Queenie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2005
- Messages
- 3,144
After almost a week in Florida it was Friday and time for the last theme park of the week. Id picked Universal Studios and so, after a breakfast of Dunkin Donuts we headed up there. We parked in Jaws, and I was disappointed on discovering that Id missed out on the Jurassic Park parking lot as its one of my favourite movies. The car parks themselves were a let down after Disney Parks but the moving walkways made up for that. On arriving at the gateway we headed left to the Studios first and were each handed a Nickelodeon goodie bag which we scanned over as we walked into the park.
From the outset, I wasnt as impressed with Universal as I had been with the Disney parks, it seemed somehow grey, not exactly depressing but not terribly exciting either. We spent the morning looking around and doing some rides. These hugely increased my opinion of the park as they were great fun. My favourite rides were Men In Black, Jimmy Neutron (if only for Spongebobs cameo and the hilarious ending) and Terminator 3D which I found breathtaking. Shrek 4D impressed the others but for some reason I really didnt like it, much preferring E.T which the others found dull. Lunch was had at the Mels Drive In 50s style diner while Linda and Graham went off for a sit down meal at Finnegans, something they treat themselves to on most trips. We met up again after dinner and headed over to Islands of Adventure.
We headed anti-clockwise around the Islands, kicking off with Seuss Landing. The Cat in the Hat is one of Scotts favourite rides and I could see why, though not exactly thrilling or technologically astounding, its a whole lot of fun! There were lots of kids around so we decided we couldnt be bothered waiting for the Caro-Seuss-El as we could do it next time so we headed to The Lost Continent in time to catch a show of The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad Stunt Show. Linda and Graham love this show but the rest of us found it rather dull. It reminded me too much of a pantomime back home with all the hes behiiiiiiind you!!!! style audience participation and so it was a bit too cheesy for us, still it gave us a rest from the sunshine. Jurassic Park was the area Id most been looking forward to but was also a big disappointment. I dont do water rides, as Im scared of water and even being splashed a bit freaks me out so there was no way I could do the River Adventure. I was really annoyed at myself about this and vowed to get on it one day, instead I offered to hold bags so the rest of the gang could ride. Toon Lagoon was pretty much bypassed except for a cursory look around for me as the gang werent in the mood for water rides so hadnt brought a change of clothes. Instead it was on to Marvel Super Hero Island.
Ill admit now that Im not a comic book person, I hadnt even heard of X-Men until the movies came out but this place was excellent. First stop was the Hulk. Although Linda has done this before she isnt really that keen on it and was more than happy to keep her feet firmly planted on the floor with me while the blokes headed off to conquer it. As there was a 15 minute queue and we didnt want to stand watching the ride for that long, we headed over to Storm Force Acceletron instead. However our car didnt seem to be working properly as no matter how hard we tried to spin the centre thing our car wouldnt rotate. By the time we returned to Hulk we think we were in time to spot the boys on board (Roger was wearing a very distinctive t-shirt even at those speeds as they flew by.) When they came out to meet us, now looking about the same colour as the coaster, they wanted a few minutes on solid (and still) ground so me and Linda went back on Storm Force to give them a breather. This time our car worked and we spun ourselves silly. Time for another ride before heading out of the parks for tea and we picked Spiderman. This is easily one of my all time favourites, I couldnt believe just how real it all felt, especially the finally decent. Every little thing felt totally real from the cool breeze as you winded through the city at night to the fire (thats HOT!)
By now it was time to leave so we headed out of the park and back to the car which was surprisingly cool as it had been shaded all day. We went somewhere for our tea though I admit to having no idea where (probably Golden Corral) but we werent ready to turn in yet so we decided to troop over to Downtown Disney Marketplace for some retail therapy. No one bought much yet but we did get some free chocolate which is always a good thing and we spotted some gifts we liked the look of. Eventually we regrouped and headed back home with one or two carrier bags between us. Wed decided not to do parks over the weekend and judging by the weather forecasts that Hurricane Jeanne was due ho hit on Saturday night we thought it best. Tomorrow and Sunday would be lazy days, me and Scott debated driving to Tampa but decided to check the weather in the morning. We had no idea what was in store
From the outset, I wasnt as impressed with Universal as I had been with the Disney parks, it seemed somehow grey, not exactly depressing but not terribly exciting either. We spent the morning looking around and doing some rides. These hugely increased my opinion of the park as they were great fun. My favourite rides were Men In Black, Jimmy Neutron (if only for Spongebobs cameo and the hilarious ending) and Terminator 3D which I found breathtaking. Shrek 4D impressed the others but for some reason I really didnt like it, much preferring E.T which the others found dull. Lunch was had at the Mels Drive In 50s style diner while Linda and Graham went off for a sit down meal at Finnegans, something they treat themselves to on most trips. We met up again after dinner and headed over to Islands of Adventure.
We headed anti-clockwise around the Islands, kicking off with Seuss Landing. The Cat in the Hat is one of Scotts favourite rides and I could see why, though not exactly thrilling or technologically astounding, its a whole lot of fun! There were lots of kids around so we decided we couldnt be bothered waiting for the Caro-Seuss-El as we could do it next time so we headed to The Lost Continent in time to catch a show of The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad Stunt Show. Linda and Graham love this show but the rest of us found it rather dull. It reminded me too much of a pantomime back home with all the hes behiiiiiiind you!!!! style audience participation and so it was a bit too cheesy for us, still it gave us a rest from the sunshine. Jurassic Park was the area Id most been looking forward to but was also a big disappointment. I dont do water rides, as Im scared of water and even being splashed a bit freaks me out so there was no way I could do the River Adventure. I was really annoyed at myself about this and vowed to get on it one day, instead I offered to hold bags so the rest of the gang could ride. Toon Lagoon was pretty much bypassed except for a cursory look around for me as the gang werent in the mood for water rides so hadnt brought a change of clothes. Instead it was on to Marvel Super Hero Island.
Ill admit now that Im not a comic book person, I hadnt even heard of X-Men until the movies came out but this place was excellent. First stop was the Hulk. Although Linda has done this before she isnt really that keen on it and was more than happy to keep her feet firmly planted on the floor with me while the blokes headed off to conquer it. As there was a 15 minute queue and we didnt want to stand watching the ride for that long, we headed over to Storm Force Acceletron instead. However our car didnt seem to be working properly as no matter how hard we tried to spin the centre thing our car wouldnt rotate. By the time we returned to Hulk we think we were in time to spot the boys on board (Roger was wearing a very distinctive t-shirt even at those speeds as they flew by.) When they came out to meet us, now looking about the same colour as the coaster, they wanted a few minutes on solid (and still) ground so me and Linda went back on Storm Force to give them a breather. This time our car worked and we spun ourselves silly. Time for another ride before heading out of the parks for tea and we picked Spiderman. This is easily one of my all time favourites, I couldnt believe just how real it all felt, especially the finally decent. Every little thing felt totally real from the cool breeze as you winded through the city at night to the fire (thats HOT!)
By now it was time to leave so we headed out of the park and back to the car which was surprisingly cool as it had been shaded all day. We went somewhere for our tea though I admit to having no idea where (probably Golden Corral) but we werent ready to turn in yet so we decided to troop over to Downtown Disney Marketplace for some retail therapy. No one bought much yet but we did get some free chocolate which is always a good thing and we spotted some gifts we liked the look of. Eventually we regrouped and headed back home with one or two carrier bags between us. Wed decided not to do parks over the weekend and judging by the weather forecasts that Hurricane Jeanne was due ho hit on Saturday night we thought it best. Tomorrow and Sunday would be lazy days, me and Scott debated driving to Tampa but decided to check the weather in the morning. We had no idea what was in store
I love universal even though its not as colourful and happy looking as the disney parks the rides make up for the lack of detail, sounds like you had a good day though.
It is great 
