Two’s Company, Three’s the Mother-in-Law (Completed)

[iluvpluto27]

Loving your report.

 

[orlandonyc]

yeah please do. i love humorous reports and like writing that way.

 

[xmattodx]

This, the second last day of the trip, started – not surprisingly – like the previous days. They woke up when they felt like it.

The plan for the day was simple.

Go back to US with Ma to finish the things she had yet to do and repeat a few favorites then over to IOA to pass some time before returning BACK to US for the Mardi Gras parade and perhaps listen to the band.

The trio walked to US from the PBH and again enjoyed the scenery.

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Walking was quicker than taking the water taxi and it was a pleasant, warm day.

Upon arriving at US the trio could see that it was a busy day. It was, after all, Saturday. Not wanting to stand in a long frustrating line at the front gates they took the Blue Man group shortcut and were very quickly in the park.

Being the adult children they are they headed straight for ET. Just as they arrived they were treated to this:

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What a show!

Well it was a show.

And they watched 2 minutes of it.

As they entered the ET line they noted that the express line was quite busy but didn’t think much of it. Arriving at the head of the line they were once again treated to a front row bike.

After ET they took quite a long time to explore the ball room.

Sheepie went up top to try to shoot Ma and Swell with the balls but accidentally hit some poor woman in the face instead.

Oops. Sorry.

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The woman who was supervising the area was very nice and after throwing a few balls at Swell she took the time to explain to Swell how to use the guns. Swell then lobbed a few balls at the upper level hitting a few poor kids. They in turn sent a volley in her direction.

The trio left the ball area surprised by how fun it was. They were further surprised that a large percentage of the people in the ball room were above the age of 16.

Following the long ball break they walked quite aimlessly eventually finding themselves in front of the Mummy.

Swell and Sheepie decided to ride again. Ma was asked if she wanted to ride. She said “yes”. Swell took a long time to explain to her that this was, in fact, the ride which caused tears just a couple of days earlier. Ma then changed her mind and decided to just sit and people watch.

They approached the line and found a large group of people just standing about trying to figure out which of the three lines they should enter.

As the attendant helped the group Swell and Sheepie were astonished that the vast majority of the group entered the express line.

And the vast majority of the vast majority had the purchased express passes. As they walked down the queue they soon hit the end of the line. They hoped that Ma had found a comfortable place to sit as it was going to be a long wait.

As they were waiting in line they struck up a conversation with the family in front of them.

This family had spent the preceding number of days at Disney and were now exploring Universal. It sounded like they had a full day of both parks ahead of them but they had FOTL passes as they were staying on site.

The young man was anxious to learn about the ride. Swell stated that it was fun. It was dark. It was fast.

Swell continued by indicating that she was very scared of the ride when she first did it but now it was one of her favourite rides out of both Disney and US.

She then took it a step too far.

“We rode with my Mum the other day. She was so scared that she started to cry.”

The family laughed and the boy said; “I don’t think that I’ll be scared like that. It’ll be fun.”

A few moments later Swell felt a tug on her pants.

Turning around she was soon looking down into the doe eyes of a young girl.

“Lady, is this scary?” she asks with a very concerned look in her eyes.

Swell, not being a parent answers “Yes.”

As soon as the word yes passed her lips two things happened simultaneously:

1) Swell realized that she probably should have worded her answer differently
2) The young girl’s doe eyes went from a look of concern to a look of fear.

Swell tried to make up for her blunder by saying “Its just fast. Its fun. You’ll like it. Have you ever been on Space Mountain? I think that Space Mountain is scarier! My Mum was scared but she did ok.”

It soon became apparent that the young girl had been listening to the conversation that had taken place between the duo and the family in front of them. She was not going to be convinced that this ride was not the worst thing on the face of the planet.

When the front of the line was finally reached Swell and Sheepie looked over their shoulder and saw the young girl and her family continue past the ride and out the chicken exit.

Swell was greatly upset that she accidentally talked this young girl out of riding.

C’est la vie.

And sorry to that family.

After the Mummy the met back up with Ma and headed over to MIB which they rode three or four times Swell and Sheepie continuing to improve but not being able to exceed 300,000 and 400,000 respectively.

The fifth time entering the queue they hit a wall of people just as the line entered the building.

Being too privileged to stand in such a long line they walked back outside and decided it was time to eat.

The plan for the afternoon was to go to IOA so they left US and headed to City Walk for lunch.

They decided to go back to Bubba Gumps and fine food and drink were had.

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While eating an enjoyable lunch the decision was made to forgo IOA and head back to US rather than having to keep an eye on the clock to ensure they made it back to the parade.

Sheepie went along with the plan although he wasn’t terribly pleased with having to spend so much of his vacation at US.

They went to Twister which neither Ma nor Swell enjoyed. Not that the Twister was too scary they simply found the rain to be far too cold. Both wished they had brought a jacket.

Sheepie likes Twister. Being old enough to remember Edmonton’s Black Friday Tornado well he finds that it brings back interesting memories he also enjoys watching the mechanics behind the effects.

After Twister they went back The Mummy with Ma deciding to join the duo for this ride. Swell, once again, ensured that Ma understood that this was the ride that caused her palpitations earlier in the week. Ma was insistent that she would be willing to go on it again. She survived but said that she would not be doing that again.

The final rides of the day were all done on MIB. On one of their many rides they ended up in a car where the two fellows riding in front of them scored 600,000 and 700,000 without using the “Red Button”.

At the end of the ride Sheepie asked them for any advice they could give. They were not fountains of information but they did suggest aiming only for high targets and then they said “Follow us.”

Thinking that they were going to go on a re-ride with the fellows and be granted a grand tutorial they followed them.

Followed them right through the baby swap line and back into line.

Swell and Sheepie were immediately struck with an overwhelming sense of guilt as the two guys gleefully said “Now you know a Universal secret.”

“Can’t you get in trouble?”

“Who cares.”

They rode through again this time both Swell and Sheepie doing a little bit better by ensuring that they aimed at higher targets.

As they exited the ride they saw the guys go back through baby swap as Swell and Sheepie went through the normal exit and back into the end of the line.

This would be their last MIB ride of the day and they met back up with Ma who had decided not to ride – The Mummy having finished her off.

They headed over to Starbucks where Swell and Ma bought some coffees and the trio sat passing the time before the parade started.

The coffees done. The trio started to look for a good place to sit.

Passing by Shrek they decided that they had time to go in before the start of the parade.

As the line weaved in and out Sheepie was very confused. It seemed that the line was heading away from the entrance.

And they did. They entered some sort of magic backdoor and entered the theater on the opposite side as usual. Sheepie remains confused to this day. Was it a second theater? Or just a different entrance? And why did they go in that way?

Shrek was fun and after the show was over the trio found a spot to sit across from Shrek to wait for the start of the parade.

They sat and waited and waited and were soon told that upon the start of the parade they would not be permitted to have their feet on the “road”.

As they waited Swell and Sheepie soon realized that they were exhausted.

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As the parade made its way past the trio Sheepie became confused.

Why were all of these people going so crazy over cheap plastic beads?

Why was Ma going crazy? Screaming until she was hoarse. Jumping up and down squealing like a child. This was a side of her he had never seen before.

Why was he the only one raising his shirt?

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After being hit in the head a few times by both people and beads Sheepie was glad to see the end of the parade.

The trio decided they were too tired to stay for any of the music and left via the Blue Man Group exit. Much quicker than following the large mass of humanity heading for the regular exit.

It was dinner time and the trio decided on going to the Latin Quarter.

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Dinner was great and the day ended quietly.

 

[RAPstar]

What was the drink Swell had at Bubba Gump's? It looks very yummy!!

 

[xmattodx]

The last day.

The last full day.

The trio were quite sad that their trip was coming to an end but excited by what the day had to offer.

Not surprisingly the day didn’t start early. Not late but not early. Who wants to be there at opening if they don’t have to be?

Not this trio.

Ma was getting tired of the whole theme park thing but was willing to do it for one more day.

One more day.

Fully devoted to IOA.

As had become routine the trio walked to the parks and enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery.

Their previous time at IOA the trio went right instead of left but this time they followed the crowds and headed past the Hulk to Dr. Doom’s Freefall.

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After a very short wait they were loaded in and on their way. It was much more enjoyable than Swell and Sheepie had remembered. It was only their second time on the ride ever as they had made a point of avoiding it in the past – claiming it not all that fun. It was definitely worth doing and they’ll ride it again in the future.

As they continued their way around the park they came to Spiderman and of course wanted to ride it. As they approached the door there was a large group of people trying to figure out where they were and what they were doing. Again, surprisingly, the vast majority of the group entered the express line. It was the longest Spiderman express line they had ever encountered. Still – it was an enjoyable ride after the wait.

The group walked through Toon Lagoon promising each other that they would return to it before the end of the day.

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They happened across the Sinbad show just as it was about to start.

They figured: “Why not?”

It is an enjoyable show and they sat much closer than they had ever sat before getting a better look at the actors.

A fun way to spend some time.

After Sinbad is was lunch time.

Back to Mythos for this group!

It was a short wait but they were seated relatively quickly even without reservations. They were given the exact same table as they had previously. The specials ended up being the same as their previous visit. This caused a little concern for Sheepie. His concern concerned the waitress as she explained that when the parks are slower they run the specials for a few days using up all the ingredients.

Sheepie was quick to correct her concern, “Oh no! I’m fine with it being the same special I just need to figure out whether I want to eat the same thing again now.”

Sheepie is very predictable when it comes to food at restaurants. He’ll very often get the same thing at the same restaurant every time they go.

“Why try something else when you know you like something already?”

He was convinced by the women to try something different so he did.

He chose steak.

It was yummy.

Very, very yummy.

The woman each had a soup and shared a salad. They also found their lunches to be yummy.

They ensured to save room for dessert.

They each had a dessert shot.

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One Tiramisu, one Cheese Cake, and one Chocolate Mousse cake. All three were thoroughly enjoyable and just the right size.

After Mythos it was Jurassic Park for the last time and then Swell and Sheepie went on both sides of Dueling Dragons while Ma waited patiently.

They ended their day by going on water rides a number of times. They went on Bluto’s three times in a row with varying waits – none of which were all that long. They find it enjoyable to go on Bluto’s with other families and watch their enjoyment.

They often feel bad that these other people will have to walk around in wet sneakers, and denim for the rest of the day.

Swell and Sheepie ensure that they wear quick dry clothes when they go to IOA and then they enjoy getting soaked.

And soaked they got.

After a few times on Bluto’s they headed to Ripsaw Falls which had been down for a large portion of the day. They were excited to find it back open but even the express line was packed. They didn’t deter them and they went on Ripsaw Falls twice.

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With those two rides they were spent and ready to go back to the hotel.

Following a leisurely walk back to the resort and a few hours of rest they headed back to City Walk with the hope that they could eat at Margaritaville. When they heard that it was at least a 90 minute wait and wouldn’t be much quicker even with their room key Priority Seating they took a pager but tried to find a quicker way to eat.

A quicker way to eat was found at the Porch of Indecision. They were seated immediately the host returned their pager for them and large portions of good food were soon had!

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Following dinner the trio just wandered around city walk for awhile doing touristy things like this picture:

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That's right. They're that cool.

Their last night was had and they were up very early the next morning to drive Ma to the airport.

The tolls were paid there and back again.

Swell and Sheepie returned to PBH to checkout and upon loading the car they headed to US to do MIB a few more times.

And then they were done.

And they left.

And drove home.

And didn’t have to pay for parking.

By some miracle from above and not by crook.

 

[xmattodx]

What was the drink Swell had at Bubba Gump's? It looks very yummy!!

Its a Lotsa Lava. They also have a version with alcohol called a Lava Flow.

 

[LeslieR]

Totally enjoyed your report...so sad it's over! Thanks for sharing...

 

[jakuch]

Thanks for the wonderful report. What is the Porch of Indecision? I'm clueless.

Karen

 

[xmattodx]

Thanks for the wonderful report. What is the Porch of Indecision? I'm clueless.

Karen

You know, I'm not entirely sure. It's part of Margarittaville, off on the side, outside seating. I've never actually been inside Margarittaville so I don't know if its the same menu or limited or what. They often have live music being played. Very pleasant.

 

[NH-R-T-Cha]

I've loved reading your TR. You've got a great writing style.
Thanks for the Laughs!

 

[Rubbertops]

Great report.
Thanks!

 

[minniejack]

Great report--very entertaining!

 

[Disneychix]

I enjoyed your report! I can't believe "Ma" went on the Mummy 2x after crying over it! What a trooper!

Not to bring up the whole parking issue again but I just don't get how you kept getting your car out of the parking lot at PB without paying? We just went for the Spa while staying at RPR and they tried to charge us for parking and it was quite a long delay trying to get our car out of the lot without paying. We thought it was a rip-off that we had to pay $15 at RPR and also at PB for the same day. Maybe you really are getting charged and they are "hiding" the charges or calling them something different that you don't recognize?