TinkTatoo
Has a Tink tattoo on her shoulder
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2004
- Messages
- 2,936
Tinks Twinkle and Tinsel Tour Day 16 Universal IOA and the hunt for a Nintendo DS Lite
Cast
Jakki 44 Loves all things Disney and Christmas
Steve 50 Joining us a week later also loves Christmas
Aodhan 9 Wants to see the Holiday Fireworks
Niamh 8 Cant wait to see Minnie in her Holiday finery
Friday 29th December
I woke up about 7am with a bad headache caused by my head cold and sinus infection which is still hanging around. I couldnt get back to sleep so quietly watched some TV until DH woke. I made some coffee and surprisingly DS was the next awake. He was in his usual non communication morning mode and just watched some TV without talking to anyone. DD slept on until half eight. Once we all had breakfast and were dressed we set off for Universal.
We took the I-4 and it was busy - especially the exit to Sea-World which had about a mile long tail back just to get off. I was praying that the Universal one isnt as bad. Thankfully it wasnt and we were soon parking in ET 365 and starting the long walk to IOA along with half of Orlando. It was much busier than weve ever seen in the summer.
We eventually made it to the ticket area and I waited in line for the electronic ticketing to pick up my two year Bealls offer APs. There wasnt much of a wait and it was very straightforward. I swiped the CC I paid for the tickets with then typed in the confirmation number and it printed out the tickets. We then entered the park and took these temporary tickets straight to Guest Services where they changed them for our permanent ones. Gone are those lovely plastic photo tickets, they have replaced them with the same old paper ones Disney uses. Its a shame as I liked the Universal ones.
DS was still feeling rough and didnt want to go on the Hulk - deciding to save it for the summer. We stopped at Croissant Moon where DH & I had coffees, DS had a Muffin which he hardly ate and DD had a croissant. The coffees were nice but very hot so we took them with us into Seuss Land. The kids went on Caro-Seusse-Sel twice and from there we did Cat in the Hat which is much better than Pooh ride at Disney. Next up it was the high train ride before we entered the Lost Continent.
DS decided he would be up for Dueling Dragons and DD said she would also ride and it was going to be her first go on a proper coaster. She was a couple of mm short but the guy said she could go through. Unfortunately when she went to get on she had slip on shoes on and had to take them off - this made her too short to ride. She was so disappointed but should be tall enough for the summer. DS and DH rode Ice and then I took DS to ride Fire (no I didnt ride but waited until he got on then stood at the exit). To help DDs disappointment at not riding she got some cotton candy and DS got a coke. We decided to save the indoor shows for the summer when we would be glad of a break from the hot sun.
The kids went into the playground area and DH and I sat on a wall in the sun and chilled. When the kids had enough we carried on and went in to the Dino shop where an artist was making a Dinosaur head. He was explaining how it was done and DS was fascinated. You could buy one for your bedroom wall for about $1,600. I managed to convince DS that wed never get it home in the suitcase
The kids were hungry so we went into our usual haunt by Jurassic Park ride and I got two kids platters of chicken, fries and corn on the cob. They ate most of it and DH and I finished the rest. As we were leaving we spotted two lovely cats in the bushes waiting to see if anyone at the outside tables would give them some food. DD thought one of them looked like Garfield and the other like her (still missing) Simba
Its obviously way too hot during the day in the summer, which is why weve never seen them before. We carried on around the park missing all of the wet rides and went to go on Spiderman but even the fast pass line had 25 minutes so we gave it a miss. DS decided he still wasnt up for the Hulk so we called it a day and left the park at around 1pm. There were still loads of people arriving.
We went to Prime 1 to check out the Disney store and I bought 20 trading pins for $3.99 each. There were no electronic shops so nowhere to look for the Nintendo DS Lite so we set off for the Big K on Turkey Road to see if we could find one there. Not surprisingly they didnt have one but I did buy two lovely Martha Stewart Christmas fleece blankets for $7 each. We were hungry so we went back up I-Drive and into Sweet Tomatoes where we had great meal. We left suitably stuffed and set off for the Florida Mall on the hunt for the elusive Nintendo DS Lite (it seems every store has sold out and didnt know when they are expecting another delivery) we tried
Wal-Mart on the John Young Parkway
Best Buy,
Toys R Us
Game Stop, Electronic Boutique, FYE, KB Toys, Sears all in the Florida Mall
Another Big-K
Circuit City
In each store there was someone either just in-front or just behind us also looking for one so we werent very hopeful. Our last stop was Comp-USA who miraculously had two in stock. We chose the white one and felt lucky to have got it.
During our various jaunts into all the shops we also managed to buy two DVDs (one of which the kids watched in the car while either DH or I went into each store looking for the Nintendo.) We also bought 2 protective covers for the Nintendos, a case, some screen protectors, 3 games, and DH bought a graphics card, DVD rewriter and a T-shirt.
We got back to VWL at half eight and just chilled, the kids played on their Nintendos and DH & I had a coffee. We were too tired to go down and see the electric water pageant but will try and do that tomorrow.
The temperature was back in the 80s and it was a warm day. Shorts T-shirts.
Cast
Jakki 44 Loves all things Disney and Christmas
Steve 50 Joining us a week later also loves Christmas
Aodhan 9 Wants to see the Holiday Fireworks
Niamh 8 Cant wait to see Minnie in her Holiday finery
Friday 29th December
I woke up about 7am with a bad headache caused by my head cold and sinus infection which is still hanging around. I couldnt get back to sleep so quietly watched some TV until DH woke. I made some coffee and surprisingly DS was the next awake. He was in his usual non communication morning mode and just watched some TV without talking to anyone. DD slept on until half eight. Once we all had breakfast and were dressed we set off for Universal.
We took the I-4 and it was busy - especially the exit to Sea-World which had about a mile long tail back just to get off. I was praying that the Universal one isnt as bad. Thankfully it wasnt and we were soon parking in ET 365 and starting the long walk to IOA along with half of Orlando. It was much busier than weve ever seen in the summer.
We eventually made it to the ticket area and I waited in line for the electronic ticketing to pick up my two year Bealls offer APs. There wasnt much of a wait and it was very straightforward. I swiped the CC I paid for the tickets with then typed in the confirmation number and it printed out the tickets. We then entered the park and took these temporary tickets straight to Guest Services where they changed them for our permanent ones. Gone are those lovely plastic photo tickets, they have replaced them with the same old paper ones Disney uses. Its a shame as I liked the Universal ones.
DS was still feeling rough and didnt want to go on the Hulk - deciding to save it for the summer. We stopped at Croissant Moon where DH & I had coffees, DS had a Muffin which he hardly ate and DD had a croissant. The coffees were nice but very hot so we took them with us into Seuss Land. The kids went on Caro-Seusse-Sel twice and from there we did Cat in the Hat which is much better than Pooh ride at Disney. Next up it was the high train ride before we entered the Lost Continent.
DS decided he would be up for Dueling Dragons and DD said she would also ride and it was going to be her first go on a proper coaster. She was a couple of mm short but the guy said she could go through. Unfortunately when she went to get on she had slip on shoes on and had to take them off - this made her too short to ride. She was so disappointed but should be tall enough for the summer. DS and DH rode Ice and then I took DS to ride Fire (no I didnt ride but waited until he got on then stood at the exit). To help DDs disappointment at not riding she got some cotton candy and DS got a coke. We decided to save the indoor shows for the summer when we would be glad of a break from the hot sun.
The kids went into the playground area and DH and I sat on a wall in the sun and chilled. When the kids had enough we carried on and went in to the Dino shop where an artist was making a Dinosaur head. He was explaining how it was done and DS was fascinated. You could buy one for your bedroom wall for about $1,600. I managed to convince DS that wed never get it home in the suitcase
The kids were hungry so we went into our usual haunt by Jurassic Park ride and I got two kids platters of chicken, fries and corn on the cob. They ate most of it and DH and I finished the rest. As we were leaving we spotted two lovely cats in the bushes waiting to see if anyone at the outside tables would give them some food. DD thought one of them looked like Garfield and the other like her (still missing) Simba
Its obviously way too hot during the day in the summer, which is why weve never seen them before. We carried on around the park missing all of the wet rides and went to go on Spiderman but even the fast pass line had 25 minutes so we gave it a miss. DS decided he still wasnt up for the Hulk so we called it a day and left the park at around 1pm. There were still loads of people arriving.
We went to Prime 1 to check out the Disney store and I bought 20 trading pins for $3.99 each. There were no electronic shops so nowhere to look for the Nintendo DS Lite so we set off for the Big K on Turkey Road to see if we could find one there. Not surprisingly they didnt have one but I did buy two lovely Martha Stewart Christmas fleece blankets for $7 each. We were hungry so we went back up I-Drive and into Sweet Tomatoes where we had great meal. We left suitably stuffed and set off for the Florida Mall on the hunt for the elusive Nintendo DS Lite (it seems every store has sold out and didnt know when they are expecting another delivery) we tried
Wal-Mart on the John Young Parkway
Best Buy,
Toys R Us
Game Stop, Electronic Boutique, FYE, KB Toys, Sears all in the Florida Mall
Another Big-K
Circuit City
In each store there was someone either just in-front or just behind us also looking for one so we werent very hopeful. Our last stop was Comp-USA who miraculously had two in stock. We chose the white one and felt lucky to have got it.
During our various jaunts into all the shops we also managed to buy two DVDs (one of which the kids watched in the car while either DH or I went into each store looking for the Nintendo.) We also bought 2 protective covers for the Nintendos, a case, some screen protectors, 3 games, and DH bought a graphics card, DVD rewriter and a T-shirt.
We got back to VWL at half eight and just chilled, the kids played on their Nintendos and DH & I had a coffee. We were too tired to go down and see the electric water pageant but will try and do that tomorrow.
The temperature was back in the 80s and it was a warm day. Shorts T-shirts.
loved your photos
