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[peep]

September 1st - Travelling

After booking up our two week vacation all the way back in November 2011 it was finally time for Patrick and I to get on our plane at London Gatwick to Orlando International Airport. There was a bit of faff getting on to our BA flight due to people being silly and taking forever but once on there wasn't much of a wait before we were up in the air and on our way to the States. The flight flew-by with lots of choice on the Entertainment system and luckily enough the guy next to me wasn't an annoyance.

Once in Orlando we went down to the Disney Magical Express desk to check in for our coach to the hotel. This is clearly one of the better perks when staying on Disney property and we had clearly selected a great hotel to stay at. There was barely anyone on our coach and we were the only ones getting off at Disney's Old Key West Resort, it was also the first Resort the coach stopped at.



The Old Key West Resort is quite amazing, it's very large yet calm and relaxing and all the staff are amazing. After we were given about a billion booklets when we checked in we were driven on this large golf buggy thing with our suitcases to our building. Ya see, this resort is made up of lots of little buildings, each with 2 or 3 floors and rooms of varying sizes. We were in building number 35 in room 20-something. It was a very decent sized room, two large double beds, a HD TV, a large bathroom, a tiny kitchenette and even a balcony with a view of a tree and one of the many lakes around the resort.



After sorting our lives out we were a bit peckish so we decided to walk to the Downtown Disney boat. It was really hot which was really odd considering how dark out it was (we're talking about 9pm, maybe a little earlier). Up until this point we'd mainly been in air conditioned spaces so this was the point that the heat really affected us for the first time.

The boat service was really nice and relaxing and a nice way to start off our trip really. Once we arrived at Downtown we headed to Earl of Sandwich, we love the ones in London and Disneyland Paris so it was a must that this is how we began our culinary experience on this trip. It was very busy, in fact the whole of Downtown was really busy. Despite the long queue we managed to order and get our sandwiches in a decent time. As we expected it was just as good as the other stores. I also tried one of their cakes, it was just too much for me. Oh and it was also our first use of our Disney Dining Plan, so that's -1 quick service credit.



After food we decided to have a look around a few of the stores nearby. We started off by looking in the large pin trading store, it had quite the large selection. It was very hard all trip to stop myself from buying some, the last time I did that on a Disney trip I nearly didn't have any money left. We also popped into the World of Disney store which is very big and had quite a lot on offer. This would be a shop that we'd keep coming back to over our two week trip.



I think it was already getting fairly late and we were exhausted from our long travels so we hopped on  a shuttle bus to the hotel. As it was dark and we were still new to where everything was at our resort we did end up getting a little confused as to which bus stop we needed to get off, not really helped by the random route the bus decided to take. Anyway we finally managed to get off at the right stop and went straight to our room to get some sleep to prepare us for our first day in a Walt Disney World theme park.

[peep]

September 2nd - Let the Magic begin

After our first day being uber long and actually having a rather late night too we decided to get up rather late and just take our time. I think the first thing we did once we left our room was keep taking note how ridiculous the heat was. The second thing we did was go to the fast food desk at the hotel to get our complimentary refillable drinks capsules. They were pretty cool and very good at keeping in liquid (take note Merlin!). So we filled our cups up and headed to the bus stop to catch the next bus to the Magic Kingdom. On our route to the park we actually went past the place they were storing the Seven Dwarves coaster track (you know that famous pic that was everywhere), was pretty cool going past it each time we went to MK.

The bus journey didn't actually take us that long, about 15-20 minutes. We decided to just stroll up Main Street USA and see what we wanted to do once we got to the main hub area. It felt quite busy and when we looked at the queuetime board it slightly confirmed this. The area with the shortest queues was Adventureland so we opted to go there and work our way around the park in a clockwise fashion.



So off to Adventureland we went. It was weird going into this area first because I'm so used to the layout in Paris, the design and look of it was also very different. It was weird seeing so many buildings in Adventureland and you could barely see the Family Robinson Treehouse from the main pathway, just felt odd but kinda cool. I've been curious about the Jungle Cruise ride for a long time now so asked if we could do that as we were coming up to it. Barely anyone else was waiting for it too (about enough to fill the next boat or so) which helped us make the decision. The heat was killing me too so I just wanted to sit down for a bit lol.



I quite liked the Jungle Cruise. It's a bit of a weird ride in that it solely relies on the cast member being awesome. Our guide kept telling very bad jokes, most of which I think went over Patrick's head but I found it all quite amusing. Overall it's a nice little attraction and most of the effects looked like they were working.


The Tiki Room, Patrick kept wanting to just walk past it, don't worry, we finally went in near the end of the trip

We still hadn't eaten anything so we took the decision to seek food before the mad rush. On our way to find food we walked past Pirates of the Caribbean, opposite was the Pirate Tutorial show which was ok, attracted quite a decent crowd. Moving on we finally sought out food in Tortuga Tavern, a fast food restaurant that did Mexican food. I got a burrito which had a decent amount of chicken, beans and rice in and then you're able to go over to a fillings table and fill to your hearts content. I'm always a bad judge with these things and maybe added a little too much. So I wasn't able to close up the wrap in the traditional way and I made a right mess but I don't care, it was absolutely nom. Oh and we were given humongous soft drinks, we had a little bit and then filled our hotel cups with the left over, of which there was plenty. Fantastic, now we can make it last longer. It also came with a dessert, we both went for gelato which stands for European Ice Cream, not real Gelato, still it was nice and cooling. Oh yeah -1 Quick Service Meal credit.




Patrick's food

So after filling up on lots of awesome food we headed slightly back for Pirates. Ok, so this confused me, before you even enter the building the queue splits into two and each side gets a slightly different route to the station. We entered in via the right hand side which turned out to be the longer queue of the two, oh well. Well, I say that but it was still only a good 15 min wait. We were getting close to the loading dock when the ride decided to break down. It took forever to deal with whatever the problem was and it felt like once they did fix the problem they made sure they sent every boat round empty before loading again. This was such an epic fail and was very random.

Anyway we were finally on (no idea how long we waited in the end) and off on our little journey. Right from the off I was a little confused with the layout. The steam effect with the projection of Davy Jones was very random however I thought the Barbosa and Sparrow additions worked really well within this version of the ride. The cannon blast effect worked really well too which was cool.

So what's better, Paris or Orlando? Paris hands down, from the epicly themed queueline to the sheer scale of the attraction. I'm still not sure if the film update would work in Paris, part of me hopes it doesn't turn up.

We then went into Frontierland up the ridiculous dead-end to Big Thunder Mountain. It had a fairly long wait, as did Splash Mountain so we grabbed a fastpass ticket for BTM. I don't think we had much of a wait so we just waited around until it was time. We then got on rather quickly which was nice. I wasn't sure how this was going to compare to the one in Paris and it had only recently come out of a massive refurbishment too. I really enjoyed it, very good fun. The random twisty track bit where they take the photo is very odd but I kinda loved it. It was all in fantastic condition and the coaster was super-smooth. I still loathe the ridiculous sound effects on the lift hills, they really aggravate my hearing, I was so sad when I heard it for the first time on this version too.

So we came off very happy guests and we wandered over to Splash to get a fast pass for that too. There was quite a long wait for this fast pass return so we headed over to Liberty Square for the Hall of Presidents but we'd just missed a performance so we had to wait 20 minutes or so. Hmm, after a little bit of "wtf do we do now?" we finally entered Fantasyland (which just looks awful) and entered the queue for It's a Small World. It was quite a long queue but as with these rides the queue moves quickly.



I kinda liked that each continent was in it's own room but there were so many random scenes and I'm not sure what it was but I weirdly prefer the Paris version (the exterior is definitely superior).




Eww

So after It's a Small World we headed back into Liberty Square to check on Hall of Presidents. Turns out that we had missed the next one too but it wasn't much of a wait for the next one. We had a little browse in the nearby shops including the Christmas shop. When we went to actually go and see Hall Of Presidents we clicked that there wasn't much of a wait until the parade. Also turns out that the show in front of the castle was about to start. We rushed over to there to catch the show which was alright.





After the show we decided to grab a good spot on Main Street for the parade. The parade was preceded by the Philharmonic band which was cool.



The parade itself was rather random but as with all Disney parades, it's generally quite fun.











So that was over and we went over to the Hall of Presidents again. This time we only had a few minutes to wait so we finally timed it right. It was quite an interesting show. The Lincoln animatronic is incredible and I can see why he's popular. Obama really doesn't look like Obama though, even from a distance it looks nothing like him, silly Disney. I loved how all the presidents would slightly move throughout the entirety of it, as if they were real people. I saw one pat the one next to him on the back after he was mentioned, I thought that was amazing, just that level of detail and care when probably 1 in 50 people notice it <3  So yeah, lots of American history yadda yadda but still cool what they can do with some amazing animatronics. OH and some peeps got a little political with whoops and boos when certain peeps were mentioned - lol.

It was then finally time for our journey down Splash Mountain. It's weird seeing a log flume but with such a wide boat and proper seating, still it was comfortable and cool. I absolutely fell in love with this ride, it's just so epic, the detail of theming is fantastic and just how many drops does it have? So many animatronics too and just, wow, love it. There were clearly a few effects that weren't working but overall it didn't detract from the ride and I can see why it's so raved about.

We decided to walk back to Fantasyland to check out the new Circus area. The Dumbos had quite a queue so we didn't bother with that but I wanted a go on Barnstormer. This was after we spent a little bit of time going 'I want to cool down in the Casey Jr water thing but I don't want to get too wet'. We ended up standing next to the front of the train as we hadn't seen any effects at that end and then he just went 'boom' and we got fairly moist lol. We spent a little bit of time of running under the shoots of water and that, such big kids lol. Overall it's a really nice little area and it compliments the train station really well. Kids were absolutely loving it (not surprised, it was so bloomin' hot) but it's a shame that because of their actions a fence has been put up around the front bit of the train.

So yeah, cred. Barnstormer actually had quite a queue but we didn't really care too much about that so we joined the back and awaited our turn on this Vemoka family coaster. For starters, I really love all the theming in the area, some of it is quite subtle but overall it's just fun and I really liked it. The coaster was your generic Vekoma rollerskater (or whatever they call them). So it's fun, shame there isn't a whole load of theming around the coaster itself but it's still fun. Oh and how long is that exit path? It's ridiculous.

I'm not 100% on the order of things to be honest but I think we popped into Tomorrowland and we randomly rode Carousel of Progress. This attraction, which may be a little outdated, was very fun and that song, gawd that really does imprint itself into your head doesn't it?

Next up was Stitch's Great Escape which had no wait. It's quite good fun if a little scary at times but that Stitch animatronic is amazing and I want it.

I think we were running out of time because of our dinner reservation so we just headed over to Liberty Square to wait for our reservation. Our dinner reservation was at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I think it looks great from the outside and the entrance hall is fantastic. We had apparently booked a popular time as there were lots of families waiting for tables.





After a little bit of a wait we were called up and taken to our table. All the seating areas were quite small and had quite a homely feel to them, I liked it, created a nice atmosphere. The dinner option is that they basically come out and place a family roast style buffet on your table. It gets a little cramped but we really liked it. The food they give you is really good and OMFG honey butter *drools*, who knew butter could get any better. Our amazing waitress was shocked when we said we couldn't deal with any more food but we still had desert to go. Wow, I think it was like an apple crumble thing and it was amazing. -1 Table service credit

After we had finished our epic meal it was already dark out which meant it was nearly time for the night entertainment. We went to the bottom of Main Street USA for the Main Street Electrical Parade. Turns out we managed to get a great spot, it was right outside the gate where the parade came from and there was no one in front of us. I really didn't like the huge spotlights they turned on at the top of the buildings, they were just a bit too bright, it was fantastic at ruining photos.




Getting ready for Halloween <3

It was then time for the parade. I love the music for this parade and have done for many years. Overall it's really fun, if random at times and it's clearly been updated within the last couple of years with projected faces on characters and that. I was really shocked by the use of characters actually live talking to the crowd from atop of floats, was cool.








we lol'd




He was talking to everyone - amazing

It was then time for [strike:39scnxjn]Dreams[/strike:39scnxjn] The Magic, The Memories and You. A random projection show on the castle where they show random pics taken on that day, however unless you're right in front of the castle you can't actually see any of the pictures properly, all very random and pointless. The random scenes were clearly cut outs from tests for Dreams at Paris which was quite amusing. However with the poor projection system used it just looked a bit odd and some of the mapping on the castle was very off. That was actually the last night of that show too, they're changing it into something slightly different so it'll be interesting to see what they do.


TronCastle

So after that random show it was time for Wishes. It was alright, nice to hear that main song again as it reminds me of my first time at Paris.



So the park was now closed but we were Disney hotel guests and there was Extra Magic Hours to be had, hurrah. I think the first ride we went on was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. There was no queue, we approved of this. Patrick didn't approve of the ride though, I agreed that the Paris version was better but I still enjoyed it, I do like shooter attractions despite their flaws. I think I beat Patrick by quite a bit which resulted in him moaning about the trigger not working properly.

Next up was Space Mountain. It actually wasn't walk on, there was probably a 20 minute wait. This is obviously when we found the interactive games in the queue, so addictive, you end up not wanting the queue to move on, so much fun to be had. I think they were closing off one of the coasters so they were sending everyone to the left hand side. Finally on and sitting in the very odd coaster train. Quite a comfy seat but it's such a hassle get in and out of. There are some moments I really loved, like the random tunnel at the start with all the light and sound effects and the helix of doom with the whizzing noise. It's very good fun but I do prefer the Paris version, not like you can really compare them though as they are completely different.

The uber long exit out of the attraction seems like a big joke though, takes about 10 minutes just to exit. Just what were they thinking when they designed it?

We then randomly decided to ride the People Mover. Such a random attraction. Not a lot to really say about it either really.

So after the People Mover we decided to head back over to Liberty Square for Haunted Mansion. It was basically walk on but we decided to venture through the interactive graveyard anyway. I think we missed some of the elements of the new graveyard but the bookshelf was fun, quite easily amused. The Madame Leota gravestone next to the building entrance is amazingly creepy, I thought it was me seeing things at first but after just staring at it for ages and saw it proper move I was like holy cow that's amazing.

So, anyway on to the actual attraction. First things first, it's nice to have the audio in English so I can understand what's going on. Not like there's much of a storyline to the attraction. I didn't get why there was a really cramped narrow queue alongside the conveyor belt/loading area, felt unnecessary. Still, the ride is quite fun, I'm not sure story wise how we're meant to magic from the top of the building to the graveyard though. Meh. The updated effects were fantastic, floating Leota and the different effects in the mirror were just excellent and I'd love Paris to get them.

Btw I prefer the Paris version, it just works with the whole Frontierland story so much better and that.

We decided to end our day with another ride on Big Thunder Mountain. It was also walk on. Loved it even more in the dark, great fun was had and so we went round again, awesome.

It was very late, about 12:45 or something and we were uber tired by this point. So off to the bus to get back to the hotel room. And that was that. A great first full day in a park. The crowds weren't too bad and it would also be the busiest we'd see the park throughout our entire trip. There are some aspects which I really like about the Florida park but I think the attention to detail in the architecture and overall design of the park among other things make me prefer Paris.


Thanks for reading. Coming soon - O! Canada and the nightmares of Ellen

[norhel]

Great report. :-) Looking forward to the rest :-)

[norhel]

By the way, just of curiosity, did you put your report also over at wdwmagic.com?

[peep]

Thanks. Yes, I've also posted this on WDW Magic.

September 3rd - Ellen's Nightmare welcomes us to the World Showcase


Our resort boat to Downtown

We got up at a more sensible time on this day and opted to grab a snack for breakfast so I think we just grabbed a danish or something from the fast food desk.


OMG, these guys were everywhere, I want one

So, we got on the next shuttle bus to Epcot which was just round the corner so a nice and quick journey.



We only had like an hour or so until our lunch reservation in Canada so we decided to go on an attraction or two in Future World. We headed to the left where we could see a very closed Test Track. Universe of Energy looked interesting and it was close by so we headed over to that. Both of us had absolutely no idea what it was and the next pre-show was just about to begin, excellent.



Well, weren't we in for a big surprise. The cast members make sure everyone is quite aware that the whole attraction (including pre-show) takes a total of 45 minutes. 45 MINUTES, what the hell? We had just enough time to do this before our reservation so we were ok with this. The pre-show introduces us to Ellen and Bill Nye the Science Guy (we thought he was just a character for this, oh boy were we wrong, more on that as the TR goes on). Ellen is actually amusing and overall it's quite a cool little pre-show. It also has unexpected Jamie Lee Curtis! WTF!!! So yeah, we were then told that we were entering Ellen's dream/nightmare sequence where Bill Nye the Science Guy will tell us the history of Energy.

You then enter into this huge room with several very large vehicles which just have massive rows of seats. After a lot of faff getting everyone in the show then begins. Just everything about this attraction is just ridiculous and massive, I'm still baffled by how much energy it must take to move those ridiculous vehicles. According to a fan site the 2 acres of solar panels on the roof are able to provide enough to power the entire attraction but I find that so hard to believe. So I'm calling their bluff and say that they're just using magic. So yeah, quite a few funny moments, quite informative (if you know nothing about fuels etc) and has more Jamie Lee at the end <3 Yeah, Patrick and I became big fans of what we referred to as "Ellen's Nightmare ride".

Obviously time was moving on and we were close to our reservation time so we made our way to Canada, which is luckily the first country in the World Showcase. On our way I had to get my photo taken with the Phineas and Ferb topiarys because Phineas and Ferb is awesome.



So yeah, on to Le Cellier Steakhouse in Canada. I kinda liked that anyone that served us basically told us about their home town, it's a little weird but it's quite cool. The restaurant felt a little small but it was very nice, felt very upmarket. With the Dining Plan we were able to have a three course meal here so for some reason we did. Our starter was a cheese soup which was surprisingly nom, well it would be, it contained bacon  My main course was a burger (I felt so unadventurous ordering it) which was absolutely amazing, the meat was fantastic and it was very filling. Still, we also had a dessert to go. We both opted for the chocolate mousse. We were both expecting a mousse in a pot like you get from the supermarkets. Instead we got the below...



It was awesome, I love how the antlers were maple syrup as well, lol, so Canadian <3 Overall it was an incredible meal and we were so glad we chose to eat in there. -1 table service credit

As we were already in Canada it was decided that we should just get O! Canada out of the way. So past quite a nice waterfall you enter into this little waiting area which smells of manure or something atrocious before moving into the main room where the circlevision film plays.





The film is alright, just a random mash up of helicopter shots really with the occasional amusing moment from the amazing Martin Short. It also ends with a very addictive song which easily gets into your head.

Moving on from Canada we had a little look around the British area which was quite quaint, kinda saddens me that there isn't more to it though.







At the back of the shops is a little meet and greet area with characters. Tigger and Winnie the Pooh were there so we had our pic with them...





There's then a little walk to the next pavilion which is France. We went to see the Impressions of France film but had just missed a screening so we had a little look around the shops before heading back in.





The show was quite nice, I liked their selection of classical music, was very relaxing. The air con was also appreciated. When we exited we noticed that Marie from Aristocats was out so we went and had our picture taken with her.



Patrick had also made note of when Mary Poppins was out in the UK section so we headed over as she was just about to head out. After a little wait Patrick finally got his photo with Poppins. She was having quite a good ol' chin wag with pretty much everyone and she loved talking about the parrot on her umbrella.



Morocco was next which was really nice to look around. It was mainly shops and a restaurant (a standard for each pavilion it would seem) but it was still really nice. The heat however was not so nice and I was finding every opportune moment to pop into somewhere with aircon.

The next Pavilion is Japan which was really cool. I love the architecture of it all and the shop was humongous. They also had a very large selection of Sake. Exiting the shop we found ourselves in a little exhibition space, it was something to do with manga which was cool.





Next is America and the American Adventure show. As we entered the building in the foyer was the Voices of America group who were amazing. Very talented group of singers. The show was pretty good (some amazing animatronics) but it was all a bit too patriotic which is expected but yeah, too much.



The next pavilion is Italy which is beautiful, just like Italy. We caught the end of this little comedy group's show which was really random but quite funny.







Next was Germany which looks fantastic. We decided to have a German beer. It tasted like beer.







China was next but we decided to walk past it to go to Norway next for Maelstrom. Norway has a very nice area too and it's cool that it has a boat ride. The ride is actually very random, not 100% sure what was going on but it was fun. The ride exit brings you into a room where a promo video for Norway plays, it's very dated and the doors were just left open so most people were just walking straight out. We only watched it for a little bit ourselves because it was dated and a bit boring.





We also popped into the little Norway exhibition to do with Vikings. It was small and random, it would have been fine (because of the aircon) but some lady was just awkwardly standing by the door just staring into space, it was odd.

We then went back to the China Pavilion for Reflections of China. Another circlevision film but with an amazing building which also housed a little exhibition on the terracotta army.







I liked this circlevision film, it was relaxing and very interesting.

We then headed down to the Mexico pavilion for the Gran Fiesta Tour. Wow, this building is huge, to house a dark ride, a marketplace and a restaurant, it's pretty cool. I loved the boat ride too, the three caballeros are awesome and make what was clearly a boring boat ride into something really fun and energetic.









By the time we exited the building the sun was setting so we decided to grab a little meal before finding a good spot for the night show. We ended up in China for a simple meal. I had orange chicken with rice (basically sweet and sour) with some gelato for desert. It was quite nice and filled us up nicely.




Patrick's food

So we went in search of a good spot for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. We found a decent spot near Mexico, however we were right next to one of the fire lamps, it was hot enough as it was, didn't need more heat.





The show is great, it starts off with such a great bang that it does go a little downhill in my opinion. Some nice effects though.




That huge amount of fire was insane, you could really feel it from the lake edge too



So that was that, our second day was already at an end. We had a little look around some of the shops near the entrance before getting the bus back to the hotel. We had such a nice day at Epcot despite the intense heat but luckily there is plenty of aircon. I love the World Showcase. I wish some pavilions had more to see and do but it's still fantastic to walk around.


Thanks for reading - next is our journey to find a yeti

[petals]

I'm liking your trip report. I find it amusing how you compare it to Paris. I will prob be doing the other way around when I'm in Paris next month. I've been to WDW 5 times and love the place  

[peep]

^Thanks Petals for your comment. I tried not to compare them when I was actually there but it's so hard not to. Hope you have a good time next month

September 4th - Expedition Yeti

Due to small opening hours we made sure we got up at a decent time and on the bus to get to the park a little after opening. I think we grabbed a quick breakfast at the fast food place at the hotel too so -1 quick service credit. It felt like quite a long journey to Animal Kingdom, what with it being all by itself on the other side of the resort. Finally we were there though and the heat felt really intense, something that didn't change during the day.

The entrance to Animal Kingdom feels really unusual, with lots of overgrown animal enclosures and meandering pathways. Finally you come to a wide bridge into a more open area which gives you the excellent view of the Tree of Life in the center of the park. You then have to make the choice of going left or right. We decided to head for Asia as we had no idea what the queues for the rides were like.

On our way we spotted Doug and Russell from Up, there was a little wait but how could we pass up such an opportunity like that!



We then continued our trek onwards to Asia, passing more random animal enclosures. We saw some Macaws and I can't work out how Disney get them to stay within the enclosure, there are no high walls/fences, big rope over the top or anything, just very open. This wasn't the only enclosure we saw like this either.





Once in Asia we found a massive Gibbon enclosure which was also open. It was amazing though and the Gibbons seemed to love it, I spent quite a bit of time watching them on this day. Round the corner and we find this incredible view...


Obligatory shot #402

It's such an incredible sight, the way it just dominates over all the trees is fantastic. Obviously this is where we were heading and before long we were at the entrance.



I'd heard so much about this queueline and I'd seen lots of amazing photos but nothing truly prepares you for the level of theming in this queueline, there is just so much to look at it's incredible. So much detail in every direction you look, I loved the ride already and I hadn't even stepped on the train. There was one problem with the queue, there wasn't anyone else in it which meant we was going past all the awesomeness too quickly.





So, we got on the ride and the level of detail doesn't stop at the end of the queue. I thought the first random little section was random but fun and then the big lift hill is nicely split with the random building with the awesome picture of a yeti. Once at the top of the lift hill you get a good idea of just how high this mountain coaster is, fantastic views at the top and you can see the other parks quite clearly. I thought the first stop "oh no the track in front has been destroyed" took way too long, just sitting there for ages waiting for something to happen, got quite boring up there as there's nothing to really look at. Then you fall back and into the mountain. Woah, I was not expecting such intense forces in there, totally insane and I loved it. The second stop took just as long but at least this time there's something to look at, going down that big drop is fantastic and the other indoor sections were great. We also found the yeti! To be honest, because I've not seen anything of him really moving and because there was only one weak strobe light on him I wouldn't have been any wiser. You can't even really see him properly until you're just under him (has this always been the case or have they lessened the light so his brokeness isn't so noticeable?).

Anyway, it's a fantastic coaster that I really enjoyed despite the long pauses.

We then headed over to the rapids. I love that the boats have a sealed area to help protect your belongings. I also love that the lift hill is at the start of the ride. The big fountain effects are quite funny, because everyone panics about the one that's in the path that the boat is going to take, a fun way to start the ride. Then you move swiftly into the whole "Oh noes, we're cutting down all our forests" message scene which is a little boring despite how well done it is. Then you go down the drop which, for me, wasn't amazing because I've ridden Phantasialand's River Quest which has bigger, steeper? ones. Then there's a few effects here and there and not a lot of actual rapids action. I have to admit that I was expecting better from Disney but I was really let down. Especially as not everyone in the boat gets really wet which on a day like that I totally needed and I didn't get. Sad face. It's still fun, because it does have moments of 'will I get soaked or not' and does have the general fun with randomers that I like about rapids attractions but I've just been on better.

We then decided to go back for more Expedition Everest via the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I loved this walk-through. The first animal we came across was bats, they were huge.





I loved all the amazing theming everywhere, the ancient ruins of Asia vibe was excellent and worked really well.




I wonder where Chessington:WoA got the idea of Wild Asia from?

They had Tigers <3



We were then back at Everest where I think we walked on for another ride.



We then made our way over to Dinoland USA and it just so happened that by the time we were over by Finding Nemo: The Musical there wasn't much of a wait for the next performance (it looked like the whole park was waiting for it).



I love Finding Nemo and I was always sceptical about the musical. It was ok, I was very impressed by the visuals they created, was just like seeing a show on the West End. For me a musical can only be good classed on how good or bad the songs are and I just wasn't a fan of any of the songs, it just didn't appeal to me at all. So I ended up being all meh about it.

We then continued into the awful part of the park where Primeval Whirl lives. Astonishingly both of them were running (I heard only one of them opens or neither of them) and as neither side had much of a wait we went round and got on both within a very short space of time. The first one was ok and it helped that it was just us two in the car, we had space to move about a bit. We also managed a fair amount of spinning. On the other side however we were sat in the same car as these two little kids, it was quite a tight squeeze with Patrick and I in just half the car, this also resulted in quite a lot of spinning which I think took the kids by surprise. There was also a lot of groaning from our side any time we went round a corner lol.

It was then time for Dinosaur, I was really looking forward to this ride as I'd heard so much about it and I knew it had the EMV system. As we were just leaving the very Jurassic Park-esque hall we heard "Bill Nye the Science Guy" come over the sound system. This is when we basically just looked at each other and went "WHAT!?" For us, the mystery thickened, just who was this guy? And why was he all over the Resort as the resident Science guy?  Ha, only time will help answer our little questions.

So, back to the pre-show and there were MORE cameos. The guy teaching us about our vehicle I knew from CSI as one of the resident science guys and the main Lady was from the Cosby show (apparently, I only this from a quick research trip on the internets). Still, they had set us up with the story for the ride and we were on our way to the vehicles. I loved all the piping with detailed labels everywhere. The ride itself is fantastic fun, the ride system is the real star here though and is just amazing.



We then headed over to the other side of the park for Camp Minnie Mickey. We went for the Festival of the Lion King show which we only just about made it into (literally running down the very long path to the theatre). It's a fun show and more interactive than I thought it would be. Anyway, you can't go wrong with the amazing music of the Lion King. Oh and talking Timon was amazing, just makes these characters look so much more alive.

We then hung out in the characters area where Gi-Tar Dan was playing some classic Disney tunes on this guitar. The first characters we said hello to was Baloo and King Louie.





We then went over to see Pocahontas who was obsessed with Patrick's compass "John Smith had a spinning needle like yours". She was brilliant.



We then had an ice cream before heading to the center of the park for It's tough to be a bug. Parts of the paths near the tree are still cut off due to the branch falling off earlier in the year. They've also added protection netting over all the queue. Doesn't make too much of a difference though. We loved that in the waiting area they have posters for musicals but big related and the music playing are songs from those shows but 'sung' by bugs, fantastic. The show itself is pretty good and does put all over 4D shows to shame. Entering the theatre you wouldn't think any of the stuff that happens would be possible, pretty amazing. I found the 3D a little blurry but I don't know if that was down to the glasses or what. The Hopper animatronic is amazing and really makes this show stand out from others. I really like the song at the end too. Things I don't like in the show though are the stabbing in the back effect and the smell effect (eww).





We then went back into the Asia area. Randomly caught the DJ show which also had a dancer, I felt so sorry for her because she was directly in the sun and was just dancing for a really long time.



Still, it was next to the Gibbon enclosure, so I had more time to watch these fascinating creatures while some decent music was being played.






Such an amazing enclosure

We then found a spot along the parade route which was slightly in the shade. I had one of those fans that also sprays water, I think if I didn't have that I would have just died waiting for this parade. The parade itself was random, especially how every other car just had random families in it. I just found that a little awkward? I just didn't get it.









After the parade we went for a couple more goes on Everest before heading over to Africa. By the time we reached the area everything was coming to a close but this amazing band were playing. Unfortunately for them only us and some cast members were watching but they were fantastic and created a really cool atmosphere in the area. The cast members were dancing away too which was fun.



Towards the end the singer got off the stage and created a little conga line with the other staff members lol. It was a great way to end our day at the park.

I really love Animal Kingdom, I wish the weather wasn't so hot so it was nicer to hang out and just watch the amazing animals for longer periods of time. The rides are really good too but Dinoland USA just looks awful, looks like an American amusement park rather than a highly themed area in a Disney park, the quicker they re-theme it the better imo.

In the evening we had a reservation at Ohanas at the Polynesian Resort. We managed to actually get there in such good time that we had about an hour to kill. So we just hung around, checked out there beach and that. It's a very nice Resort.





Our meal at OHanas was like a mix between Liberty Tree Tavern (a selection of sides laid out in a buffet style on your table) and a Brazilian restaurant I've been to in London (various meats come over to your table on large sticks and however much you want of said meat is put on to your plate). It was really nice food and there was a good selection of meats (the chicken was delicious). Desert was this amazing bread pudding which was just om nom nom.

There was event entertainment during our meal. A lady was going round the restaurant and teaching everyone about some Hawaiian traditions and got a bunch of kids to dance and that and ended with a huge group of people to basically congo line around the restaurant, it was all very entertaining and fun.

We then went back out to the beach area to watch the boat parade thing (like Main Street Electrical Parade on boats) on the lake. However when we got there they had paused and the music had switched to Wishes as from the beach you can watch all the fireworks, was all rather random but very cool.





The parade then decided to continue but without it's music while Wishes was still going on. I don't get why they would time it to clash like that?





Once both had finished the film they were screening on the beech started up again, it was only Lilo & Stitch! I kinda wanted to stay and watch but Patrick didn't agree.



So back to our hotel we went. I think we just went to our room and ended up watching lots of TV. This might have been the night we introduced ourselves to Golden Girls, something neither of us had seen before, it was quite amusing and there was an endless stream of episodes - not good if you need some sleep for the next day!


Thanks for reading - next we learn to draw

[norhel]

Very nice report :-)

[peep]

^Thanks Norhel


September 5th - Learning to draw

Once again we got up at a fairly decent time and had some breakfast before getting on the next bus to our next destination - Disney's Hollywood Studios. I was really looking forward to visiting this park, most of all I was really looking forward to Star Tours II: The Adventures Continue.



I'm easily won over with these Hollywood themed streets, so much to look at and it's such a nice style of architecture.





We headed straight over to the Pixar Studio for Toy Story Midway Mania. Expecting there to be a huge queue as that's all we'd heard about this ride in preparation of the trip. Turns out there was only a 15 minute wait in the very well themed queueline. During this time we never saw Mr Potato Head take off his ear or hat which made us sad, but it's still a very impressive animatronic.





The ride itself was fantastic fun, even if it does absolutely kill your arm muscles. I like how it tells you how accurate you are throughout the attraction. We could easily see why this is a very popular attraction but it's not exactly something you can just re-ride straight away. I'm still quite confused as to how the huge scores you see come up at the end happen though.

I think we then walked round to do the Studio Backlot Tour next. I quite liked the first section where the poor volunteers are drenched. The actual tram tour section was very boring though, the most interesting part was probably when they pointed out the plane that Walt and his team used to fly between Florida and California during the purchasing of the land and construction of WDW.

We then walked down one of the street sets to Muppetvision 3D. I don't really get the street sets at this park, it feels like they are there for no particular reason, they're not awesome façades for attractions or anything, it just feels a bit pointless.



I was so excited about seeing the last true Muppet awesome-ness overseen by Jim Henson and I wasn't let down. Everything about this attraction is just amazing, the pre-show film is hilarious and the props hanging everywhere are amazing and full at hints towards previous Muppet capers. It's a Muppet fans dream. The film itself is amazing, the 3D worked really well, the animatronics were amazing (Swedish Chef <3 ) and just, wow, I loved it so much. The only thing that I felt was missing from it was Animal and the band, was a shame they didn't make an appearance at some point. If the Paris studios park is missing one thing it is totally this attraction.







The shop was also quite cool with it's little section that looks like the backstage area we see in the TV show. Just a shame the whole store isn't full of Muppets merchandise.



It's also weird how next to it is a Pizza Planet and a couple of meet and greet areas. Although as soon as I saw Phineas and Ferb I made sure we queued up to meet them. It would appear that every child that exited MuppetVision thought the same thing so we did have to wait quite a while.






I see you Agent P!




How could they NOT reference the best episode the show has ever had?

When we turned a corner and saw the heavily themed store for Star Tours I got a little too excited lol. To actually see a themed exterior for this attraction was awesome and obviously we had to just head right in.



It was really cool to see the new changes to this queueline that may one day come to the Paris version. The updated screen board was brilliant, the weather reports were a very nice touch imo. The security bag check animatronic was hilarious too. The little nods to the original version were cool too.





The ride itself was a complete joy and totally worth the wait. The 3D was amazing, the C3-PO animatronic was amazing, the film was amazing. OMG the first ending we had probably had the best 3D moment on any attraction ever, I loved it.

[spoiler:qxk0cwms]We crashed into another ship with a pointy front, said front comes right into the cabin[/spoiler:qxk0cwms]

So on a massive high after experiencing two absolutely amazing attractions where should we go next? I think we decided to chill for a bit, go and check out the merchandise etc. We had a little look at the sculptures of actors outside the American Idol building. Angela Lansbury <3



We were then walking about when we came across one of the random little shows that take place around the park. It was hilarious and I'm really glad we caught it. Basically it was this film maker and his assistant trying to get this dumb policeman to say one line correctly.



I think it was then time for our dinner reservation at the Brown Derby. It was very posh, so it was weird going in wearing ordinary clothes. Our waiter was pretty awesome. We decided to keep up the whole posh-ness of it all by ordering alcoholic cocktails which were really strong, their alcohol measurements are clearly bigger than here in the UK. Patrick was loving the glowing ice cube too.



I had a pork chop which was very nice but it randomly came on a bed of crisps (British term), lol, I must have looked so confused when it came out. For desert I had a fruit cobbler which was very nice. -2 table service credits.




It's all about the little touches

When we exited the restuarant it was nearly time for the parade so we went and found a spot, unfortunately there isn't any shade along the parade route so we had to wait in the sun </3 Pre-parade a bunch of guys got people to create a 'flash-mob' dance. It was a bit random but it helped kill some time before the parade.





There didn't seem to be many people watching the parade but I think that was purely down to the heat. Luckily when the parade began a big cloud decided to get in the way of the sun making life a bit more bearable during the parade.














This just doesn't look right





The parade was fun, the song was addictive and it was great seeing characters from most of the Pixar films. I thought Bullseye and Mr Potato Head looked a bit weird but apart from that it was all cool.

We decided that the next attraction to hit up would be the Great Movie Ride. The entrance is pretty spectacular and I like the queueline with all the memorabilia, the trailers for old films is really cool too. However on several occasions I found myself watching it so intensely that I didn't realise that the queue had moved on.



The ride is good fun but I get the feeling it's another attraction which relies heavily on the cast members and I don't think ours were the best out there. Shame.

Upon exiting we noticed that it wasn't long before the Indiana Jones stunt show was on so we headed right over to that. I was really looking forward to this being a big fan of the Trilogy. I don't know how Disney have managed it but I found it quite dull. I think it fails in the same way that Motors Action fails, they spend too much time faffing and explaining simple things in a really drawn out way. I think stunt shows should flow and they really don't. Sad face.



I think we may have gone to see Beauty and the Beast next. The heat was really getting to me in this very open theatre and the show packed out which was unexpected. The show was allright, it compacts a fantastic film into a 20 minute show and has a couple of the best musical numbers from the film. It was good fun but it was hard to keep concentrating on it due to the immense heat that was clearly trying to kill me lol.

It was then time to head over to Rock 'n' Rollercoaster. I love the exterior to this version, that giant guitar is pretty cool. There wasn't really a queue so we basically just headed straight into the pre-show room. It's so similar yet so different to the Paris one it's really surreal. I like the loading room, the theming is pretty cool.





So how did I find the ride experience compared to Paris? Well the actual coaster is 100% the same, I knew that beforehand but it's odd how the difference in theming during the coaster changes the ride experience so dramatically. I love the way the Paris version is masses of lighting rigging with an awesome light show, I really don't love the horrible cardboard cut-outs on the Florida version. It just looked cheap and tacky, not something I expect from a Disney attraction. So Florida has a better exterior but Paris has the better overall attraction.

Next up was time for yet another comparison to the Paris Studio park. Hollywood Tower of Terror. I'd heard mixed things before going as to which Resort had the best version and I can say that my favourite between the two is definitely the Paris one. The area in which you wait for the elevator feels really squashed and like they ran out of space. I also don't like the whole moving forwards corridor, it just felt like a really unnecessary delay before the main thrill section of the attraction. The random drop sequence was random and I didn't really get the screen projecting random Twilight Zone images on it in the bottom of the drop area. It's still great fun, it's hard for Tower of Terror to be anything but, I just prefer the Paris one.





We decided to go back over to Star Tours for another ride. On the way we were distracted by what sounded like Rock music, I was intrigued so we went to check it out. It was Mulch, Sweat and Shears, a little rock group that comes out and plays some rock music at designated times. They were really awesome and the lead guy was fantastic with interacting with the crowd. I loved how the sound technician was dressed up as a car mechanic and looked like he was just fixing the engine, I thought that was genius.







Star Tours was excellent second time round and we got a completely new mix of scenes which was fantastic. One of my favourite elements of the new story is the hologram of a character giving everyone a message, it's so awesome. There is one issue with version 2 that I haven't mentioned yet and that's the 3D glasses making the side screen go all weird because it's not a 3D image, still a minor issue in a fantastic attraction.

We then went in search of some food and we ended up in the backlot express. A big fast food joint which was pretty empty. I had some boneless chicken wings which were pretty awesome despite being way too spicy for me (I cooled them down with a decent amount of ranch dressing). I love all the props hanging around and we happened to sit next to the car they used for Roger Rabbit. We both thought that was pretty cool.



It was getting late and almost time for Fantasmic. So we headed over to there. As we did we looked at the sky in amazement as a storm was brewing and with the sun it was creating some epic looking clouds.





I randomly popped into the Planet Hollywood store and found the two female Power Ranger costumes from the film! I used to love the Power Rangers as a child and they gave me happy memories from my childhood.



We then continued on into the Fantasmic arena. I think everyone was a little concerned that the storm was going to ruin or cancel the show (I know Patrick was very concerned). It was creating some epic lightning bolts behind the mountain which was really cool to watch. The crowd entertainers came out and were pretty awesome at warming up the crowd, everyone singing Disney classics was pretty amazing. Who wouldn't love over 6,000 people singing along at the same time? There was a little delay due to the weather (I think they were concerned the weather was getting closer) but it wasn't too bad.

The show is really good, I love the main song from the show. I don't really get why Pocahontas gets such a massive section of the show though? I've heard the soundtrack for the California one which has Peter Pan instead and that seems to just flow better. Still the show is a great way to end a brilliant day at the Studios park.

I still can't get over how awesome Star Tours II and Muppetvision are. The whole park is just fantastic and I couldn't wait to get back already which is good because we only had a few days inbetween our next visit.

So we had left the park and went back to the hotel, I think we may have actually gone to Downtown for a bit too. Could have been the night where we sat at the Tequila bar drinking another alcoholic cocktail while a really cool duo of musicians were jamming away.


Thanks for reading! Next up is a journey to mysterious islands

[DLRP Roundup!]

Glad to see you enjoyed Disney's Hollywood Studios, despite the criticism it gets, it's my favourite Disney park, was there from September 19th! Fantasmic also is my favourite show. Did you get a chance to see the "One Mans Dream" Walt Disney walkthrough and movie?

[grovesie]

I'm booked to go in March...........Can not wait.

[peep]

^^Glad to hear you're enjoying the report. We eventually saw the One Mans Dream on another day so more on that in due course.

^Have fun!

I noticed that I titled that last report about learning to draw, realised that that isn't until our next visit, whoops.


September 6th - Islands of fun!

The original plan for today was to just go to Universal Studios but as the evening show wasn't on due to some corporate event we decided to spend the day at Islands of Adventure. We had booked the night before a Mears shuttle from our hotel. The guy was really early and we were the last to get in and we had to squeeze into the back of this vehicle which was a little awkward. Still we were soon on our way and before we knew it we had arrived at the Universal Resort.

We went straight over to the park via CityWalk and as soon as we entered I was happy, the theming is amazing, one of the best park entrances I've seen. Just so much to look at.







Our plan was to head into the Marvel area first and work our way around. So first up was The Incredible Hulk. I was looking forward to this, a launched B&M, what could go wrong? We had to put our stuff into lockers first which was annoying and a running theme for the rest of the day. The queueline was empty which meant we just walked past all the TV screens, I'm sure it would have helped the boredom if there was a queue. We walked straight into the back row, it's odd, it was like no one wanted to go for the back row.



So, what did I think of the actual ride experience? Not as good as I was hoping, the launch was great and the ride had some great moments but overall it was a little too rough. I don't get how it was rough though? Is it something to do with the Florida weather?



So yeah, not a fantastic start to our day. We hit up Spiderman next, another ride I was uber excited about riding. There was once again no queue, this park was totally dead - excellent. The random Merlin-esque green screen photo opportunity that you're forced to do half way through the queue was odd and I don't really understand why it's there.

OMG, this ride is so friggin' amazing, I loved every second of it, the music, the effects, the amazing 3D, I was just totally blown away by how good it was. It was really weird seeing a poster for Iron Man in the background of one of the scenes, nice little touch.

We walked straight through the Toon Lagoon area and into the Jurassic Park area. I wanted to take a nice photo of the entrance sign but some lady was taking about a year to pose in front of it so I got impatient and she is now in my photo too, we can call her Mandy.



The sign for River Adventure said 10 minutes but this was a lie, it was walk-on. OMG I was loving these empty queuelines. This ride is really well done, the indoor section I could actually feel my heart starting to race, the tension they build is brilliant. I liked how all my fav dinos from the film made it into the ride. The drop at the end is brilliant too, a nice amount of air time and the splash doesn't get you too soaked (well, unless you sit in the front). It was just refreshing because despite how early it was the heat was already being quite burdenous.



We tried to get on the Jurassic Park coaster but despite the park being empty and about 6 adults all trying to get into the queue at the same time the staff member was having none of it. I don't think any of us could quite believe what we were hearing, the ride was made to allow adults to sit in the carriage so why couldn't we go on? Not like there was a 30 min queue for kids waiting. It looked like fun too which was the worst bit about it.

So because it was hot we decided to head back and do the two water rides. Question, why have Universal put all three of their water rides in the same area? Just seems like a silly idea.

Anyway we decided to do Rip Saw Falls and stupidly didn't pay to put our bags into a locker. It's a shame the whole theme of this ride was totally lost on me but I've just never seen the TV show it's referring to before - Did it even make it over to the UK? The ride itself is pretty good though with lots of drops and it gets you absolutely drenched. However I was getting a little concerned about my bag's contents towards the end of the ride so on the big drop when we got towards the splash I leant over it to help protect it which resulted in Patrick getting double the amount of water - LOL.



So we were suitably moist already, what harm could going on the rapids ride next do? I'd heard many stories about this ride and I wasn't risking my valuables again so placed them in a locker. The queueline was empty yet it still took a good 10 minutes to get on the ride, why are they so long even if they're empty? We were sat in a boat with a family and I've never laughed so much in my entire life. The entire ride is just an assault on the boat, it's like they're trying to drown you at every turn. I don't even know what was going on for most of it because I got so wet so quickly that the wax in my hair was starting to make its way down my face (such a gross feeling). I think the most hilarious part for me was when we were going up the lift hill, as every other rapids I've been on ends with one I thought "oh, maybe this is the end, thank God for that". No, it really wasn't, it was yet another descent into copious amounts of water. The look on the Mother's face was priceless when we all realised what was about to happen.



Oh Popeye & Bruto's Bilge-rat Barges, you are so evil but so amazing. I felt like I'd just jumped into the Sea or something, I was just dripping water for hours, not even the hot Florida Sun could help. It should be said that it may have put Patrick off rapids for life. There's no way I could do it again unless unless I'd lost the plot but I won't deny how brilliant it was and an experience I'll never forget.

So because we were both so wet we sat around for a bit and then wandered towards Potter. Patrick loathes Potter and it made him keep saying bad things about the new area without even entering it which was a little annoying. It's a shame that if you're outside the Potter area you can tell that the main ride is just in a massive warehouse.


Look to the left of the photo

However I thought once inside the area it was so immersive and the attention to detail was amazing. Obviously we headed straight for Forbidden Journey. It was advertising a 20 minute wait but it turned out to be more like 5 or 10. Apparently this is pretty unheard of. The queueline was amazing once you enter the actual school. I was a little sad that there wasn't a queue because we walked past so many effects. We did stop and watch the Dawn French painting because she's amazing.

I loved the ride, it all works really well, I like how there is onboard audio as well as general audio, helps create a fantastic surround sound. I thought some scenes were quite scary, especially as a lot of kids would be riding it. Still, a fantastic ride if a little disorientating.

The faff of trying to get belongings out of the lockers at the end was really annoying. The person in front of us was taking forever because it was having issues reading his fingerprint and then he let us go and it was having issues with mine too, urgh. We called an attendant over who was able to sort it out for both of us. It was just all so frustrating though and takes up so much time.

We were getting quite hungry now so we went in search of food. We ended up going all the way over to the Suess area. It's quite a fun and quirky little area, very colourful. We ate in the big tent, the staff in there were all really happy and cool. I think I had spaghetti and meatballs with some epic dippin dots desert. The food was really good and filling if a little on the pricey side.

As we were in the area we decided to do the rides. We went over to Cat in the hat. We had no idea what it was so you can imagine the massive smiles on our faces when it turned out to be a really cool dark ride. It did love to spin though which wasn't such a great idea after food. Still, we both loved it, I had no idea it even existed and it was just so much fun.





We then rode the The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride which is totally a powered rollercoaster. It was quite cool going through the big tent which we ate in...







It was quite good fun. It probably had one of the longest queues of the day too which was odd. Oh and the staff member loved talking to us because we were British, she was fab.



Heading back towards the Potter area we fell in love with the Lost Continent area and decided to do the Poseideon's Fury attraction. We had no idea what it was but it looked epic and I'd heard it was a must-do. Patrick was a little concerned it was another water ride (we still hadn't dried off completely after the rapids) so we asked an attendant who said it wasn't. The ride itself is very cool and I have no idea how to talk about it without giving anything away. It's just mind-blowingly epic, how the hell the last scene happens I don't even know. I really loved it but it's not exactly something you can go through more than once in a trip.





It's a shame that more of the Lost Continent area is getting eaten up by Potter. They had started construction on the train line that runs to the other park and they were in the process of tearing down what looked like some market stalls.

Talking of Potter we went back in for Dragon Challenge. We placed our stuff in a locker and headed into the very long but empty queueline. The queueline is once again really well themed and there were some really nice touches here and there. Once again everyone seemed to be avoiding the back row so we walked straight onto the back row of the red one. It was a fantastic coaster, quite intense and had some brilliant moments. It's a big shame that everything outside is just over dirt, grass and concrete, it lets the whole ride down. Seeing all the backstage buildings and air con units just looks really unprofessional too. The fact it didn't duel was also a massive let down but at least I knew about that beforehand.

We then went straight back around for the blue one. This was no where near as good as the red one, not as intense and full of long straight bits (clearly so it could duel). I found it a little boring in comparison.

We then got our bags back and went to ride Flight of the Hippogriff. It was good fun, I quite like these little family coasters. The little area it sits in is quite nicely themed too.

After we got off the weather had turned and it had started to spit/drizzle. We headed back towards the Jurassic Park area and it then started to really chuck it down so we had to run to some cover. The next indoor area was the Jurassic Park discovery center. I'd heard that it was just a shop and fast food place but downstairs it's full of awesome. So glad the rain forced in there. When we got downstairs there was a guy holding a small animatronic dino which was just so cool.



There were loads of interactive things to do including a cool 'what dino would you be' DNA thing which had the DNA strand from the film talking you through it.



They also had a lab where they taught you how to look after dino eggs and one of them hatched like in the film <3



This place was a Jurassic Park fans dream. However we made the decision to move over to the other park due to the inclement weather. We left the building because the weather had calmed for a moment but as we made a break for it the weather started to get worse. We ended up hiding in the Marvel area for quite some time. The weather wasn't getting any better so to help kill some time we did Spiderman again. It was still brilliant second time around.

Once we exited the attraction the weather was a bit more calm so we made our break for the exit and headed over to the Studios park. The first thing we did was head straight into the new Despicable Me attraction. It was good fun and the minions <3 "BANANA!" I love how after the simulator section you enter a room where you party with minions, was pretty cool.

After that we headed into Twister. Ha, it is such a random attraction but pretty cool. The cow <3 The pre show videos are looking very dated though and is probably in need of a little update.

We then went in to do Revenge of the Mummy. It was walk on so we managed to just run round and do it twice in a row. It's not really what I was expecting, the two proper scenes were really awesome but the dark ride section where you're just whizzing around a bunch of glow in the dark cardboard cut outs, yeah just like Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, I thought it was lame and a bit pants. So overall the ride is good because of the epic scenes but I just wasn't a fan of the actual coaster sections.

After our second go the parade was just about to start. We were both quite intrigued by this as it is Universal's first go at a proper parade. It was actually really good. The music mix was really fun, there was loads of characters and dancers and that an it was generally very entertaining.










Bit of a random choice but it worked quite well





After the parade we decided to grab a snack. I went into Starbucks and Patrick grabbed some Ben & Jerrys. After our little snack we went over to Men in Black. The first room you enter, the confusion on all of our faces was brilliant and then we entered the main queue which was empty but it was really cool, looks like it was just ripped straight out of the film. The ride was really cool but neither of us really knew how the points thing was working. Sometimes we'd get points and sometimes we wouldn't yet we'd both be constantly hitting the aliens - are you only meant to hit certain ones? So we were a little confused and with the park about to close we managed to run round and go on again. Yep, still confused as to how the points work, pretty sure the queueline tells you but we just walked past everything.

Oh well, that was our day in the parks. We then had a long wait until out shuttle back to the hotel so we went for some dinner. We opted for the Hard Rock Cafe. OMG I love this restaurant so much, our waiter was called 'Vegas' and he was awesome and just everything about the place was epic. I loved all the murals with Rock legends and the stain glass windows and the massive interactive screen where you can view all of the memorabilia they've got at all of the restaurants. The food was really good too and if I end up in Florida again I'm totally going back.






Patrick's burger


BBQ Pulled chicken sandwich of awesomeness



We then looked around the shops and took our time until we could get our shuttle back to the hotel. We were the first to be dropped off which was nice. It was such a fantastic day, the rides at Islands of Adventure are just fantastic and it's one of my favourite parks now, the theming is just superb too, love it. Universal Studios seemed like a really nice park too and we couldn't wait to check out more on our return. It's a shame the weather turned sour in the afternoon but it didn't really ruin our day at all.

Thanks for reading - Next time we have MORE Water

[petals]

luvin your trip report so far

[PrincessEnya]

I absolutely love reading your trip report! Can't wait to read the next part