UK Valerie
TRUST NO-ONE
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2002
Mike's report continued
Two and Two kids , please Day 5..IOA......BIg Thrills
all round
A late wake up at 8 a.m.and the sun keeps on shinig! We had breakfast at home
...cereal and fried egg sandwiches ...strange mixture but there you go ! I was
looking forward to IOA , it sounded like just my idea of a good blast having read
Simon's book ...btw Simon's book was invalable in both the planning of this
holiday and on the actual holiday ...BUY IT !!
Now it might be me but Universal Stiudios is not exactly well signed...and the
entrance is totally bland!!! A definite one-up to Mr. Eisner's boys on this
one.Once we'd paid our $7.00 parking fee we were directed to the top level of
the multi-storey car-park and parked in the Kong zone, then set off on the most
concrete ridden walk I've known!! I don't know who designed the moving
walkways but they want shooting ...it really is a day trip getting to the park
entrance! We arrived at the gate at 9.35 a.m. and our 4-park/7 day passes were
overstamped with the legend "14 days Unlimited Admission " Yahoo..I'd heard
about this , what a good feeling !!!!
Through the Port of Entry we went then following Simon's advice we took a left
turn for Marvel Super-hero Land..and there it was ..the Incredible Hulk Coaster,
the thing really does dominate the skyline...we stood on the bridge where you
can watch it pass under you , then saw the coaster!!! The car passed under our
feet and we saw the victims strapped in with a look of either terror or ecstasy on
their faces !!! " Right, who else is coming on " I asked...and dragged my (almost
) screaming family along behind me .We put our back pack into a locker (free for
75 minutes ) and showed our Express Pass. No need really , since there wer only
about 20 people at the loading dock...we got straight on 3 rows from the back,
DW and the kids still hadn't had time to object. The car slowly goes up the tube
( technical term!! ) halts..and then ...WHHOOOSSHHH........believe me this
thing catapults you into the open air , you see the sky hurtling towards you then
its upside-down and inside-out city for the next 2 minutes!!!! I could hear
Callum( aged 7 !! ) screaming next to me , at least when the wind wasn't
drowning everyone's voices, now was it a scream of joy or terror ..not that there
was an awful lot I could do about it ! The Hulk stopped , we off-loaded , and
looked at each other ..."That was great" Callum shouted , "Let's do it again...!"
Obviously his shouts were of joy... I know it sounds a bit hairy but believe me
The Hulk is a BLAST..it's the smoothest , fastest ride imaginable.Yes , you go all
over the shop but none of us were frightened. Suffice to say we rejoined the
queue (so-called ) and rode again. Personally I'd have gone for 3 , but DW
insisted I should grow up and move on!Next up we went to Spiderman The
Ride..using the EP we were on within 10 minutes , our longest wait at what was
a fairly quiet park. This was a real 3-D treat, nothing frightening but so clever
...the story line is abit hard to follow , but with a ride like this who cares..not
me. The bit at the end where you do a simulated drop from a skyscraper is
fantastic. Without doubt this was the most technologically advanced ride we
experienced during our entire holiday and really is a "must do ". Leaving the ride
and the inevitable themed shop we encountered Spidey posing with the natives
so off went the kids for their photo opportunity! At this point I noticed DW
smiling to herself in a winsome way , I know it was because she was with me ,
not because Spidey was 6 feet plus with broad shoulders and an all together too
snug outfit......wasn't it ? Moving quickly on before Spidey got jealous of me we
went to Dr. Doom's Fearfall , I convinced everyone that after Hulk everything
would be wussy-land and we had nothing to fear ( a pun ). Bravely entering Dr.
Doom's we were seated in our 4 abreast seat...and waited...after about 30
seconds of nothingness we went hurtling , and I mean HURTLING upwards.
Never, ever again !!!! The only emotion this ride raised in me was sheer terror ,
I'd rather flirt with Vinnie Jones wife than do this again, the mere fact we didn't
continue heading upwards and straight on through the top of the ride amazed
me. The kids took me , wobbly legs and all , to have a sit down after this failed
suicide attempt.
After I stopped shaking we moved into Toon Lagoon, and the kids persuaded me
to go on Dudley Do-Right's Falls ...a real hoot but beware , this is a definite
10/10 in the get wet stakes! We stopped for soft drinks in the Comic Strip cafe ,
4 regular cokes were just under $10. We did a few photos in Comic Strip Lane
where you can stick your head through comic book cut-outs , it's good fun. We
saw a bus arrive and out got Popeye, Bluto, Olive and a few others to wave to
the crowd ( if 2 dozen people = a crowd )then go into a song and dance routine,
very entertaining!
Next up was Jurassic Park..and since we were wet already we attacked the River
Adventure , this really does resemble the film with its dinosaurs..and the finale
is the drop a good 80 feet plus into a moderate soaking....9/10. We moved to
Pteranodon Flyers and to be blunt it wasn't worth the 2 minutes we waited to
get on! It lasts abou 1 minute going around on a rail ...the monorail at MK holds
more terror! Give it a miss , unless you're with people you detest in the height
of the summer queues, then tell 'em its great and you'll just have an ice-cream
while you wait for them to enjoy it.
Triceratops Encounter was cute, but avoid going to Camp Jurassic unless you
want some overweight American kid to soak you with the water guns/cannon....I
KNOW!!!!!!
Moving on to Lost Continent we decide a sit-down was in order and caught 8th.
Voyage of Sinbad....good but not the same league as Beauty & Beast and a
couple of the bangs were on the LOUD side. Next was Poseidon's Fury...I won't
talk about this except to say " What a waste of space..............2
Lunchtime beckoned , and we entered Dr. Seuss Landing.we elected to go to
Circus McGurkus which is set in a huge tent. This was one of a small number of
IOA fooderies which did kids meals ...another plus mark to Disney here. The kids
had spaghetti with a soft drink and apple, we both had chicken with a salad ,
and shared a Key Lime pie.Total cost...a very reasonable $26 and the kids got to
keep their (very neat ) drink cups. As if the cost wasn't reason enough to eat
here we sat down and on came the show ( we didn't know there was a show) It
was brilliant...the place was abou 1/4 full but even so Dr.Seuss, Thing 1 & 2, Cat
in the Hat &co. had us all singin and dancing..and I dont dance !Top marks for
an enthusiastic team a definite MUST DO !
Leaving the tent we were lucky enough to see The Grinch show....very good ,
little bit of menace in it but not enough to frighten little'uns. The kids wanted to
do the rides , OK, One Fish two fish, Cat in the Hat and Caro-Seuss-el were
colourful versions of standard kids fairground rides and enjoyable enough but
not Hulksville.
We headed back to Lost Continent and joined the queue for Duelling
Dragons..the kids picked this , not me..I promise. Again a 5 minute wait saw us
strapped into Fire, one of 2 coasters ....slow trundle up the rails...then PARTY
TIME again!!!! Not dissimilar to Hulk with the added thrill(?) of missing Ice (the
other coaster, remember ) by what seemed like inches.....
We jumped off , re-joined the queue and did Ice..then Fire again ..then Ice
again!!!
We then did the Flying Unicorn, a supposed kids ride, but the seat backs were so
low I nearly dislocated my spine on the sharp turns..give me the Hulk anytime.
We reversed our path now and worked our way back stooping to enjoy the
delights of most rides again!!! We finished at Hulk , but you'd probably guessed
that already!!
By now it was nearly 6 p.m. so we left IOA and entered Citywalk, I'd recommend
this area , plenty of entertainment , we watched an amateur (very amateur )
talent show ..then went to the Nascar Cafe for dinner ..I think Juliet misheard
me calling it the " Nescafe " 'cos she wasn't too impressed with the car theme.
The food was good but its a noisy place , not somewhere to go for a
conversation! The kids played on the video consoles until we dragged them back
for food...burgers for 2x kids and DW, baby ribs for me ..I think I hit the jackpot
on the taste front!
Made our way back to Kong ....the distance involved to the car-parks is a real
downer here!!......home by 9.30 ...an hour or so channel cruising by Callum,
then bed.
Day 6 was to be a visit to Seaworld........
Two and Two kids , please Day 5..IOA......BIg Thrills
all round
A late wake up at 8 a.m.and the sun keeps on shinig! We had breakfast at home
...cereal and fried egg sandwiches ...strange mixture but there you go ! I was
looking forward to IOA , it sounded like just my idea of a good blast having read
Simon's book ...btw Simon's book was invalable in both the planning of this
holiday and on the actual holiday ...BUY IT !!
Now it might be me but Universal Stiudios is not exactly well signed...and the
entrance is totally bland!!! A definite one-up to Mr. Eisner's boys on this
one.Once we'd paid our $7.00 parking fee we were directed to the top level of
the multi-storey car-park and parked in the Kong zone, then set off on the most
concrete ridden walk I've known!! I don't know who designed the moving
walkways but they want shooting ...it really is a day trip getting to the park
entrance! We arrived at the gate at 9.35 a.m. and our 4-park/7 day passes were
overstamped with the legend "14 days Unlimited Admission " Yahoo..I'd heard
about this , what a good feeling !!!!
Through the Port of Entry we went then following Simon's advice we took a left
turn for Marvel Super-hero Land..and there it was ..the Incredible Hulk Coaster,
the thing really does dominate the skyline...we stood on the bridge where you
can watch it pass under you , then saw the coaster!!! The car passed under our
feet and we saw the victims strapped in with a look of either terror or ecstasy on
their faces !!! " Right, who else is coming on " I asked...and dragged my (almost
) screaming family along behind me .We put our back pack into a locker (free for
75 minutes ) and showed our Express Pass. No need really , since there wer only
about 20 people at the loading dock...we got straight on 3 rows from the back,
DW and the kids still hadn't had time to object. The car slowly goes up the tube
( technical term!! ) halts..and then ...WHHOOOSSHHH........believe me this
thing catapults you into the open air , you see the sky hurtling towards you then
its upside-down and inside-out city for the next 2 minutes!!!! I could hear
Callum( aged 7 !! ) screaming next to me , at least when the wind wasn't
drowning everyone's voices, now was it a scream of joy or terror ..not that there
was an awful lot I could do about it ! The Hulk stopped , we off-loaded , and
looked at each other ..."That was great" Callum shouted , "Let's do it again...!"
Obviously his shouts were of joy... I know it sounds a bit hairy but believe me
The Hulk is a BLAST..it's the smoothest , fastest ride imaginable.Yes , you go all
over the shop but none of us were frightened. Suffice to say we rejoined the
queue (so-called ) and rode again. Personally I'd have gone for 3 , but DW
insisted I should grow up and move on!Next up we went to Spiderman The
Ride..using the EP we were on within 10 minutes , our longest wait at what was
a fairly quiet park. This was a real 3-D treat, nothing frightening but so clever
...the story line is abit hard to follow , but with a ride like this who cares..not
me. The bit at the end where you do a simulated drop from a skyscraper is
fantastic. Without doubt this was the most technologically advanced ride we
experienced during our entire holiday and really is a "must do ". Leaving the ride
and the inevitable themed shop we encountered Spidey posing with the natives
so off went the kids for their photo opportunity! At this point I noticed DW
smiling to herself in a winsome way , I know it was because she was with me ,
not because Spidey was 6 feet plus with broad shoulders and an all together too
snug outfit......wasn't it ? Moving quickly on before Spidey got jealous of me we
went to Dr. Doom's Fearfall , I convinced everyone that after Hulk everything
would be wussy-land and we had nothing to fear ( a pun ). Bravely entering Dr.
Doom's we were seated in our 4 abreast seat...and waited...after about 30
seconds of nothingness we went hurtling , and I mean HURTLING upwards.
Never, ever again !!!! The only emotion this ride raised in me was sheer terror ,
I'd rather flirt with Vinnie Jones wife than do this again, the mere fact we didn't
continue heading upwards and straight on through the top of the ride amazed
me. The kids took me , wobbly legs and all , to have a sit down after this failed
suicide attempt.
After I stopped shaking we moved into Toon Lagoon, and the kids persuaded me
to go on Dudley Do-Right's Falls ...a real hoot but beware , this is a definite
10/10 in the get wet stakes! We stopped for soft drinks in the Comic Strip cafe ,
4 regular cokes were just under $10. We did a few photos in Comic Strip Lane
where you can stick your head through comic book cut-outs , it's good fun. We
saw a bus arrive and out got Popeye, Bluto, Olive and a few others to wave to
the crowd ( if 2 dozen people = a crowd )then go into a song and dance routine,
very entertaining!
Next up was Jurassic Park..and since we were wet already we attacked the River
Adventure , this really does resemble the film with its dinosaurs..and the finale
is the drop a good 80 feet plus into a moderate soaking....9/10. We moved to
Pteranodon Flyers and to be blunt it wasn't worth the 2 minutes we waited to
get on! It lasts abou 1 minute going around on a rail ...the monorail at MK holds
more terror! Give it a miss , unless you're with people you detest in the height
of the summer queues, then tell 'em its great and you'll just have an ice-cream
while you wait for them to enjoy it.
Triceratops Encounter was cute, but avoid going to Camp Jurassic unless you
want some overweight American kid to soak you with the water guns/cannon....I
KNOW!!!!!!
Moving on to Lost Continent we decide a sit-down was in order and caught 8th.
Voyage of Sinbad....good but not the same league as Beauty & Beast and a
couple of the bangs were on the LOUD side. Next was Poseidon's Fury...I won't
talk about this except to say " What a waste of space..............2
Lunchtime beckoned , and we entered Dr. Seuss Landing.we elected to go to
Circus McGurkus which is set in a huge tent. This was one of a small number of
IOA fooderies which did kids meals ...another plus mark to Disney here. The kids
had spaghetti with a soft drink and apple, we both had chicken with a salad ,
and shared a Key Lime pie.Total cost...a very reasonable $26 and the kids got to
keep their (very neat ) drink cups. As if the cost wasn't reason enough to eat
here we sat down and on came the show ( we didn't know there was a show) It
was brilliant...the place was abou 1/4 full but even so Dr.Seuss, Thing 1 & 2, Cat
in the Hat &co. had us all singin and dancing..and I dont dance !Top marks for
an enthusiastic team a definite MUST DO !
Leaving the tent we were lucky enough to see The Grinch show....very good ,
little bit of menace in it but not enough to frighten little'uns. The kids wanted to
do the rides , OK, One Fish two fish, Cat in the Hat and Caro-Seuss-el were
colourful versions of standard kids fairground rides and enjoyable enough but
not Hulksville.
We headed back to Lost Continent and joined the queue for Duelling
Dragons..the kids picked this , not me..I promise. Again a 5 minute wait saw us
strapped into Fire, one of 2 coasters ....slow trundle up the rails...then PARTY
TIME again!!!! Not dissimilar to Hulk with the added thrill(?) of missing Ice (the
other coaster, remember ) by what seemed like inches.....
We jumped off , re-joined the queue and did Ice..then Fire again ..then Ice
again!!!
We then did the Flying Unicorn, a supposed kids ride, but the seat backs were so
low I nearly dislocated my spine on the sharp turns..give me the Hulk anytime.
We reversed our path now and worked our way back stooping to enjoy the
delights of most rides again!!! We finished at Hulk , but you'd probably guessed
that already!!
By now it was nearly 6 p.m. so we left IOA and entered Citywalk, I'd recommend
this area , plenty of entertainment , we watched an amateur (very amateur )
talent show ..then went to the Nascar Cafe for dinner ..I think Juliet misheard
me calling it the " Nescafe " 'cos she wasn't too impressed with the car theme.
The food was good but its a noisy place , not somewhere to go for a
conversation! The kids played on the video consoles until we dragged them back
for food...burgers for 2x kids and DW, baby ribs for me ..I think I hit the jackpot
on the taste front!
Made our way back to Kong ....the distance involved to the car-parks is a real
downer here!!......home by 9.30 ...an hour or so channel cruising by Callum,
then bed.
Day 6 was to be a visit to Seaworld........
