Sunday, March 26, 2006
Next week: Lion Country Safari
We have reservations next weekend at the KOA at Lion Country Safari. It's a little weekend getaway for Tom's birthday.
Stay tuned...
Stay tuned...
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Universal Orlando & MGM - 03/21/06
On Tuesday Vera was feeling sick again and wanted to sleep in. So it's back to Universal for me and Steven. She told us if she felt better in the afternoon she would pick us up because we had actually planned to spend the day at MGM.
Our first stop was Universal and MIB. Steven was on a mission to break the 400,000 point barrier that he had come so close to the day before. It happened on our 2nd and again on our 3rd ride. 449,350 was his top score for the day... his next goal is to break 500,000.
We ended up spending 4 hours at Universal and Islands. She called to say she was on her way not long after we got SOAKED on the Bilge-Rat Barges again. Uh oh! We did get a chance to dry off a bit on the Ice dragon before she picked us up though.
So we're off to MGM and the Rockin Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. It had been quite a few years since we'd been to that park and ridden on what used to be our favorite coaster. Boy were we in for a surprise. I don't know if it was the coaster or us, but we seemed to be moving really SLOW. Maybe it's just that we have been riding the faster coasters at Universal so much this week... but it just wasn't as much fun as we remembered. We gave it one more shot with our fast pass... but it just wasn't as thrilling as it used to be.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is really cool though. I think we got about 7 rides in on that one before the park closed. It's alot better and more scary than it was the last time I was at MGM. Now you never know what's going to happen. Sometimes it starts out dropping you, sometimes it pulls you up first.. it may drop you 3 floors or 1 at a time... it's different every time. Very cool... and Steven actually talked me into letting go of the hand-holds the last few times we rode. It's a very strange feeling just kind of hovering there out of your seat for what seems like an eternity. I keep forgetting to scan our picture... I gotta do that tomorrow...
This was our last night in Orlando. The next day I had to make that long sad bus trip back to Miami... we're planning another trip together in the fall... I can't wait! I really miss getting to spend time with Steven since I moved to Miami so I'm always planning the next trip as soon as the last one is over.
Our first stop was Universal and MIB. Steven was on a mission to break the 400,000 point barrier that he had come so close to the day before. It happened on our 2nd and again on our 3rd ride. 449,350 was his top score for the day... his next goal is to break 500,000.
We ended up spending 4 hours at Universal and Islands. She called to say she was on her way not long after we got SOAKED on the Bilge-Rat Barges again. Uh oh! We did get a chance to dry off a bit on the Ice dragon before she picked us up though.
So we're off to MGM and the Rockin Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. It had been quite a few years since we'd been to that park and ridden on what used to be our favorite coaster. Boy were we in for a surprise. I don't know if it was the coaster or us, but we seemed to be moving really SLOW. Maybe it's just that we have been riding the faster coasters at Universal so much this week... but it just wasn't as much fun as we remembered. We gave it one more shot with our fast pass... but it just wasn't as thrilling as it used to be.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is really cool though. I think we got about 7 rides in on that one before the park closed. It's alot better and more scary than it was the last time I was at MGM. Now you never know what's going to happen. Sometimes it starts out dropping you, sometimes it pulls you up first.. it may drop you 3 floors or 1 at a time... it's different every time. Very cool... and Steven actually talked me into letting go of the hand-holds the last few times we rode. It's a very strange feeling just kind of hovering there out of your seat for what seems like an eternity. I keep forgetting to scan our picture... I gotta do that tomorrow...
This was our last night in Orlando. The next day I had to make that long sad bus trip back to Miami... we're planning another trip together in the fall... I can't wait! I really miss getting to spend time with Steven since I moved to Miami so I'm always planning the next trip as soon as the last one is over.
Universal Orlando - 03/20/06
On Monday Vera felt up to joining us at the parks. We decided to hit Islands first and head straight for the Hulk. It's such a cool coaster, and a really smooth ride. This ride has a total of seven inversions and two subterranean trenches and all in 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
Next we headed for The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride. It was the first ever combination of moving, motion-based ride vehicles, 3-D film and live action. It's totally cool.
Dueling Dragons: The Fire dragon and Ice dragon are both equally cool. I personally think the Ice coaster is a smoother ride than Fire. Fire seems to be a much more scary ride for me because while on it I can see more of Ice than the other way around. Each dragon's 2-minute and 25-second flight includes several inversions, including a zero-g roll, a Cobra roll, two corkscrews, and two vertical loops.
Now it's time to head back to Universal. We had lunch at the Monster Cafe, more MIB training, more mummies, tornados, and JAWS!
We actually made it to the park closing this time. We were in pretty bad shape by the time we got back to the hotel. This theme park life can be rough...
Next we headed for The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride. It was the first ever combination of moving, motion-based ride vehicles, 3-D film and live action. It's totally cool.
Dueling Dragons: The Fire dragon and Ice dragon are both equally cool. I personally think the Ice coaster is a smoother ride than Fire. Fire seems to be a much more scary ride for me because while on it I can see more of Ice than the other way around. Each dragon's 2-minute and 25-second flight includes several inversions, including a zero-g roll, a Cobra roll, two corkscrews, and two vertical loops.
Now it's time to head back to Universal. We had lunch at the Monster Cafe, more MIB training, more mummies, tornados, and JAWS!
We actually made it to the park closing this time. We were in pretty bad shape by the time we got back to the hotel. This theme park life can be rough...
Universal Orlando - 03/19/06
On Sunday the 19th, Vera was sick so it was up to me and Steven to tackle the parks alone. We got up in time to catch the hotel's shuttle to Universal and were on our way at 7:45 am. After making numerous stops at other hotels we finally made it to the entrance gates at around 8:30... unfortunately the parks don't open until 9:00. So we wait...
We had lots of fun on our first full day there. I talked Steven into using the single rider line so we could ride faster. We ended up riding together all but one time anyway. Gotta love that single rider line. Universal Studios was our first stop. Men In Black: Alien Attack is our favorite ride at Universal. The Revenge of the Mummy is very cool. Speaking of cool... ET's Adventure is a great ride to cool off from the hot Florida sun. Twister is also good for that.
We had a great lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then headed for Islands. We went to Dueling Dragons first, then thought better of it... we really weren't interested in losing our lunches so we decided to come back for that later. Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges... we got SOAKED. It was alot of fun though... but did I mention we got soaked? It was nothing that a quick trip on Spider-Man and Hulk wouldn't cure though...
We were pretty tired and since we still had 2 more days to go and weren't in any big hurry we decided to head back to the hotel early. We left the park at 5:00, but weren't sure what time the shuttle would be there to take us to the hotel. I knew there was a 6:15 and 7:15 but wasn't sure about an earlier one. So we decided to walk over to the drop-off point and if it wasn't there by 5:15, we would go back to the park and stay until closing. Luckily it was already there waiting for us. At the hotel we sat by the pool for a little while to cool our tired feet, and then played some video games at the hotel arcade.
Bedtime... got another early start ahead of us tomorrow...
We had lots of fun on our first full day there. I talked Steven into using the single rider line so we could ride faster. We ended up riding together all but one time anyway. Gotta love that single rider line. Universal Studios was our first stop. Men In Black: Alien Attack is our favorite ride at Universal. The Revenge of the Mummy is very cool. Speaking of cool... ET's Adventure is a great ride to cool off from the hot Florida sun. Twister is also good for that.
We had a great lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then headed for Islands. We went to Dueling Dragons first, then thought better of it... we really weren't interested in losing our lunches so we decided to come back for that later. Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges... we got SOAKED. It was alot of fun though... but did I mention we got soaked? It was nothing that a quick trip on Spider-Man and Hulk wouldn't cure though...
We were pretty tired and since we still had 2 more days to go and weren't in any big hurry we decided to head back to the hotel early. We left the park at 5:00, but weren't sure what time the shuttle would be there to take us to the hotel. I knew there was a 6:15 and 7:15 but wasn't sure about an earlier one. So we decided to walk over to the drop-off point and if it wasn't there by 5:15, we would go back to the park and stay until closing. Luckily it was already there waiting for us. At the hotel we sat by the pool for a little while to cool our tired feet, and then played some video games at the hotel arcade.
Bedtime... got another early start ahead of us tomorrow...
Universal Orlando - 03/18/06
On March 18th I took a trip to Orlando, FL to meet up with my sister and nephew and spend a few days at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.
My vacation began at 7:05 am on a Greyhound bus in Miami. Not my favorite way to start a vacation but on this trip it wasn't so bad. The worst part was the 20.00 cab ride from the bus station to the hotel. Ouch!
I arrived in Orlando at the Rodeway Inn International at around 1:00 pm and since Vera and Steven were still quite a few hours away I decided to head on over to Universal to pick up my season pass and get my picture taken. It actually turned out to be a good thing that I did since it took almost 2 hours just to get the pass and picture done. It was extremely busy at the park that day because Universal is celebrating Mardi Gras every Saturday in February, March and April.
By 3:00 I was ready to start having fun. I got in line for The Incredible Hulk Coaster and after about 30 minutes they started announcing "technical difficulties". After about 15 minutes of hearing that announcement I decided to head over to The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride. I've got 4 days to catch up with the Hulk, so I'm in no hurry...
This was my first time at a theme park alone so I had forgotten that Universal and Islands had single rider lines with much shorter wait times. I realized it only after I had been in the Spider-Man line for 30 minutes. Oh well... next time I'll know. So immediately after finishing the first ride I skipped on through the single rider line and 5 minutes later I was riding again. MUCH better than waiting 45 minutes the first time... trust me, no matter how fun a ride is... nothing is fun enough to wait 45 minutes for.
So I spent a couple hours at Islands then went over to Universal for a while. I had dinner at The Monster Cafe and hit some more rides. Men In Black is always fun, and The Revenge of the Mummy is really cool. The park closed at 8:00 that night so I started heading for the taxi area around 7:30 and was back at the hotel pretty quick. I relaxed for a bit while I waited for Vera and Steven to show up. They arrived at around 10:30 and soon we got to bed so we could get an early start on Sunday.
My vacation began at 7:05 am on a Greyhound bus in Miami. Not my favorite way to start a vacation but on this trip it wasn't so bad. The worst part was the 20.00 cab ride from the bus station to the hotel. Ouch!
I arrived in Orlando at the Rodeway Inn International at around 1:00 pm and since Vera and Steven were still quite a few hours away I decided to head on over to Universal to pick up my season pass and get my picture taken. It actually turned out to be a good thing that I did since it took almost 2 hours just to get the pass and picture done. It was extremely busy at the park that day because Universal is celebrating Mardi Gras every Saturday in February, March and April.
By 3:00 I was ready to start having fun. I got in line for The Incredible Hulk Coaster and after about 30 minutes they started announcing "technical difficulties". After about 15 minutes of hearing that announcement I decided to head over to The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride. I've got 4 days to catch up with the Hulk, so I'm in no hurry...
This was my first time at a theme park alone so I had forgotten that Universal and Islands had single rider lines with much shorter wait times. I realized it only after I had been in the Spider-Man line for 30 minutes. Oh well... next time I'll know. So immediately after finishing the first ride I skipped on through the single rider line and 5 minutes later I was riding again. MUCH better than waiting 45 minutes the first time... trust me, no matter how fun a ride is... nothing is fun enough to wait 45 minutes for.
So I spent a couple hours at Islands then went over to Universal for a while. I had dinner at The Monster Cafe and hit some more rides. Men In Black is always fun, and The Revenge of the Mummy is really cool. The park closed at 8:00 that night so I started heading for the taxi area around 7:30 and was back at the hotel pretty quick. I relaxed for a bit while I waited for Vera and Steven to show up. They arrived at around 10:30 and soon we got to bed so we could get an early start on Sunday.
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