To Timbuktu and Back...Updated...rest of IOA-DH and Kate going out the back gate.

[Dismom+two]

Ok…we are going to cruise through the rest of the day here because…well even I’M getting board!!

We headed back through Timbuktu and Kate and Zack wanted to ride a couple of rides here. They went on Sand Storm…I believe that’s what it was called and they, along with Emily, went on Cheetah Chase. The rest of us sat and enjoyed Florida’s searing heat.

Yes friends....I'm cheap!! I took a picture of the picture!!

After they were done with those rides we decided to escape from the heat by going in to Pirates 4-D. I think the most annoying thing about this show was people just wandered in and you just sat there for the place to fill up. Of course as much as they announced it to move to the center…filling in all the seats….they DIDN’T!! Finally, when they decided that the place was full enough, the show started. The show was cute…predictable, and really corny!! The funniest thing was the reaction of the older women sitting beside us. It made me think of how my own mother would be watching the show.

It was time to ride Sheikra again!! I have been waiting for this since I step off of it the first time. Emily, Zack, Kate and I went on this time. We sat in the middle row as apposed to the back where we sat the last time. I was able to get into a seat with extra “bead” room so to say so I had no trouble belting myself in this time! Once again I really loved this coaster!! As we were hanging over the edge this time, I could look straight down and see my Dh looking up at me!! It was pretty wild!!
I had handed my camera to Dan and told him to take some pictures, have fun, knock yourself out!

Emily and I wanted to get t-shirt to commemorate our ride, we had a hard time deciding which ones we wanted but both ended up getting the same one…in different colors. What I thought was kind of funny is, they had some great t-shirts on clearance but they were like 3x and 4x sizes. Well, let me think here….I wonder why they had these sizes still…maybe because if your that size, most likely you would not fit in the seat to ride so why would they buy a shirt?? Hmmm I am good size and I was sort of uncomfortable in the seat. Whoever ordered those t-shirts must not have been the brightest crayon in the box!! Anyway, the shirts that Emily and I got had Busch Gardens Tampa on the front with a lady and bird on the back saying “Let me hear you scream!” and of course the word Sheikra. I still don’t understand the lady but whatever.

From here we thought it was time to get wet. We headed to Tidal Wave. I think everyone but Dan went on this one…I THINK…I really can’t remember.
This was a fun ride…we floated along through a nice little tropical jungle type atmosphere and then at the end, the boat was hauled up the hill and around the corner and downnnnnnn we went. The wave splashed way up around us and then straight down on top of us!! I turned around to see Kate and Zack behind us and Zack was just sitting there looking like a drowned pup!!! His hair was plastered down straight over his eye with a look like; you have GOT to be kidding me!! It was SO funny!!! I was laughing so hard I think I actually wet myself a tiny bit!!

Well, at this point we were getting tired of walking so we hopped the Sky Ride, Dh, myself and Dan in one gondola and Kate, Zack and Emily in another and headed over to Egypt so Kate and Zack could ride Montu.

I thought this was a great view of Gwanzi from the Sky Ride!

This is another ride that I passed up seeing as it has a lot of loops and inversions of some kind. While they were on there, Dan, Emily and I got a nice cold drink and a little snack.

We walked through some Tomb thing and at the end there was a gift shop where low and behold we found Princess Katie’s throne!!

We all decided that we were all tired; the heat was starting to get to us so we headed to the park exit. Made our potty break before the ride home and lumbered through the parking lot to the car.

Once again, we instructed Felicity to get us back to the hotel, suctioned her to the widow and we hit the road. It was a quiet ride home as everyone was pretty tired. As we got closer to Orlando, we reprogrammed Felicity to bring us to a restaurant. We ended up dinning at the Ponderosa Steakhouse. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal…its good to have a good meal after eating park food!!
The restaurant had a gift shop right next door so the kids and I did some shopping without the high park prices. This shop however was more Disney stuff which was fine with us!!

Again, Felicity was reprogrammed to the hotel, suctioned to the window and off we went.
We did the swim thing for awhile. Personally I thought it was freezing so I spent most of my time in the hot tub.

We had a wonderful day at Busch Gardens today. I would love to go back and do some of the things that we missed and of course ride Sheikra again!!

In the next installment, we take on IOA. This day ended up not quite as planned with a ride that Katie and DH took OUT of the park!!

Stay tuned people…this is one day you don’t want to miss!

 

[Dismom+two]

I hope you haven't given up on me with my report!! Things have been so busy or by evening I am so tired I can't even think about working on this.

I will get something up soon!!! PROMISE!!

 

[Dismom+two]

We all woke up the usual time, did the shower thing…made sure the hair was just right and made our way down to breakfast. We filled our bellies with cereal, eggs, potatoes, and fruit as well as our personal choice of caffeine and headed to the van.

We all piled in, Bruce programmed Felicity, suctioned her to the window and off we went to IOA.

On the way there, we pass by Sea World and we happened to all mention that Kraken looked somewhat tame after riding Sheikra the day before! However that’s just this crew’s opinion!

We arrived at the parking garage, paid our $11 and ended up in the same area as Monday.
We marched over to the moving sidewalks and I must say, people saw this family with a mission coming and stayed clear of our path!

We got to the gate and I passed out the tickets and once again collected them on the other side. I tucked them into my wallet, and off we wandered through the Port of Entry. I LOVE this part of the park and I am never able to just take my time through here. We are either in a rush getting in and to the park or staggering out at the end of a long day! I did take more pictures this time however!

Our first stop was the HULK. Of course the very first thing we had to do was to find a locker. We got one, put in our fanny pack, sling bag, hats, sunglasses, cameras, cell phones, meal deal sipper cups and of course loose change. Close the door and walked into the direction of the roar of the Hulk! There was virtually no line to speak of and we were on in no time!

What a way to completely wake up in the morning….remember all that food we ate at breakfast?? Well, it managed to stay down. After all, there’s NO HURLING at Islands of Adventure!! What a great ride this is!! I love the take off on it and then it’s just a great smooth ride! Kudos to the Hulk for another superior ride!

Following the ride on the Hulk, we headed back to the locker to recover our belongings. Can you people tell me, has anyone had problems with these lockers? We didn’t but the people in front of us always seem to. So many times here at IOA, we had to wait while others fought with the lockers. At this time, there was a bunch of young “ladies” and I am using that word VERY loosely seeing as they had mouths like some truck drivers…no offence to truck drivers of course!! Finally, being the kind, peace making person that she is, Katie stepped forward to help them without even a thank you after! After success in getting them into their locker we could finally get to ours!!

From here we went to see Spiderman! This ride is fabulous although I had forgotten how much it spins! YIKES!! After walking through the long maze like cue line we just about walked right onto the ride! It sure is worth getting here as early as possible so to beat the lines!

We still needed to get our meal deal wrist band so we went to the restaurant on this island to get them….CLOSED! Well, it is early and they don’t serve breakfast so I guess that makes sense. We will try again a little later.

Before moving on, Emily, Kate and I went on Dr. Doom. I have never been on this particular ride although I have been on others like it. I wasn’t too impressed so I’m glad we didn’t have to wait in a line.

As we were leaving that “alley”, Kate noticed Spiderman peeking out from over a fence. He came heaping down in his sleek spidey way, saw me with them camera and posed for a picture. He then went darting off across the street into his picture taking spot. I felt so special to see Spiderman so up close!! I felt like I was in the middle of a movie!!

As we walked along, DH all of a sudden took off his sunglasses, stopped and said…
“SMITH!!” Well, this poor high school age kid stopped in his tracks, stammering and stuttering… “Ahhhh….ummmm…hello Mr. *******”(leaving the last name out to protect the innocent!) while he stood shifting his weight back and forth nervously.
You see, my DH is a high school teacher at a private school so occasionally we bump into students and former students of his at various places. Who would have thought that being so far away from home we would see one today!! Life is funny huh?

We made our way to the next island…cartoon I believe. We found that one of the other places listed for the meal deal was open so we proceeded in. We all got into this very long line…long for this time of morning. Let me tell you….we stood there for an AWFUL long time….apparently, their computers were down so they were writing all the orders out and adding them up on a calculator!! HOLY COW!! All we want is wrist bands!!! After what seemed like an hour…we were back on our way…with cold drinks that we so desperately needed by this point.

One of my all time favorite rides was next. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Ripsaw Falls!! Once again, we had to get a locker…a locker that we had to PAY for…oh well…we had so much debris with us that we didn’t want to get wet so into the locker it goes. Fanny pack…sling bag…hats…sunglasses…cell phones…cameras….wallets….and FULL SIPPER CUPS!! Let me tell you…we had to pack that locker carefully with the loaded cups!!

This line was a little longer to wait in although it wasn’t too bad. Emily, Dan and I were in one boat with two others and DH, Kate and Zack were in another boat. Emily sat in the very front even though she claims she doesn’t like it…but down deep I know she loves it!
We had some good weight in the boat so we got good and wet!! I love at the bottom, right as you go under the bridge…that wave comes right up and over the front and into Emily lap!!!

We all got off good and wet….even Zack which is always a good time!! While we were wet, we decided to go and visit Popeye and Bluto.

Up next, the rest of IOA...well...sort of...

 

[kdkbrebel]

subscribing, love the trip report. We will be trying Universal and IOA for the first time this July.

 

[Motherfletcher]

Do not discount Kraken. It was my first coaster ride and we managed to get the front seat. It has no floor so every time it went plummeting to earth I thought it was going to drive me into the ground. I may have left my own little puddle on that ride. Next month they are taking the floor away from Sheikra which should make it even more breathtaking. I can't wait to see what the water does to the riders. Probably more puddles.
I dislike the shop at the exit to Sheikra where you got your momento shirts. My daughter's name is Roxy and they sell that brand and I always end up buying a $40 t-shirt.
Lockers suck. I'm too retarded to get them to work. We always travel light to avoid them.
My daughter and I love Popeye and have rode it 6 times in a row. My son and I rode it 4 times without getting off the boat.
Keep them comin'.

 

[Dismom+two]

While our things were still safely locked up and dry, we made our way over to Popeye’s. There was a lot of matching blue t-shirts around and in line with us on this ride. We had to wait for awhile at this ride…maybe 20 minutes and in doing so, we had some distraction. There was a family behind us…mother and young son included. Apparently, these kids in the t-shirts were talking and cursing quite a bit. The mother turned around and asked them to please watch their language in front of her child. Well…they didn’t like being told what to do. Then some others from the same group up ahead of us got involved in it and starting mouthing off to this mother. The mother then excused herself as she moved up to the front of the line and complained to the ride operators. Needless to say the group was removed from the line.

After all of this, we finally got onto the ride and enjoyed it immensely! We all got real wet…as expected!! My shoes were sounding like I was wearing sponges!! Don’t you all just love this ride??

We headed back to the locker to free our belongings when we realized we had gone over the paid for time. Now that we have everything locked up…including our money, we couldn’t get into the locker! So we sought out one of the “Canadian Mounties” who was more then happy to help us.

Once again loaded down with all of our things, we moved on to Jurassic Park. We stopped for some obligatory photos being scared by the vicious dinosaur poking out through the vegetation and continued on our way.

We came to the Jurassic River Adventure and got into line. Once again, the line was not too long and the wait was minimal. Dan, DH and I were in the very front of one boat while the others caught the boat in front of us. I love just as you drop down into the first area before going through the gate…WHICH were working today by the way..
“Time….an ever flowing river….”

The gate opened and we entered as the big boy very gracefully lifts his neck and greets us….

Just before we entered the building, our boat stopped. We sat there for 3-4 minutes until the ride started up again. The rest of the ride went as it should and we screamed… ok….I screamed when the T-Rex leaned down to try and munch us. I really like this ride…although my very first ride I was scared out of my mind!!! Zack got a bit wetter then he expected….hey…he was wet anyway!

We moved on from JP and towards Dueling Dragons. We stopped and played with some swords, looked at some t-shirts before Kate, Zack and Emily headed up to ride the Dragons. DH, Dan and I found a spot to sit and relax. After sitting for some time in the sun, a spot opened up in the shade and we grabbed it.

Dan noticed that the blue tracked had stopped when moments later Dh’s cell phone rang. It was Zack on the phone.
I was only hearing one side of the conversation so I was freaking out a little. I do love Katie as my own however Emily is my flesh and blood.
Bruce was kind of repeating what Zack was saying on the other end.
“The ride has stopped because she is hurt?”
This is when I started to panic.
“The medics are on the way?”
Dh told Zack he would be right up and hung up.
Apparently, Katie got hurt and couldn’t get off of the ride.
I stayed down with Dan while DH went up the exit to the ride.

A few moments later, Emily and Zack came down to me. Emily was very visibly upset so I held her and told her that Kate would be fine even though I had no idea what was wrong with her. I felt so bad for Emily, she can be a very emotional kid and seeing Katie in so much pain really bothered her.
Kate was having some severe abdominal pain and couldn’t move. Dh had to lift her off after the medics did a quick check of her.
Dh called me and told me that a man, Jim the medic, was heading down to us and we were to follow him to the closest First Aide station where we would meet up with them.
An ambulance was called and meeting us that the F.A station where they would pick up Kate and Dh and transport them to the hospital.

Z, D, E and I sat in the waiting room for a few moments before someone came out to get me. In the exam room, the EMTs were already there evaluating Kate, checking vitals, going over medical history and getting her ready for transport. They had to put an IV in her arm which she was not happy about so dear step-mom sat and held her while they put that in. Kate was able to walk over and sit on the stretcher with a little help. I gave her a kiss and headed back out to collect the rest of the kids.

I have to stop here to stress just how WONDERFUL all the people at IOA that we dealt with during this whole thing were! They were very supportive, compassionate and helpful! I am sorry that the only one I remember the name of was Jim, the medic. They were telling us that if we wanted to enjoy the park while DH and Kate went on to the hospital and they would make sure they connected us back up later….but we decided that we wanted to go to the hospital with them.

The kids and I exited the first aid building and asked what the quickest way to the front was. It was through Seuss so off we went….very quickly.
Not knowing exactly still what was ailing poor Kate; I stopped in the Port of Entry and made everyone get something to drink. I certainly didn’t want anyone getting dehydrated seeing as this was one of the many things that I thought may be wrong with Katie.

I felt like we couldn’t get to the van quick enough but we finally got there and piled in. I had a paper with a map and the hospitals name and address. I programmed Felicity, suctioned her to the window and off we flew. We got out of the garage and but Felicity wasn’t talking to me. I called her stupid and apparently she didn’t like that. As I was trying to find the hospital by using the map and NO help from Felicity I seemed to be getting lost!! Felicity finally spoke up and told us we had reached our destination…we were in the middle of a feaking INTERSECTION!!! Needless to say, the “girlfriend” doesn’t like me driving…little @*&ch!!

I grabbed my cell and called Dh and told him that Felicity was NOT cooperating with me. He decided that she probably wasn’t connected to a satellite and told me to shut her off and turn her back on. Well, now she worked, I reprogrammed her and threw her out the window and told HER where to go!! No not really, I slammed her onto the window and she got us to the hospital in no time. WITCH!!!

Trying to find a parking space was an adventure!! First we pulled into a parking lot that was all just handicap parking….went back out onto the street and pulled back into the parking area. Then we wound up in the ambulance parking only….and then DRS. Only parking….we FINALLY found the right place to park.

We walked into the ER and found Dh and Katie right away. They were sitting in the waiting area talking to a rep from Universal. Once again, he was there to see if there was anything they could do to help make this all a bit easier. Hmmm get us into the exam room quicker??? NO? Oh well, they were good but not that good! He offered us all something to drink but we graciously declined. After talking for awhile he finally offered us some Express Passes for the next day…our last day…if Katie was able and up to going to the park. They were being put in Dh name at the customer service.

After the rep. left, we decided that I would take the kids and head back to the hotel. While we were there we did some cooling off in the pool….I went and got them all dinner and then sat and waited for Dh to call. It felt like an eternity. After many small calls with updates, it was finally about 9pm when I got the call that I could go and pick them up. They spent a GOOD 6 hours there. They pretty much decided that she had an ovarian cyst that burst. She has had a history of them and seeing as nothing showed up on the ultrasound or blood work that was the final diagnoses.

What a very busy place that ER was. In those 6 hours, they spent 4 of them in the waiting room. Apparently, the hospital itself was full and there were people in the exam rooms since the previous day waiting for a room.
While they were there, they found out that RipSaw Falls is the ride with the most injuries…of course…MY FAVORITE RIDE!! Will it keep me from ever going on again?? HECK NO!!

Well we got back to the hotel that night after stopping and getting food for Dh and Katie…and we all crashed after a very crazy, upsetting and emotional day.

In the next installment…our last day. Will we go to the park or will we try and catch an earlier flight home?? Stay tuned to find out!!

 

[JawsCPA]

Wow, - I wasn't expecting that - I guess you weren't either.

Hope Katie is OK and you all got to enjoy your last day.

Lovin' your trip report, especially the pictures.

I know what you mean about Zak - my son is 12 and we are starting to go through the "hair just right" stage.

Looking forward to your next installment.

 

[GemmaPixie]

Just tuned in. The incident with Katie was a big shock- when you said your DH and Katie where taken out of the park, I was expecting them to have done something naughty like hit one of the 'blue tshirt' gang!! LOL. Can't wait for the next installment and I hope Katie is better!

Oh and yess, I thought Felicity was a real person and you must be a very nice lady to allow your kids dads girlfriends to come on holiday with you!

 

[Motherfletcher]

Been there and it sucks. My son received a head injury at T2 that required stitches. Luckily we have been to Universal enough that we didn't feel like we were missing anything. We managed to make fun of the whole thing but waiting in the clinic that Universal sent us to was a very long wait. The express pass for the next day which was New Year's Eve was great.

 

[t-and-a]

Oh please come back and let us know what happened! I hope Katie is OK!

 

[Lotte07]

Wow, what a great trip report! I felt like I was right there with your family having fun until poor Katie got sick. Please come back and tell us how your trip ended.

 

[nymomof3]

OMG what a terrible thing to happen...i hope she is alright...it sounds like u were having such a good time.. i love the pictures....i hope the rest of your trip turned out ok and she is ok....what happend??? how did she get hurt???can't wait till you come back and let us know!!!

 

[Dismom+two]

So sorry I haven't finished....I know I just have one more day left to go here. I will try and get it done here.

Things have been crazy here....Katie is doing just fine however DD emily is now going through some medical issues...GALL BLADDER!! Can you believe that?

I will see about getting my report done!!

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Awesome trip reports and great pics! Sorry to hear about the mishap though. Hope all is well!