threeboysmom
Living the dream - near Disney!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2001
- Messages
- 9,426
1/5 Monday Our last day at Universal 
I woke up feeling a little blue and just wanting to prolong every minute of this day. We headed to IOA early around 8:30 a.m. They began letting people in around 8:45. We headed first to Hulk and rode in the front row - I LOVE the launch from the first row! We then grabbed some breakfast at Cinnabon and sat there for awhile just watching people's expressions as they rounded the corner into the park and caught their first sight of the Hulk coaster. We then rode Dr. Doom a couple of times and Spiderman also. There was nothing else we really wanted to ride so we just walked very slowly around the park just savoring the moment & soaking up the atmosphere. We left around 11:00 a.m. - I to the pool (of course) and Jim back to the hotel room to get some work done. We hooked back up together around 1:00 at US - met for lunch at the International Food & Film Festival. We then saw Terminator (Jim really wanted to see this again & the boys don't really care for it). We then "previewed" the Horror Make-up Show to decide if we would let the boys see it in May (we're still undecided even after seeing it!!) I thought it was very funny & would love to see it a few more times to compare shows. It was 3:30 when we got out - well, well, there's a Ghostbuster show at 3:45. Hmmmmm, I just have to check this one out! I convinced my DH to head over to see the show before hitting MIB for the remainder of the day. Great group of guys, but the storyline needs more work. That's all I'm going to say since my DH reads these boards 
Jim was bored to tears, but then, he's a guy! We then hit MIB for the last time on our vacation. Park closes at 6:00 this evening so that only gives us a little under 2 hours. Ride attendants are beginning to recognize us - we've only been on this ride about 30 times in the past couple of days! LOL! I try not to feel too guilty as we keep re-riding this ride with express while everyone else is still waiting in the regular line. I think we've passed the same people twice now! We always sit in the same row & car - Row #1 - I get the left seat, Jim gets the middle, and usually a single rider gets added to our back row. We even make a game out of how fast you can get into your seat and buckle in! OK so we're weird!! The best part about our vacation is coming up! On our last trip through the express line, the ride attendants worked it out so that Jim would ride in the right vehicle all by himself and they put me in the left vehicle opposite his car all by myself!!! so that we could compete against each other single-handedly!! It was GREAT!!! Jim clearly had the disadvantage since we never ride the right-hand track. But then I had the disadvantage because I can NEVER hit the other car's exhaust port!!!!! Off we went! I'm so competitive that my heart was racing - I just HAD to win! I almost fell off my seat when I glanced at my score just as we swung around to face the big bug - 613,625 - I've NEVER scored so high (but then I've never ridden in a car by myself either - I'm always with my DH who aims at the same targets as me throwing me off) I get the bonus (of course) - now we face the big screen with the averages posted - 713,625 vs. 438,000 (something like that!) I WON!!! And I not only won, but I blew my DH away!! Ha Ha! 
What a perfect way to end our vacation. I actually walked out of the park with a big smile on my face (I'm usually teary-eyed). We head to Citywalk and had dinner at Margheritaville. We walked sloooooooowly back to our room, packed (ok, now I'm sad) and had an early bed night. Checked out of the hotel at 7:15 a.m. and headed to the airport. Arrived back in NH to 20 degree weather and snow! Today it was in the teens (bbrrrrr!) and I'm not feeling well. I want to go back!!!
Couple of side notes: Weather was PERFECT - temperature in the 80's every day and 60's at night. Never needed the winter sweaters/long sleeves that we brought.
Had a chance to talk with Pia! She is so sweet. She didn't check us in, but I went over anyways and talked with her a little. Kate was the girl who checked us in and was very good about upgrading without us even asking and arranging for our Loew's gift, again without us even asking. She was very thorough & helpful & efficient.
I'm hoping to stay here again in May, but the room seems like it will be too small for the 5 of us. I'm not sure we'll be able to swing getting 2 rooms though. Kate told us we could get the executive suite for $35 more (gold members) but I'm not sure how comfortable 5 would be in there either. Bummer they don't have kids suites like the HRH
I woke up feeling a little blue and just wanting to prolong every minute of this day. We headed to IOA early around 8:30 a.m. They began letting people in around 8:45. We headed first to Hulk and rode in the front row - I LOVE the launch from the first row! We then grabbed some breakfast at Cinnabon and sat there for awhile just watching people's expressions as they rounded the corner into the park and caught their first sight of the Hulk coaster. We then rode Dr. Doom a couple of times and Spiderman also. There was nothing else we really wanted to ride so we just walked very slowly around the park just savoring the moment & soaking up the atmosphere. We left around 11:00 a.m. - I to the pool (of course) and Jim back to the hotel room to get some work done. We hooked back up together around 1:00 at US - met for lunch at the International Food & Film Festival. We then saw Terminator (Jim really wanted to see this again & the boys don't really care for it). We then "previewed" the Horror Make-up Show to decide if we would let the boys see it in May (we're still undecided even after seeing it!!) I thought it was very funny & would love to see it a few more times to compare shows. It was 3:30 when we got out - well, well, there's a Ghostbuster show at 3:45. Hmmmmm, I just have to check this one out! I convinced my DH to head over to see the show before hitting MIB for the remainder of the day. Great group of guys, but the storyline needs more work. That's all I'm going to say since my DH reads these boards Jim was bored to tears, but then, he's a guy! We then hit MIB for the last time on our vacation. Park closes at 6:00 this evening so that only gives us a little under 2 hours. Ride attendants are beginning to recognize us - we've only been on this ride about 30 times in the past couple of days! LOL! I try not to feel too guilty as we keep re-riding this ride with express while everyone else is still waiting in the regular line. I think we've passed the same people twice now! We always sit in the same row & car - Row #1 - I get the left seat, Jim gets the middle, and usually a single rider gets added to our back row. We even make a game out of how fast you can get into your seat and buckle in! OK so we're weird!! The best part about our vacation is coming up! On our last trip through the express line, the ride attendants worked it out so that Jim would ride in the right vehicle all by himself and they put me in the left vehicle opposite his car all by myself!!! so that we could compete against each other single-handedly!! It was GREAT!!! Jim clearly had the disadvantage since we never ride the right-hand track. But then I had the disadvantage because I can NEVER hit the other car's exhaust port!!!!! Off we went! I'm so competitive that my heart was racing - I just HAD to win! I almost fell off my seat when I glanced at my score just as we swung around to face the big bug - 613,625 - I've NEVER scored so high (but then I've never ridden in a car by myself either - I'm always with my DH who aims at the same targets as me throwing me off) I get the bonus (of course) - now we face the big screen with the averages posted - 713,625 vs. 438,000 (something like that!) I WON!!! And I not only won, but I blew my DH away!! Ha Ha! What a perfect way to end our vacation. I actually walked out of the park with a big smile on my face (I'm usually teary-eyed). We head to Citywalk and had dinner at Margheritaville. We walked sloooooooowly back to our room, packed (ok, now I'm sad) and had an early bed night. Checked out of the hotel at 7:15 a.m. and headed to the airport. Arrived back in NH to 20 degree weather and snow! Today it was in the teens (bbrrrrr!) and I'm not feeling well. I want to go back!!! Couple of side notes: Weather was PERFECT - temperature in the 80's every day and 60's at night. Never needed the winter sweaters/long sleeves that we brought.
Had a chance to talk with Pia! She is so sweet. She didn't check us in, but I went over anyways and talked with her a little. Kate was the girl who checked us in and was very good about upgrading without us even asking and arranging for our Loew's gift, again without us even asking. She was very thorough & helpful & efficient.
I'm hoping to stay here again in May, but the room seems like it will be too small for the 5 of us. I'm not sure we'll be able to swing getting 2 rooms though. Kate told us we could get the executive suite for $35 more (gold members) but I'm not sure how comfortable 5 would be in there either. Bummer they don't have kids suites like the HRH
