The Cast:
Me (Im not telling my age): Chief decision maker, planner and organiser extraordinaire
Darren (39): Mr. Grumpy, Marathon Man and Map Reader
Mollie (10): Jekyll & Hyde pre-teen and big girls blouse
Kirsty (4): Scaredy Cat and Drama Queen
Have to get up early today as we are going off site to US but having been pre warned the night before I dont have too much trouble getting the gang up this morning. No time for morning drinks however till we get to breakfast. The plan was to visit The Golden Corral on Idrive but unfortunately for some reason we couldnt find it so after driving up and down at least a couple of times we settle for Sizzlers instead, I blame this lack of success on not having had my necessary caffeine intake.
We arrive at US around 9.00 ish and after parking we begin the long, long trek to the entrance. Just as we arrive at said entrance Darren suddenly realises he has left his wallet in the car so he has to go back for it, what a walley! Hes back in about half and hour so we go through only to discover that there is some problem with our tickets, this is a long story and I wont bore you with the details, but we were sent over to a window the same window where they were dealing with annual passes. There were about 4 families in front of us and there were 2 windows open but one of the windows was being manned by a trainee who didnt have a clue what she was doing so the other lady had to keep stopping to help her all of this cumulated in everyone having a very, very long wait it really was diabolical. The girls were getting extremely restless and Mr. Grumpy was snapping at them and then I was snapping at him for snapping at the girls when it wasnt their fault and you know how it goes; it was a nightmare start to the day. Anyway eventually after over an hour its our turn and it takes all of 2 minutes to sort out, aaaarrrrrgggg!!!!!!!
As the first thing we see when finished is Shrek 4D we decide to join the queue even though its a 60 minute wait. Luckily they have TV screens throughout the queue showing clips from the film, and even more fortunate was that one of the clips was the Karaoke part at the end where they are all signing and dancing as this was the girls favourite part, so they were okay with yet another long wait not sure about the rest of the queue however with my 2 singing along, earplugs unfortunately were not supplied.
We finally get into the pre show waiting room when Kirsty, bless her, announces she needs to go toilet! can you wait till after the show? I ask hopefully, no mama I need to go NOW! When Kirsty says now she means it as Ive learnt to my cost after one accident too many, so I spy a CM (are US staff called CMs?) and I explain my predicament to her. She tells me to go through this here door, straight to the bottom of the road, turn left, then 2nd right, left again, up a hill, down a hill, right again and voila the nearest toilets Im pretty sure thats what she said. If I ever make it back I will be allowed straight back in wont I? No youll need to get back in line was the reply! Well at this point it was a toss up as to whether I was going to punch a hole in the nearest wall or simply burst into tears. She somehow sensed this and decided to take pity on me because she then directed me to the staff toilets discreetly but oh so closely tucked away just passed Shrek, she gave me the pass word which would allow us access (only joking) but she did tell me to knock 3 times when we were finished and she would let us back in, we wouldnt have to queue again. I could have kissed her! her physic powers came in to play again because she promptly took a big step back and opened the door. After the quickest wee in history Kirsty and I were back in time to catch the very end of the pre show. Darren and Mollie were somewhere down the front and Kirsty and I were at the back so I thought wed be sitting apart but they managed to keep us a seat and given that Darren is 6ft 2in and usually wearing some garish Arsenal football shirt hes not too difficult to spot. Waving his arms frantically like hes trying to land a small aircraft also helps.
Finally we see the show and it was brilliant, definitely the best by far in my opinion, just beating Mickeys Philharmagic for special effects. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. Dont want to spoil it for anyone who hasnt seen it but its brilliant.
We come out of there and head round to Woody Woodpeckers Kid Zone. On route we stop to do ET first as theres very little queue. Is this a Wollertoaster mama? is Kirstys immediate reaction, no baby you go on a bike for this ride. A bike? yep little girl, a bike. I cant go on this ride then mama. Why? Because I dont have my helmet! Doh!!! I assure her that just this once its okay.
Darren goes to get some express passes for BTTF while we go join the queue for Wood Woodpeckers coaster. Is this a Wollertoaster mama? Ehmm! I contemplate lying for all of a nano second but decide honesty is the best policy. Yeah baby this one is but dont worry youll be fine I promise. Finally shes face to face with her biggest fear, does she freak out? does she start crying? screaming? threaten to sue us for the terrible parents we so obviously are? does she heck as like! shes jumping up and down screeching at the top of her voice Mollie its a WOLLERTOASTER! This is a WOLLERTOASTER! YIPEE!!! Huh????
So, after a 45 min wait we are all riding the wollertoaster, sorry the coaster, and yes of course they love it. When its finished they both want to get straight back on but we convince them well do it again later.
I take them into Fievels Playland while Darren goes off to do BTTF. When he gets back he agrees after much pleading from them both to take them back on the coaster while I go do BTTF. This is our first visit to US, last time we did IOA, given that they are such wuzzes its hard to judge what theyll like but next time Ill get Mollie to do BTTF as I think she would like this.
The girls now want to go see Nickelodeon so we head round that way. On route I stop off and do Jaws. The girls would be okay doing this ride so I put it on the list for later. I continue on to Nickelodeon with them while Darren does Earthquake, he thinks this would be okay for the girls as well so this too gets added to the list. The girls enjoyed Nickelodeon even though they never got picked to join in, this was not through the want of trying I must add. Darren then took the girls on Jimmy Neutron while I went to do Twister, which I found pretty tame.
Darren wants to do MIB so we walk back round that way and I take the girls on Jaws. Mollie is sat at the end of the bench and Kirsty is in the middle (no baby Im sorry but this isnt a wollertoaster!). All is fine, theyve spotted jaws swimming around and so far they are handling it okay but just when we think its safe Jaws comes leaping out of the water and its right at Mollies face. Kirsty leaps into my lap like she has ants in her pants and Mollie screams at the top of her voice people are friends not food!! The boat just erupted, she was a bit embarrassed but it was so funny.
We meet up with Darren and by now were all very tired. Darren wants to do Terminator so I agree to take the girls on earthquake then its time to go. The girls enjoyed Earthquake but they got a real fright when the oil tanker came hurtling towards us especially Mollie who again was sitting at the end of the bench. I was tempted to shout out remember people are friends not food but I didnt think Mollie would appreciate that. LOL.
The park is actually closing and I cant believe weve managed to last the whole day but I must say we are exhausted. On the way out however the queue for Shrek isnt very long so we decided we could manage it one more time. Still brilliant!
By the time we leave US its now quite late and we realise we are all starving as we havent really eaten anything other than snacks and ice cream since breakfast but unfortunately all the places here are very busy so we make our way to I Drive. We stop at Bahama Breeze, we ate here last time and it was good. The girls have fallen asleep in the back so Darren gets sent to see how long itll take while I try and wake them up. Kirsty is totally zonked, she is literally sleep walking so I pick her up, carrying a 4 year old dead weight is no mean feat. We get to the line to discover Darren hasnt got to speak to anyone yet as the queue is long. We come to the conclusion that this could take a while so we decide to just head home.
Back at the hotel Darren is dispatched to go pick up some pizzas while I struggle to our room with Kirsty Lou who is still zonked.
Whilst were eating our pizzas I realise that Kirsty has hardly eaten a thing today, she barely touched breakfast, had no lunch other than some popcorn and ice cream and now shes missed dinner. As it transpires this turns out to be a small blessing in disguise but more on this tomorrow!
For now we are all exhausted, its been a long hard day especially on the old feet so its time for bed.
Kirsty Fav Thing: Shrek (except for the scary Dragon) and the wollertoaster!
Lease Fav Thing: Jaws
Mollie Fav Thing: Shrek/Nickelodeon
Least Fav Thing: Jaws
Darren Fav Thing: Shrek/Terminator/MIB
Least Fav Thing: Didnt have one
Me Fav Thing: Shrek
Least Fav Thing: Twister (boring)
Annmarie
Me (Im not telling my age): Chief decision maker, planner and organiser extraordinaire
Darren (39): Mr. Grumpy, Marathon Man and Map Reader
Mollie (10): Jekyll & Hyde pre-teen and big girls blouse
Kirsty (4): Scaredy Cat and Drama Queen
Have to get up early today as we are going off site to US but having been pre warned the night before I dont have too much trouble getting the gang up this morning. No time for morning drinks however till we get to breakfast. The plan was to visit The Golden Corral on Idrive but unfortunately for some reason we couldnt find it so after driving up and down at least a couple of times we settle for Sizzlers instead, I blame this lack of success on not having had my necessary caffeine intake.
We arrive at US around 9.00 ish and after parking we begin the long, long trek to the entrance. Just as we arrive at said entrance Darren suddenly realises he has left his wallet in the car so he has to go back for it, what a walley! Hes back in about half and hour so we go through only to discover that there is some problem with our tickets, this is a long story and I wont bore you with the details, but we were sent over to a window the same window where they were dealing with annual passes. There were about 4 families in front of us and there were 2 windows open but one of the windows was being manned by a trainee who didnt have a clue what she was doing so the other lady had to keep stopping to help her all of this cumulated in everyone having a very, very long wait it really was diabolical. The girls were getting extremely restless and Mr. Grumpy was snapping at them and then I was snapping at him for snapping at the girls when it wasnt their fault and you know how it goes; it was a nightmare start to the day. Anyway eventually after over an hour its our turn and it takes all of 2 minutes to sort out, aaaarrrrrgggg!!!!!!!
As the first thing we see when finished is Shrek 4D we decide to join the queue even though its a 60 minute wait. Luckily they have TV screens throughout the queue showing clips from the film, and even more fortunate was that one of the clips was the Karaoke part at the end where they are all signing and dancing as this was the girls favourite part, so they were okay with yet another long wait not sure about the rest of the queue however with my 2 singing along, earplugs unfortunately were not supplied.
We finally get into the pre show waiting room when Kirsty, bless her, announces she needs to go toilet! can you wait till after the show? I ask hopefully, no mama I need to go NOW! When Kirsty says now she means it as Ive learnt to my cost after one accident too many, so I spy a CM (are US staff called CMs?) and I explain my predicament to her. She tells me to go through this here door, straight to the bottom of the road, turn left, then 2nd right, left again, up a hill, down a hill, right again and voila the nearest toilets Im pretty sure thats what she said. If I ever make it back I will be allowed straight back in wont I? No youll need to get back in line was the reply! Well at this point it was a toss up as to whether I was going to punch a hole in the nearest wall or simply burst into tears. She somehow sensed this and decided to take pity on me because she then directed me to the staff toilets discreetly but oh so closely tucked away just passed Shrek, she gave me the pass word which would allow us access (only joking) but she did tell me to knock 3 times when we were finished and she would let us back in, we wouldnt have to queue again. I could have kissed her! her physic powers came in to play again because she promptly took a big step back and opened the door. After the quickest wee in history Kirsty and I were back in time to catch the very end of the pre show. Darren and Mollie were somewhere down the front and Kirsty and I were at the back so I thought wed be sitting apart but they managed to keep us a seat and given that Darren is 6ft 2in and usually wearing some garish Arsenal football shirt hes not too difficult to spot. Waving his arms frantically like hes trying to land a small aircraft also helps.
Finally we see the show and it was brilliant, definitely the best by far in my opinion, just beating Mickeys Philharmagic for special effects. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. Dont want to spoil it for anyone who hasnt seen it but its brilliant.
We come out of there and head round to Woody Woodpeckers Kid Zone. On route we stop to do ET first as theres very little queue. Is this a Wollertoaster mama? is Kirstys immediate reaction, no baby you go on a bike for this ride. A bike? yep little girl, a bike. I cant go on this ride then mama. Why? Because I dont have my helmet! Doh!!! I assure her that just this once its okay.
Darren goes to get some express passes for BTTF while we go join the queue for Wood Woodpeckers coaster. Is this a Wollertoaster mama? Ehmm! I contemplate lying for all of a nano second but decide honesty is the best policy. Yeah baby this one is but dont worry youll be fine I promise. Finally shes face to face with her biggest fear, does she freak out? does she start crying? screaming? threaten to sue us for the terrible parents we so obviously are? does she heck as like! shes jumping up and down screeching at the top of her voice Mollie its a WOLLERTOASTER! This is a WOLLERTOASTER! YIPEE!!! Huh????
So, after a 45 min wait we are all riding the wollertoaster, sorry the coaster, and yes of course they love it. When its finished they both want to get straight back on but we convince them well do it again later.
I take them into Fievels Playland while Darren goes off to do BTTF. When he gets back he agrees after much pleading from them both to take them back on the coaster while I go do BTTF. This is our first visit to US, last time we did IOA, given that they are such wuzzes its hard to judge what theyll like but next time Ill get Mollie to do BTTF as I think she would like this.
The girls now want to go see Nickelodeon so we head round that way. On route I stop off and do Jaws. The girls would be okay doing this ride so I put it on the list for later. I continue on to Nickelodeon with them while Darren does Earthquake, he thinks this would be okay for the girls as well so this too gets added to the list. The girls enjoyed Nickelodeon even though they never got picked to join in, this was not through the want of trying I must add. Darren then took the girls on Jimmy Neutron while I went to do Twister, which I found pretty tame.
Darren wants to do MIB so we walk back round that way and I take the girls on Jaws. Mollie is sat at the end of the bench and Kirsty is in the middle (no baby Im sorry but this isnt a wollertoaster!). All is fine, theyve spotted jaws swimming around and so far they are handling it okay but just when we think its safe Jaws comes leaping out of the water and its right at Mollies face. Kirsty leaps into my lap like she has ants in her pants and Mollie screams at the top of her voice people are friends not food!! The boat just erupted, she was a bit embarrassed but it was so funny.
We meet up with Darren and by now were all very tired. Darren wants to do Terminator so I agree to take the girls on earthquake then its time to go. The girls enjoyed Earthquake but they got a real fright when the oil tanker came hurtling towards us especially Mollie who again was sitting at the end of the bench. I was tempted to shout out remember people are friends not food but I didnt think Mollie would appreciate that. LOL.
The park is actually closing and I cant believe weve managed to last the whole day but I must say we are exhausted. On the way out however the queue for Shrek isnt very long so we decided we could manage it one more time. Still brilliant!
By the time we leave US its now quite late and we realise we are all starving as we havent really eaten anything other than snacks and ice cream since breakfast but unfortunately all the places here are very busy so we make our way to I Drive. We stop at Bahama Breeze, we ate here last time and it was good. The girls have fallen asleep in the back so Darren gets sent to see how long itll take while I try and wake them up. Kirsty is totally zonked, she is literally sleep walking so I pick her up, carrying a 4 year old dead weight is no mean feat. We get to the line to discover Darren hasnt got to speak to anyone yet as the queue is long. We come to the conclusion that this could take a while so we decide to just head home.
Back at the hotel Darren is dispatched to go pick up some pizzas while I struggle to our room with Kirsty Lou who is still zonked.
Whilst were eating our pizzas I realise that Kirsty has hardly eaten a thing today, she barely touched breakfast, had no lunch other than some popcorn and ice cream and now shes missed dinner. As it transpires this turns out to be a small blessing in disguise but more on this tomorrow!
For now we are all exhausted, its been a long hard day especially on the old feet so its time for bed.
Kirsty Fav Thing: Shrek (except for the scary Dragon) and the wollertoaster!
Lease Fav Thing: Jaws
Mollie Fav Thing: Shrek/Nickelodeon
Least Fav Thing: Jaws
Darren Fav Thing: Shrek/Terminator/MIB
Least Fav Thing: Didnt have one
Me Fav Thing: Shrek
Least Fav Thing: Twister (boring)
Annmarie
