ddoll
07-06-2003, 10:31 AM
Day 9: Sunday, June 22, 2003
Now today, we think we’re slick, and mindful of last week’s delayed start to mass, we don’t bother trying to get to 7:30am mass on time. Too bad we didn’t know there was another priest there. He apparently, DOES like to start mass on time. So….we were late. Oh well, at least we went, and it did get everyone out of bed early enough to get to the park at opening time.
Another "too bad" for us, as they had opened the gates early and the line for Shrek was already lengthening! We met Lori in front of Shrek and she was thoughtful enough to have already grabbed Express passes to Shrek for us. There are only 3 passes and the return time is for much later, so we decide to get in line together now while the wait is still under 30 minutes.
Shrek was great! The pre-show being every bit as enjoyable as the show itself. The show was fun; the signs around the queue were quite witty. Like this one:
http://www.spotlife.com/users2/debi7357/webalbum/pic/image024.jpg We got a picture with Shrek, who was in the gift shop.
We had a little bit more of light rain again. We then went to ET. No wait there. Dad said his name was “Demetrius” so it would stand out when ET speaks the list of names at the end. We went on MIB and BTTF again, as the lines were so short. Then we caught the Beetlejuice Graveyard Review. DH, Chase and I liked it, but the teens were under-whelmed. They hated all the 80’s music and felt it was second-rate after the Ghostbuster show. (Snobs!)
A full day spent, we went home to re-group. Our evening was already planned. We had a PS at Whispering Canyon in the Wilderness Lodge. I was especially anxious to get in there to check out the hotel, as we plan on staying there after Thanksgiving with just Chase.
I knew ahead of time to have Evan wear a Universal shirt to the dinner, and I knew about the ketchup thing too. Unfortunately, we were seated away from the main dining room, so we missed the races. Chase was still a little laid back, so it was just as well.
I did have Chase ask for ketchup. He was thrilled with the results. We ended up with about a dozen ketchup bottles at our table.
http://www.spotlife.com/users2/debi7357/webalbum/pic/image025.jpg
After dinner we went outside to look around the beach and pool area. It was lovely. We saw a mother duck and her babies parade right past us, and we spotted several pretty birds among the greenery by the running river. Day done, we retire for the night.
Day 10, Monday June 23, 2003
The sun shining, and mostly sun in the forecast, we head back to Islands of Adventure today. We had planned ahead of time that we’d get wet today and DH was carrying around a towel and a change of shoes and clothes for Chase and himself. No one else availed themselves of this service.
After an initial spin on Spiderman together, and with trusty new FRS’s in hand, we split up. Evan and Jess go off to do more thrill rides, while the rest of go to get wet. It was plenty hot out now. We knew enough to get our socks off on the way into Bluto’s Bilge Barges, but there was no wait for the ride, so we skipped along trying to extricate ourselves as we walked. Socks stashed in our pockets, we kept our sneakers only half on so as to be quickly removed once on the ride. (They insist you don’t get on the ride barefoot and make quite a bit of noise about it if you get your shoes off beforehand.) Backpack stowed, shoes all placed inside a plastic trash bag before being stowed in the center of the ride (I already mentioned DH was well prepared), and we were off. It was quite fun, even more so knowing we had dry shoes to get into when we got off. Too bad I forgot my shorts were made of a medium weight denim-type fabric. They weren’t going to dry for quite some time to come. In fact, they were dribbling Bluto’s Bilge water down my legs. I knew my feet couldn’t stand to walk around in wet shoes and socks, so my DH went and bought me some flip flops to wear. What a joy!!
Now, we were all ready to go on Dudley Do Right’s Ripsaw Falls. Chase decided that there was a plunge and he couldn’t do it. At least he told us this before we got in line. Dane volunteered to sit out with him as DH and I had never been on it before.
Now that was a fun ride! I took one of my waterproof cameras (that had contained the free ride passes) on the ride with me. I got some great pictures, both inside and outside the ride, and one from the top, just before the plunge.
Another spin around the park, we visited the talking water fountain, Seuss Landing, rode the Cat in the Hat, and I took Chase inside the Discovery Center while DH rode more rides with the teens. Chase was mesmerized by the Triceratops Encounter. He apparently didn’t remember much about it from other trips. He loved the dinosaurs and the eggs and played inside there until it was time to meet the others. We also happened upon a CM with a baby triceratops (puppet) on his lap as we were leaving. The guy told all the kids it was real, just as the Dino-vet had said about the larger one. It was very real looking, too.
Quick trip home before going to Disney Quest. We had promised the teens some time there if they’d take Chase with them. They agreed, DH paid for their tickets and proceeded to skip down the sidewalk of Downtown Disney, calling out, “We’re free! We’re free!” We spent some pleasant time together shopping before meeting the kids at Planet Hollywood for dinner.
We’d been to PH before, but it was enjoyable and we knew what to expect. An unbelievable thing was that while we were sitting in our zebra-print booth, I got a tap on the shoulder. Some neighbors of ours from home were sitting in the booth behind us!
After dinner, the kids all returned to DQ while DH and I went to Pleasure Island for the first time ever! We headed straight for the Adventurers Club. That was great fun. We tried a Kungaloosh and some other signature drink and after two or three shows, and some wonderful pictures, we departed.
On the way back, we went into the 70’s Disco and danced like we were 18 again. We had quite a buzz by then and didn’t even care that we were old. We stopped again and danced in the big audience center in front of the stage….all by ourselves, while the featured band played.
Reluctantly, we went to retrieve our children in front of DQ. Good thing Evan is 18 and a good driver, because we had to have him drive us all home.
Day 11, Tuesday June 24, 2003
Our last day, we start off by packing and closing up the rental house. It’s so nice to have the laundry all clean before we leave for home!
DH ran to WalMart and bought a couple of lightweight nylon bags: one to pack all the newly purchased souvenirs, and another with a supply of clean clothes to be exchanged for any wet clothes before we get on the plane.
Our last day at Universal, we split up. Dane, Chase and I go to USF, while DH and the other 2 teens go to IOA.
We still have a couple of things left to do today. Dane, a true Horror flick aficionado, has to stop and photograph all The Mummy memorabilia while grabbing Express passes for the next Horror Make-up show. Chase and I go ahead of him to secure good seats at Animal Planet Live; a truly enjoyable show. It’s time to return to Horror Make-up as soon as Animal Planet’s over.
We’d done this show once before and I remembered it as being very good. Dane, as I said, having a love of Horror flicks, was especially looking forward to seeing this show again. Chase, while wanting desperately to prove it wouldn’t scare him, is looking a little nervous. They gave ample warning to cover your eyes before showing some very scary movie clips that included special effects done by the make-up artist in residence. Chase wisely chose to cover his own eyes here.
The rest of the show was very funny. The two guys who do this are especially adept at amusing the audience. They chose a woman “volunteer” (I say it that way because she was quite resistant to going up on stage) from the crowd who ended up not speaking any English, which added to the amusement of the effects they did on her. This was probably the funniest act I’d seen this trip.
We walked back over to USF and met the rest of our family. DH had already been wet and changed back into his traveling outfit. We all went on Cat in the Hat together and then it was time to make our late lunch reservation at Margaritaville.
This was our first visit there. What a cool place! Something to look at everywhere you turn. We had a very enjoyable meal, watched the volcano spew Margarita Mix, and bought a couple of souvenirs before we left. I gave my AAA 20% off coupon to a woman in line next to me in the gift shop, who was thrilled to get it. And off we went to the airport and home.
Now today, we think we’re slick, and mindful of last week’s delayed start to mass, we don’t bother trying to get to 7:30am mass on time. Too bad we didn’t know there was another priest there. He apparently, DOES like to start mass on time. So….we were late. Oh well, at least we went, and it did get everyone out of bed early enough to get to the park at opening time.
Another "too bad" for us, as they had opened the gates early and the line for Shrek was already lengthening! We met Lori in front of Shrek and she was thoughtful enough to have already grabbed Express passes to Shrek for us. There are only 3 passes and the return time is for much later, so we decide to get in line together now while the wait is still under 30 minutes.
Shrek was great! The pre-show being every bit as enjoyable as the show itself. The show was fun; the signs around the queue were quite witty. Like this one:
http://www.spotlife.com/users2/debi7357/webalbum/pic/image024.jpg We got a picture with Shrek, who was in the gift shop.
We had a little bit more of light rain again. We then went to ET. No wait there. Dad said his name was “Demetrius” so it would stand out when ET speaks the list of names at the end. We went on MIB and BTTF again, as the lines were so short. Then we caught the Beetlejuice Graveyard Review. DH, Chase and I liked it, but the teens were under-whelmed. They hated all the 80’s music and felt it was second-rate after the Ghostbuster show. (Snobs!)
A full day spent, we went home to re-group. Our evening was already planned. We had a PS at Whispering Canyon in the Wilderness Lodge. I was especially anxious to get in there to check out the hotel, as we plan on staying there after Thanksgiving with just Chase.
I knew ahead of time to have Evan wear a Universal shirt to the dinner, and I knew about the ketchup thing too. Unfortunately, we were seated away from the main dining room, so we missed the races. Chase was still a little laid back, so it was just as well.
I did have Chase ask for ketchup. He was thrilled with the results. We ended up with about a dozen ketchup bottles at our table.
http://www.spotlife.com/users2/debi7357/webalbum/pic/image025.jpg
After dinner we went outside to look around the beach and pool area. It was lovely. We saw a mother duck and her babies parade right past us, and we spotted several pretty birds among the greenery by the running river. Day done, we retire for the night.
Day 10, Monday June 23, 2003
The sun shining, and mostly sun in the forecast, we head back to Islands of Adventure today. We had planned ahead of time that we’d get wet today and DH was carrying around a towel and a change of shoes and clothes for Chase and himself. No one else availed themselves of this service.
After an initial spin on Spiderman together, and with trusty new FRS’s in hand, we split up. Evan and Jess go off to do more thrill rides, while the rest of go to get wet. It was plenty hot out now. We knew enough to get our socks off on the way into Bluto’s Bilge Barges, but there was no wait for the ride, so we skipped along trying to extricate ourselves as we walked. Socks stashed in our pockets, we kept our sneakers only half on so as to be quickly removed once on the ride. (They insist you don’t get on the ride barefoot and make quite a bit of noise about it if you get your shoes off beforehand.) Backpack stowed, shoes all placed inside a plastic trash bag before being stowed in the center of the ride (I already mentioned DH was well prepared), and we were off. It was quite fun, even more so knowing we had dry shoes to get into when we got off. Too bad I forgot my shorts were made of a medium weight denim-type fabric. They weren’t going to dry for quite some time to come. In fact, they were dribbling Bluto’s Bilge water down my legs. I knew my feet couldn’t stand to walk around in wet shoes and socks, so my DH went and bought me some flip flops to wear. What a joy!!
Now, we were all ready to go on Dudley Do Right’s Ripsaw Falls. Chase decided that there was a plunge and he couldn’t do it. At least he told us this before we got in line. Dane volunteered to sit out with him as DH and I had never been on it before.
Now that was a fun ride! I took one of my waterproof cameras (that had contained the free ride passes) on the ride with me. I got some great pictures, both inside and outside the ride, and one from the top, just before the plunge.
Another spin around the park, we visited the talking water fountain, Seuss Landing, rode the Cat in the Hat, and I took Chase inside the Discovery Center while DH rode more rides with the teens. Chase was mesmerized by the Triceratops Encounter. He apparently didn’t remember much about it from other trips. He loved the dinosaurs and the eggs and played inside there until it was time to meet the others. We also happened upon a CM with a baby triceratops (puppet) on his lap as we were leaving. The guy told all the kids it was real, just as the Dino-vet had said about the larger one. It was very real looking, too.
Quick trip home before going to Disney Quest. We had promised the teens some time there if they’d take Chase with them. They agreed, DH paid for their tickets and proceeded to skip down the sidewalk of Downtown Disney, calling out, “We’re free! We’re free!” We spent some pleasant time together shopping before meeting the kids at Planet Hollywood for dinner.
We’d been to PH before, but it was enjoyable and we knew what to expect. An unbelievable thing was that while we were sitting in our zebra-print booth, I got a tap on the shoulder. Some neighbors of ours from home were sitting in the booth behind us!
After dinner, the kids all returned to DQ while DH and I went to Pleasure Island for the first time ever! We headed straight for the Adventurers Club. That was great fun. We tried a Kungaloosh and some other signature drink and after two or three shows, and some wonderful pictures, we departed.
On the way back, we went into the 70’s Disco and danced like we were 18 again. We had quite a buzz by then and didn’t even care that we were old. We stopped again and danced in the big audience center in front of the stage….all by ourselves, while the featured band played.
Reluctantly, we went to retrieve our children in front of DQ. Good thing Evan is 18 and a good driver, because we had to have him drive us all home.
Day 11, Tuesday June 24, 2003
Our last day, we start off by packing and closing up the rental house. It’s so nice to have the laundry all clean before we leave for home!
DH ran to WalMart and bought a couple of lightweight nylon bags: one to pack all the newly purchased souvenirs, and another with a supply of clean clothes to be exchanged for any wet clothes before we get on the plane.
Our last day at Universal, we split up. Dane, Chase and I go to USF, while DH and the other 2 teens go to IOA.
We still have a couple of things left to do today. Dane, a true Horror flick aficionado, has to stop and photograph all The Mummy memorabilia while grabbing Express passes for the next Horror Make-up show. Chase and I go ahead of him to secure good seats at Animal Planet Live; a truly enjoyable show. It’s time to return to Horror Make-up as soon as Animal Planet’s over.
We’d done this show once before and I remembered it as being very good. Dane, as I said, having a love of Horror flicks, was especially looking forward to seeing this show again. Chase, while wanting desperately to prove it wouldn’t scare him, is looking a little nervous. They gave ample warning to cover your eyes before showing some very scary movie clips that included special effects done by the make-up artist in residence. Chase wisely chose to cover his own eyes here.
The rest of the show was very funny. The two guys who do this are especially adept at amusing the audience. They chose a woman “volunteer” (I say it that way because she was quite resistant to going up on stage) from the crowd who ended up not speaking any English, which added to the amusement of the effects they did on her. This was probably the funniest act I’d seen this trip.
We walked back over to USF and met the rest of our family. DH had already been wet and changed back into his traveling outfit. We all went on Cat in the Hat together and then it was time to make our late lunch reservation at Margaritaville.
This was our first visit there. What a cool place! Something to look at everywhere you turn. We had a very enjoyable meal, watched the volcano spew Margarita Mix, and bought a couple of souvenirs before we left. I gave my AAA 20% off coupon to a woman in line next to me in the gift shop, who was thrilled to get it. And off we went to the airport and home.