The Much Anticipated Bubba's Mom's Pictorial Trip Report To Universal-June 2007

[keishashadow]

i hope you were there....you WILL be mentioned in Day 4 and 6

Are you done uploading your pix yet?

like a bad rash, i repeat just when you think it gone .

almost done uploaded, decided to resume posting with what i have, up to Wednesday...will post the link here. since it's WDW/U; wasn't sure where to park it.

I take too many toiletries for the shoe bag trick , i've taken to using 2 large tupperware-ish boxes with a locking swing lid. In it I place all our goodies (encased in qt zip lock bags) we may need (think thing 1 & thing 2 ). Put main one on counter, auxillary underneath it. Threaten family to put whatever back after they use it or the beatings will ensue...only time they ever pick up after themselves.

no shoes , u haven't discovered crocs?

more, give us more!

 

[Holly Goheavy]

We noticed the same thing with the thermostat in our room-it seemed to stay on 75 no matter what we did, but then again we had 4 people in the room and we always keep our house like a meat locker at home.

I love the way you did your pics with the link!

 

[yankeepenny]

anxiously awaiting the rest.....


no pressure from any of us......

 

[nymomof3]

what a great trip report...you really have a great way of telling the story with the pics..its getting us really excited for upcoming trip...can't wait for more

 

[NashvilleTrio]

Yay! Your TR is awesome! Can't wait for the rest. We haven't even started uploading our pictures yet. We'll get around to it eventually. Looking forward to more Barb! Thanks for posting!
melissa

 

[bubba's mom]

anxiously awaiting the rest.....


no pressure from any of us......

never is!


i think i might start charging for peeps to read these reports..... i could make some bux!!!

 

[wilma-bride]

I'm loving your trippy so far - great pics

 

[AlexandNessa]

Loving it so far. Great first day!

 

[bubba's mom]

thanks you guys...ya know what? it WAS a great first day...it really was! I am beat tonite, but I hope to do Day 2 tomorrow (Wed.) Mummy dust

 

[Andrea from PA]

I can't wait for more!

And I love that you hooked up with Mickey!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Ironically enough, I really don't travel with a lot of shoes..I don't even own a lot of shoes. I love flipflops in the summer and wear those and travel in sneakers....that is it. I travel light in the shoe department.....(never mind I take 3 or 4 different color flipflops )

I picked a great time to finally catch up on the boards.

I was beginning to think I was the only female alive who wasn't that into shoes. (I'm not really a purse person either though.) My sisters always make fun of me for thinking a pair of brown, black, & white casual shoes, & black, white, gold, & silver dress shoes are all I need. I do have others. I've also got a couple pair of all white tennis shoes. The other shoes I have in my closet, some since high school, never get worn.

 

[macraven]

I picked a great time to finally catch up on the boards.

I was beginning to think I was the only female alive who wasn't that into shoes. (I'm not really a purse person either though.) My sisters always make fun of me for thinking a pair of brown, black, & white casual shoes, & black, white, gold, & silver dress shoes are all I need. I do have others. I've also got a couple pair of all white tennis shoes. The other shoes I have in my closet, some since high school, never get worn.

you're not the only one

i own 2 pairs of shoes

period.........

 

[bubba's mom]

Okay y'all....here's Day 2.....

This day is Wednesday, June 27th.....

It started out that we were all up about 9am-ish....which I thought was pretty odd, because usually our first morning there, we have a hard time waking up because of being up SO early the day before for the flight. But, nonetheless, we were all up and had breakfast in our room. There was milk, danish, donuts and bagels/cream cheese to be had! We were dressed and off to IOA about 10:30am-ish (I know robvia....don't yell at me!) On our way, we noticed a WESH 2 helicopter hovering over top...and then over top of HRH and the entire UO resort all together! watching helicopter from RPR walkway Not sure what that was all about?? RPR from walkway (our room was in that middle section...5th floor) So, the whole way to IOA, we were "helicopter watching". PIC Onto IOA This was the day we"bumped into" Mickey (see thread link at bottom of sig).

First order of business, was to see "If I Ran the Zoo". This was one thing in IOA/Suess Landing that we hadn't discovered yet. It is a cute play area PIC and I can see kids having lots of fun here PIC 2 PIC 3 PIC 4 there are areas to get wet, so be sure to have change of shoes/clothes PIC 5....DS was a little "big" for most of the stuff here...as was DH,but, we went through it and had some fun anyway!
While in Suess Landing, we convinced DS to ride Car-O-Suess-El....which he has never wanted to do before (not a carousel person I guess ) So, in order to "mark it off the map" and to be able to say 'we did it', we all went for a spin....even DH & Mickey. After the ride, we asked him what was next? He said he wanted to do it again. So, him & I went. After that, he wanted to go again....so, he went himself! There was nobody in the EP line and the regular line was 5 minute wait, although I think it said "5" because it couldn't say "0"...it was walk-on for regular line. For someone who didn't want to do the carousel in the first place, we were a little surprised at 3X in a row! Moose Juice Goose Juice was open again too.... but not Green Eggs and Ham. I've never seen that place open....I guess its fate is determined? A little drizzle started to fall, so we decided to take a spin on Cat in the Hat. I know people ask about THING merchandise, so I took some pix of the store merchandise as you exit Cat in the Hat. these are cute THING shirts PIC 1 PIC 2 PIC 3.
After Cat in the Hat, we rode both tracks of High in the Sky Suess Trolley Train Ride.
"Dave's" shirts PIC PIC 2.

After Suess Landing, DS said it was time to "ride the Dragons!" So, we headed that way, stopping by Poseidon, but it wasn't running ..... dunno why? "Sorry bud, another time....." Bubba decided to grab a bite at Fire Eater's Grill .... DH decided to grab a beer.... MENU 1 and MENU 2 Not much of a selection, but he said his chicken fingers were "okay".... There is seating around the side, and after the people near us would just NOT stop feeding the looming pigeons, we went under the bridge right there to wait for DS to finish the rest of his last chicken finger and couple of fries. I don't understand why people feel they have to feed these birds....the food is not healthy for them and I really was in no mood to get crapped on! I was a little loud voicing my displeasure to the family who's kid was throwing the rats fries...but, the parents told him to stop, he didn't listen, parents didn't reinforce.....no wonder the kid don't listen!

Onward to Dragons!

We lock our bag in the locker and headed toward dragons. I remember they had changed the EP entrance and when DH started that way, I yanked him back because I saw a shortcut! EP and regular line go off to the right of the ride. If you go the old EP way (to the left of the lockers, in the EXIT) you will come across a swing gate on your left. Go thru that gate and up the steps, and you will eliminate walking all the way around. We used this way all the time, because the EP didn't split from regular line until the castle. (Where the TM's WERE checking EP passes!) Once I noticed a guy with a mohawk on DD with us. He went right back on (us too) and he was stopped at the EP entrance behind me. The TM told him his pass was only good for one time each ride...."uuhhhh...." he either didn't know, or played dumb! Not that it really mattered that time, because by the time we went thru EP line, he was about a dozen people behind us in line anyway. At the same time I noticed mohawk boy, we ran across a TM (in the castle) where the regular and EP lines merge (the TM was "merging" us). Apparently, some poor guy didn't get the message to leave his backpack in the locker and she made him go back to stow it. He wasn't happy about it, but obliged. So, this TM "merging" us, got chatty with the party in front of us and let person after person go in the regular line. It wasn't until my DH started being "annoyed out loud" about how many people were going (and I will admit, it WAS an awful lot of people ) that she started paying attention again and let the EP line go. By this time, the line for Ice was backed up to the point of decision of Fire or Ice. Once closer inside, we noticed the front row wait wasn't bad, and waited for front of Fire. Then, we went right back on (when you exit DD, that same gate will be on your right now) to ride front row of Ice. After "slaying the dragons", we went to the locker to retrieve our stuff. We couldn't get into the locker! Turns out, we were in the wrong section...we went to the section/locker we had yesterday duh us! (That was a problem we headed off right away....remembering what locker because after stowing stuff everyday, you start to get confused. I asked DH if he wanted me to write the locker section/number on my shoe, he said "no"....) Funny tho.....

We headed toward Jurassic Park (since we just came from Suess Landing) and happened across the water stunt show again. Took some pictures (that I posted on Day 1) from in front of JP Discovery Center. It's a good view from there too, and they have the steps toward the lagoon, so you can still have a view if a tall person won't give up the railing viewing spot. I do believe this is a "Splash Zone" also, so be aware, the jetski's come by and purposly soak ya! As long as you have a railing or are near the water, you should have a good view from anywhere....the lagoon isn't THAT big! After snappin' some stunt show shots, Bubba wanted to go in the Discovery Center. I dreaded it because I thought it would be crowded...while more crowded than it was when we were there in February, it wasn't bad to my surprise!

We finished thru Jurassic Park, and proceeded to walk through Toon Lagoon, taking some pictures......
[url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/barbpics/UO%20summer%202007%20Day%202/IMG_1104.jpg]Waiting for Dad, A picture of Beetle Baily's tent and sandwich anyone? DH likes the "used balloons" [/url]These are the lockers you can rent near Wimpy's and MENU across from Popeye's ride...they are $2 the first hour and you pay your money when you retrieve your stuff...NOT when you first rent it! (We paid up front, and it asked for the money to retreive so I went to get a TM cuz I wasn't paying twice....learn from my mistake!) Saw dessert on the way out and thought about riding Dr. Doom again, but Bubba voted "nah"...so, we didn't ride Doom. Stopped to watch the 90 second parade. We did manage a spin on Spidey...cuz we were right there....we just can't seem to walk by without stopping to ride it.... After Spidey, we went to Hulk. Got a great picture of us on Hulk and the TM Tara working behind the counter was a gem! We wanted to ride again, and asked if she would "hold" the picture behind the counter for us while we rode again (so we wouldn't have to stow it in the locker). She said they aren't supposed to do that, and it wasn't finished printing by the time we finished paying for it, and she knew we had EP pass (charged it to the room), so she said she would. By the time our ride was over, she had it all ready for us! Thanks Tara! So, with our picture in hand, we stroll over to the locker to retrieve our bag. I should have known there would be a problem because when we stowed our stuff, the top of the button you push to lock the locker was missing. It's supposed to be green, and it was white. So naturally, we tried to open the locker, no go. Pushed the button, no go. Tried again, no go. So, I walked over to the TM nearby and said we needed help to open the locker. She comes over and asks which locker. We tell her 422 (I remember that cuz that is the main highway we take everywhere once we leave our developement.....the road to go east out of our development is 422...we drive it everyday.) So the TM says to us "Do you have ID?" Well, my ID might be in my bag...which is in the locker! I don't think she was going to open it until I told her, 3 pair of sunglasses are in there, a small teal backpack with a Mickey Mouse in it and a camera with pictures of us on it and a videocamera with us on it. Now, how much MORE ID do you really need??? She finally DID open the locker and I checked my bag, and I DID happen to have my ID in it.....then she didn't want to see it...wth??? Guess she believed me when I pulled out the sunglasses and backpack. I understand security and all, but she had this "bad vibe/attitude" about her that I didn't appreciate...

By this time, we're all getting hungry. We decided to go to NASCAR for dinner. Only to find out, they are closed till 8pm for a private party. What?!?!? Okay, onto Plan B. Over to Hard Rock Cafe. THEY are closed (private party) till 11am the next day! So, DH is pretty annoyed/angry whatnot, so he says he's going over to ask a Hard Rock employee if there is ANY place open for dinner. She gives him a coupon to come back yeah....good try! (I already had a coupon!) Okay, moral of THIS story....not only have a back-up plan, have a back-up plan for your back-up! DH made a good point...if they print the dates and park hours on the front of the maps weekly, why not list what restaurant is closed due to private party also?? Not like it's a last minute thing...I'm sure they know in advance of these things. So, we decided to go to Studios (we were closer to that than IOA at this point) snapping some pixand another PICand PIC of CW boats.along the way. We decided to eat at Finnegan's DH asked if it was a place you could sit down and order food not counterservice. I was 99% sure, but told him not to get mad at me if I was wrong. We were at Finnegan's by about 5-5:30ish and got a seat right away....not crowded in the restaurant...unlike the bar. My menu pix came out blurry, but I got this one and this one. We ordered and got our drinks and bread while waiting....(i wasn't too fond of the bread ) Bubba said his grilled cheese was "good" (like everything he ate ), I had a very yummy grilled chicken sandwich, and
DH had the grilled chicken & sausage. After dinner, dessertswere brought out. From left to right are: Tiramisu, Raspberry cheesecake and chocolate mousse. Bubba had the make your own sundae, and then didn't want it, so we ate that too!

Again, after a filling dinner, we went across the street to ride Mummy. (I have no idea why we ride the thrills on a full belly but we do!) The line was really short, and we got on quick...no letting dinner settle this time.

After Mummy, I called Melanie230 and left her a message because we were supposed to ride Jaws that nite.

Some pictures on the way: PIC 1

PIC 2

PIC 3

PIC 4

PIC 5

PIC 6

Lombards Seafood

We stopped to ride Earthquake when she called me back (I must have been in the "subway" as I missed her call) We didn't do this in February when we were down, and I prefer to see this over Twister. DH agrees this is a better attraction too....more to see. I called Melanie back and left her a voice message! (We played telephone tag alot!)


We stowed our bag and went on MIB. We walked thru the EP line and where you turn left into the building, we ran into "traffic" . I timed our wait and it was 15 minutes from that point to the loading area. That was the longest I've ever waited in an EP line at UO...EVER!!!! As we waited to ride in our "row" in the loading area, a lady and her man were ahead of us and he was transferring from a wheelchair. There was a delay because the lady thought it was "stupid" she couldn't take her "small purse" on the ride and thought she was going to win the arguement w/ the TM. Ironic thing is that she could have left her purse under his hat on the wheelchair because they left the wheelchair in the closed off area between loading and unloading area...only TM's have access thru there...her purse would have been hidden and fine IMHO...but, to each his own. We waited for him to transfer back into his chair, as the lady lost the arguement over the purse and they exited. We rode and decided to ride again right away (we always take a few rides in a row whenever we have to stow our stuff in those blasted lockers!) We walked back thru the EP line and held our breath as we walked into the building...no line this time! Now that's more like it! We had a few minutes wait before the final EP check at the door to go down to the loading area. We were on the steps going downstairs (in a line) and the ride shut down. Apparently they were having technical difficulties and were looking into the problem. We decided to sit on the steps and wait and see what happens. They announced they were having problems, feel free to exit. After about 10 minutes, they found the problem, were working on it, but didn't have a time to resume normal operations. After another 10 minutes, most had left and we did too. (We had the rest of the week left to ride...plenty o time!)

After taking a couple of pictures in Amity is Janet nearby?? MyDH getting DS a drink and Bubba waitin' for it. I got my family pic at Jaws I finally connected with Melanie via telephone! We decided it wouldn't be dark enough to ride Jaws at night with the park closing at 9, so we rescheduled for Saturday night...her last night and the first night the park was open till 10pm. We talked for about 10-15 minutes and called it a night...as we were in the back of the park and they were on Jimmy Neutron...or was it Shrek?

We headed toward T23D to see if we could catch the last show....nope. So, we played around with the night shot on our camera taking some pictures....

this one

& this one

Bubba & DH

Bubba trying his hand at nightshot

PIC

PIC here

another pic

i-cream

On the way "home", we tried our hand at some CityWalk nightshots..... (we weren't too successful...we didn't have tripod w/ us....)

across lagoon @ CW

NASCAR @ nite

HR...obviously!

one of my favorite places

another favorite place!

Might I add that we left the park at closing and the line for Margaritaville was over the bridge to IOA! I did manage to take a pic of the Lone Palm menu.

We headed home back to the RPR. Once we get up to our room, our welcome gift was waiting there for us....night 2 just like they promised! I had gotten beer & nutsfor DH this time. One jar of peanuts, one jar of cashews...one for him and one for me! Worked out well!

After getting snack and ready for bed, we looked at our pictures from the day, I typed a quick report of the day (for you guys) and turned in. Had a 70% chance of rain tomorrow, planned to sleep in.

That didn't work out too well................

Stay tuned for Day 3.......

 

[wilma-bride]

What alovely second day - the walkway from RPR looks so beautiful and peaceful. I am so hoping we can get a good APH rate next April so we can stay there for a couple of nights.

By the way, I'm not a shoe or bag/purse person either. My friends can't believe I only own about 4 pairs of shoes

 

[macraven]

i absolutely and adore the family picture at jaws.


that is the kewlest pic !!


and loving your report

 

[bubba's mom]

i absolutely and adore the family picture at jaws.


that is the kewlest pic !!

ain't it tho?


when DH pulled himself up into Jaws (which was not easy according to him) I told Bubba, "try to pull Dad out...make it look like you are saving him".... it turned out pretty good!


(hope all is okay mac)

 

[keishashadow]

ha = DS had them all , wonder if they were offered as prizes before the announcement?

DS did get a cool Mario/from Nintendo over in other park playing a water game.

Another nice entry to your journal

Did you plow thru mine yet, it'll take weeks lol.

 

[macraven]

ain't it tho?


when DH pulled himself up into Jaws (which was not easy according to him) I told Bubba, "try to pull Dad out...make it look like you are saving him".... it turned out pretty good!


(hope all is okay mac)

that kewl pic made me laugh and smile.
first laugh i have had in a week.

just loved it, you should put it in your siggie......

 

[bubba's mom]

should put it in your siggie......

 

[bubba's mom]

oh...and WELCOME Tammy!!! Were ya been? I didn't realize you posted....I was writing my Day 2 TR when you posted that....glad you're back!!!