themepark
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Day 3
Monday, August 4
Woke up again around 8:45am to beautiful sunny skies and the roar of the Hulk. I opened the curtains in hopes of waking the girls. Several empty water taxis went bye headed for Citywalk. I wished I was on them but knew it would be awhile. Yes, I was anxious for the day to begin. USA Today was outside our door this morning. Lots of USA Today's down the hall. No sign of the Miami Herald. This was not a big deal to us since we didn't have time to ever read the paper anyway. We ate breakfast in the room again. This really worked well for us. None of us are big breakfast eaters to begin with. We had cereal or fruit or even peanuts (that was just me though) every morning. Having the cooler in the room was very handy for keeping the milk and bottled water, sodas, etc.. We did have to lug it quite a distance down the hall when we needed to refill with ice.
The kids loved riding the water taxi so we waited for a short time and boarded for Citywalk. Oh that reminds me of something else...On Sunday they were only running one water taxi to RPR. Waits were very long. The rest of our stay there were always 2 or sometimes 3 running. I don't know what was wrong Sunday. Maybe someone called in sick. The waits were not long at all as the trip only lasts 5 minutes. We did enjoy the walk occassionally though. We arrived at USO at 10:30. We saw Jimmy Neutron himself and were the first in line to get pictures and autographs. We walked right into to Jimmy's ride. After the ride, Spongebob was available for photos just as you walk out. All 3 kids were wearing their new Spongebob shirts so the pictures turned out really cute. When we came out Angelica and Tommy were getting off the bus. The kids got their autographs and we took some pictures. We then headed over to Nickelodeon Studios for the 11:15 Gamelab show. We arrived at 11:00 and had to wait in the quene outside but it was under cover with the fans blowing a cool mist on you. The kids were seated on the top row on the red section and DH and I took our places on the parent bleachers. The kids really liked this show but were disappointed they were not chosen to participate or get slimed. We vowed to come back again someday and try to get them front row seats since that's where they took all the volunteers from.
Next we went to the Terminator. DS was excited about seeing it again. We had better timing this time and got there just before it started. The show was a little different than the one we saw the night before. There was no real motorcycle this time. DS thought the motorcycle riding through the screen the night before was awesome. The show was still great though. We saw Scooby and Shaggy signing autographs when we exited the Terminator. We tried to get in line but were told they were leaving for Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone. I got a good picture when we saw them drive down the street in the Mystery Machine a few minutes later. After that, we headed into the 12:30 Horror Makeup Show. All I can say about this show is it was HILARIOUS! It had lots of adult humor and it does say that it is rated PG-13. There was clean humor also. I can't remember the name of the guy doing the show but there was girl named Alex. They were both hilarious and the volunteer they got from the audience made the show even more funny. Her name was Bing and she was from Boston and originally from China. She was there with her boyfriend who she had dated for 7 years. They made several jokes about that. She was very funny and told them she couldn't scream when frightened. I don't know that they ever got her to scream but the interaction between those 3 had everybody in the room in stitches. I could watch that show again and again, it was so funny.
Next we headed over to ET. That whole business of giving your name there was confusing. We didn't end up boarding the cycles in the right order anyway. The ride was neat and I would do it again just for the part where you ride over the city. We walked over to Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster and did not realize there was an express line. The park map does not list it as having express and there is nothing marked. After waiting in the hot sun for 20 minutes, we realized that people were boarding from the exit. That's where we should have been! After exiting we see a sign that says "Hotel Guests only" So it really isn't an Express line since there are no express passes for the ride, but if you are staying onsite you can still get to FOTL. Be sure and look for it and don't make the mistake we did of standing in line in the burning hot 92 degree sun. It was a very short ride but the kids liked it pretty well. Next we rode Back to the Future. I sat in the front with the Spongebobs. DH sat in the back with some other people. This is probably my favorite motion simulator. It's just neat that you are sitting in the Deloreon. I am sure I spelled that wrong.
Everyone was now hungry so we walked in the closest place which was the International Food and Film Festival. We had chicken, mashed potatoes, pizza, breadsticks and drinks and it cost way too much even with the AP discount but hey, we expected that...we are at a themepark! The food was mediocre at best and We will not eat there again. After eating we thought there would be plenty of time to ride MIB then head over to the 3:45 WWW West Stunt Show. We entered the Express line outside MIB and for some reason they let the regular line go in 2 times before they let us in. We ended up waiting 30 minutes to ride. I can't remember what the time posted for the regular line was. That was much longer than we waited to ride anything else. I don't know what the deal was with that. This time I scored 240,050. This was a major improvement over the first time we rode, but still not good I know. The rest of our group didn't fare that well. I won't embarass them by telling you their scores. I have been neuralized anyway so I can't remember.
It was 3:43 when we finished riding MIB so we hustled over to the WWW West and crowded into some seats that people had their souvenirs and diaper bags piled on. The show was very entertaining and pretty funny. DS loved all the action and of course the dumb villian. Amazing how all the villian brothers in movies and shows like this consist of the smart or mean brother and then there's the dumb one. LOL Anyway, it was a funny show. I just read that they are permanently closing this show and that's too bad.
The kids were ready to ride Jaws again so we walked over and walked right on with no waiting. We had an excellent tour guide this time. He was really animated and into the whole story. Of course this time we knew when the sharks were coming up so there wasn't as much suspense. They really need to do a paint job on those sharks. I noticed several places where the paint was chipped and flaking off. The Spongebobs had been wanting Dippin Dots ever since we arrived but every stand we came to didn't sell Banana Split so they had refrained. Finally we found one with the flavor of choice. Then we walked down to Chez Alcatraz where it was Happy Hour. DH and I had a Calypso Breeze and Island Blast. Both were tasty. We got in the express line for the 5:00 Beetlejuice's Rockin Graveyard Revue. We got seats pretty close to the front but I wish we had sat a little further back because you had to look up to see the stage the whole time. I don't like sitting in the front at the movies either. We enjoyed the show and the music. It was mostly music but there was some adult humor. What else do you expect from Beetlejuice? The guy playing Beetlejuice was excellent. While we were in the show, a storm blew in with heavy rain and wind. By the time the show let out, it wasn't too bad but it was still raining. We walked quickly to Shrek where the posted wait time was (are you ready for this??) 135 minutes!! We whipped out our room keys and we walked right on in to hear the pigs snoring! The torture was excellent as always! This is the best 3-D or 4-D attraction I have ever seen in terms of how clear and real the picture looks. We then walked across to Jimmy Neutron for one last ride. The rain had now stopped. After Jimmy, we decided it was time to hit the pool. We hopped on the water taxi and as we were walking from the dock to the RPR, they were just reopening the pool! Yipppeee! We all got changed and grabbed some water and sodas out of the cooler and headed back down to the pool. It was wonderful. The pool area is absolutely gorgeous and the whole atmosphere of the RPR is so relaxing. You do feel like you are world's away there. I sat in the hot tub (the one that is isolated right in front of a cabana) for awhile. The water and jets felt so good on my tired feet and legs. DS and I went back to the room at 9:00. We were all too tired to worry about dinner and we weren't that hungry anyway. DS was hungry (he always is) so I decided to order from room service. He wanted chicken fingers so I ordered the children's meal for him and I ordered an appetizer of chicken fingers for everyone else to munch on. When I called room service, they addressed me by name when answering the phone. I tell ya...they are good at making you feel like you are a VIP and something special there. Ok it's true this is the nicest hotel we have ever stayed at. We stayed in a nice one in Las Vegas once but the staff at the RPR is wonderful. Everyone from housekeeping to the water taxi drivers to the people handing out towels at the pool to the bellmen are so helpful and friendly. And the property itself is so well themed, so gorgeous, and well maintained. We were so amazed by the beauty of the tropical plants and the attention to every detail there. Ok...sorry got off on a tangent...The room service bill was $27 including tip. The CM who delivered the room service chatted with us a bit and called us by name and answered some questions for us. We watched the fireworks from the room and crashed.
Stay tuned for Day 4 at IOA and Citywalk!
Monday, August 4
Woke up again around 8:45am to beautiful sunny skies and the roar of the Hulk. I opened the curtains in hopes of waking the girls. Several empty water taxis went bye headed for Citywalk. I wished I was on them but knew it would be awhile. Yes, I was anxious for the day to begin. USA Today was outside our door this morning. Lots of USA Today's down the hall. No sign of the Miami Herald. This was not a big deal to us since we didn't have time to ever read the paper anyway. We ate breakfast in the room again. This really worked well for us. None of us are big breakfast eaters to begin with. We had cereal or fruit or even peanuts (that was just me though) every morning. Having the cooler in the room was very handy for keeping the milk and bottled water, sodas, etc.. We did have to lug it quite a distance down the hall when we needed to refill with ice.
The kids loved riding the water taxi so we waited for a short time and boarded for Citywalk. Oh that reminds me of something else...On Sunday they were only running one water taxi to RPR. Waits were very long. The rest of our stay there were always 2 or sometimes 3 running. I don't know what was wrong Sunday. Maybe someone called in sick. The waits were not long at all as the trip only lasts 5 minutes. We did enjoy the walk occassionally though. We arrived at USO at 10:30. We saw Jimmy Neutron himself and were the first in line to get pictures and autographs. We walked right into to Jimmy's ride. After the ride, Spongebob was available for photos just as you walk out. All 3 kids were wearing their new Spongebob shirts so the pictures turned out really cute. When we came out Angelica and Tommy were getting off the bus. The kids got their autographs and we took some pictures. We then headed over to Nickelodeon Studios for the 11:15 Gamelab show. We arrived at 11:00 and had to wait in the quene outside but it was under cover with the fans blowing a cool mist on you. The kids were seated on the top row on the red section and DH and I took our places on the parent bleachers. The kids really liked this show but were disappointed they were not chosen to participate or get slimed. We vowed to come back again someday and try to get them front row seats since that's where they took all the volunteers from.
Next we went to the Terminator. DS was excited about seeing it again. We had better timing this time and got there just before it started. The show was a little different than the one we saw the night before. There was no real motorcycle this time. DS thought the motorcycle riding through the screen the night before was awesome. The show was still great though. We saw Scooby and Shaggy signing autographs when we exited the Terminator. We tried to get in line but were told they were leaving for Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone. I got a good picture when we saw them drive down the street in the Mystery Machine a few minutes later. After that, we headed into the 12:30 Horror Makeup Show. All I can say about this show is it was HILARIOUS! It had lots of adult humor and it does say that it is rated PG-13. There was clean humor also. I can't remember the name of the guy doing the show but there was girl named Alex. They were both hilarious and the volunteer they got from the audience made the show even more funny. Her name was Bing and she was from Boston and originally from China. She was there with her boyfriend who she had dated for 7 years. They made several jokes about that. She was very funny and told them she couldn't scream when frightened. I don't know that they ever got her to scream but the interaction between those 3 had everybody in the room in stitches. I could watch that show again and again, it was so funny.
Next we headed over to ET. That whole business of giving your name there was confusing. We didn't end up boarding the cycles in the right order anyway. The ride was neat and I would do it again just for the part where you ride over the city. We walked over to Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster and did not realize there was an express line. The park map does not list it as having express and there is nothing marked. After waiting in the hot sun for 20 minutes, we realized that people were boarding from the exit. That's where we should have been! After exiting we see a sign that says "Hotel Guests only" So it really isn't an Express line since there are no express passes for the ride, but if you are staying onsite you can still get to FOTL. Be sure and look for it and don't make the mistake we did of standing in line in the burning hot 92 degree sun. It was a very short ride but the kids liked it pretty well. Next we rode Back to the Future. I sat in the front with the Spongebobs. DH sat in the back with some other people. This is probably my favorite motion simulator. It's just neat that you are sitting in the Deloreon. I am sure I spelled that wrong.
Everyone was now hungry so we walked in the closest place which was the International Food and Film Festival. We had chicken, mashed potatoes, pizza, breadsticks and drinks and it cost way too much even with the AP discount but hey, we expected that...we are at a themepark! The food was mediocre at best and We will not eat there again. After eating we thought there would be plenty of time to ride MIB then head over to the 3:45 WWW West Stunt Show. We entered the Express line outside MIB and for some reason they let the regular line go in 2 times before they let us in. We ended up waiting 30 minutes to ride. I can't remember what the time posted for the regular line was. That was much longer than we waited to ride anything else. I don't know what the deal was with that. This time I scored 240,050. This was a major improvement over the first time we rode, but still not good I know. The rest of our group didn't fare that well. I won't embarass them by telling you their scores. I have been neuralized anyway so I can't remember.
It was 3:43 when we finished riding MIB so we hustled over to the WWW West and crowded into some seats that people had their souvenirs and diaper bags piled on. The show was very entertaining and pretty funny. DS loved all the action and of course the dumb villian. Amazing how all the villian brothers in movies and shows like this consist of the smart or mean brother and then there's the dumb one. LOL Anyway, it was a funny show. I just read that they are permanently closing this show and that's too bad.
The kids were ready to ride Jaws again so we walked over and walked right on with no waiting. We had an excellent tour guide this time. He was really animated and into the whole story. Of course this time we knew when the sharks were coming up so there wasn't as much suspense. They really need to do a paint job on those sharks. I noticed several places where the paint was chipped and flaking off. The Spongebobs had been wanting Dippin Dots ever since we arrived but every stand we came to didn't sell Banana Split so they had refrained. Finally we found one with the flavor of choice. Then we walked down to Chez Alcatraz where it was Happy Hour. DH and I had a Calypso Breeze and Island Blast. Both were tasty. We got in the express line for the 5:00 Beetlejuice's Rockin Graveyard Revue. We got seats pretty close to the front but I wish we had sat a little further back because you had to look up to see the stage the whole time. I don't like sitting in the front at the movies either. We enjoyed the show and the music. It was mostly music but there was some adult humor. What else do you expect from Beetlejuice? The guy playing Beetlejuice was excellent. While we were in the show, a storm blew in with heavy rain and wind. By the time the show let out, it wasn't too bad but it was still raining. We walked quickly to Shrek where the posted wait time was (are you ready for this??) 135 minutes!! We whipped out our room keys and we walked right on in to hear the pigs snoring! The torture was excellent as always! This is the best 3-D or 4-D attraction I have ever seen in terms of how clear and real the picture looks. We then walked across to Jimmy Neutron for one last ride. The rain had now stopped. After Jimmy, we decided it was time to hit the pool. We hopped on the water taxi and as we were walking from the dock to the RPR, they were just reopening the pool! Yipppeee! We all got changed and grabbed some water and sodas out of the cooler and headed back down to the pool. It was wonderful. The pool area is absolutely gorgeous and the whole atmosphere of the RPR is so relaxing. You do feel like you are world's away there. I sat in the hot tub (the one that is isolated right in front of a cabana) for awhile. The water and jets felt so good on my tired feet and legs. DS and I went back to the room at 9:00. We were all too tired to worry about dinner and we weren't that hungry anyway. DS was hungry (he always is) so I decided to order from room service. He wanted chicken fingers so I ordered the children's meal for him and I ordered an appetizer of chicken fingers for everyone else to munch on. When I called room service, they addressed me by name when answering the phone. I tell ya...they are good at making you feel like you are a VIP and something special there. Ok it's true this is the nicest hotel we have ever stayed at. We stayed in a nice one in Las Vegas once but the staff at the RPR is wonderful. Everyone from housekeeping to the water taxi drivers to the people handing out towels at the pool to the bellmen are so helpful and friendly. And the property itself is so well themed, so gorgeous, and well maintained. We were so amazed by the beauty of the tropical plants and the attention to every detail there. Ok...sorry got off on a tangent...The room service bill was $27 including tip. The CM who delivered the room service chatted with us a bit and called us by name and answered some questions for us. We watched the fireworks from the room and crashed.
Stay tuned for Day 4 at IOA and Citywalk!
