quisp_quake
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2008
- Messages
- 17
Hi all!!!
This is probably WAY TOO DETAILED, but since I wrote it flying home from Orlando, everything was fresh in my mind, and I 'expounded' a bit. We went to Universal/IOA/Seaworld/HHN and did a couple of miscellaneous days at Universal (but no Disney weirdly enough...I was upset when they raised rates a couple of months ago, so we used our full week passes ($79.99!!!) and spent our money at Universal/Seaworld instead...
Anyways, here I go...I'll probably get around to posting a few pictures eventually!!!
Once we made it to Orlando, we rented a car, and went to the Seralago Hotel in Kissimmee Florida. This was a budget hotel we found online awhile ago. The folks running it were very nice, and we all like it a lot (heated pools dont hurt!).
After checking in and unpacking, we went to the celebratory Burger dinner (must ALWAYS START a vacation with a Burger dinner). We went to Unos, and had a huge meal. Afterwards, we went back and collapsed, as the next day was a FULL one!!!
We had a LONG walk from the car (decided not to use the tram), but we all got in eventually, and did some major walking around inside as well. Some of the highlights for us (not counting the shows) were the Penguin area, checking out the Seals & Sea Lions, the Manattes, and I FINALLY TOUCHED a sting ray (slightly slimy, but not too bad!!!).
The shows were all fantastic. We started with the Seamore & Clyde show, which was a comedy show with a couple of sea lions. However, our favorite part was before the show where a mime was making fun of people as they walked in he was GREAT!!! The show itself was very funny too the Sea Lions did MOST of what they were trained to do (a couple of moments where they decided to do their own thing, but what do you expect???). Overall, a LOT of fun. We then went to the dolphin show, which was very cool. The dolphins were jumping like crazy, and they had some surreal bird/acrobatic thing going on at the same time which was good.
We then went to the Alure, The Call of the Ocean show, which was very different. It was a Japanese play consisting of EXCELLENT acrobatics, and was pretty bizarre really I thoroughly enjoyed it! We did some more walking, and then the best show of the day SHAMU!!! Everyone loved Shamu a great show with some truly amazing killer whales. This was the way we ended the Seaworld experience (which was smart as I dont think it could have been topped). So, we walked WAY back to the car again, and then Jeff dropped us off at our hotel. BUT the evening wasnt done yet (yawn!). We had tickets to the Pirates Dinner Adventure theater.
Honestly, this was a so-so experience. The food was late getting to us (so pretty cold really), and the show was okay, but not incredible (I guess I was expecting something of the caliber of Medievel Times, but it wasnt even close). It was okay, but the small amounts of food (and since we hadnt eaten until breakfast, that was a BIG DEAL!!!) and the so-so show made it the one non-knockout experience of our trip. Afterwards, back to the hotel for a MAJOR crash (started at 8AM, ended at 11:00 PM thats a LONG day).
The first thing we noticed, is how long it took to get from the car to the park. We had parked in the ET area, and holy cow, even with the moving sidewalks and all, it took us a good 15-20 minutes to get to the park. No complaints though it just sorta heightened the enthusiasm for the day.
The main thing that knocked me out about this park, was the Architecture and music for each land. There was a Marvel Comics land, a Comic Strip Land, Dr Seuss land, Jurassic Park, and my favorite for looks, the Lost Continent. Each land was just AMAZINGLY designed, and the music changed as you moved from one land to the next REALLY smoothly. This place was truly a feat of engineering.
As for the rides, we started off with Spiderman. This was my favorite ride that I had taken when at the earlier HHN, but I had forgotten just how intense it was. Great 3d effects, and motion. This one freaked everyone out really good, but it was a lot of fun.
We then did the ride which scared the hell out of everyone, Jurassic Park. None of us are good with roller coasters or other rides where youre lifted out of your seat, so the MAJOR drop at the end of the ride scared us all pretty badly After this, we didnt do any of the other really intense rides (like the Dudley Do-Right Ripshaw Falls), but we did do the Seuss Trolley (hehe), and we ended up with the Popeye Bluto River Barge which got us all soaked to the skin, but was a good way to end the day.
In the meantime, we had also checked out a couple of shows. The Sinbad show was great, and the Poseidon adventure was a blast also. We really had a great time at the park, but we were STILL tired from the flight and from the long day before, so we took off around 5:00, and went to Checkers (a great burger place) for dinner, and then we went for a swim in the HEATED POOL at our hotel, and then we crashed HARD we were all out by 9:00, which was good because the next day was Universal Studios, and I wanted to get a good early start.
The Simpsons ride was simply incredible. A motion ride, it was just like being on the roller coaster from Hell a lot of fun, and the waiting area was running like the best of from the series, so lots of entertainment all around. We all enjoyed the Simpsons ride immensely our favorite of the park. A couple of other rides we all enjoyed, were the Meninblack (where you shoot aliens for points ), and the Jaws ride (which was the only ride where we had a fairly long line 30 minutes other than that, and the Simpsons one time, all waits were 10 minutes or less). After our near death experience at Jurassic Park the day before, we all chickened out on the Mummy ride (maybe next time???).
What we enjoyed the most about Universal, were the amazing shows. First up was the Terminator 2 3-D, one of the BEST 3-D shows Ive ever seen live action mixed in with some WILD effects. We also enjoyed the Shrek 4-D show (more excellent 3-D effects). We went to the Disaster show, which is where they make a fake movie (hosted by an incredibly realistic Christopher Walken). I was in a hammy mood, so I volunteered to be one of the evil scientists, and got fake rocks dropped on my head. This was a lot of fun, as after the filming, we got on a subway ride, which had an earthquake happen to it, and at the end, they showed a trailer with shots of us on the subway, and us actors who were spliced in lots of fun
We ended the day at the Horror Makeup Show which was a total blast hosted by two VERY funny guys, and featuring some cool special effects. It was a great way to end a SUPER day at Universal.
However, the day wasnt over yet!!! We headed back to the hotel, and got a short nap Afterwards, we ended up meeting our friend Jeff for dinner at the Outback. Yummm!!! We went kind of bananas, and ordered a bunch of appetizers and really went for it absolutely delicious, and we went back to the hotel FULL. This really was an A+++ day no complaints whatsoever.
Wet N Wild consists of TONS of water slides, and other water rides. However we didnt do a lot, but still had a great day. My wife and the youngest hung out in the wave pool, and the eldest & myself went to wait in line (which was kind of long really!) for the Bubba Drop. This basically was a flume type ride on a spinning float. It was fun, but 10 seconds of fun for a 30 minute wait wasnt really worth it.
I then searched out my wife. She was hanging out at the Lazy River which was a man-made river with a current that you could sit on a float and simply float around on (there was a waterfall & a bubble area in case you fell asleep these would wake you up really fast!). Right next to the river was a ride called the Bubble Up, where kids could climb a rope to the top of a giant inflatable, and bounce down. The youngest was on this for THREE HOURS!!! And my wife & myself hung out on the Lazy River having a relaxing time for the whole three hours too!!! We ended up in the Wave Pool for a short dip, and then it was time to go we got happily sunburned (none of us too toxically), so we finally got some color!!!
We then went back to the hotel for a MUCH NEEDED nap (floating in an inner tube for hours can be exhausting!!! Actually, doing it in the hot sun really CAN be exhausting ). We were woken by the phone ringing as Jeff called to get us motivated for our evenings dinner/entertainment, the Makahiki Luau.
After our Pirates Adventure earlier in the week, none of us were too sure of what to expect. The Luau took place at Seaworld, and started at 6:30, so we all headed over. The salads had just come out when we arrived, and the entertainment hadnt started yet. Best of all, since I had done the reservations two months earlier, we had the table directly in front of the stage!!!
And what entertainment!!! This was a real Luau, with fire dancers, hula dancers, Hawaiian guitarists, and more. The dinner was DELICIOUS and plentiful (ribs, fish, chicken, and yummy veggies followed by a tasty cake for dessert.). The entertainment was first rate, and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. One of the funnest dinners Ive ever had. We all got a truly great Polynesian experience. If anyone reading this ever goes to Orlando, I HIGHLY recommend the Makahiki Luau!!!
The Luau ended by 8:15 or so, and we just went back to the hotel. Since we had been at Wet N Wild earlier, none of us felt like swimming, so we went to bed early. It was nice crashing for the 10 or 11 hours With the energy we were expending, we needed as much rest as possible. Another incredible day!!!
In the morning, we partook of the hotels HEATED pool this kept everyone occupied for a couple of hours (I sadly had to take a break as my swimmers ear was returning). We then went to an All You Can Eat pizza joint that was pretty good (I ate a LOT of white chicken pizza!). We definitely got our moneys worth!!!
And, it was off to Universal Studios! We got there around 4:00, so that we could use the Stay & Scream option for Halloween Horror Nights. This allowed us to go to a special area around 5:00, and stay right in the park, and get a jump on the regular guests. We used our regular time to do Meninblack again (I got a bit of motion sickness thanks to the pizza earlier), and then walked around a bit until 5:15 or so. We ended up in an area near the Scary Tales haunted house, and sat to wait.
BUT, we didnt have to wait long although opening wasnt until 6:30, they opened up a few houses early, and we were able to do the Scary Tales house a bit after 5:30! It was SCARY basically creepy & twisted versions of fairy tales it scared all of us quite a bit (the youngest was VERY scared, but hes a trooper, and kept going). My only complaint was that the house was sort of dark, but it DID add to the scariness.
We then went to the next house which was already open The Hallow. This was a mixture of dark forests and hell, and was also very scary (and very dark). Next, was one we were looking forward to, Dead Exposure a zombie house. It wasnt bad, but it wasnt as good as we hoped (too much in the way of masks & strobes, and not enough make-up and ghouls).
The other houses were Reflections of Fear based on the Bloody Mary myth (which was the theme of this HHN). Honestly, it was kind of disappointing, especially as it was the theme house, but it was okay. Body Collectors was next, and was GREAT VERY gory (pulling a spine out of a woman, and other fun). We all liked this one a lot. After that was Doomsday based on the movie of earlier this year. This house went over awesome with all of us as we had seen the movie, and liked it a lot (actually, as my wife pointed out, if you hadnt seen the movie, a lot of the house wouldnt have made sense. The next house had our longest wait of the evening (20 minutes!!!), and was Intersteller Terror, which featured an escaped virus on a spaceship very well done. The final house was Creatures which was sort of a redneck human-barbecue thing Once again, a great house.
Amazingly, as we started early, by 8:15, we had done all 8 haunted houses (we congratulated the youngest!!!). BUT, we still had some more fun in front of us. First though, we stopped at Mels Die-In (renamed for HHN) for some fries, and then made our way through a few scare zones. Scare Zones are parts of the park which are horror-themed, but not inside a house we actually enjoyed the scare zones as much if not more than the houses.
First, was American Gothic a very creepy area with a tree monster (someone who looked just like a tree), and lots of people walking around with knives & more. The area was called Maplecroft, and was a favorite with us. This sort of segued into Streets of Blood near the Body Collectors house, with headless people, and lots of fun monsters. We really enjoyed the make-up the people were using a LOT more than the simple masks used in the houses.
Next was our favorite scare zone Path of the Wicked basically, what would it be like if the Wicked Witch of the West had won? An amazing zone, with a GREAT witch at the top of a tower, the scariest scarecrow & tin man one could imagine, and FLYING MONKEYS REALLY excellently done.
Asylum in Wonderland was an Alice in Wonderland take-off where inmates had escaped from an asylum. This was a very creepy (and psychedelic) area with lots of lights, and monsters EVERYWHERE (one actually terrorized our youngest a bit much). A cool area, but LAY OFF THE YOUNGSTERS!!! The next zone was Skoolhouse which looked really great in the day time, but just wasnt that scary. After the Skoolhouse, we had to walk a few hundred feet through trees that had HUNDREDS of lit-up pumpkins a great effect!!!
Finally, we came to our last scare zone Fractured Tales. This was outside of the Scary Tales house we had done at the beginning, and was very twisted (Mary & her half eaten little lamb and the such). A great scare zone.
Before we even had a chance to figure what to do next, we were ushered into a Magic show put on by bizarre magician Brian Brushwood. He was hilarious, and very good!!! Our oldest ended up getting his autograph, along with a Mr. Happy Pants (a puppet Brushwood had used) shirt. Great fun!!!
It was now getting pretty late, so first we let the boys ride The Simpsons ride again, and then we went to the American Gothic & Paths of the Wicked scare zones one more time. A GREAT night, and we got LOTS of good pictures & video to share (yay!) We then headed way back to parking, and drove out around 11ish, beating the crowds (it closed at midnight) and beating the drunks too (there was a LOT of imbibing going on). We all crashed pretty hard that night, but amazingly, no nightmares.
We werent really in heavy ride moods, but we just wanted to walk around. However, we all did Spiderman again, and enjoyed it lots. We walked through all the lands again, but this time we did some major exploring. For instance, in the Comic Strip land, we went to the Olive Oyls boat area, which was supposedly for kids, but featured lots to look at. We watched the poor suckers coming down Dudley Do-Rights Falls, and just wandered around.
In Jurassic park, we went to the Camp Jurassic which is another area supposedly for kids, but was very cool. Giant dinosaur footprints that if you stepped on, made dinosaur sounds, and lots of caves & places to explore. This was really a lot of fun. Afterwards, we slowly explored the Lost Continent area and found some secluded spots where we got some great pictures (only pictures unfortunately I thought it was gonna rain, so I didnt bring the video camera oh well!!!).
After a brief trek through Seuss Landing, we left (stopping into Universal Studios for a quick bit of shopping first). Our feet HURT, and we were all tired, so we headed back. We had dinner at Checkers again, and dropped for a good 2 hour nap (the past couple of days finally caught up with us!).
BUT, the day wasnt over yet (not with ME making the schedule!). We had tickets to the Ripleys Believe It Or Not museum (bought at a real bargain price on Ebay), so we headed to the other side of International Drive to check it out. We REALLY enjoyed it, right from the outside. The building itself looks like its sunk into the ground great architecture!
And LOTS of weird stuff within. African artifacts brought back by Ripley, 2 headed cows & other mutations, a torture dungeon (?!), and a couple of fun rooms, one full of optical illusions, and the other weirdly tilted so it was hard to stand up right. At the end of the museum, we went through a spinning room that took us all off balance all in all, a GREAT TIME!!! Even with the naps, we were all pretty zonked, and went back to the hotel to watch some TV for an hour or so, and then we were OUT.
Once Jeff got there, we headed off to Wekiwa Springs State Park for some Back to Nature fun. The rain decided to stop while we were at the park (the weather had called for extreme nastiness, but was GREAT), and we did some major nature viewing. First was the swimming spring, which was naturally spring fed. It was all interconnected to the swamp, and gators lived in the swamp. So, gators COULD CONCEIVABLY come into the spring. We decided not to swim!
We walked around, and Jeff took us down one of his favorite trails. We got to a BEAUTIFUL view, and lo & behold, we saw a gator in the water! A small one (thankfully!!!), but scary enough. We also saw a BIG water moccasin stick its head out of the water as my wife says Snakes should NOT BE in the water pretty intense!!!
Afterwards, we walked to another path Jeff knew about. On the way to the nature view, there was a two foot red snake (species still unidentified) laying on the path (our oldest almost walked on it). We gave it a wide berth. Maine may have its issues (COLD!!!), but there are no poisonous snakes or gators!!! Jeff did bring us to an AMAZING view. A man was there just chilling, and we talked for a few, and then headed back, as we had 6:30 reservations at the KOBE STEAKHOUSE!!!
Today was my birthday, so I had picked the Kobe Steakhouse for dinner that night. Its a Japanese steakhouse where the chef cooks right at your table. We got there and got a great table. Our chef was a blast, and never missed a beat throwing the knives around, cutting eggs, creating an onion volcano he was EXTREMELY talented, and a great chef to boot. We ate REALLY well, and at the end of the night, my wife had them come over, put a chefs hat on me, give us a birthday cake, and play a Japanese gong pretty cool .
My only complaint about dinner was there was a woman at the table with her son, and she LITERALLY was on the cell phone the ENTIRE DINNER!!! It really threw off the energy at the table, and it was obvious that our chef (who was amazing, and got plenty of applause from the rest of us) was flustered, as was our waitress. Still, not enough stupid vibes to ruin the night we really enjoyed ourselves CELL PHONES SHOULD BE OUTLAWED IN RESTAURANTS!!!
Afterwards, back to the hotel, and we finished our packing. We couldnt believe the week was over already
We drove home, and I drove out & got my dog, and got home by 5ish. It was over
I have to say, I had an absolutely incredible time. The couple of minor complaints in no way ruined the time for me, and I have nothing but great memories of the vacation (what week doesnt have a couple of annoyances???). Everyone had a blast, and we have lots to talk about with friends and family for awhile
Now, to start thinking about the next vacation
Hope you enjoyed the review!!!
This is probably WAY TOO DETAILED, but since I wrote it flying home from Orlando, everything was fresh in my mind, and I 'expounded' a bit. We went to Universal/IOA/Seaworld/HHN and did a couple of miscellaneous days at Universal (but no Disney weirdly enough...I was upset when they raised rates a couple of months ago, so we used our full week passes ($79.99!!!) and spent our money at Universal/Seaworld instead...
Anyways, here I go...I'll probably get around to posting a few pictures eventually!!!
Day 00 Friday October 17, 2008: Flying In
Well, the vacation FINALLY GOT HERE!!! We flew out of Portland Maine on Airtran Airways at 12:10, and were in Orlando at about 5:30 (we connected in Baltimore). For once, the flights were pretty calm and uneventful
I dont fly well, but the flights were some of the best Ive experienced in the past few years. Once we made it to Orlando, we rented a car, and went to the Seralago Hotel in Kissimmee Florida. This was a budget hotel we found online awhile ago. The folks running it were very nice, and we all like it a lot (heated pools dont hurt!).
After checking in and unpacking, we went to the celebratory Burger dinner (must ALWAYS START a vacation with a Burger dinner). We went to Unos, and had a huge meal. Afterwards, we went back and collapsed, as the next day was a FULL one!!!
Day 01 Saturday October 18, 2008: Seaworld & Pirates Adventure Dinner
My friend Jeff was able to join us for this day of fun. We started off at the Ponderosa for the breakfast buffet (something Ill be writing again and again). Jeff then took us into Seaworld
My first thought at the waiting area is that it was much busier than I expected! We had a LONG walk from the car (decided not to use the tram), but we all got in eventually, and did some major walking around inside as well. Some of the highlights for us (not counting the shows) were the Penguin area, checking out the Seals & Sea Lions, the Manattes, and I FINALLY TOUCHED a sting ray (slightly slimy, but not too bad!!!).
The shows were all fantastic. We started with the Seamore & Clyde show, which was a comedy show with a couple of sea lions. However, our favorite part was before the show where a mime was making fun of people as they walked in he was GREAT!!! The show itself was very funny too the Sea Lions did MOST of what they were trained to do (a couple of moments where they decided to do their own thing, but what do you expect???). Overall, a LOT of fun. We then went to the dolphin show, which was very cool. The dolphins were jumping like crazy, and they had some surreal bird/acrobatic thing going on at the same time which was good.
We then went to the Alure, The Call of the Ocean show, which was very different. It was a Japanese play consisting of EXCELLENT acrobatics, and was pretty bizarre really I thoroughly enjoyed it! We did some more walking, and then the best show of the day SHAMU!!! Everyone loved Shamu a great show with some truly amazing killer whales. This was the way we ended the Seaworld experience (which was smart as I dont think it could have been topped). So, we walked WAY back to the car again, and then Jeff dropped us off at our hotel. BUT the evening wasnt done yet (yawn!). We had tickets to the Pirates Dinner Adventure theater.
Honestly, this was a so-so experience. The food was late getting to us (so pretty cold really), and the show was okay, but not incredible (I guess I was expecting something of the caliber of Medievel Times, but it wasnt even close). It was okay, but the small amounts of food (and since we hadnt eaten until breakfast, that was a BIG DEAL!!!) and the so-so show made it the one non-knockout experience of our trip. Afterwards, back to the hotel for a MAJOR crash (started at 8AM, ended at 11:00 PM thats a LONG day).
Day 02 Sunday October 19, 2008: Islands of Adventure
After such a long day, we tried to sleep in, but we were still all up by 8. As usual, we went to the breakfast buffet at the Ponderosa to start the day. Afterwards, it was ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE DAY!!! None of us had ever been to the park (well, I had been during a Halloween Horror Nights a few years back, but its a TOTALLY different park when its not set up for Halloween). We all had a lot of fun.The first thing we noticed, is how long it took to get from the car to the park. We had parked in the ET area, and holy cow, even with the moving sidewalks and all, it took us a good 15-20 minutes to get to the park. No complaints though it just sorta heightened the enthusiasm for the day.
The main thing that knocked me out about this park, was the Architecture and music for each land. There was a Marvel Comics land, a Comic Strip Land, Dr Seuss land, Jurassic Park, and my favorite for looks, the Lost Continent. Each land was just AMAZINGLY designed, and the music changed as you moved from one land to the next REALLY smoothly. This place was truly a feat of engineering.
As for the rides, we started off with Spiderman. This was my favorite ride that I had taken when at the earlier HHN, but I had forgotten just how intense it was. Great 3d effects, and motion. This one freaked everyone out really good, but it was a lot of fun.
We then did the ride which scared the hell out of everyone, Jurassic Park. None of us are good with roller coasters or other rides where youre lifted out of your seat, so the MAJOR drop at the end of the ride scared us all pretty badly After this, we didnt do any of the other really intense rides (like the Dudley Do-Right Ripshaw Falls), but we did do the Seuss Trolley (hehe), and we ended up with the Popeye Bluto River Barge which got us all soaked to the skin, but was a good way to end the day.
In the meantime, we had also checked out a couple of shows. The Sinbad show was great, and the Poseidon adventure was a blast also. We really had a great time at the park, but we were STILL tired from the flight and from the long day before, so we took off around 5:00, and went to Checkers (a great burger place) for dinner, and then we went for a swim in the HEATED POOL at our hotel, and then we crashed HARD we were all out by 9:00, which was good because the next day was Universal Studios, and I wanted to get a good early start.
Day 03 Monday October 20, 2008: Universal Studios and Dinner at the Outback
This was a SUPER day. Everyone was finally rested up, and ready to GO!!! (Funny thing about vacations
it always takes a couple of days to wind down before the real relaxation starts). AGAIN, we did the buffet at Ponderosa (really, a great way to start as its affordable, and everyone can fuel up for a good long day).. We drove in, and ended up in the Jaws parking lot, which wasnt as far away as ET, but still took awhile to get in. We were there a bit after 9:00, so the shows hadnt started yet, but we wanted to jump on the Simpsons ride before it got too late anyways, so off we went. The trip over was very cool
All movie themed, with the occasional weirdness from Halloween Horror Nights along the way.The Simpsons ride was simply incredible. A motion ride, it was just like being on the roller coaster from Hell a lot of fun, and the waiting area was running like the best of from the series, so lots of entertainment all around. We all enjoyed the Simpsons ride immensely our favorite of the park. A couple of other rides we all enjoyed, were the Meninblack (where you shoot aliens for points ), and the Jaws ride (which was the only ride where we had a fairly long line 30 minutes other than that, and the Simpsons one time, all waits were 10 minutes or less). After our near death experience at Jurassic Park the day before, we all chickened out on the Mummy ride (maybe next time???).
What we enjoyed the most about Universal, were the amazing shows. First up was the Terminator 2 3-D, one of the BEST 3-D shows Ive ever seen live action mixed in with some WILD effects. We also enjoyed the Shrek 4-D show (more excellent 3-D effects). We went to the Disaster show, which is where they make a fake movie (hosted by an incredibly realistic Christopher Walken). I was in a hammy mood, so I volunteered to be one of the evil scientists, and got fake rocks dropped on my head. This was a lot of fun, as after the filming, we got on a subway ride, which had an earthquake happen to it, and at the end, they showed a trailer with shots of us on the subway, and us actors who were spliced in lots of fun
We ended the day at the Horror Makeup Show which was a total blast hosted by two VERY funny guys, and featuring some cool special effects. It was a great way to end a SUPER day at Universal.
However, the day wasnt over yet!!! We headed back to the hotel, and got a short nap Afterwards, we ended up meeting our friend Jeff for dinner at the Outback. Yummm!!! We went kind of bananas, and ordered a bunch of appetizers and really went for it absolutely delicious, and we went back to the hotel FULL. This really was an A+++ day no complaints whatsoever.
Day 04 Tuesday October 21, 2008: Wet n Wild & the Makahiki Luau
Another great day!!! We started things off with breakfast at the Ponderosa (big surprise!!!). Afterwards, we made our way over to the other side of International Drive for the Wet N Wild Water Park! Wet N Wild consists of TONS of water slides, and other water rides. However we didnt do a lot, but still had a great day. My wife and the youngest hung out in the wave pool, and the eldest & myself went to wait in line (which was kind of long really!) for the Bubba Drop. This basically was a flume type ride on a spinning float. It was fun, but 10 seconds of fun for a 30 minute wait wasnt really worth it.
I then searched out my wife. She was hanging out at the Lazy River which was a man-made river with a current that you could sit on a float and simply float around on (there was a waterfall & a bubble area in case you fell asleep these would wake you up really fast!). Right next to the river was a ride called the Bubble Up, where kids could climb a rope to the top of a giant inflatable, and bounce down. The youngest was on this for THREE HOURS!!! And my wife & myself hung out on the Lazy River having a relaxing time for the whole three hours too!!! We ended up in the Wave Pool for a short dip, and then it was time to go we got happily sunburned (none of us too toxically), so we finally got some color!!!
We then went back to the hotel for a MUCH NEEDED nap (floating in an inner tube for hours can be exhausting!!! Actually, doing it in the hot sun really CAN be exhausting ). We were woken by the phone ringing as Jeff called to get us motivated for our evenings dinner/entertainment, the Makahiki Luau.
After our Pirates Adventure earlier in the week, none of us were too sure of what to expect. The Luau took place at Seaworld, and started at 6:30, so we all headed over. The salads had just come out when we arrived, and the entertainment hadnt started yet. Best of all, since I had done the reservations two months earlier, we had the table directly in front of the stage!!!
And what entertainment!!! This was a real Luau, with fire dancers, hula dancers, Hawaiian guitarists, and more. The dinner was DELICIOUS and plentiful (ribs, fish, chicken, and yummy veggies followed by a tasty cake for dessert.). The entertainment was first rate, and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. One of the funnest dinners Ive ever had. We all got a truly great Polynesian experience. If anyone reading this ever goes to Orlando, I HIGHLY recommend the Makahiki Luau!!!
The Luau ended by 8:15 or so, and we just went back to the hotel. Since we had been at Wet N Wild earlier, none of us felt like swimming, so we went to bed early. It was nice crashing for the 10 or 11 hours With the energy we were expending, we needed as much rest as possible. Another incredible day!!!
Day 05 Wednesday October 22, 2008: Universal Studios & Halloween Horror Nights
We all got up ready for FUN
one of the primary reasons we came to Orlando in October was for the Universal Halloween Horror Nights, one of the best scare events in the country. We started off with breakfast, and for the first day we DIDNT go to the Ponderosa!!! Instead I got a box of Krispy Kreme donuts (they dont have Krispy Kremes back in Maine), and we inhaled them for breakfast
mmmm
sugar
In the morning, we partook of the hotels HEATED pool this kept everyone occupied for a couple of hours (I sadly had to take a break as my swimmers ear was returning). We then went to an All You Can Eat pizza joint that was pretty good (I ate a LOT of white chicken pizza!). We definitely got our moneys worth!!!
And, it was off to Universal Studios! We got there around 4:00, so that we could use the Stay & Scream option for Halloween Horror Nights. This allowed us to go to a special area around 5:00, and stay right in the park, and get a jump on the regular guests. We used our regular time to do Meninblack again (I got a bit of motion sickness thanks to the pizza earlier), and then walked around a bit until 5:15 or so. We ended up in an area near the Scary Tales haunted house, and sat to wait.
BUT, we didnt have to wait long although opening wasnt until 6:30, they opened up a few houses early, and we were able to do the Scary Tales house a bit after 5:30! It was SCARY basically creepy & twisted versions of fairy tales it scared all of us quite a bit (the youngest was VERY scared, but hes a trooper, and kept going). My only complaint was that the house was sort of dark, but it DID add to the scariness.
We then went to the next house which was already open The Hallow. This was a mixture of dark forests and hell, and was also very scary (and very dark). Next, was one we were looking forward to, Dead Exposure a zombie house. It wasnt bad, but it wasnt as good as we hoped (too much in the way of masks & strobes, and not enough make-up and ghouls).
The other houses were Reflections of Fear based on the Bloody Mary myth (which was the theme of this HHN). Honestly, it was kind of disappointing, especially as it was the theme house, but it was okay. Body Collectors was next, and was GREAT VERY gory (pulling a spine out of a woman, and other fun). We all liked this one a lot. After that was Doomsday based on the movie of earlier this year. This house went over awesome with all of us as we had seen the movie, and liked it a lot (actually, as my wife pointed out, if you hadnt seen the movie, a lot of the house wouldnt have made sense. The next house had our longest wait of the evening (20 minutes!!!), and was Intersteller Terror, which featured an escaped virus on a spaceship very well done. The final house was Creatures which was sort of a redneck human-barbecue thing Once again, a great house.
Amazingly, as we started early, by 8:15, we had done all 8 haunted houses (we congratulated the youngest!!!). BUT, we still had some more fun in front of us. First though, we stopped at Mels Die-In (renamed for HHN) for some fries, and then made our way through a few scare zones. Scare Zones are parts of the park which are horror-themed, but not inside a house we actually enjoyed the scare zones as much if not more than the houses.
First, was American Gothic a very creepy area with a tree monster (someone who looked just like a tree), and lots of people walking around with knives & more. The area was called Maplecroft, and was a favorite with us. This sort of segued into Streets of Blood near the Body Collectors house, with headless people, and lots of fun monsters. We really enjoyed the make-up the people were using a LOT more than the simple masks used in the houses.
Next was our favorite scare zone Path of the Wicked basically, what would it be like if the Wicked Witch of the West had won? An amazing zone, with a GREAT witch at the top of a tower, the scariest scarecrow & tin man one could imagine, and FLYING MONKEYS REALLY excellently done.
Asylum in Wonderland was an Alice in Wonderland take-off where inmates had escaped from an asylum. This was a very creepy (and psychedelic) area with lots of lights, and monsters EVERYWHERE (one actually terrorized our youngest a bit much). A cool area, but LAY OFF THE YOUNGSTERS!!! The next zone was Skoolhouse which looked really great in the day time, but just wasnt that scary. After the Skoolhouse, we had to walk a few hundred feet through trees that had HUNDREDS of lit-up pumpkins a great effect!!!
Finally, we came to our last scare zone Fractured Tales. This was outside of the Scary Tales house we had done at the beginning, and was very twisted (Mary & her half eaten little lamb and the such). A great scare zone.
Before we even had a chance to figure what to do next, we were ushered into a Magic show put on by bizarre magician Brian Brushwood. He was hilarious, and very good!!! Our oldest ended up getting his autograph, along with a Mr. Happy Pants (a puppet Brushwood had used) shirt. Great fun!!!
It was now getting pretty late, so first we let the boys ride The Simpsons ride again, and then we went to the American Gothic & Paths of the Wicked scare zones one more time. A GREAT night, and we got LOTS of good pictures & video to share (yay!) We then headed way back to parking, and drove out around 11ish, beating the crowds (it closed at midnight) and beating the drunks too (there was a LOT of imbibing going on). We all crashed pretty hard that night, but amazingly, no nightmares.
Day 06 Thursday October 23, 2008: IOA & Ripleys Believe It Or Not Museum
The original plan was to just chill out all of Thursday, but we had a surprising bit of energy (knowing it was our last day we could hit Universal was probably the main reason...we really enjoyed the Universal experience), so we got right to it. It was supposed to rain steadily all day, but was just cloudy, so we decided to go for it. Our last breakfast at Ponderosa (beginning to lose its luster), and then we went back to Islands of Adventure.We werent really in heavy ride moods, but we just wanted to walk around. However, we all did Spiderman again, and enjoyed it lots. We walked through all the lands again, but this time we did some major exploring. For instance, in the Comic Strip land, we went to the Olive Oyls boat area, which was supposedly for kids, but featured lots to look at. We watched the poor suckers coming down Dudley Do-Rights Falls, and just wandered around.
In Jurassic park, we went to the Camp Jurassic which is another area supposedly for kids, but was very cool. Giant dinosaur footprints that if you stepped on, made dinosaur sounds, and lots of caves & places to explore. This was really a lot of fun. Afterwards, we slowly explored the Lost Continent area and found some secluded spots where we got some great pictures (only pictures unfortunately I thought it was gonna rain, so I didnt bring the video camera oh well!!!).
After a brief trek through Seuss Landing, we left (stopping into Universal Studios for a quick bit of shopping first). Our feet HURT, and we were all tired, so we headed back. We had dinner at Checkers again, and dropped for a good 2 hour nap (the past couple of days finally caught up with us!).
BUT, the day wasnt over yet (not with ME making the schedule!). We had tickets to the Ripleys Believe It Or Not museum (bought at a real bargain price on Ebay), so we headed to the other side of International Drive to check it out. We REALLY enjoyed it, right from the outside. The building itself looks like its sunk into the ground great architecture!
And LOTS of weird stuff within. African artifacts brought back by Ripley, 2 headed cows & other mutations, a torture dungeon (?!), and a couple of fun rooms, one full of optical illusions, and the other weirdly tilted so it was hard to stand up right. At the end of the museum, we went through a spinning room that took us all off balance all in all, a GREAT TIME!!! Even with the naps, we were all pretty zonked, and went back to the hotel to watch some TV for an hour or so, and then we were OUT.
Day 07 Friday October 24, 2008: Wekiwa Springs State Park & Kobe Steakhouse
Wow, the week went by FAST!!! We were all freaking that the vacation was almost over. BUT, there were a few more things to do before the vacation ended. First, breakfast. When I had lived in South Carolina a few years ago, I really enjoyed the Waffle House, and we decided to give it a try
we really enjoyed it (cheese eggs & home fries
yum!). We then went back to the hotel and finished most of our packing
delaying a surprisingly mean cleaning lady who actually said What a mess when she got to our room
and it wasnt even that messy!!!) and swam awhile. Jeff was supposed to come by and we were gonna go to Wekiwa Springs State Park for the afternoon, and since the cleaning lady HAD TO CLEAN right then, we went out in the car to wait for him (it was beginning to rain).Once Jeff got there, we headed off to Wekiwa Springs State Park for some Back to Nature fun. The rain decided to stop while we were at the park (the weather had called for extreme nastiness, but was GREAT), and we did some major nature viewing. First was the swimming spring, which was naturally spring fed. It was all interconnected to the swamp, and gators lived in the swamp. So, gators COULD CONCEIVABLY come into the spring. We decided not to swim!
We walked around, and Jeff took us down one of his favorite trails. We got to a BEAUTIFUL view, and lo & behold, we saw a gator in the water! A small one (thankfully!!!), but scary enough. We also saw a BIG water moccasin stick its head out of the water as my wife says Snakes should NOT BE in the water pretty intense!!!
Afterwards, we walked to another path Jeff knew about. On the way to the nature view, there was a two foot red snake (species still unidentified) laying on the path (our oldest almost walked on it). We gave it a wide berth. Maine may have its issues (COLD!!!), but there are no poisonous snakes or gators!!! Jeff did bring us to an AMAZING view. A man was there just chilling, and we talked for a few, and then headed back, as we had 6:30 reservations at the KOBE STEAKHOUSE!!!
Today was my birthday, so I had picked the Kobe Steakhouse for dinner that night. Its a Japanese steakhouse where the chef cooks right at your table. We got there and got a great table. Our chef was a blast, and never missed a beat throwing the knives around, cutting eggs, creating an onion volcano he was EXTREMELY talented, and a great chef to boot. We ate REALLY well, and at the end of the night, my wife had them come over, put a chefs hat on me, give us a birthday cake, and play a Japanese gong pretty cool .
My only complaint about dinner was there was a woman at the table with her son, and she LITERALLY was on the cell phone the ENTIRE DINNER!!! It really threw off the energy at the table, and it was obvious that our chef (who was amazing, and got plenty of applause from the rest of us) was flustered, as was our waitress. Still, not enough stupid vibes to ruin the night we really enjoyed ourselves CELL PHONES SHOULD BE OUTLAWED IN RESTAURANTS!!!
Afterwards, back to the hotel, and we finished our packing. We couldnt believe the week was over already
Day 08 Saturday October 25, 2008: The Long Travel Home
Although it really stunk to leave, the trip home was pretty uneventful. We were up at 5:00, and at the airport by 6:00 (with a Dunkin Donuts detour). We were through security & waiting by 7:00, and the flight was on time, and we got back to Portland, Maine at 12:15 PM
What a culture shock!!! It was warm, but still only around 50 degrees (warm if you hadnt been in an 80 degree plus climate for a week!!!).We drove home, and I drove out & got my dog, and got home by 5ish. It was over
I have to say, I had an absolutely incredible time. The couple of minor complaints in no way ruined the time for me, and I have nothing but great memories of the vacation (what week doesnt have a couple of annoyances???). Everyone had a blast, and we have lots to talk about with friends and family for awhile
Now, to start thinking about the next vacation
Hope you enjoyed the review!!!
