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Day Four – Tuesday, January 11, 2005 – Bottle
Sniffers, Birthdays and Burritos
I’m up at 5:30 and Steph heads out at 6:00 for her run and
workout. At close to 8:00, I tell everyone I’m heading down
to retrieve the car and to follow me down in 5 minutes. I stop at
the front desk and verify that they have the information on Stephanie’s
birthday. It’s on the reservation but, apparently, if you
don’t call their attention to it, it goes un-noticed. The
CM asks me who her favorite character is. Hmmm. Actually, I think
it’s probably Sebastian but I offer up Goofy.
We pile in the Grand Caravan and it’s an easy 15-20 minute
drive to Universal. We’re one of the first cars there and
we park in Kong 107. It’s been a long time since I had to
pay ($7) to park and remember the character’s name for the
lot in which I parked.
The ticket booths weren’t open yet but they do have automated
machines that allow you to buy your ticket with a credit card. We
used those and purchased six 1-day park hoppers – good at
both Universal Studios – Florida (USF) and Islands of Adventure
(IOA). The cost was $83 per.
The park opened early (about 8:45) and, in my experience, this
has always been the case at Universal. We had decided to visit IOA
first and take advantage of the empty park to do our favorites as
quickly as possible before heading to USF.
The kids headed immediately to the Hulk. I videotaped a car with
a single rider (a test run?) for a bit, and then Barb and I headed
to Spiderman. We walked on to the ride twice before heading to a
bench to wait for the kids. They were along in about 5 minutes after
riding the Hulk 3 times. Stephanie had a run in with another patron
at the lockers. There are several rides at USF-IOA where you can’t
carry on any bags. They’ve located a bank of automated lockers
nearby. The lockers are free for the 1st hour and you activate them
(and retrieve your items later) by scanning and validating your
fingerprint. Steph was in line behind 2 girls that were struggling
with the fingerprint. The instructions say to place your finger
on the pad for 2-3 seconds and then remove it. These girls weren’t
removing their fingers so the machine couldn’t get a reading.
After watching for a bit, Steph tried to explain what they were
doing wrong and the girls got a bit snippy with her – “I
can read you know”. Trust me on this… it’s not
a good idea to get snippy with Steph when she’s in a hurry
- or any other time for that matter. As I said, she’s her
father’s daughter.
Anyway, the police didn’t have to be summoned and we all
took a ride together on Spiderman. It’s a great ride but Steph
was a little disappointed. While she thought it was good, I had
probably over-hyped it to her.
Next, everyone but me took a drop on Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall.
I had tried this last time and it’s a poor man’s ToT.
No real theming, just a drop. .IMO, not worth any wait.
We started making our way toward Jurassic Park when we spied Dudley
Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls. This is a flume ride on steroids.
The kids headed toward the entrance but Steph and Michelle bowed
out quickly leaving Stephen and Will on their own. The girls didn’t
want to get wet and it proved to be a wise decision.
Looking at the ride, after the traditional drop there’s a
straightaway of about 100 yards that undulates a bit. The logs seem
to go very fast through this and there is lots and lots of spraying
water. We waited and finally caught Will and Stephen making the
drop. I videoed them all the way through and yes, they got pretty
wet.
Next up - Jurassic Park. It’s a fairly good ride that follows
the movie’s story line. At the end, you plummet down a flume
to escape a T-Rex. The splash at the bottom throws a lot of water
in the air but you really don’t get soaked - unless you’re
me. In 2002, I survived the drop only to be blasted with a wave
that came over the front of the boat, accelerated, and hit me square
in the face. This time I was ready. I sat behind Steph and told
her to sit as upright as possible. As we started down the drop,
I hunkered down and ducked. Some spray, some mist, no wave. I think,
in 2002, I was just unlucky.
We wandered a bit further, deciding against doing Poseidon’s
Fury. We did this in 2002 and thought it lame. The kids took a spin
on one of the Dueling Dragons. They thought it was just OK. A good
ride but a bit slow compared to the Hulk. Barb and I split a coffee
and sat in the sun while they rode.
It was now time to switch parks so we left IOA, walked through
City Walk, and headed for USF. Our first stop was Terminator 2-3D
but it listed the next show in 25 minutes so we passed until later.
We headed for Back to the Future (BTTF).
BTTF was a walk on. I haven’t been to USF since 1998 or 1999.
I remembered BTTF as a very good ride. It seemed to be lacking something
and just didn’t meet my expectations. Not really sure why
unless I’ve just become more jaded.
Next-door was Men In Black – Alien Attack (MIB) so we gave
that a shot. This was one of the rides that does not allow carry-ons
so a few of us did the locker / fingerprint thing. MIB is a good
ride – kind of like Buzz on steroids. You sit 6 to a car and
your laser gun is hand-held and resembles one of those neat guns
from the movie. You shoot aliens for score and can also shoot other
vehicles to make them spin. We were hit several times during the
ride. We rode twice and everyone liked it. My only complaint is
that they need to post the rules somewhere. Should you shoot all
the aliens? Where do you need to hit them? Where should you aim
at the other vehicles? I guess I should have done some research
before visiting.
I scored a feeble 26,000 the first time through and, yes, Barb
beat me again. On the second ride I was a bit better and hit 87,000,
beating Barb (neener, neener). Will was once again our leader at
over 200,000 on both trips. I think we’ve found his true calling.
By now, everyone was a bit hungry. We walked up past Jaws into
the San Francisco area looking for someplace to have lunch. We saw
a Burger sign ahead and thought we’d stop there. As we’re
getting in line, the 3 girls decided they were going across the
street for pizza and we should get our food and meet them there.
So we’re standing in line, waiting to order, and perusing
the menu of burgers which is, essentially, the Big One for $6.99
with several variations. The Big One with cheese, the Big One with
tomato, etc. There’s one guy at the counter and it’s
taking a very long time. I’m guessing, and we proved it in
a bit, that the kid taking the orders is the slowest service person
I’ve ever seen. The guy has ordered one of those clear, alcoholic
drinks (either Zima or the Smirnoff’s thing). The kid is now
pouring it into a plastic cup. This takes about 45 seconds as he
tips both bottle and cup and pours it ever so slowly. When he finishes,
he hands the customer the cup and, just prior to tossing the empty
bottle in the trash, he sniffs it. What’s that all about?
When it’s my turn, I order a “Big One with Swiss cheese,
fries and an iced tea”. He says “Do you want cheese
on that?”
“Yes, please. Swiss”.
“Any fries?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Something to drink?”
“Ummm, let’s see. How about an iced tea?” Sheesh!
We guys grab our trays and head across the street while looking
over our shoulders for the USF Police. I’m certain it violates
some statute bringing food and trays from one establishment to another.
This is also running a gauntlet of sea gulls but we make it, food
intact.
We join the girls at a table as their pizza is delivered. In 6
seconds, I realize what a mistake we have made. The Big One is large
but not very good. The pizza looks delicious. Oh, well- my second
mistake of 2005.
After lunch we walk past Earthquake – been there, done that
and it’s not worth a 15 minute wait. We head into the Mummy
where it’s about a 30-minute wait. After about 20 minutes,
I opt for the chicken exit. It was a combination of the Big One
congealing somewhere in my digestive tract and the various warnings
about rapid acceleration, forward and reverse. Seeing the Big One
again was not something I was up for.
I waited outside and, as my group exited, learned I probably should
have ridden. Everyone liked it and said the motion wasn’t
too harsh. Kind of RnRC without the inversion – and you only
go backwards once.
Next up was Shrek-4D. I loved both movies, loved the humor and
thought Eddie Murphy’s ‘Donkey’ one of the best
characters ever. I thought this film was good but it seemed to struggle
for a story line. I also thought it spent way too much time on horse-drawn
cart rides and the like that really didn’t take advantage
of the 3-D potential. I also disliked the ‘4-D’ effects
which basically made your chair move. Maybe it’s me but I
thought most of the movements and the horse ‘clops’
(which sounded like a pneumatic air release) where unnecessary and,
in some cases, annoying. It’s a good attraction but, for the
reasons I mentioned above, I can’t give it a ‘great’.
Last stop – Terminator2-3D. Michelle, Steph and Will have
never seen this. It’s been 4-5 years for the rest of us. It
seems little has changed in the pre-show with our intentionally
annoying hostess. In the show itself, one of the robots doesn’t
come up all the way for the demonstration. I’m wondering if
the flames from his weapon could cause a problem considering it’s
now inches from the cover as opposed to out in the open. T2 is still
a good show and everyone enjoys it.
This concludes our day at USF-IOA. I know I’m a Disney bigot
but I just don’t enjoy these parks as much as WDW. With the
possible exception of Spiderman, I don’t enjoy re-riding things.
As a matter of fact, I think a visit here every 4-5 years is about
right. I guess I’ve had too much of that Disney kool-aid.
We walk the 37 miles to Kong 107 and find our car, pile in, and
drive back on to Disney property. We’re walking to our room
at the BW when a voice behind us says “Are you the Russo family?”
“Yes, we are.” He then asks for Stephanie and presents
her with a birthday card, with a signed picture of Goofy, attached
to 3 balloons. He offers her a “Happy Birthday” and
she blushes (considerably) and thanks him. I really don’t
think she had any idea where this came from and I’m hoping
she doesn’t think we were just reacting to her mock ‘whines’.
This was, after all, planned months in advance. Goofy had signed
the card with a “Gawrsh! Have a Happy 26th Birthday, Stephanie”.
Michelle and Will decide to head to the pool for a while. The rest
of us just relax in the room for a bit. When Michelle and Will return,
we spend some time discussing alternatives for dinner. Stephanie
suggests eating in World Showcase, something she’s never done.
Now this is a group of fairly finicky eaters. I know I can pick
any restaurant in WS and probably get 4-5 ‘yes’ votes
but I’d never get all 6. We kicked around a few possibilities
and then someone suggested Mexico. Everyone seemed OK with it but
I had no idea if we could actually get in without a PS. What the
heck, let’s try.
We walked over and strolled through WS. We walked up the steps
into the Mexico pavilion and back to the San Angel Inn. Everyone
kind of spread out shopping and browsing when I asked the girl at
the desk if we could get a table for 6. She needed to ask someone
else what the wait time would be but offered me a pager anyway.
I walked over to Barb and Steph and was explaining that we could
have a long wait when the pager went off. Total wait time: 45 seconds.
We were seated at a table near the El Rio del Tiempo, which was
shut down for a few days for rehab. The waiter gave us menus and
took our drink order which was a combination of Cokes, Dos Equis
and red wine. I did try a sip of Steph’s wine (a cabernet)
and it was quite good although it’s a bit odd sipping out
of those very thick wine glasses.
We perused the menu – or tried to. This was our first time
here – is it always this dark? There’s a single light
in the center of the table that illuminates about a 6-inch diameter
circle around it. I was folding my menu and placing it under the
light to read one item at a time. Michelle and I ordered the Plato
Mexicano (Beef Tenderloin Tampiquena, chicken enchilada, and ground
beef burrito, served with refried beans and rice). Barb and Steph
had the Camerones Con Fideos (Shrimp marinated and grilled, served
over angel hair pasta with tomatoes and chipotle pepper). Will ordered
the Mahi-Mahi a la Veracruzana and Stephen had Filete Motuleno (Grilled
beef tenderloin) – I think. I know he had something with beef,
anyway.
Everyone enjoyed the meal and I think we’ll be back again,
although next time I’m bringing a flashlight or wearing a
miner’s helmet.
We left Mexico and strolled over to FW. I noticed that the Lights
of Winter had been extinguished and only one of the arches still
remained. We decided to take a ride on Spaceship Earth (SE). This
is, traditionally and usually, our first ride on each trip. Here
it is Day 4, and we’re just getting around to it. I rode with
Stephanie and was telling her about the Hidden Mickey near the sleeping
monk’s hand. I had never been able to find it. Just as we
passed him she said she saw it on the upper right portion of his
parchment. I looked back and, while I can’t be certain, it
did look like a Mickey.
We weren’t really looking to ride anything so we just strolled
through FW and caught part of the Fountain show. We walked back
to WS when Barb and I decided to head to the UK to see if we could
catch some of the British Invasion. As we turned down the street,
I could hear them playing ‘Revolution’. I know the group’s
members change but these guys, at least for this song, sounded a
lot like the originals. Unfortunately, that was their last song
of the set, and the night.
The kids caught up with us there. It was about 8:45 when we decided
to head over to the bridge to stake out a spot for IROE. I noticed
immediately that the wind had picked up and seemed to be blowing
straight back toward the Beach Club. Sure enough, during the show
the smoke was coming right back to the left side of the bridge –
the folks in the boats below were catching the brunt of it. We had
gotten lucky on our Fireworks Cruise last night.
We all, again, enjoyed the show. It was the 3rd night in a row
for Michelle and Will. Will has been saying it’s his favorite.
We walked back to the BW and Barb and Stephen grabbed waffle cones
from Seashore Sweets. I abstained and had a beer (OK, two) on the
balcony before retiring.
Things I Think I Think – I think USF-IOA doesn’t interest
me enough to be an every year thing. I think they should administer
some type of testing to counter service personnel – and caution
them about sniffing bottles in front of their guests. I think Disney
will always come through on a request – even if they sometimes
need to be reminded. I think I like the San Angel Inn. I also think
they need a bit more candlepower at the tables. I think I would
enjoy concluding every day, year round, with IROE.
Day 5...
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