bengunn
Pirate Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
- Messages
- 375
Day 8 Universal Studios
Previous Episodes:
Prequel
Day 1 The trip to Orlando
Day 2 Animal Kingdom
Day 3 Magic Kingdom
Day 4 Typhoon Lagoon, Shopping and Illuminations Cruise
Day 5 - Islands of Adventure
Day 6 Epcot
Day 7 Seaworld
The Cast:
Richard (bengunn): Chief planner
Kathy : DW, just wants to go on holiday
Josie : DD 20, at Reading University, Assistant Planner, not very good at getting up
Sam : DS 17, just done AS exams, can get up very quickly when he wants to
Friday 23rd August
We were late getting away today due to having to sort out washing and do some ironing. We left the villa at 09:30 but were in the park at 10:00 so not too bad.
We started with Men In Black Alien Attack which was a walk-on. This ride is good fun but it is difficult to aim the guns. I got the best score of the four of us but it was not very good even though I had read the tips on getting huge scores.
Back to the Future was next with a 5 minute wait. As good as I remembered it from 10 years ago, although it is getting a bit dated now; it is a bit jerky but no worse than most of this type of ride.
Jaws was a 20 minute standby so we got some Express Passes and went to queue for Earthquake which was posted as 15 minutes but was only 10 minutes. Earthquake was again as good as I remembered; the pre-show seemed to have been revamped and was an improvement as far as I remember. We love these rides with flames and water everywhere so this was right up our street.
Back to Jaws now for our EP return. We had not been on this ride before (it was not here last time) so were not quite sure what to expect. Our guide was reasonably Ok but kept forgetting to point the grenade launcher but the flames from the petrol pump were hot and there was lots of water everywhere so it was quite fun despite the obviously fibreglass shark.
Time for lunch now, (and we needed it as it was really hot today) so we went to the San Francisco Pastry Shop where we consumed various excellent croissants and cakes for $29.92.
King Kong was next on the list and much better than we remembered; it is such a pity that this has closed now as we thought that it was much better than Jaws.
Wandered around the streets of New York next and caught the Blues Brothers act; not bad at all especially as we have seen the film again since coming home. We also caught a bit of the Street Breaks act which looked impressive.
Twister came next and was another ride which was new since our last visit. I had been put off this a bit by other peoples trip reports but it was quite good really with yet another burning petrol pump and rain pouring everywhere, including down my neck from a hole in the roof!
We had missed the Hitchcock show last time so we queued for 10 minutes and saw it. The film clips were a bit irritating as they are so short and they do not tell you which films they are from. The special effects demonstrations are good though and quite convincing. It was nice to see this show before it finally closed.
We had a look at the cars from the films and then decided to queue for Hanna Barbara (5 minutes) which I think is more jerky than Back to the Future. Again, it was good to do this before it closed.
Next it was time for the Wild West Stunt Show which has changed quite a bit from last time (I checked my old photos) and is very well done.
ET was calling us now (we seem to have gone round the park several times; no wonder we were tired later on) so we helped him to get home after a mere 5 minute wait. Again the ride seems to have improved from my memories of last time; it seemed longer and to have more things to look at but maybe it is just me forgetting.
Nobody fancied the Gruesome and Gory Make up Show so we headed into Terminator 2 3D which had only a 5 minute wait. This is probably the best show/ride in the park; an excellent production combining film, live actors and effects; noisy and really good.
We had a look at Men In Black Alien Attack but it had a 60 minute wait and no Express Passes so we gave that up. We had done everything we wanted to do so we left the park at 18:00.
The Hard Rock Café was calling so we went there for dinner; we were seated in the annex at the back which was quieter but less atmospheric than the gallery where we sat last time. I cannot find the bill but I remember having the BBQ chicken and ribs combo which was excellent. We were tired after this so we went back to the villa and were there by 20:45.
It rained heavily tonight; not surprising after the very hot dry day.
Apologies for yet another long gap between episodes; I have again been very busy; I really must finish them soon as the detail is going after three months and I still have 14 days to go; that is assuming that people still want to read them.
Tomorrow: Epcot and the Magic Kingdom
Previous Episodes:
Prequel
Day 1 The trip to Orlando
Day 2 Animal Kingdom
Day 3 Magic Kingdom
Day 4 Typhoon Lagoon, Shopping and Illuminations Cruise
Day 5 - Islands of Adventure
Day 6 Epcot
Day 7 Seaworld
The Cast:
Richard (bengunn): Chief planner
Kathy : DW, just wants to go on holiday
Josie : DD 20, at Reading University, Assistant Planner, not very good at getting up
Sam : DS 17, just done AS exams, can get up very quickly when he wants to
Friday 23rd August
We were late getting away today due to having to sort out washing and do some ironing. We left the villa at 09:30 but were in the park at 10:00 so not too bad.
We started with Men In Black Alien Attack which was a walk-on. This ride is good fun but it is difficult to aim the guns. I got the best score of the four of us but it was not very good even though I had read the tips on getting huge scores.
Back to the Future was next with a 5 minute wait. As good as I remembered it from 10 years ago, although it is getting a bit dated now; it is a bit jerky but no worse than most of this type of ride.
Jaws was a 20 minute standby so we got some Express Passes and went to queue for Earthquake which was posted as 15 minutes but was only 10 minutes. Earthquake was again as good as I remembered; the pre-show seemed to have been revamped and was an improvement as far as I remember. We love these rides with flames and water everywhere so this was right up our street.
Back to Jaws now for our EP return. We had not been on this ride before (it was not here last time) so were not quite sure what to expect. Our guide was reasonably Ok but kept forgetting to point the grenade launcher but the flames from the petrol pump were hot and there was lots of water everywhere so it was quite fun despite the obviously fibreglass shark.
Time for lunch now, (and we needed it as it was really hot today) so we went to the San Francisco Pastry Shop where we consumed various excellent croissants and cakes for $29.92.
King Kong was next on the list and much better than we remembered; it is such a pity that this has closed now as we thought that it was much better than Jaws.
Wandered around the streets of New York next and caught the Blues Brothers act; not bad at all especially as we have seen the film again since coming home. We also caught a bit of the Street Breaks act which looked impressive.
Twister came next and was another ride which was new since our last visit. I had been put off this a bit by other peoples trip reports but it was quite good really with yet another burning petrol pump and rain pouring everywhere, including down my neck from a hole in the roof!
We had missed the Hitchcock show last time so we queued for 10 minutes and saw it. The film clips were a bit irritating as they are so short and they do not tell you which films they are from. The special effects demonstrations are good though and quite convincing. It was nice to see this show before it finally closed.
We had a look at the cars from the films and then decided to queue for Hanna Barbara (5 minutes) which I think is more jerky than Back to the Future. Again, it was good to do this before it closed.
Next it was time for the Wild West Stunt Show which has changed quite a bit from last time (I checked my old photos) and is very well done.
ET was calling us now (we seem to have gone round the park several times; no wonder we were tired later on) so we helped him to get home after a mere 5 minute wait. Again the ride seems to have improved from my memories of last time; it seemed longer and to have more things to look at but maybe it is just me forgetting.
Nobody fancied the Gruesome and Gory Make up Show so we headed into Terminator 2 3D which had only a 5 minute wait. This is probably the best show/ride in the park; an excellent production combining film, live actors and effects; noisy and really good.
We had a look at Men In Black Alien Attack but it had a 60 minute wait and no Express Passes so we gave that up. We had done everything we wanted to do so we left the park at 18:00.
The Hard Rock Café was calling so we went there for dinner; we were seated in the annex at the back which was quieter but less atmospheric than the gallery where we sat last time. I cannot find the bill but I remember having the BBQ chicken and ribs combo which was excellent. We were tired after this so we went back to the villa and were there by 20:45.
It rained heavily tonight; not surprising after the very hot dry day.
Apologies for yet another long gap between episodes; I have again been very busy; I really must finish them soon as the detail is going after three months and I still have 14 days to go; that is assuming that people still want to read them.
Tomorrow: Epcot and the Magic Kingdom
