Our Month-Long Trip to Orlando (7/9 - 8/6) I'M BACK! TRIP REPORT COMPLETE!

[luciloo]

Yes they took out King Kong and replaced it with The Mummy Ride, i think it was 2003/2004?

 

[babieemelly]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the great comments! I have four days left in the semester, and four final papers to write :x I promise I'll be back next week to continue the report! By then I'll be done with school and have the whole summer to finish this. Thanks again!

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

A long trip means a long trip report - please don't poop out on us and we won't poop out on you! Really enjoying this. Thanks especially for all the pictures.

 

[bluejay2006]

great trip report so far! can't wait to hear the rest!

 

[alaskantwinks]

I'll be here waiting to read the rest of your story, Melissa!! Your final papers should be really good, the way you write, your professors should be captivated! Thanks for entertaining us!!

 

[lindalinda]

What a great report. I have been to orlando many times and still couldnt give the kind of details you do in your report. I am using it as a reminder for preparing for my trip (one month away). Thanks!

 

[Foladar]

We're still with you!

 

[babieemelly]

Finals are over, and I'm back! And this time it's for good. Look for daily, or twicedaily, updates - I leave for my next trip on July 21, and I want to get this report done before then! Thanks for being patient Now on with the show...

We were back at the house by 5:30. I watched TV while my mom and dad walked Oreo and mikeplayed games on his PSP. When my mom and dad got back we all watched Martin on UPN (we used to love that show!) and cracked open the bottle of wine mom and dad had bought the day before. Paaartaayy!! Ok, not really... we only had a little, and I didn't even finish mine

At 6:30 we looked outside and it was almost completely BLACK... a big storm was coming. I LOVE storms! Mike and I went outside to take pictures, and I also took some video. There were tons of dark clouds, and the lightening was so distinct that you could actually see the line of light from each strike. It was crazy! I did another part of my "documentary" about the storm. I turned around the little screen so I could face the camera towards me and tape myself, while also looking into the screen to see what I was taping. Mike and I put our faces into the camera and shook it a little, and joked about being storm chasers and how scared we were. Yes, we're very immature We wanted to go to Downtown Disney that night, so I hoped it would just be a quick, passing storm.

 

[babieemelly]

It soon started to rain pretty hard, so Mike and I went back in. We all sat in the living room and watched Ferris Bueller... I LOVE that movie. Being an expert at taking off from school myself, I have to admit I can really relate to Ferris. He's kid of my hero... I LOVE when he sings "Twist and Shout" in the parade... it's so random, it's great So I was lying back on the couch, drinking my Cranberry Ginger Ale, when the part at the end came on when he gets back into bed on time, and his mom and dad come up to check on him. The part where he pretends to bite at his mom's hand gets me every single time, and I cracked up... and spilled my drink. I don't know if you guys know this, but Cranberry Ginger Ale is red... and stains everything. Aside from being an expert at staying home from school, I'm ALSO an expert at spilling things. My mom cleaned it up as best as she could, and luckily (LUCKILY!) within a few hours the stain was gone. Whew!

We watched a half hour of "The Fabulous Life: Celebrity Couples" on VH1, before my mom and I decided to drive over to the clubhouse at 7:30. It was still raining, not pouring, but it wouldn't be fun to be out in it, so we decided not to head out to Downtown Disney. My mom isn't great with directions, so I pointed out the right way to go... turn here, and go straight. Yea, it wasn't very hard When we got to the clubhouse I went to the lounge and took a TON of brochures! I got a brochure for everything we were planning to do this month, plus a few extras of each one to have just in case. The clubhouse was pretty empty, except for a group of really tall girls, around my age, who were there for a basketball tournament. These girls were giants! I'm 4'11" so yea... they weren't actually GIANTS, but from way down here they looked it!

 

[babieemelly]

When we got back to the condo we watched some of Celebrity Best Friends on VH1 and The Scholar on NBC. Then we had more snacks. When I think back, it's seems as if all we did on this vacation was eat I had some Wheat Thins, and everyone else had chips and pretzels. At 8:30 it was still raining and there wasn't much to do, so at 8:35 my mom, dad and I drove over to Walgreens. It was right down the road from our condo, so it was a short drive.

At Walgreens I wound up buying Florida flip-flops ($5), A Disney mug with a bunch of characters ($6), a bunch of postcards (for $.40 each), an eyeliner sharpener (I had forgotten mine at home), and a People Magazine to read in the condo.

Walgreens was right next to the shopping complex where the Outback was, and there was a liquor store in that same complex, so we drove over there. We went into the liquor store and got some rum for the Pina Colada mix that mom and dad had bought at Publix. "Yes, I like Pina Coladas!"... but not really getting caught in the rain There was a Dairy Queen right next to the liquor store, so we decided to go in and get something to eat (see, we really did eat every minute ) My mom got a small cup of vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles, I got a Brownie Explosion (a small brownie with vanilla ice cream and fudge), and dad got a Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard. We also got a Cappuccino Coolada for Mike.

Back at the house Mike and Dad watched "Runaway Jury", while I read my "I Love Orlando" magazine (I got it for free from the clubhouse). By now it was around 9:30, and still raining pretty steadily, so we ruled out going to Downtown Disney. I took one of my postcards and wrote it out to send to my little cousin Alison. I wrote, "Aunt Debbie, Uncle Ray, Melissa, and Michael told me how smart, cute, and caring you are. They bought you lot's of presents and love you so much. You really are a special girl. I hope to see you real soon! Love, Mickey Mouse." I wound up not sending it, though, and when I gave it to her when we got home she laughed, and then asked if she could write on it I guess she doesn't fully understand the concept of postcards

At 10:00 we all watched Family Guy, which became a running theme of the trip. Sleep late, go to the parks all day, come home and watch Family Guy! I was actually pretty bored, which I felt bad about. I had begged to go on this trip for SO long, and now I was bored... well, it was only the first night and we were taking it easy. No big deal. When Family Guy was over I put on the Weather Channel and saw that there was a 50% chance of rain all week I took a shower, braided my hair, and relaxed in bed, until I fell asleep at 1:30.

Coming Up Next - Day 4: Bring on the Frunch!

 

[JawsCPA]

Glad you're back. Keep the installments coming.

 

[Foladar]

Happy late birthday! Saw your date on the profile when I tried to find this post again

 

[babieemelly]

Day 4: Tuesday, July 12, 2005

I woke up at 9:00 this morning, and got dressed. As I was getting ready my mom came up to my room with one of the calendars I had printed out for her to keep track of everything for the month. She had written up her own itinerary, including days we can go to the parks, and days that she didn't want to. Um, I already have an itinerary.... She said that I had too much planned, and she wanted some days to relax. Well, you should have told me that a few months ago when I created our itinerary By then I was pretty stressed out, so I had to sit there and decide which parks to go to on which days all over again. I know we could have just gone with the flow, but I felt better having a set itinerary. Being there for so lon made it hard to fit everything in, since a lot of times we'd decide to relax and keep pushing things back, thinking we had plenty of time to do them, when that wasn't always the case. Since a lot of our park days changed, we also had to change a lot of our PS's. Some of them I just figured we'd forget about, and some of them I made a note to call and change later on.

While I finished getting ready, my mom and dad took a ride to the store. It was about 9:45 at this point, and we had a 10:45 reservation at Boma. We still had plenty of time. I was finished getting ready at 10:00, but I stayed in my room looking over our new schedule. Mike got up at 10:00, and was done getting ready really quickly. At 10:15, as I was getting my shoes on to leave for the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I hear the vacuum turn on. My dad's vacuuming NOW?! We have a 10:45 reservation, lets go! Dad finished quickly, and claiming that he thought the reservation was for 11:00, we finally got out of the house at 10:30.

We reached Disney property at 10:40, and I had to get a picture of the Welcome sign. This was out first time on Disney property for this trip, and I was SO excited! We entered right near the main MGM entrance, at the Magic Kingdom exit on I4, and drove across property. There weren't many signs for the Lodge, but there were a lot of Animal Kingdom signs, so we followed those. I figured the two would be near each other, and they were. We pulled into the Animal Kingdom Lodge parking lot at 10:50, and got our 3-hour parking pass.

The outside of the AKL is nice, but it's very shaded by trees so I couldn't get a picture where you could see the actual building. We stepped inside and it was really nice, but nothing impressive. I love the high ceilings and African accents, and I'm sure the rooms are gorgeous, but I just didn't feel the Disney "magic" there, it could have been any hotel around the world. Which I guess is the point... you're supposed to feel like you're in an African Lodge, but if I'm staying at Disney I still want it to feel like Disney, which I just didn't get.

We weren't sure where the restaurant was, so we took a look at the big map in the lobby. We found that it was right downstairs, so we went down there. The restaurant is really big and open, so we were able to see that the place was absolutely EMPTY! There was hardly anyone in there... we definitely didn't need a PS for this one. I don't know if the restaurant is always like that, or if it was just because we had a late PS. So we checked in and went right to our table. When you first walk in and face the windows, we were seated on the right side, right by the window looking out to the path that leads to the pool. We were the only ones in the whole section!

Our waitress, Nancy, came over and took our drink orders. She explained to us what Frunch was, and we all ordered it (mom and dad also got coffee). After we had ordered our drinks, mom and I ran in to use the bathroom. The soap in there was coconut... COCONUT! A far cry from the empty soap dispensers on our drive down I95! My mom and I fell in love with that soap, as weird as that may sound We both LOVE coconut, and have started using coconut soap at home. It's so tropical When we went back to the table our drinks were there, and we all went to get our food.

I wound up taking brioche, a waffle, a biscuit and sausage skillet dish, a few mini muffins and cinnamon rolls for us all to share, bacon, scrambled eggs, and a piece of the meat breakfast pizza. I wound up picking the raisins out of the brioche, but the food was pretty good! I took a few bites of everything and was full before I could go up for seconds, but my mom and dad did. Mike hardly touched his plate - he's always a pain when it comes to food

We hardly ever saw our waitress after she originally brought our drinks, and we had to ask a different waitress who just happened to be walking by for refills. I LOVED the Frunch! I always loved mixed-juice drinks (I always mix Cranberry and Orange Juice at home, and sometimes add Seltzer), and this was one of the best I've ever had! Definitely my favorite thing at Boma! While the food was good, it was not worth the price. We could have gotten the same exact stuff for WAY cheaper at any restaurant along I4. Oh well, it was a fun experience. I just don't think we'll be coming back. For breakfast, at last - we'veheard amazing reviews of the dinner and are trying it at the end of July

When we were done eating we decided to walk around the hotel for a little while. Mike was amazed that they had a TV playing cartoons in the lobby. We've stayed at big hotels with TV's in the lobby before, but it was cute that the TV was surrounded by a whole kid-sized area with little couches and rocking chairs! We walked through the lobby and took a few pictures by the outlook overlooking the Savannah. Then we went outside to see the animals! We looked... and looked... and looked... and all we saw were birds. Where were all the animals? We walked around the entire Savannah and didn't see ANYTHING! My mom then started insisting that there couldn't possibly be actual animals at the hotel, because how can they keep wild animals at a hotel? I kept telling her that there usually WERE giraffes, flamingos and other African animals, but she didn't believe me Whatever.

It was REALLY hot and humid by this point, so we went back inside and walked through the lobby to the front entrance of the hotel. There wasn't much else to do there, so we left. We have a tradition to do the Vacation Dance each time we go away. Yes, starting a few years ago, we find a good spot and all take turns dancing while someone video tapes it So on the way out we found a secluded area within the trees, and my mom and dad did the vacation dance, while Mike and I ran far, far away! It was TOO HOT!

When they were finally done, we hopped into the HOT car, blasted the AC, and decided what we wanted to do next.

Coming Up Next - Experiment 626 Wreaks Havoc!

 

[fizz13]

Welcome back Melissa, been missing your report, get your mom to read the DIS so she knows the truth about the animals
Claire xx

 

[lindalinda]

Still lovin' these reports! I dont know how this one slipped by me!

 

[babieemelly]

We decided that since we were on Disney property, we might as well go to Downtown Disney. I really wanted to get more into the Disney spirit, so we decided to go to the Marketplace. We eventually wanted to see the West Side, but I wanted to go to some Disney stores. On the way to Downtown Disney from the Animal Kingdom Lodge we passed the big fake Tower of Terror. This was the first time we passed it, and I pointed and said "Look, it's the Tower of Terror!" My mom freaked out and screamed that I wasn't going on it. For those of you who don't know, it's a big recreation of the Tower of Terror, with a dangling elevator car and a few fake people screaming. This thing doesn't drop, though... it's just kind of dangling there, swaying in the wind. It was hysterical that she believed me! Every time we passed it after that we all had to laugh... I LOVED that thing!

When we finally got to Downtown Disney we drove over to the Marketplace and parked. There were a lot of spots so I figured it wouldn't be too crowded. I was right, it wasn't too crowded... but it was unbelievably HOT! So to get out of the heat we walked through Basin, since we were parked right in front of it. I love all that stuff, but I figured I could get the same things at Bath and Body Works around here, and not have to worry about it all melting on the drive home. We then left out of the side door, and went over to the World of Disney. We had to stop on the way, though, to see what trouble Stitch was causing!

We went into the World of Disney store and wow... talk about overwhelming! It was pretty crowded and there was just room after room after room of Disney stuff... I didn't know where to start! I wound up spending $70. I bought a Happiest Celebration on Earth picture frame with Tinker Bell, a photo album with Sorcerer Mickey and the logos from all the parks that says "Where Magic Lives" (I love that slogan!), and the Illuminations and SpectroMagic CDs. My Dad offered to buy me really cute Mickey earrings, but since I'm usually allergic to earrings and only wear them every once in a while, I decided not to get them.

When we were done in the World of Disney we walked around by the water for a while. My mom said that she remembered coming in 1992, and walking around at night. She said we loved the Lego store, but she doesn't remember a lot of the other stores. I think a lot of them came after 1992, didn't they? Anyway, we went over to the Lego store and took a few pictures. Wow, that place is pretty big! We would have loved it when we were little, but we're a little passed the Lego stage and didn't buy anything.

Done with the Lego store, we walked over to Ghirardelli. My mom loves chocolate so I was excited to show her that there was a Ghirardelli, but apparently there's one in the city that I've never seen, so this one was nothing new. Oh well... we still got some good free samples! Milk chocolate with caramel.... mmmm!

We then continued walking around the Marketplace. We saw the Earl of Sandwich and we all love sandwiches, so I had really wanted to try it. However, we had just had a big breakfast and none of us were anywhere near hungry, so we skipped it. Then we went into the small discount area, where everything is 50% off. All of the items were stored in a small alley, and was very closed in and HOT. There wasn't anything good, so we left and went next door to Disney Tails. I LOVED that store! As you can probably tell by now, Oreo is very spoiled, and I wanted to buy her everything in there! We decided to be good, though, and we only bought her two new toys - a plastic set of a Mickey hand and pants. They're both really cute, and say Disney Tails on them. Oreo still plays with them! I also got a magnet of all the Disney dogs that I could put a picture of Oreo in, and I got my cousin one with all the Disney cats to put a picture of her cat in.

After Disney Tails the heat was really getting to us, so we decided to head back to the condo. In the car my mom mentioned how she didn't want to spend so much money to eat everyday, and we were going to only eat at one more Disney sit-down restaurant. What?! I have so many great ones planned! So we decided to narrow it down to one a week (which changed later on, but more on that later!) I was really upset, but I figured we would have fun at the parks, and wouldn't need to worry about the restaurants.

When we got back to the condo, we gave Oreo her new toys and she LOVED them! I watched Witches of Eastwick on HBO (I love Cher so much that it's kind of sad ) and looked through the souvenirs I had bought. I put everything away, and looked at my I Love Orlando magazine, before Mike watched a repeat of the Homerun Derby from the night before, and I AGAIN re-did our itinerary, deciding on which restaurant to go to each week. I then watched "The Lonely Guy" with Steve Martin, which I had never seen before but it was SO funny (I just recently got it on DVD, it's a new favorite of mine!), and had some Wheat Thins and Cheese Doodles. My mom and dad ran out to Walgreens to buy two small digital clocks for mine and Mike's rooms (there wasn't a clock in either one) and then we all just hung out.

Coming Up Next - A Trip to San Francisco

 

[bellebud]

had to say "thanks!" for all the pics!! especially of the drive down. (we've driven down from upstate NY 6 times in the past 3 years). I felt like we were going again. really enjoying your whole report!

 

[nezy]

I have never eaten at Boma's, so I am wonder the heck FRUNCH is-for those of us from NY it could be a combination of FReakin' lUNCH-FRUNCH!

Don't know if you ever saw any other animals at AK, but I have been there ans have seen many different types-maybe it was too hot. I was there at 7:00 pm-ish.

What did OREO do all day when you were at the parks?

 

[babieemelly]

I have never eaten at Boma's, so I am wonder the heck FRUNCH is-for those of us from NY it could be a combination of FReakin' lUNCH-FRUNCH!

Don't know if you ever saw any other animals at AK, but I have been there ans have seen many different types-maybe it was too hot. I was there at 7:00 pm-ish.

What did OREO do all day when you were at the parks?

Yes, Frunch is freaken lunch The Frunch is SO good, it's all different druit juices mixed together. But I like freaken lunch better

When we were out Oreo lounged around the house, playing with her toys and sleeping in the a/c

Thanks for all the comments!

 

[babieemelly]

At 4:30 we decided to head over to Universal Studios. It started drizzling on our way there, but we weren't turning back. We just hoped it wouldn't start coming down harder. We parked in King Kong, and started our long journey to the front of the park. I HATED that walk, like I can't even tell you As we were walking through the parking garage it was nice to see more people leaving than entering, though.

When we got to Universal Studios we walked through the main Universal store that takes up much of the left side of the main street. It was really, really hot out, so we figured we'd walk through the store to get out of the heat. They had some really cute ET dolls in there! I grew up loving ET, and my cousin Alison now LOVES him, so I knew I'd have to get a few souvenirs on the way out.

We wanted to go over to Men in Black, but on the way there we passed Shrek and there was only a 20 minute wait listed. We thought this was great for a generally new, and popular, attraction so we got on line. The line was outside, but again we really weren't that hot because Universal had huge fans blowing from above us. The outdoor line was really funny, with movie posters using the Shrek characters to make fun of Disney!

When we got inside, after about 10 minutes, we moved all the way up to the front of the pre-show room, which was set up like a dungeon. There was a kid in a brown robe with a hood covering his face, and he was standing at a podium. He told us that whenever he said the word "flogging" we all had to scream. He then continued to say "Anyone who eats in the theater will get a flogging!" (Ahhh!), "Anyone who drinks in the theater will get a flogging!" (Ahhh!), "Anyone who smokes in the theater will get a flogging!" (Ahh!), "Anyone who takes flash photography in the theater will get a flogging!" (Ahhh!)

There were three separate screens on the wall behind him, and when he as done warning us about our floggings, they all turned on, with one of the 3 Little Pigs in each one. They talked about Shrek, and made fun of each other. There was also a box with legs sticking out of the top, and it was Pinocchio, trapped inside, upside down. He told a lie (I forgot what it was) and his nose grew and came out of a little hole in the box!

Then on two other big screens came the ghost of Farquaad, the evil villian from Shrek. He told the story of Shrek, and reviewed a few different parts of the movie. All the while on another screen was the Gingerbread Man, tied to a table with a leg missing, just like he was in the film. While they showed clips of Shrek on the two larger screens, on this one you could see the Gingerbread Man wiggling and grunting, trying to get out. When the review of Shrek was over, he finally broke free and ran towards the screen, banged on it, and screamed at us to help him escape. He then ran off, and the doors to the theater opened.

We got our 3D glasses and took seats in the middle of the theater. It was so empty that we didn't even need to move all the way down to the end of the row, which was nice. The show started, and wow... this was the best 3D show I had ever seen! The 3D was all digital and perfectly crystal clear, and the special effects were great (water, puffs of air, etc). There were a lot of chase scenes, and whenever Shrek and Donkey were bouncing along in their wagon trying to save Fiona from the dragon, the whole theater would shake. It wasn't like a simulator where the room actually moved, but the floors would begin to shake and vibrate. Very cool! There were a lot of jokes that kids wouldn't get, like in the actual Shrek movies, but it was very, very funny. At the very end of the show, the Gingerbread Man is shot out of a sling-shot, and then you see his little legs wiggling out of the wall on the side of the theater, like he was stuck in it! My mom didn't think she would like the show since the seats shook, but it wasn't bad at all... she loved it, actually!

When we left the theater we decided to head to the back of the park, to get on Men in Black. On our way there we saw Marilyn Monroe, Popeye, Olive Oil, and Dr. Emmett Brown from Back to the Future, all on the Universal Studios Trolley. Popeye, Olive Oil, and Dr. Emmett Brown were all facing the other side of the street, and Marilyn looked nothing like the real Marilyn Monroe, but it was still fun to see. We stopped to watch for two minutes, before walking through New York on our way to the back of the park.

We passed Earthquake and it was just re-opening from being broken down earlier that day. It said there was only a 20 minute wait, so we got on line. They let in big groups at a time, and we were the second group let in, after only a 5-minute wait. We walked into the first pre-show room, where a girl sat by a series of windows. She talked to us about special effects, and different techniques used in movies to make the special effects look as realistic as possible. For example, in order for "rain" to show up on film, milk is used instead of water (she made sure to point out that Gene Kelly was, in fact, "Singin' in the Milk!"). Also, "snow" is usually very small feathers, and when leaves are used in a scene thousands of them are usually swept and reused each day. After she told us each fact, it would be demonstrated in each window. She also asked for volunteers for the next part of the attraction, and a group of teenage guys all volunteered their friend, who didn't want to do it, and it was a whole big ordeal trying to talk him into it. He didn't do it in the end, though, so the girl picked someone else.

Walking through New York... I can't get over how realistic it looks

My dad on line for Earthquake

In the next room we stood in rows and watched a film about all of the action-packed Universal movies. They told us about how most of the time they use miniature objects and small sets when it comes to the most extreme special effects and stunts. They also had the sled from the Grinch, the satellite from ET, and the miniature submarine used in U571 all on display. We also saw clips from Earthquake (the movie) and U571. My cousin Cari and I have seen U571 a million and a half times (we love it!), but no one else in the theater really knew what it was (except for dad) so it was pretty funny.

In the next room we all sat on long benches, and the people chosen in the first room as extras got to do their thing. There were three guys up on a "boat" with ponchos on, and they were in front of a green screen. On the screens around the room you could see them with the background added in, and it looked like the were actually out on the water. There was a little girl who was also picked to be an extra, and she pulled a rope to make water splash on the guys, but a big bucket of water was dumped on her instead!

The fourth extra was really funny! When they originally picked her they said that they needed someone who was in good shape and athletic, because it was going to be a very physical stunt. They showed video of her sitting on top of a tower, and on the count of three it was supposed to look like she was falling but she was going to be caught by a net. Of course she went crashing to the floor and hit it REALLY hard, with her neck completely twisted. And of course that was just a dummy to scare the audience, and the girl came walking out afterwards!

When that part of the attraction was over, we moved into the next room, which was finally the sound stage. There was a huge tram which we all got in, some people facing forwards and some backwards. We were sitting backwards as we were brought through a long, dark tunnel. There were rattling noises and lights flashing, and the tram was slightly shaking back and forth, so it really felt like we were underground (it felt like being on the subway!). Eventually we are brought into a huge, dark, underground train station, where things went horribly wrong.

We felt the floor start to rumble, and eventually it started shaking like crazy, really throwing us around in the tram. The ceiling collapsed and the "street" above us was visible. What's that on the street? A gas tank... and it fell through the hole in the ceiling and came plunging towards us! It stopped right before it reached the tram, and burst into flames. Another train came riding along next to us, before it swerved and hit our tram! All of a sudden tons and tons of water came rushing towards the tram, power lines burst and sent sparks everywhere, and the lights went out. Then a spotlight then went over our tour guide standing up on a balcony, and she thanked us all for being extras in the new Earthquake film. As we began to leave, the whole room reset itself (which was very weird, and awesome, to see), and we went back through the tunnel (going forwards this time) and exited the ride. Very, very cool! It was like Catastrophe Canyon, just more extreme and exciting I loved it!

Done with Earthquake, we decided to finally make it to the back of the park to go on Men In Black. On our way back there, though, we had to take a detour because tons of people were standing around watching an actual episode of Family Fear Factor being taped. There was a kid in a harness standing on top of a car, so I'll have to check out the new season of Fear Factor to see what exactly they were doing.

The wait for Men in Black was 60 minutes, but we hadn't really waited on any long lines yet so we decided to just go for it. The first part of the line was outside and really hot. They had a few fans around, but it wasn't as cool as the lines for other rides. When we got to the part of the line right before we entered the indoor line, the kids behind us started flipping out. There were two guys and two girls, maybe a year or two younger than me, and apparently they were smoking and someone told an employee who made them stop. I'm allergic to smoke and it REALLY bothers me, but I actually didn't smell anything. However, the guys started screaming, "What the f*ck, a f*cking old man telling on me! Sh*t, you screw up your own life!" I was like wow... some kids really are dirtbags. I mean I'm no saint, but who acts like that?! Whatever.

When we got to the front of the building that houses the indoor line and ride, my mom asked the girl working the ride if there was a way to leave at the end of the line so she wouldn't have to go on the actual ride. I assured her she could get off the line right at the end and wait for us at the exit, but she just never wanted to listen to me. So instead she asked the employee at the front of the entrance who didn't speak English, and obviously didn't understand the question. She told my mom that there was no way of getting on the ride without waiting on line. Um, that wasn't the question. After asking a few more times, and getting crazy answers, mom just got off the line. Why she wouldn't listen to me and wait with us in the air conditioning, instead of by herself out in the heat, I don't know. I also don't know why you would have people who don't speak English working at an American amusement park...

When we entered the building, a small group of us all got into an "elevator" and saw a video about our training mission. Then the floor started rattling and lights started blinking, like we were in an actual elevator, taking us up to the training labs. It was like the Hydrolators at the Living Seas, though, and didn't actually go anywhere. When we got out we were in a long hallway, and at the end of it was a window you could look through. There was a small room that looked like the coffee room of an office, and there were two aliens sitting there, drinking coffee, and making jokes about working in an office. It was cute!

The next room we went into was really, really big, and had two huge 1-eyed aliens sitting at a desk, looking over videos. There were large screens playing video clips of Will Smith talking to us, telling us how our training is sure to be a lot tougher than his was. The next room was the last room, and it just had a hall and a few stairs that you had to go down, where you then got on the ride.

When we got to the front of the line (after an hour and a half!), some guy working the ride came up to me and said, "Melissa, shoot the alien's eyes, mouths and shoulders." Um, thanks for the advice... how do you know my name?! He must have been listening to us talk beforehand, and somehow heard my name... I don't know how, but it was definitely weird. When we finally got on the ride I accidentally took Mike's seatbelt (I sat between my dad and Mike) and wondered why it wasn't locking into the other side of my seatbelt Yea, I did that on more than one ride, actually So the guy from before leaned over me and connected my seatbelt. Whoa buddy, let's back it up a bit Yes, it was definitely as weird as it sounds. Anyway...

The ride itself was fun, but nothing special. We shot the aliens and spun around a few times. At one point there was another car in front of us and we had to shoot at each other, and whichever car got shot started spinning. With dad and Mike in our car (the world's two biggest video game aficionados!) we hit the other car EVERY SINLGE TIME, and not ONCE did they get us! At the end, when we went under the really big main alien, we started spinning like crazy, though, and Mike got really sick! He just did NOT feel good afterwards! I know... it shouldn't be funny that he felt crappy. But oh man, it really was! Mike wound up with 290,000 points, dad had 180,000 and I had... 25,000. Shut up, I never play video games. It was a fun ride, but in NO WAY worth the lloonngg wait, and I wouldn't run to go on it again.

When we left the ride we met my mom outside, and had no idea what had taken us so long. I told her that she should have just waited on line with us, so oh well. We then continued walking around the back fo the park. Back to the Future was right next to Men In Black, but it had a 30 minute wait, and we didn't feel like standing around any more than we just did. We also wanted to go on something that all four of us would go on and enjoy (mom doesn't do simulators), so we continued walking and looking for something to do.

Coming Up Next - I'll Be Back...