Two 40-somethings. No Castle Tour?? And the B52’s!!!

[StarGirl11]

Here I sit. At my desk. Wilted balloon hat on my head. Empty margarita glass clenched in my fist. Contemplating the work ahead. Sob.

But... IT WAS GREAT!!!! Took a ton of pictures! Drank a ridiculous amont of butterbeer! Went on the Castle Tour! Saw the B-52's. Met MetroWest!!!

I will write a trip report and post pix soon.... Just need to unbury my desk first....

Okay I feel like the worlds worst Harry Potter fan for not knowing this but what exactly is the Castle Tour? And how does one go on it so next Jan when I go back to the area for the Marathon I know what else to drag my Mom with me to when I go back Wizarding World.

 

[schumigirl]

Wow....you`re back......glad you had the best time.......really looking forward to hearing about it

Any pics of Metro wearing a cool balloon hat by chance

 

[Metro West]

It was SUCH FUN!!! C and I were hoping it was OK that we kept inching up towards the front....

The B-52's were awesome and it was so great meeting you!

Same here and of course it was OK to keep moving up! I had no problems getting out of the parking garage...which was my main concern but everything was fine. You two are a lot of fun!

Any pics of Metro wearing a cool balloon hat by chance

No such luck Carole.

 

[reelmom]

Love your TR. You have a great writing style. Can't wait to read about your trip.

 

[macraven]

waiting for the trippie!
and pics.....




from what you recently posted, sounds like it was a fantastic vacation.


did you do all your sleeping on the plane?

 

[tlinus]

And changing planes apparently in Abu Dhabi.



I'm enjoying your trip report very much, and I don't usually read them. Loved the anecdote about the flip flop - having 3 adult children, I have many similar stories. One in particular involves a beloved ball cap.

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

We had a hat fatality at Universal too. And it was DH. And he wasnt too happy....I was like

So now we’re getting close!!! Very excited. And nervous. Cause I have to organize my whole family before I go. And get all my work done. And finish packing. I think that the week before a trip is the absolute worst for stress. Honestly, by the day that I leave, I’m curled in the fetal position whimpering.

And now, instead of complaining about the fact that Spiderman will close THE DAY WE ARRIVE, I have decided to stop whining and make a list of the cool things I WILL get to see….

- The B52’s – this is really super awesome and I’ve been playing their CD for a week straight!
- The Simpsons – This is my favorite ride ever. I don’t even like the Simpsons show but love this simulator. Love it.
- MIB – where I will not wear flip flops.
- WWoHP! – this wasn’t open when last I went. If you look at the room view in my post above you can see that Hogwarts was still scaffolded. I’m super excited to see it all and experience the flavor of this area. Oh, and I want to drink butterbeer. Lots of it.
- The standby queues for Mummy and Spiderman (oh wait…). Just the Mummy then. Will also RIDE the Mummy but last time we were all about skipping the lines and didn’t really do any standby queues.
- Will eat at Thunder Falls and Finnegan’s. Last time we didn’t eat at these places. We did eat at Mythos and I loved it. Had the Risotto of the Day. Extra yummy.
- Will ride the coasters – Hulk, Rip Ride Rockit, Dragon’s Challenge.. – rode none of them last time. However, while I was a coaster junkie in my (ehem) youth. Now I find that I’m really only good for one go-around. Then I need a little rest. Getting old….
- Mardi Gras! – Hoping to see some cool stuff.
- I will eat (again) Vocano Nachos at Margaritaville and hopefully get myself a cool balloon hat. Accompanied by a very large margarita…
- I will sit down somewhere and just enjoy the fact that I’m AWAY and IN UNIVERSAL! This is harder than it seems… but I will do it!!!

11 DAYS!!!!

I know you are back....but just wanted to make sure you remembered your checklist and see how much youse guys got done

I found em last night and had a great time!

Here I sit. At my desk. Wilted balloon hat on my head. Empty margarita glass clenched in my fist. Contemplating the work ahead. Sob.

But... IT WAS GREAT!!!! Took a ton of pictures! Drank a ridiculous amont of butterbeer! Went on the Castle Tour! Saw the B-52's. Met MetroWest!!!

I will write a trip report and post pix soon.... Just need to unbury my desk first....

Whoo Hoooooo....double bonuses of having a great time AND meeting up with Metro!!

Waiting
Patiently
Cause I know you have alot of work to do
So
I
Will Just wait
Right here

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

Three words.
It. Was. AWESOME!!!!

I can’t believe how fast those 5 days went. And now I’m back. Totally depressed.

So, to cheer myself up, I’m writing this trippie. Starting right now.

The start of all vacations remind me of the movie “Trains, Planes and Automobiles”. Although usually without the “YOU’RE …..GOING… THE… WRONG… WAY” scene. And it was no different for the start of mine.

I had originally been leaving on a 6am flight from Newark on 2/8. The airline ended up cancelling this flight about a week before. They dumped me on a flight which would have arrived several hours later on the morning of the 8th. Which would have sucked. Since I had only 5 days to begin with. So, I called up the airline to complain and they let me change to a flight leaving the night before. Keep that in mind if you find yourself in a similar position. If there is room on another flight, you can ask the airline to switch you to it, there was no charge for this change.

So, I was driven by car to take the bus to arrive at the airport, to take the plane to arrive at the airport to take the taxi to the hotel. I booked a very inexpensive room at La Quinta on Daewyler Ave (sp?). The reason I tell you the street is that there is another La Quinta, even closer to the airport, but it was more expensive. The room was fine, clean and quiet. It wasn’t until I went to take a shower that I found out why the room was so cheap. Apparently they hadn’t splurged for the hot water heater. Mildly warm water does not a pleasant shower make. But it was all good, cause I was ON VACATION!!!!

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I arrived at the hotel by taxi cause my flight got in at 11pm. About 10 mins after the last hotel shuttle. The hotel reimbursed me for the taxi. Another perk to keep in mind. As long as you like a brisk, refreshing shower, this is a great hotel. I asked for a wake up call for 6am. Caught the hotel shuttle BACK to the airport to wait for C’s arrival on the 7:30 flight. She left at 11pm her time from Denver. Flew to Miami… go figure…. And then flew to Orlando. So, yes, she had effectively been up all night.

Her flight came in on time and MH Transportation picked us up at the luggage area. And, about luggage…. I didn’t succeed at the carry-on challenge. I did check a bag, but am proud to say that it came in under the max weight (I did need to jettison some items before leaving, lol).

MH Transpo brought us to the Publix supermarket for our 20 min grocery stop. We had made a little list of item that we wanted to have in the rooms. Styrofoam cooler, cereal, bowls, spoons, parmalat milk, granola bars, m&m’s (yum!), and the makings for onion dip (this is a long standing tradition going all the way back to our college days)… oh and Airborne, cause we were both starting to feel sniffly.

We whizzed in and back out in our allotted time and within minutes we were at the Royal Pacific!! I think we got there around 8:30 am. We went to check in and I asked about room views. Cause I had made a request. But didn’t want to actually PAY more for a view….
We didn’t have a lot of choice. The hotel was packed with conventioneers and I was more interested in being in tower 3 than in anything else. So, I got tower three but ended up on the 2nd floor with this view (room 3255)….

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It was not an issue at all, the room was very clean and lovely and in a very quiet location. Perfect for us, especially as we were literally only in the room at night….

We went to the room, filled the cooler with ice and stashed our stuff and then turned around to head out to the parks!

We took the water taxi to CitiWalk (9:45 am)

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and decided to grab a bite at Pastamore. We each had breakfast pizza. Now, I’m sorry… but I have absolutely no food porn. I do feel bad but we just never managed to whip out the camera before diving into our food. We enjoyed the food and watched these guys (grackles?) who were just the loudest birds ever…..

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But, I gotta say, I had trouble sitting and eating while watching people walk into the park…. So soon enough we were heading in!

Here's me!
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And here's C!

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(A side note here... Both C and I totally rocked the fanny pack look during this vaca.... not our usual choice of bag but for scooting onto rides without worrying about lockers, this was a super choice... so we swallowed our vanity and strapped on the fanny pack.)

Now, we decided to hit the Studios the first day. We wanted to save Harry Potter for early entry when we could really enjoy it. We are both big Potter fans and we wanted it to be special….

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So, the Studios first….not too crowded...

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We worked our way around, starting with Shrek (loved it!! Always so much fun), took some photos afterwards….

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We checked out the stage where we'd be watching the B-52's on Saturday. And the band line up for Mardi Gras!

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And on to Twister…. Made sure to stand in the front row. It is a fun little show.

And then the Mummy. This ride for us was a bit of a mess. The ride itself was good, but I had forgotten a bit of how roller coastery this one is. So, poor C with her 2 week old concussion ended up on the ride after I was all “ oh, I don’t think this one is too bad”. I found myself on the ride yelling “Keep Your Head Forward!” “Going Backwards!!!” “AUGGGHH!!” I can only imagine what the people sitting in front of us thought…lol…

After we got off the ride and decided that C would probably not die, we laughed about it and I found that I had been straining MY neck trying to keep C’s head forward. So we had sympathy pains….

We stopped and watched the Blues Brothers. They are always so great.

We walked through the Monster Cafe. I'd never been inside. It had such interesting displays!

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And then we caught the Beetlejuice Revue. This was a new one for me, I hadn’t seen it previously. I just loved it. Loved the actors and dancers. It was really well done. I would have seen it again… but C was lukewarm on it…. So it was a oncer for me…

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On we went to Disaster! Which was literally a disaster. After the choosing and the standing and the sitting and the filming and the watching… we got on the train and…. Clunk… it stopped working. Never even left the station. So after 10 minutes of TM’s running about talking about fire extinguishers we were evacuated from the train. One row at a time. Took FOREVER! Auuuggh.

So, to make ourselves feel better, we headed to the Simpsons! I just love this one. And I knew C would too as she even watches the show. We did have a bit of a problem with a long wait due to a problem with the capacity or something. But eventually we were in and it was everything I remembered. C LOVED it! Awesome.

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On the way to the Simpsons we stopped and took at look at Jaws... so sad, all alone in front of the fences.. I was very sorry that I didn't get a chance to ride one more time...

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From there we scooted to MIB. Since I was wearing sneakers, I had nothing to fear. I did tell C that whole story while waiting to board. We racked up some cosmically average points but had a great time doing it!!

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Off we went to the Horror Makeup Show. This is also one of my favorites. And it was even better today. The woman actor in the show that day was freaking hilarious. All the gags were just great. Much fun was had.

At this point we were feeling peckish but didn’t want to eat anything big since we were planning an early dinner and bed before we both passed out from exhaustion. So we grabbed a soft pretzel and called it lunch.

We looked out over the water while we ate our pretzel...

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We dashed into Terminator 2 as we were passing by and watched our favorite terminator save the world again..

We stopped and took in the absolute ton of characters standing around on the boulevard. Awesome! I couldn't coax C into standing with any character's but I did get the Simpsons in the background. I have no shame and happily posed...

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By then C was flagging and it was getting towards 5pm. We decided to make an early dinner at… MARGARITAVILLE!

It was (unfortunately) too early for balloon hats but a cold Landshark and an enormous order of Volcano Nachos (minus the jalapenos) made up for it. C had the Cheeseburger in Paradise which in my opinion is really kind of ordinary. The Volcano Nachos were exceptional. I made a respectable dent in them and then we headed back to RPR.

This gem was on the wall of the outside patio at Margaritaville. This just about sums it up for us and this vacation!

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So much fun was had and even better was the time C and I got to spend chatting and catching up. We don’t see each other but maybe every 2 years but every time we get back together it is like we were never apart. Love that girl!!!

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So, we got ourselves ready for bed and an early wake up call as it was HARRY POTTER tomorrow!!!

 

[BrerMama]

Lovin' it! Can't wait to hear about Wizarding World!

 

[natebenma]

AWESOME start!!! Love your descriptions and pictures. Can't wait for more...

 

[reelmom]

Great start. We arrive at the Royal Pacific in 102 days! I am so excited as this will be the first time staying on property. Glad to see that you could wear your fanny pack on the rides. I am planning on wearing one( the older I get, the less I care about how dorky I look.) and have heard several different stories about whether or not you can wear one on all the rides. Mine is Vera Bradley 3 prong one so I am hoping it will be ok.

 

[tlinus]

Great first day!! We never go to the park on travel day....we're bums like that

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Wonderful first day, can't wait to hear more! You are both adorable, even with the fanny packs. I cannot believe C managed so much on the first day, after an overnight flight.

We had a hat fatality at Universal too. And it was DH. And he wasnt too happy....I was like

We never go to the park on travel day....we're bums like that

 

[Mikkimús]

Im hooked and btw you saved me from dying from boredom in class today...shh i was not totally paying attention but some peope in my class just think slower than the most of us so the class becomes much longer than it would have to be.
And btw i almost bursted out laughing when reading about the dramatic flipflop adventure

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

I was just searching through the latest trip reports and I came upon this jewel. I love your writing style and am also a notorius overpacker.

Sounds like you had a blast, I can't wait to hear all about it.

Ah, a fellow overpacker! I love it! More will be coming soooon...

You've been and back again! Sorry your trip is over, but sounds like you had a great time. Also sorry about C's concussion, I hope she is fully recovered. DD was thrown from a horse while in HS, and we had to do the CT and wake-up-every-few-hours thing - not fun, especially before a long awaited trip!

The ball cap story isn't as funny as the flip flop story, but cute. My oldest DS was about 12 or so, and as we exited a ride (Dinosaur, I think, or Countdown to Extinction, as it was called then) he grabbed at his head and yelled, "my hat!" He had apparently left his hat in the bag stash. I believe he eventually got it back, but the quote we took away from it was, "I have to get that hat back, it's been down in the dirt with me!" DH and I often say, "it's been down in the dirt with me!" - sometimes without relevance, lol.

LOL! I'm totally on board with the irrelevant comments.. they are the best kind! Glad your son got his hat back....

Okay I feel like the worlds worst Harry Potter fan for not knowing this but what exactly is the Castle Tour? And how does one go on it so next Jan when I go back to the area for the Marathon I know what else to drag my Mom with me to when I go back Wizarding World.

Ah, the infamous Castle Tour.... You have options when you go to ride the Forbidden Journey. You can do the normal line (if you have bags, you'll need to locker them). You can do the single rider line (ditto for bags). ANNNND, if you are very lucky and arrive at a not so busy time you can do THE CASTLE TOUR! Dum, dum DUUUUUUM (Anyone been on Disaster lately lol?)

The Castle Tour was open when we went, we just asked the attendant standing at the beginning of the normal line if we could do the Castle Tour and they unlatched the chain blocking the entrance and let us through. You can keep all your belongings with you as you never end up at the actual ride. We loooooved the Castle Tour especially after riding FJ 8 million times in a row. We were able to really look at everything and there is even a separate portrait room that you don't see on the normal line. The Castle Tour is perfect for those who don't want to ride the ride also! FUN!!

Wow....you`re back......glad you had the best time.......really looking forward to hearing about it

Any pics of Metro wearing a cool balloon hat by chance :

Bwahaha, Metro can I post the pic I do have? (He is the only one that looks good in the picture, lol!)

Love your TR. You have a great writing style. Can't wait to read about your trip.

Thanks! More coming soon...

waiting for the trippie!
and pics.....




from what you recently posted, sounds like it was a fantastic vacation.


did you do all your sleeping on the plane?

HI MAC!!! It was so much fun... so sad it's over... Yes, I was totally unconscious in minutes on the plane. Drooled all over the poor man next to me, lol....

We had a hat fatality at Universal too. And it was DH. And he wasnt too happy....I was like



I know you are back....but just wanted to make sure you remembered your checklist and see how much youse guys got done





Whoo Hoooooo....double bonuses of having a great time AND meeting up with Metro!!

Waiting
Patiently
Cause I know you have alot of work to do
So
I
Will Just wait
Right here

LOLOL!! A hat FATALITY sounds like a good story! Do tell!

Had a super great time!! I promise to post the next installment soooon.

Lovin' it! Can't wait to hear about Wizarding World!

Yay! It was sooo great. Coming soon! Thanks for reading!

AWESOME start!!! Love your descriptions and pictures. Can't wait for more...

Thanks!

Great start. We arrive at the Royal Pacific in 102 days! I am so excited as this will be the first time staying on property. Glad to see that you could wear your fanny pack on the rides. I am planning on wearing one( the older I get, the less I care about how dorky I look.) and have heard several different stories about whether or not you can wear one on all the rides. Mine is Vera Bradley 3 prong one so I am hoping it will be ok.

Well I can tell you that we were never stopped and we never tried to hide the fanny packs either. We were dorky and PROUD of it! I even pointed to mine to the ride attendants at FJ and Mummy. Both said "go ahead". It was really great!!

Great first day!! We never go to the park on travel day....we're bums like that

Believe me, if we had had more time, we'd have rested the first day.... OK, maybe... if you tied me down we'd have rested... we were just too excited to sit still. Until we literally passed out that night!

Wonderful first day, can't wait to hear more! You are both adorable, even with the fanny packs. I cannot believe C managed so much on the first day, after an overnight flight.

It was a crazy first day, between the concussion and the exhaustion, it made for some very funny moments. Thanks!!!

Im hooked and btw you saved me from dying from boredom in class today...shh i was not totally paying attention but some peope in my class just think slower than the most of us so the class becomes much longer than it would have to be.
And btw i almost bursted out laughing when reading about the dramatic flipflop adventure

LOL! You are too funny. Glad I could provide a distraction. Hopefully there will be more fun to be had sooon!!!

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

The early wake-up call this morning was a non-issue… C and I woke, ate and dressed in a blink. We were out the door by 7:15 and at IOA by 7:45am after a brief wait for the water taxi.

I prepped C on the game plan. Through the gates… look at nothing… we’ll come back later to see it all…. Take a left before Green Eggs and Ham. A quick walk, not a run….

Now, when we got to the gates, they were already open! We scooted to WWoHP and we were both super excited to see the entryway to Hogsmeade and in the background…. Hogwarts!!

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We made our way quickly to Ollivander’s and were in the 2nd group to enter. It was a cool morning and we were wearing light fleeces and were happy for them as we waited… In just a little bit we were entering Ollivander’s. Now, I’ve read all about this little show but nothing prepared me for the pure magic of the performance. It was absolutely a perfect start to our Harry Potter morning. The actor playing Ollivander was spot on and even two adult women were enraptured by the byplay between him and the child chosen. We even got a little misty eyed…

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After Ollivanders ejected us into the wand shop and we spent a little time perusing the wares, we moved quickly to the Forbidden Journey. Being a quiet time of the year and early entry, we were able to walk right up to the TM guarding the line entries. Our fanny packs were a super choice here, we were able to move right into the line without using the lockers. We walked through the almost empty line, pausing here and there to take in the fabulous queue, took some photos and enjoyed the ambience. I don’t want to give too much away but I highly recommend watching the sequence with Hermione, Ron and Harry in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom a couple of times. The ending can be different……

We walked right onto the ride and took our seats. Now, I hadn’t told C a single thing that I had read about the ride and I had tried not to read anything too detailed and I wished that I had known even less…. It was a really incredible ride. I won’t go into detail as I think everyone should experience this one fresh… It was amazing… We LOVED it.

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We got off, scooted around and went right back into line… The queue was incredibly empty and we really enjoyed being able to stop if we wanted to…. The second time, we ended up sitting on the left side of the bench (as you are looking at it when you get in). This was even better as it seems that a lot of the action is directed towards that side…. I did feel a smidge queasy during this 2nd ride though and we took a little break to TAKE THE CASTLE TOUR!

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Woooohoooo!!! I was so very pleased that we could take advantage of this option. We took it very slow and watched and listened to all the moving portraits, especially those which you only see in the Castle Tour. We listened to all of the characters and enjoyed every single minute of it.

After our multiple visit to Hogwarts, we exited into the sunlight and headed in search of BUTTERBEER. Now, having also read much on the subject of Butterbeer, we decided to try the classic, non-frozen version first. WE LOVED IT. It is really ridiculous how much we love Butterbeer. I hope to never know the calorie count on this beverage. Never. Ever.

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After Butterbeer we took a trip around the shops of Hogsmeade. Here are some lovely photos of the windows. We enjoyed the detail here enormously and took a lot of pleasure in pointing out the various things in the windows. I won’t go into a lot of detail here, I do think half the pleasure is in discovering these things for yourself… and if you want more detail, please take a look at the super trip report being posted now by momabaarjo…. I am in awe of her detail. Truly.

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We took in the end of the Frog Choir show. Very cute… I’m totally fascinated by the frogs… I’d have liked to have touched one….

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We did spend some time in Honeydukes and picked out souvenirs for friends and family. We had all purchases sent back to RPR which is just a super fabulous thing. Really. At the last minute I remembered reading somewhere about Cauldron Cakes. They sell them in Honeydukes and we bought one to share right away. If you ask, they have little itty-bitty knives they will give you to divide your treats.

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We walked around Potter Land and ooohed and aaaahed for the whole early entry hour and after. And then we tried the FROZEN Butterbeer…. Also very good, but we actually prefer the regular. Something about the bubbles just makes it extra yummy. As a wise man once mentioned… “This will put you into a diabetic coma”.. and yes, yes it will. But it will be worth it….

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[EPRV We love Disney]

Even at this time of the year, we could tell when the park officially opened as a wave of people descended on Hogwarts. We decided against Dragon’s Challenge for the moment, took a deep breath and stepped out of Potter Land… and headed for Jurassic Park! We went into the Discovery Center and spent a little time playing with the games and looking at the exhibits. It is fun, especially as it was almost deserted…

We cut back through Potter Land and this time went to the Lost Continent. We spent a short while enjoying the antics of the Mystic Fountain as it interacted with a couple of children. I really want that job. I could totally do that.

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Then we headed into Poseidon’s Fury. I enjoyed being able to see the water vortex which had not been working when I was there in 2009.

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After surviving the wrath of the gods, we caught a showing of the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad show. Hmmm, we’ll this probably the only thing in both parks that I wouldn’t do again. I hadn’t seen it previously and really wasn’t feeling it… Both C and I were mesmerized by the abs on the heroine though. She seriously had a 6 pack going on… We both vowed to start sit-ups as soon as we got back home…

After Sinbad, we headed into the colorful world of Dr. Seuss. This is such a great section of the park. You absolutely cannot be sad when you see all the fun and fanciful constructs from the mind of Seuss. We took in all the rides: The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train, the Caro-Seuss-el, Cat In The Hat and One Fish , Two Fish (we managed to remain (mostly) dry by paying close attention to the music!). Very Fun!

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We kept walking toward the Port of Entry, taking in all of the little details in this area. This is one of my favorite parts of the park. There is just so much going on here and all the little details. I really like it!

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We decided to have lunch in the Confisco Grille. Mainly because we had a hankering for wings. We split a wing appetizer and I had a wrap and C had a sandwich. The wings were quite good the rest was meh, but filling, so it did the job.

After lunch we started walking towards back around towards Potter-land. Heading over to Flight of the Hippogriff. There is a ton of detail here about Hagrid’s hut and Buckbeak. Very enjoyable. After checking with C to make sure that her head would not pop off, we took a spin on this very fun little coaster.

The whole area was quite crowded so we focused on the rides that would take our Express Pass. We talked ourselves into a ride on Dragon’s Challenge. Wow, that is a really really long queue. This is one that I’m sorry I didn’t ride on my previous trip. I’d have liked to have seen the Dueling Dragons queue and especially ridden the ride while the coasters were dueling. However, this time we were mainly worried about the possible effect on C’s head. So we wanted the smoothest side. The TM said to try Red (Fire). So we did.

It was GREAT!! What a smooth coaster! We loved it and even tho one ride was enough for the moment, we vowed to do it again before the end of the vaca.

We once again exited Potter Land and headed towards Jurassic Park. This time, to ride the ride! Now, for some reason, we simply couldn’t find the ride entrance. Yes, I know, this is totally stupid, but to actually ask in the gift shop. Duh, right next door. I’m sure that is what the cashier was thinking although she was very polite.

We were a little worried about getting soaked on this ride since we were in the vast minority in not wearing a poncho. The ride was a ton of fun, C really enjoyed it and during the drop we both ducked as low as we could, leaving the giant wave of water to splash onto the people sitting behind us. Bwhahaha. Hey, they were wearing ponchos, they can take it… lol..

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After the ride, we went into Jurassic camp. We spent some time here cackling to ourselves as we navigated the ropes and bridges and then we discovered the dark fog filled caverns… this is the first place we saw the sign warning people with “fog sensitivity” to not enter. Well, for the rest of the trip every time we saw fog, we would yell out that we were FOG SENSITIVE! Watch out!! Yes, we can totally be annoying…giggle..
After the fun in Jurassic, we headed for Toon Lagoon. Now, it was really way too cool for water rides. So we spent some time checking out the comics and then we looked at both water rides from a safe distance. We stuffed some quarters in the water cannons to make sure that those that were riding were sufficiently wet… hey, they surely got their money’s worth!

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We walked all around Me Ship, The Olive. This area is fun and there is also a walkway by the water where you can see all sorts of little details by the lake edge.

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After Toon Lagoon, we went on to Marvel Superhero Island. This area caused me angst. The closing of Spiderman on the DAY WE ARRIVED, was an ongoing “grrrr moment”. Somehow, not having Jaws or Jimmy Neutron wasn’t half as annoying..

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After a quick photo, I averted my eyes and we looked around for a bit. Then we decided to try Dr. Doom’s Fearfall. Now, I hadn’t ridden this ride before either. But, having read that Macraven likes it… I had to try it!! It was a ton of fun! Really really quick tho and I was very glad that we didn’t have to wait at all to get on…..

We did take a look at Hulk, but we decided against riding. I had read that the age of the ride was contributing to making it a bit rough and that some riders were coming off with headaches. With C’s head, we decided against taking the risk….

Now the day was waning and we headed out to Citiwalk to wait for C’s cousin and his family who were meeting up with us for dinner at the Hard Rock Café. Dinner was very good and it was fun meeting C’s cousin who I’ll call John. Well, in addition to being C’s cousin, John works at SeaWorld… and he offered to use his work perks to get us in the following day… and give us a little behinds the scene tour!!! Woooohooooo!!! So, until tomorrow!!

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[BrerMama]

Oh, I am so jealous and ready to see Wizarding World. It just seems so... magical. Love reading about your adventures!

 

[-Hope-]

I'm really enjoying your TR! I have a family trip to UO in the works as well as a trip with my BFF to WDW so I'm doubly enjoying this- for the UO tips and the BFF adventures!

 

[natebenma]

Great update! It sounds like you two gals had a fantastic time at WWoHP/IoA. Love all of your pictures, the ones in Seussland are really cool. I didn't see Horton's egg when we were there.

 

[stich626]

Why haven't I had the volcanic nachos? That's all my husband eats. Will try them next time.