old DS to Universal and IOA for awhile now, but after reading your report, I think I may just have to bring him next summer for a few days!!! I went to Universal in Hollywood last April and I have to say, the Orlando park looks so much better!!!

He will love it. Wait until he sees what Jacob did before we left the park.

Wow the themeing for the Jurassic park looks great. Much more interesting than I remember the one in California, though they could've changed it by now.

That last ride looks cool too. I saw it on a video on youtube. Probably won't get to ride it, but it does look fun.

The building that Jurassic Park is housed in is HUGE! Now, why wouldn't you get to ride the log flume?

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Melissa!

i was sure I'd posted yesterday but I can't see it? hey ho!

Sounds like a good time - and it is definate at the Universal parks - they aim to get you soaked!!!! Did you go on Blige Rats? That's even worse than Dudley!

Di x

 

[jmskinner]

Hi Melissa!

i was sure I'd posted yesterday but I can't see it? hey ho!

Sounds like a good time - and it is definate at the Universal parks - they aim to get you soaked!!!! Did you go on Blige Rats? That's even worse than Dudley!

Di x

As I said, "Could we get any wetter?" Sounds like you know the answer to that.

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Those rides are quite wet aren't they? Jacob is clearly enjoying getting soaked!!!

 

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Hi Melissa

Jurassic is the only "wet" ride I will do at Universal...all the rest are basically swimming pools pretending to be rides Last time I went on Dudley, several years ago now, I was wet right through to the cash in my wallet. Yikes!

Ben and Heather love dodging the splash zone at Jurassic....Jacob appears to prefer the full immersion though

Gordon

 

[carissanboys]

It's really fun seeing other parks than WDW. I'm looking forward to posting pictures from our day at Sea World (that's what's coming up after our AK day).

All I can say Melissa is that you are one brave woman. I'll pass on those thrill rides. The zip line thing looked cool!

You can tell Kara to come visit us. We see dolphins every time we go to the beach.

 

[jmskinner]

Those rides are quite wet aren't they? Jacob is clearly enjoying getting soaked!!!

He loves to get soaked. Not so much swimming, but loves to get splashed.

Hi Melissa

Jurassic is the only "wet" ride I will do at Universal...all the rest are basically swimming pools pretending to be rides Last time I went on Dudley, several years ago now, I was wet right through to the cash in my wallet. Yikes!

Ben and Heather love dodging the splash zone at Jurassic....Jacob appears to prefer the full immersion though

Gordon

Most parks have a bridge you can stand on that crosses the path of the boats like the one in Jurassic Park. Jacob loves to stand on the bridge and get the full immersion. So this splash was really nothing for him.

Funny you mention cash getting wet, that is coming up.

It's really fun seeing other parks than WDW. I'm looking forward to posting pictures from our day at Sea World (that's what's coming up after our AK day).

All I can say Melissa is that you are one brave woman. I'll pass on those thrill rides. The zip line thing looked cool!

You can tell Kara to come visit us. We see dolphins every time we go to the beach.

I think we will use our military passes for SeaWorld next year. Looking forward to your pics in your TR. And we are thinking of taking Kara to Discovery Cove for part of her graduation gift. Let her swim with the dolphins. And we saw Dolphins just last week with my parents at the beach. Guess they were in hiding the day of that excursion (the morning boat saw them).

Love thrill rides, just can't take spinning. Trying to remember, seems like I was the first to drag Vickie on to a large coaster, but I may be wrong. Ok, update coming up.

 

[jmskinner]

So, we were off of Dudley Do Right and we were wet. Well the very next ride you come to is the Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. This is the ride like Kalie River Rapids. Now, unlike KRR where a couple of people get soaked, every single person got soaked. EVERYONE! It was a lot of fun, but my gosh you get soaked. I don't think having a rain poncho on would keep you dry.

Here is Jonas not looking very happy:

And Kara:

For some reason I didn't get Jacob's picture, but probably because he took off to "Me Ship, The Olive" to spray people to make sure others get as wet as we did. Poor people.

I just love this sign:

We wandered through Toon Lagoon on to the next area of the park:

Now, the above pic was one I waiting for because I had seen it posted several times. Really cool display because the water goes under the boat into the tube and ...

What a cool fountain!

And a few more pics of Toon Lagoon:

And Kara had no idea what sign we had her stand under for this pic.

Toon Lagoon was a lot of fun. Unlike Kara and Jonas, I love getting wet like Jacob. Actually, I wanted to ride both again and wish I had grabbed Jacob and rode them. Wish I could buy AP's for just these two rides, loved them that much. Both were themed really well.

Next up was Marvel Super Hero Island:

 

[irky416]

Great updates! I love all the pictures you managed to take!

I'm a rule follower, too! I'm like you and will be the only one to get in trouble even though everyone else is breaking the rules!

I remember getting totally soaked on Dudley Do-Right. We came down the hill and a literal wall of water came rushing at me and then dropped in my lap! I don't remember getting wet on Bilge Rat because I think I was so soaked from Dudley's I didn't even feel anything!

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Love the pics! We rode the barges a few years back and got absolutely soaked. I couldn't believe I was so wet. You are right - its 100 times wetter that KRR. The guy we were with I didn't particularly like that much (don't ask why he was with us!!! He was our best man.....) and he had white shorts on and got soaked and I took silent pleasure at seeing people giggle and stare at his underpants which could clearly be seen through his wet white shorts!!!

 

[jmskinner]

Great updates! I love all the pictures you managed to take!

I'm a rule follower, too! I'm like you and will be the only one to get in trouble even though everyone else is breaking the rules!

I remember getting totally soaked on Dudley Do-Right. We came down the hill and a literal wall of water came rushing at me and then dropped in my lap! I don't remember getting wet on Bilge Rat because I think I was so soaked from Dudley's I didn't even feel anything!

Love the pics! We rode the barges a few years back and got absolutely soaked. I couldn't believe I was so wet. You are right - its 100 times wetter that KRR. The guy we were with I didn't particularly like that much (don't ask why he was with us!!! He was our best man.....) and he had white shorts on and got soaked and I took silent pleasure at seeing people giggle and stare at his underpants which could clearly be seen through his wet white shorts!!!

Ewwww. That probably wasn't a pretty site. I was a little upset with myself since I wore a cotton pale yellow blouse. Little see through so I kept pulling it away from me.

 

[jmskinner]

Oops, I promised a picture from Rip Saw Falls and I forgot to post it, so here it is, my one and only ride photo against the rules:

I tried to get one other, but it came out too blurry. This is why I have my DSLR. I can take mulitple photos quickly, that little Kodak takes several seconds between photos and makes me nuts.

Ok, back to Marvel Super Hero Island.

Check it out, we got a smile:

Our first ride:

Again, no pics. Tried to get some while we walked through the que, but they were too blurry. Sometimes walking and taking pics doesn't work.

So, how was Spiderman....Absolutely the best ride. Honestly, I don't think WDW has anything that compares to this ride. It's a 3D ride, that spins, makes you feel like you are falling many stories, just the coolest.

We all loved Spiderman and then we wanted to continue to ride everything as we came to it and per the map there should be a Storm Force Accelerator. The description mentions something about spinning, so I am already saying I probably won't ride. We still have the Hulk to ride and I don't want to miss it due to being sick from spinning on some other ride.

Now, remember Gordan mentioned his money getting wet on those barges, well, it's hard to look at a map when it is soaked:

We wandered around for about 10 minutes trying to find this ride I had already made up my mind I wasn't riding.

We finally found the Storm Accelerator, it was tucked back in the back.

And I was right, I was't riding it. So I took pics while the family rode. As I take pictures I notice it looks like they are working really hard to spin the thing, but they aren't really spinning that much.

So, Jonas thinks he is just the fastest spinner in the world.

So I mention that they weren't spinning that fast. Kara and Jonas say it was really hard to spin. Now, I know my husband, he gets super excited and can't wait to start spinning these things. So my question, "Were you trying t o spin it the wrong direction?" That's exactly what they had done. Even though I don't ride these things, I know to wait and let the ride start the direction of the spin.

So, now it was time for the Hulk. Pics coming....

 

[jmskinner]

Kara and Jonas took off to ride the Hulk and I took pictures.

Now, while Kara and Jonas rode the Hulk. Jacob and I rode Spiderman again. I guess I was getting tired, but we get in the car and two teenagers get on with us. I had just sat and was trying to get everything put up in the bag on the ride car and also put my backpack down. The girl jumps in and automatically starts slamming the bar down so I can't even get my bag down. I make some comment loudly about hou they need to wait just a minute and that we aren't going to die. I think I scared the teenage boy that was stuck next to me. He stopped the girl from trying to force the bar down. Finally I got situated and off we went. Again, the ride was great!

Then it was my turn to ride the Hulk with Kara. It was a great ride. Nice and long which is always nice. Hate those short rollercoaster rides.

Now, Kara wanted to go on Dr. Doom. What is Dr. Doom?

Jonas doesn't like these kinds of rides, but I don't mind them, so it was Kara and I taking on Dr. Doom. We get to walk right on. I laughed at myself because the first thing I do is put my shoes (flip flops) in the basket for personal belongings and then watch as the other people on the ride just hop in their seats and then take their flip flops off. I'm such a dork.

This ride doesn't really drop, it shoots you straight up and then you kind of bounce back up and down until you reach bottom again. I loved it, Kara screamed her head off as usual. The funny thing was, I noticed Jonas and Jacob after we started dropping, so the whole time I am trying to get their attention, but they didn't hear me. I'm sure I annoyed the others on the ride.

Kara looked a little shaky.

Kara wanted to buy her boyfriend a shirt. Pulled out her money and that is when she realized it was soaked, so she was worried they wouldn't take her wet money. The clerk scared her when she asked by saying, "No, we can't accept wet money." But then he smiled and took it. She was so funny. Parks will take just about any money they can get.

We finally spotted Spiderman...

Ok, it wasn't the real spiderman, just a statue. Never did see the character wandering around.

Jonas got this shot of the Hulk:

Sadly, that was the last ride of the day. A few more pics as we head out of the park:

Now, our plan all day had been to go to Hard Rock Hotel for dinner. So, we decided to walk over and see if we could make a reservation for the evening.

Jonas ran in and was told they don't do reservations, walk-up only, so we headed back to the hotel to get out of the our still wet clothes and come back.

We made it back to the hotel, Jonas and Jacob changed and then headed off to the arcade so Kara and I could get ready.

As we are getting ready we noticed a storm was blowing in. Now we are at the same point Vickie is in her portion of this TR. This is when I sent the text about the storm. First it was a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, and what could be worse...

 

[irky416]

Great pictures again! I like the illegal one from the falls! It turned out really well!

That's too funny that they were spinning the ride the wrong way.

I'm glad you liked Spiderman! When we were there, he had his own little meet n' greet area in the back part of a store. I don't know if it's still there, but it was kind of out of the way.

 

[SimmerBaggins]

I don't think I would have held back on the teenagers, myself!!

The more I see all the cool places in this park, the more I want to go. Too funny about the wet money story -- I think the same thing has happened to me, where a clerk kidded me about it!

I really like the talking bubbles, for picture effects. That's scrapbooking prior to the scrapbooking! LOL

 

[SimmerBaggins]

Now, here is the end of our Weds:

Having gone to Downtown Disney, we wanted to make sure we made it back in time for a light snack from the concierge floor and to get ready for the morning – I had wanted to start our vacation off with Magic Kingdom, and tomorrow was early hour (8 am)! Plus, because we only had concierge for our first night, we had to pack and be ready to leave our bags with the bell hop in the morning for our transfer to the room we’d stay in for the rest of the time. I really didn’t hold much hope for any more days in concierge.

The amazing thing was, we would have access to the 6th floor until midnight the following night!!

As we came out of the elevator, I noticed the elephant looking down on us from above:

After a snack (and beer – this is the ever-stocked refrigerator…make yourself at home!):

We opened our room door (the girls were always good above being key-ready):

And found – chocolate!!

Now, isn’t that a nice way to end your day? I especially enjoyed the dark chocolate heart…ummmm.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Melissa- can we copy your Spiderman photo, Jack wants to put it on our computer as the desktop picture, he LOVED it.

You got some great shots of all those rides.

Simmerbaggins- Chocolate is a great end to any day So beautiful too, looks so nice I don't know if I could've eaten it who am I kidding

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Melissa - great update. I too liked the RipSaw Falls pic! What a great day you have had at IOA. You have managed to get so much in. Isn't that typical male behaviour that they didn't wait and started to spin straight away!!!

Lots of good pics of Jacob with lots of smiles. He is obviously having a great day.

Don't like the look of that storm....

Simmerbaggins - that fridge looks like something I could cope with on holiday!!!!!