Vacation Potpourri - Disney Dream, Kidani Village, and more! - Vacation Wrap-Up 4/24

[Bridora]

I love that you got to take so many pics of the ship that had no one else around! You are like a VIP!!

You are so cute, with your "Can you tell it was my first time on a cruise ship?" I WILL BE THE SAME WAY. How can you not? Everything is so incredible and beautiful and perfect. I NEED TO GET ON ONE NOW.

Luke looked adorable in his cooking cookies get up! What a fun thing to do on a cruise! Your kids are going o have the best memories to look back on. I can imagine kids never want to leave Edge. Especially for AquaDuck night! Man, I can't imagine having that kind of mostly supervised independence on such a perfect trip. Let's go be kids again.

I am a HUGE creme brulee fan too. So perfect. I want some right now!

I am so curious to learn if I am a cruise of WDW person. If only through life we could live and have enough time at both always, every time.

AHHHHHH you did the Castaway Cay 5K that is so perfect! And I love the swag you got. Isn't the whole point of running races the free swag? I may have to do that so I can be as cool as you! And you did it fast and without stopping? I'm so proud!

That snorkeling thing sounds fun, but I can imagine it's exhausting. Swimming is such a workout!!

Man, when we are rich enough to afford a cruise AND as much time as we could possibly want at Disney (and WWoHP, of course), we'll rent a private cabana too. It'll be so great.

I love your family photo at the end of the bike path!

What? The cruise is practically over already?! Sad. But at least I get some WDW now.

I can't until we're millionaires! I think we'll just move down to Golden Oak and
take cruises when we're not in the parks, you know to get away.

The cruise was fun, the kids had a blast, and we're still talking about the things we did. I'm so thankful that we were able to do the cruise and still have the chance to spend some time in the parks afterwards.

Thanks! I'm glad you like that family photo it because I just put it on our Christmas card!

Yes, cruise = over. Those short ones go by quickly, I suppose!

 

[Bridora]

The Best (Longest) Day Ever


But, no, It's not a Disney song​

When I pulled up my Photobucket album for Sunday, May 27, one of the first things I remembered was how early we woke up and how late we tried to stay out in the parks. I tried to think of songs relating to long days, but for some reason that Spongebob song popped into my head instead. It was a pretty good day, too and I know that Davis was probably singing that song when he woke up simply because we’d be back in Disney World that day.



I woke up at the crack of 6:22 am (yay for finally starting to take *some* notes!) and hopped in the shower before waking up the rest of the crew. Somehow, we all got ready, grabbed the luggage, and were off the ship at the sound of the horn (or whatever sound they used to signal Express Walkoff)


Talk about express. We literally walked straight off, stopped for a few questions upon re-entering the terminal, and landed right back on that very same sidewalk we’d been dropped off on Thursday. Davis made a quick call to our hotel shuttle bus driver and he told us where to wait.


Soon enough, we were back in the old-folks' van, on the road to Disney!


I’m excited right now, just writing about it!


We called our parents on the way, just to let them know we were off the cruise and heading toward Disney World. They were all glad to hear from us, of course.


We stopped somewhere at a McDonald’s for some breakfast. I think the kids took naps after that.


I bet you all know what we were on the lookout for!












Well………….

You were right!


We were back!


We drove straight over to Kidani Village and checked in. We were very early for check-in, I know it was still before 10:00. There was no one else checking in then, so we were quickly given our check in documents and told we’d be paged when our room was ready. The gentleman who checked us in also gave me this rose:

Unfortunately, it was going to have to wait in the van all day. We were going straight to Epcot, baby!


We arrived around 10:00ish and our first order of business was to grab Fastpasses for Soarin’. Our return time was 6:25-7:25


After that, we hit World Showcase, going right toward Canada instead of our usual left toward Mexico. We just took our time walking, looking, and taking it all in.


I wanted to use each minute wisely and take nothing for granted. We were only there for the day - and we were splitting that day between Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Luckily, it was Evening Extra Magic Hours until 3:00 am at Magic Kingdom so we had several hours to maximize the fun! However, I had this looming feeling hanging over my head that we didn’t have enough time. I wanted to run through the park, doing everything so that we could make it to the next thing so that we wouldn’t miss anything, and I had to tell myself a couple of times to just slow down. And so I did, mostly.


World Showcase, in a few pictures:

Italy - always beautiful!

I love the view across the lagoon.

We took some time in Germany to enjoy the miniature train and village.

Hello! I really want to stop in and see you, Karamell-Kuche, and eat your yummy caramel offerings, but it’s a bit early for candy and I’m trying to see all of Epcot in ½ a day, so you see, I must keep going!

Once again, those across-the-lagoon views are spectacular!

I wonder what these guys are doing?

It was a beautiful day!


We were walking along when some beautiful, brightly colored jewelry caught our eye right as we came to the African Outpost area.

So pretty!


And what was so cool about these is that they were made using recycled Disney paper - park maps and such!

We let Allison pick one out for herself and continued on around the World Showcase.


By the time we were nearing Mexico, we decided we should eat lunch. The San Angel Inn has been a favorite of ours for years, but we don’t always go there because there are so many places in Epcot we’ve yet to try. This year, however, we decided we’d have lunch here.

A few quick shots of the new La Hacienda de San Angel…

And then, inside for lunch.

We were seated near a blurry volcano!

I really love the atmosphere inside this place! I could stay there all day long.


After lunch, we hopped on the Gran Fiesta Tour with Donald, since we were right there, you know!

Fiesta Hoy!


Having at least walked through World Showcase, we headed back toward Future World. Really, we needed to get Allison some socks. Somehow, she was out of socks and we thought it would be easier to just buy a pair once we got to Epcot than to dig through the suitcases back at the van (when we got off the cruise). I can’t remember what shoes she was wearing that day, but she was ready to have some socks.


I thought Mousegears would be our best bet since they have such a large selection of merchandise, and I was right! Allison found some cute socks there. Mission accomplished, we headed on toward our next Mission………..



Mission:Space.

 

[mickeystoontown]

It sounds like we were in the same frame of mine as you were that day....get off the ship and over to Disney World as fast as we possibly could! I bet ya'll were tired by the time you walked all the way around World Showcase as quickly as you did. But, I can understand why you were in a hurry, you only had a half day there.

 

[Bridora]

It sounds like we were in the same frame of mine as you were that day....get off the ship and over to Disney World as fast as we possibly could! I bet ya'll were tired by the time you walked all the way around World Showcase as quickly as you did. But, I can understand why you were in a hurry, you only had a half day there.

Yes we were! It was a good time to stop and rest and get a bite of lunch!

 

[mickeystoontown]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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[Bridora]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Thanks, Lisa! I hope your family has a great New Year as well!

 

[Bridora]

Epcot, in a blur.
Some musical accompaniment, anyone?
Here’s a “Future World Soundtrack” I found on YouTube. The best part starts around 6:09.



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If you remember, we’d just purchased some socks for Allison and were on our way to Mission: Space.


Along the way, a small remnant of the Flower and Garden Festival caught my eye

and I stopped to read about bird feeding basics

while the rest of the family played on the wall.

We paused here

to watch the weight-lifting competition,

no, to say how we would miss Test Track this time.


And then finally, it was Mission:Space time!

Way back when, our very first times to ride, Davis and I rode the Orange (spinning) side. We had to do the child swap and ride single rider (not my most favorite way to ride) since the kids were too little to ride. He’s not too keen on spinning rides, but felt he needed to experience the spinning at least once. Since the kids have been tall enough to ride, we’ve all ridden the Green (non-spinning) side together, which is just what we did that day.

I really liked this t-shirt in the gift shop:

And these Vinylmations were neat:

As we exited the building we were drawn to the performance these guys were giving:

We watched for a bit, but then had keep on, Innoventions (East) was calling!

Isn’t it calling you right now?


Allison and Luke really wanted to do Sum of All Thrills. If you haven’t done it, you should give it a try. You design your own rollercoaster and then get to take a simulated ride on it! If you’re not a fan of corkscrews or going upside down, you can just build yourself a nice little tame ride. Davis - the anti-simulator member of the family, was a little uncomfortable on this one, however, so if you don’t handle simulators well, then you’d better sit it out.


On the way to Sum of All Thrills we stopped to smash some TVs.

There was a wait at Sum of All Thrills that the kids didn’t want to wait, so we continued on around at that time and left the building up near the fountain.

Since we were near Club Cool, we thought it would be a great time for a little refreshment break, brought to us by Coca-Cola!

Davis, braided-hair Allison, and Luke making their choices.

A couple of my favorites!


If you go out the back doors to Club Cool (like you’d be heading toward the Land pavilion) you’ll see a building in front of you that’s just empty on that side. The front of it has the Ice Cream shop, which I think is going to be turned into Starbucks, and I think it’s also the same building that the big Epcot Character Spot is in. Anyway, the back side of this building is empty, but makes for a nice a quiet, air-conditioned passageway.

Along the wall was a timeline of Epcot, and we posed the kids in front of it, I took the "1985" picture because that was the year of Davis’s first visit.

And now, we’ll contrast “picture life”:

With “real-life”:

Funny!


And this guy seconds my opinion about this nice, quiet, passageway:

I tried to keep walking while taking his picture, didn’t want to freak him out!

...continued below, or here...

 

[Bridora]

...continued from above...

Since we were on the “other side” now, we ducked in Innoventions West to star in our own video games!

Another family favorite. We split into two groups of two, but you could do it by yourself, or maybe squeeze more people in! You stand in front of a green screen facing a video screen. The video screen gives you instructions to do various things such as jump, run, and dance. The things you do are captured and then transported into a video game which you then get to play. It’s really a lot of fun and a good laugh! Afterwards, you can even send yourself (or anyone) an email of your game, so you can play it again and again!


We said hello to the Great Piggy Bank Adventure, but skipped it. The kids wanted Sum of All Thrills!

Davis and I put them in line (the wait was around 30 minutes if I remember correctly) and went right across the way to tour the Vision House. The Vision House is a guided tour through a house filled with state-of-the-art technology. It’s a fun little tour that takes probably 15-20 minutes to go through, plus a possible small wait before your tour starts. If you want a more in-depth look at Vision House, here’s an article about it by Ricky Brigante: http://www.insidethemagic.net/2012/...or-the-home-showcased-in-epcots-innoventions/


Here are my pictures from inside:

Well, that one’s technically part of the outside!

Love those curtains!


(I can’t remember all the cool technology/eco-friendly features that were in this place, not even the ones I took pictures of!)

I think these chairs were made from recycled plastic.

Our tour guide, explaining some of the features.

Cute home-office area.

These are similar to the colors of our master bedroom. Great idea for a “headboard” type design on the wall.


These next two pictures will make all you moms (or kids) feel better:

Even in the Vision House, kids are messy!

Isn’t that Disney Detail remarkable?


After our tour of the Vision House, the kids were still waiting for Sum of All Thrills, but were getting close to their turn. Davis and I went outside to snap a few pictures and hang out for just a bit.

While we were out here, Davis received the text that our room was ready! Excited to have a place to call home, and that we actually got the text, we hurried back inside. The kids were just finishing up their roller coaster design and a few minutes later, we were watching their feet fly around as they tested it.

Up next, it’s back to Kidani Village to find our room!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I can't believe that we didn't see each other at Epcot because it seems like ya'll passed through or did some of the same things that morning. It's been a while since we've been in Innoventions though. Looks like we need to make a walk through there again.

 

[Bridora]

I can't believe that we didn't see each other at Epcot because it seems like ya'll passed through or did some of the same things that morning. It's been a while since we've been in Innoventions though. Looks like we need to make a walk through there again.

That's what I was thinking! I kept almost expecting to see us in the background in your pictures! We've tried to visit Innoventions more these last few years - there really are several neat things to do inside!, It's so easy to just walk right on by, though.

 

[Bridora]

It was around 2:00 when we got the text that our room was ready.

On our way out of Epcot we stopped to find the kids Leave a Legacy tile. We did these way back in 2003 on their very first visit. I think it was included in our package that year. We've gone back every year since to look 'em up!

Luke must have been preoccupied, because usually theyre both in the picture.


After that, we high tailed it back to Kidani Village to find and explore our home for the next 5 nights!


Something I didnt know about Kidani Village is that the parking (aside from a small lot near the lobby) is in an underground garage. I think I like the fact that there isnt a big parking lot to take away from the natural beauty of the resort. I dont have a picture of the entrance to show you right now, but Ill go see if Google does.

And here it is! Thanks, Google Images and lady on Flickr!


Inside, it looked like any other parking garage, except this one had various Lion King character themed elevators to help you navigate. Our room was in the Timon section. Finding a parking spot close to Timon was a bit of a challenge, but we didnt have to lug our luggage too far, thankfully.

We stayed in room 7505.

7505


And this is what it looked like on the inside:

Living area couch

Dark living area

Kitchen

Dining area

Master bedroom bed

Master bath and door leading out into living area/kitchen

I really love this tile in the master bathroom!

Also in the master bedroom - dresser with tv and desk area

Dark living area with dining area in the foreground.



And I bet youre wondering what kind of view our room had. Did we opt for a savannah view? Water view? I think Davis may have requested a savannah view upon arrival, but a savannah view room we did not get.

Looking to the left from the balcony



Cant tell yet?

Check-in!



Our room overlooked the front of the building. We had a great view of people driving up to check in and the path to the pool across the lot. At first I was a little let down, but I got over it. After all, wed just had such an amazing balcony on the cruise that it would have been hard to beat. Plus, it isnt like wed be spending all that much time hanging out on the balcony. So, how about some more balcony shots?

Disney details!

Standing in front of the master balcony doors, looking down toward the living area balcony doors.

Close up on the detail of the master bed headboard



This was on the bed, I loved the saying:

A family is like a forest, when you are outside it is dense, when you are inside you see that each tree has its place. ~ Ghana, Akan Proverb

Door details

This is the other bathroom. It was on the right, just as you come in the door, before passing the kitchen.



...continued below, here...

 

[Bridora]

….continued….



And now for some light fixtures:

I can’t remember if those were all in the hallways or if one or two was in our room. Oops!

There were windows overlooking the savannah pretty near our room.

We couldn’t help but stop each time we passed them to see what was going on out there!

Now those light fixtures were in the hallway!



From our room, we could turn right and end up at the parking garage elevators or turn left and end up at elevators that would take us down to the lobby, near Sanaa. The above picture was near Sanaa, I think.


After dropping off our luggage and getting a few things situated we took those elevators down and went out through the lobby and walked to the parking garage. Kind of a sightseeing, minimal exploration tour.

Elevators to the parking garage.



But where were we going?



Before we even left Arkansas, Allison had known that one of her friends was going to be “at Disney” about the same time as we were. They had been texting back and forth since we’d gotten off the Dream and her family was actually going to be in Epcot sometime that day. It hadn’t worked out while we were there that morning, but her family was in Epcot now. Only problem? We weren’t.



While Allison’s decision was easy: go to Epcot! Davis and mine wasn’t quite that easy. We really wanted to get to Magic Kingdom and make the most of our time there since we had pretty much hit everything in Epcot we felt we had wanted to.



Well, everything except for Soarin’, which we held Fastpasses for. Remember?



What to do?



Epcot for Soarin’ and a quick visit or straight to Magic Kingdom for so many things?




We made our decision, hopped in the old folks’ van and took off. We saw some side-road construction along the way.

Where did we end up?

Parking here.





And I’m sure you all know that meant:

Back to Epcot!

You’re welcome, Allison!



We hope for a quick ride, visit, and exit, though!



Our path took us straight to the Land.

And into the Soarin’ Fastpass queue.

I always enjoy that one! It’s one of my many favorites.


The ride, not the queue!



As luck would have it, Allison’s friend was in the building at the very same time. After a quick meet up and chat with her and her mom we were ready to head out for the Magic Kingdom.




That’s when I noticed Luke wasn’t wearing his hat anymore.






That’s when Luke realized he’d forgotten to retrieve it from his underseat compartment on Soarin’.



We went straight over to the “flight desk” in front of Soarin’ and explained to them what had happened. They asked, and we told them, the exact location of the hat, but after a little while of searching, they couldn’t find it.


With Luke’s hat now joining his shoes in the land of the lost, we made our way to the front of the park, in search of the Magic Kingdom.

We found Spaceship Earth first, and decided we might as well go for a spin!

And with that, we bid farewell to Epcot.

Up next, we attempt to do the Magic Kingdom in 8 hours or less.

 

[wdwgirl03]

So I was going through the TR section and saw you had a new trip report! I am very late but joining in. Subscribing to catch up! Oh, and I love your link to the Epcot music. I think I may have ripped that exact video and put it on my ipod...

 

[Bridora]

So I was going through the TR section and saw you had a new trip report! I am very late but joining in. Subscribing to catch up! Oh, and I love your link to the Epcot music. I think I may have ripped that exact video and put it on my ipod...

Glad you found me! I've been so slow posting updates lately. And I'm way behind reading the TRs I'm subscribed to.

Yay - glad you liked the music. I think Future World has some of the best music in all of Disney!

 

[Bridora]

Sunday, May 27, 2012: Part 4.
Magic Kingdom at last!​

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By the time we made it to Magic Kingdom, it was around 7 pm.

We saw a rainbow as we headed into the park:

Even with that late arrival hour, we still had 8 magical hours to spend before Evening Extra Magic Hours ended. The only question: would we make it?

The first order of business was supper.

Columbia Harbor House is one of our favorites, and was our choice for the night!

I think I took this picture after eating.


Im not really sure why I took these next two pictures, but since I did, Ill share them with you:

This is the stroller parking for the Haunted Mansion.

Maybe I was going for a pic of the Yankee Trader, but Titleist guy was in the way before?


My notes say we walked over to the new Storybook Circus area next and did a bit of exploring before backtracking to the Haunted Mansion. I dont think anything was open over there yet, maybe one of the Dumbos? It was strange being there after Mickey and Minnie had moved out of the neighborhood.


Here are some pictures from our walk:

This was just a few days before Snow Whites Scary Adventures closed for good. While we enjoyed it, we chose not to ride it that night.



My pictures are a bit out of whack at the moment. I think its a combination of time thats passed since then and trying to figure out this new Photobucket layout thats got me a bit lost right now.


I do remember popping in to the store there behind the castle, and finally seeing the giant for myself.

Apparently, my family did not see me go in and I was momentarily lost. I found them wandering near the castle looking in all the little nooks and crannies to see if I might have been hiding. This was on the way back to Liberty Square, before we had ridden Haunted Mansion.


After paying a visit to Master Gracies abode, we found ourselves following the end of the parade toward Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. As soon as we could, we hit the hidden river walk path and bypassed a lot of the parade traffic.


We waited in an updated queue for the fastest ride in the wilderness and just missed watching the fireworks from a run away mine cart.


Instead, we stopped to watch somewhere between Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Pirates:

The fireworks inspired us to become pirates, and as luck would have it, we were able to board a sailing vessel right away!

Upon exiting our Pirate adventure, Davis contemplated changing his hairstyle:

What do you think?


Luke was begging to ride Space Mountain, so we made our way there via Jungle Cruise Fastpasses and a drop in visit to our dear friends, the Robinsons.

They are a Swiss family with a very unique home, you may have seen it the last time you flew over Agrabah on your magic carpet.


Continued in the next post, here

 

[Bridora]

Continued from above


We arrived at the hub just in time to catch the Magic, Memories, & You castle projection show.


This was our first time to see it and I was very impressed. We skipped it last year when we were there just because it didnt sound like something we wanted to see. Other peoples vacation pictures displayed on Cinderellas Castle like a giant slideshow? We didnt think so. Obviously, we were wrong and it was much better than we could have even imagined and it was no mere slideshow.

I think she liked it, too!

I see Ariel!

After that, we made the voyage into tomorrow(land):

We thought wed stop for a frozen beverage at the Lunching Pad, but it had closed at 9:00, so we were out of luck there.


The kids made a few phone calls before we headed to Space Mountain:

Since the line at Space Mountain was longer than we wanted to wait, we hopped aboard the Blue Line for a trip around Tomorrowland.

After that, we joined up with Buzzlightyear to help save the galaxy from the Evil Emperor, Zurg.

I was even brave enough to snap these pictures on the way out:

The kids love this thing:

We did just a tiny bit of shopping at the Merchant of Venus before trekking back to Adventureland for another Pirate adventure, followed by a Jungle Cruise.

(We also peeked at the Orange Bird at the Sunshine Tree Terrace)

We did eventually make it back over to Tomorrowland and Luke got his ride on Space Mountain.

All too soon, we were feeling very sleepy. The long day was finally catching up with us. None of us wanted to go, but it was time.


We sadly made our way up Main Street.

But what time was it?


Had we made it until 3:00 am?


to be continued...here

 

[Bridora]

Had we made it until 3 am?

Nope, only until 1:30, tear.

Mystery photo.

Good night, Bay Lake Tower!

Farewell, Magic Kingdom!

And with that, we were safely back at Kidani Village.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hey girl! Just checking in on ya'll since we haven't "seen" you in a while.

 

[Bridora]

Hey girl! Just checking in on ya'll since we haven't "seen" you in a while.

Thanks! We're all good over here. I know it's been a while since I've been on here. I've got to get this show on the road!

 

[Bridora]

Monday: May 28, 2012​

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After staying in the Magic Kingdom until 1:30 the previous night, we all slept in on Monday. I think everyone was up and moving by 10:00. This is what it looked like outside our room that morning:

Rain!

And wind!

Our plan for the day was to go to Universal Studios. We had purchased the standard two day, one park admission and planned on spending the next two days at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.


By the time we were ready to head out, the rain had not let up. We decided to go over to Animal Kingdom Lodge and visit Mara for lunch.

This cute guy was at Kidani Village.


Now, I thought I had a couple of pictures from lunch that day, but I cant find them. Interestingly enough, Photobucket is telling me I have 40 photos in the album from this day, but I can only see 20 no matter how I go about trying to look at the album. Weird. Ill double-check the laptop for pictures when I get home.


Moving on, I was so ready to get over to Universal. I felt like we were wasting daylight. Davis kept assuring me that we had plenty of time to see the whole park. I believe they were open until 8:00 pm. I knew he was right, since we had seen most all of what we wanted at Islands of Adventure in plenty of time last year, but I just felt like I needed to be there already!


We ended up parking in the garage over at Universal around 2:00.

A picture by which to remember our parking area.


And the rain was still coming down.

Heres a shot from our walk to the park.


If youve never been to Universal Studios before, arrival is a bit different from your arrival at Disney. We paid a bit extra for preferred parking, which seems to park you closer to City Walk. From what I can tell, all parking at Universal is in parking garages. There are moving sidewalks, or you can walk in the regular walkways, that direct you toward City Walk. City Walk is akin to Downtown Disney, only you have to walk the length of it before you reach the theme parks. As you get further on in, youll be directed to go one way for Universal Studios and another for Islands of Adventure. Eventually, youll reach the turnstiles.


One of the reasons I dont have as many pictures from this day is because I left the big camera and the video camera back at Kidani Village because of the rain.


As we were heading in to the park, most people were heading out of the park. I suppose, had you been there all day, by 2:00 youd be ready to get the heck out of there as well. We, however, were still dry and stayed under the covered walkway as long as possible. As we were standing there, gazing out into the rainy streets of City Walk, a group of drenched people asked us if wed mind taking a group photo of them. Of course we didnt mind - and they struck a were soaked, but still had a great time! pose.


Ponchos on, we eventually headed out into the rain, which had let up quite a bit by then.


By the time we made it here:

Im pretty sure wed taken the ponchos off.

We had heard about the new Despicable Me ride, but unfortunately for us, it wasnt open during our vacation.


We made our way over to the Revenge of the Mummy attraction. Another difference between Disney and Universal is that there are banks of lockers at several of the rides that you are required to stow your belongings in while on the ride. You can rent the lockers by blocks of time, Im sure, but they are free while you ride and the key is your fingerprint. Pretty cool, I guess, even if it is a bit of a hassle to leave your things, at least you know they are safe.


Revenge of the Mummy is a roller coaster. Ill say that the queue area is pretty well-themed, but is missing Disneys youre-not-really-waiting-in-line touch. (If that makes any sense!) You move through different Mummy, pyramid, treasure-themed rooms until you get to the boarding area.


One of the funniest things happened to us after we had boarded our car, but before we left. As they were coming around, doing the seat belt check - out of nowhere one of the guys appeared and growled in my face - Im pretty sure I screamed and then laughed and laughed as we took off! Allison and Luke thought it was pretty hilarious too!


I dont remember specifics of the ride, but I would definitely do it again! We retrieved our bags from the locker, and went on.


Even though the park as a whole doesnt have the same feel as Disney, there are many well-themed, detailed areas throughout Universal Studios.

They had recently redone the area that was previously the town of Amity from the movie Jaws. But we were still able to see the shark!

Another ride we were excited to do was Men in Black Alien Attack. We had not seen Men in Black 3 yet, and Im not sure if wed shown the kids the first 2 or not. I seem to remember trying to explain the nebulizers to them, so I guess they hadnt seen it yet. Im sure they would have enjoyed it even more if they had known more of the story.



Davis sat this one out as he was a bit wary of motion sickness. It seems like most Universals ride descriptions began with the words a simulated journey&. or "a simulated something..." Which automatically makes you think motion simulator. They are not all motion simulators that have that description, but we hadnt leaned that yet. Even though it wasnt a motion simulator, there were a lot of sudden turns and some quick spinning at the end that would not have agreed with Davis.


The kids and I loved it, though! The queue theming was pretty good too, you walk through the MIB headquarters at one point you walk past the break room and see those break room aliens from the movie.


The ride itself has you driving through the MIB training facility shooting at aliens. Think Buzz Lightyear, but on a bigger scale. Apparently, there are multiple endings based on your score. We must not have had what it takes though, because at the end of training Will Smith held up this flashy thing and&


After that, we found ourselves in Krustyland or Simpsonsville or wherever we were! Davis and Allison sat The Simpsons Ride out. Allison because the entrance was Krustys mouth and she doesnt particularly like clowns, and Davis because this one is a simulator.


So it was just Luke and me visiting Krustyland with the Simpsons. It wasnt a bad ride. I dont remember too much of it, except for near the end of the ride, were somehow swallowed by the baby, Maggie. She thinks we are her pacifier and an overwhelming scent of baby powder fills the air as the car goes back-and-forth, back-and-forth in a baby-sucking-a-pacifier motion. That could definitely get you if youre prone to motion sickness!

We couldnt walk by the Kwik E Mart without a photo!


It was still sprinkling a bit off and on, so the kids and I hit the ET Adventure. Davis, again, sat this one out as the description began with those words, a simulated ride through& It was only after we pedaled bicycles through the air and on ETs home planet that I came to the conclusion that just because all the ride descriptions had the word simulated in them, that doesnt mean those rides are motion simulators.

We grabbed Davis and went right back in the line for ET. The line was a little bit longer than the mostly non-existent line we had just waited in because the rain had picked up and people were looking for shelter.


The ride vehicles, which are bicycles, are pretty cool! You sit four across, and you dont really pedal, but you do really hold the handle bars! It was a cute ride and part of the queue is walking through the forest, which is pretty well done.


I know this update has a lot of words in it, so I think Ill stop here for now. As soon as I get home, Ill look for more pictures, and come back with another update (hopefully!) soon!


Thanks for sticking with me!