" Visiting Mickey's (WET!!!) Neighborhood" Update 7-17Completed w/ final thoughts
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luvnwdwgal · 07-08-2006, 01:48 PM

Thanks for the update!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

MAria R · 07-08-2006, 06:29 PM

http://pak05.pictures.aol.com/NASApp/ygp...;event=ViewFilm

I have included a link to a photo album I put together of a small portion of the pictures I took. I have been having a hard time getting them resized. The color isn’t all that great but I hope you enjoy them anyways.

MAria R · 07-08-2006, 07:16 PM

Tuesday, June 20- Islands of Adventure- I think not!!!!

I want to start by saying that I was really looking forward to seeing Islands of Adventure. This is the only park that I had not been to yet. I just wish I would have done my homework a little better, maybe than I would have been more prepared.

Well we arrive at the park at 9:00 and head into the Islands. I was very impressed at the decor and the way everything is set up. It was real easy to find everything and you do feel totally immersed in those different worlds. First stop Marvel Super Hero Island, I knew that the biggie- The Incredible Hulk was a no go [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img],not only is Antonio not tall enough to get on but I don't think he is old enough to handle it either. I thought his eyes would pop out just looking at it [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]. So we headed to the right and straight to Spider-man. I wasn't sure what to expect but this ride was great. I mean really great probable one of the best 3-D/motion rides I have seen. This ride alone would make it worth it to hit Islands again some day. Dr. Doom's Fearfall was another no go. Not just because of Antonio but I have never been a big fan of the freefall rides myself. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] I did notice on the guide that there was a ride Storm Force Accelatron so we headed there and it really is their version of the teacups. Well we ventured on it since at this point there is no wait for any of the rides. It was okay but I realize that as I get older my stomach really can't handle those types of rides the way I used to. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img] To my dismay that was all there was to do in that Island so we headed to Toon Lagoon.

Now as I type this I realize that the word Lagoon should have been my first hint that this island was all about the water. My second hint should have been the fact that water was everywhere. Shooting out of this spot, pouring from here, spraying from there. I guess in the hot, middle of the day this would be good but at 9:30 I am thinking it is just alittle much. Well if I thought that was too much we decided to ride some attractions in this lagoon land. First up Dudley-Do Right's Ripsaw Falls- a flume ride to say the least. Well I knew we would get wet but I was thinking Splash Mountain wet. We boarded the log which is a small one seater log, so Antonio went in the front (he requested that) and I got behind him. Away we go and I must say the attraction leaves much to be desired. It has nothing on Splash Mountain and I was ready for it to be over. Because I wasn't really into it, I suddenly was not into being wet this early in the morning either. Well before we even got to the big drop we were equally wet and by the time we finished we were really wet. I was mainly wet in the front, Antonio however was wet all over. And poor boy hit his mouth on the way down the big drop. So this ride easily made it to the bottom of the list. Although we were wet I knew with the sun we would dry off and I was wet but not uncomforable wet. My behind was still dry so I was good to go. We didn't even want to think about water so we practically ran out of there and wondered into:

Jurassic Park:
When you walk into this land and go under the big entrance you almost feel like you are in the movie. I knew from the guide that there was only one ride we needed to hit up here Jurassic Park River Adventure: did that say river adventure. Seeing as how we were already wet would it really make a difference now. We quickly boarded our boat and off we went. This ride is really neat and they do a good job of making you feel like you are in a park viewing dinosaurs and than being chased by the big daddy himself. There are some water spitting dinos and there is a nice size drop that was fun. But the water splash is pretty small so I didn't leave any wetter. To my dismay we were heading off to another land already.

The lost Continent: Of course the biggie is a roller coaster that was too big for Antonio and that was pretty much it. I know there are a few other things to do but nothing that really captured our attention so we walked right through and ended up in Suess Landing.

It is so weird walking through these lands because it is so deserted. I guess no one really hits these parks early so if you are visiting Universal/Islands get there at opening. You'll be able to do everything a couple times without long waits. Some things in this land were down and they were painting so the smell wasn't all that great. But we did ride One Fish, Two Fish and so on. This is almost like Dumbo but you can really control how wet you get because if you go up at the right time you will get drenched by the fish spraying water. Thankfully Antonio was nice to me and did a good job of avoiding the water. I was just starting to dry off and really did not want to get soaked again. From there we headed to Cat in the Hat- can you say Winnie the Pooh. This ride was cute and I really enjoyed but it has nothing on Pooh. After that I couldn't believe it we had been around all the Islands and it was only 11:00 what would we do now. We headed back to Spider-man for another trip but the wait was really long okay 20-30 minutes but after having no waits that seemed really long and that was when I made the biggest mistake ever. I headed back to the water lagoon and spied a ride I had missed the first time Popeye and Bluto's Barges. I checked it out and thought Kali River. Knowing I would get wet I figured we would go for it, I never gotten totally drenched on Kali do I was thinking no biggie. I can not even describe how wet you get on this ride. You get soaked and I mean soaked. When we stepped off this ride we looked like we had gotten into a swimming pool. We were soaked down to our under clothes. It is not much the rapids that get you, they do but it is the buckets of water that are being poured from above that really get you. Of course right as we got to that bucket we turned and I was directly under it. I can handle being wet but soaked no:. I should also point out that I had on a blue jean skort. So really I had on two layers of blue jean that were completely soaked through. I knew it would take forever to dry and there is nothing worse than walking around wet with your thighs rubbing against wet blue jean. No I was not a happy camper. I guess I should have really minded those warnings. Of course now I know why everyone is walking around in bathing suits. The question now is what to do. Can I stick it out or should I head for the heals and call it a day. To be cont......

**Colexis Mom** · 07-08-2006, 08:53 PM

I'm sorry it's not turning into a good day at IoA [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Thanks for your take though, as going in August with 2 small kids, I can see it's going to really limit my options [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]

I hope things are turning better (and drier) soon [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Meggera · 07-08-2006, 09:22 PM

I have never been to IOA, but I have been to Universal Orlando and like you said, there was no one there. No waits. Nothing. We finished touring the park so early it was ridiculous.

I know how it feels to be drenched and miserable. We save Kali and other wet rides to ride the very end of the day in the park so we don't have to walk around in wet clothes.

Looking forward to seeing if you stayed or left!

Laura

Jillybean · 07-09-2006, 08:22 AM

When you said "wet" you really meant it, didn't you? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Wow!

And that feeling of wet jeans is not a good one.

Jill

Tara O'Hara · 07-09-2006, 04:21 PM

Sorry you got soaked, Maria! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/pout.gif[/img] That can surely take away your enjoyment.

luvnwdwgal · 07-10-2006, 10:19 AM

I hate getting soaked wearing denim! It's the worse! Looking forward to another update! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

MAria R · 07-10-2006, 11:42 AM

As much as I wanted to hop in the car and head to my Aunt's house I really didn't want to go. I knew this would be our last day at the parks so the question was how was I going to handle this. The first thing we did was get out of Islands of Adventure and all I could think about was getting out of those clothes. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about buying something to change into but all the female shorts were super short and I knew that I would not be comfortable walking around in them. Not to mention the expense of buying an outfit just because of being wet not because I really wanted it wasn't sitting well with me. So I decided to head back to Universal. I knew there was enough there that I would like to re-do and I would just have to hope that I would dry off soon. We made a stop so that Antonio could take off his socks and just walk around in his sneakers. He would end up losing one of those socks somewhere [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]. As we headed toward the entrance of Universal we spied Scooby, so we jumped in line and I thought for sure they would cut it off before we got a chance because they kept yelling 1 minute left. And of course there were some really slow moving people in front of us. I just told Antonio that if we missed him here we would try to catch him inside. Well as luck would have it they cut the line right behind me so we got our picture.

Once inside the first ride we passed that we felt like doing was Twister. This time I was aiming for the front row. Because it is now the afternoon the waits had increased quite a bit. I think we ended up waiting 45 minutes to an hour for this. Now normally I would not do that as I don't like it that much. But most of the waiting is outside in the open so this was the perfect time for me to stand still and dry off. By the time we entered the ride my shirt was almost completely dry however the skort was not even close. Antonio's clothes were making progress too. So we enter the building and finally get to the doors and I notice that everyone is doing what I did the last time, avoiding the first row entrance. So we head that way and I look up and see that the other rows are standing two people deep and the bottom is practically empty. I also notice that no one on the bottom level is standing by the rail, everyone is backed up to the wall. I remember from the last show that people were by the rail so I stake my place for Antonio and I. As soon as people see us up there everyone tries to grab a spot on the rail. Which is fine except this man kept trying to nudge me out of the way. I don't think so buddy!

After Twister we decided to eat some of the biggest burgers I have ever eaten. I made the mistake of getting Antonio his own and of course he doesn't finish it. And that is the reason why when we go to Disney next summer I am doing the dining plan. I spend and waste so much money on food!

After eating we are ready to hit the Mummy again. This time we had our spray fan waterbottle, so we had to store it in the lockers they have set up. The wait was the longest for the ride we had experienced but there is so much to look at that it keeps you busy, plus the line moves pretty steadily. We ended up on the left side this time and I decided to take the outside seat, I don't think Antonio really liked that the last time. So we are getting ready to go and I am turned toward Antonio asking him if he is okay and ready and I feel like someone is staring at me so I turn my head and there is one of the atttendants. With his head at least an inch from my face. Okay, he looked really creepy with his makeup on so he did get a jump out of me. And he stared at me until we finally disappered where he gave me the thumbs down sign. It is nice to see that they really get into their jobs. And it really helped to make that ride memorable. So we were off to have our souls taken and I noticed the ride had a few gliches this time. I feel like an old pro now that I am able to notice that something was off. Of course it didn't matter because we had a blast. At this point even though my bottome half is still wet we are starting to have fun again and that is what it is all about. We take the time to get some pictures with the characters; Shrek, Scooby and Shaggy, the Rugrats I love the picture of Antonio hugging Tommy.

And than it is off to Jimmy Nuetron. We had to do it again because it is Antonio's favorite. This time as we were riding I decided to sneak a peak at Antonio. Since I knew this was his favorite I really wanted to see his reaction to the ride. He was so into it, you could see that he was really there flying around with all his favorite Nick cartoons. It really brought a tear to my eyes to see how excited he was. And that is when I remembered why these trips are so precious to me. It isn't often during the hustle and bustle of everyday living that I get to sit back and enjoy the time I have with Antonio. But these trips allow me to sit back and do that, and there really isn't anything better.

After we left Jimmy I noticed that a pain was developing in my right knee. What started out as a little pain quickly grew to a horrible, somebody driving a knife into my knee cap pain.[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ouch.gif[/img] I didn't want to limp around the park but WOW it really hurt. We decided to have a seat and get something to drink from Starbucks. I knew that I would not make it much longer. So I had to try and get Antonio in the mind set that we would be leaving.

As we made our way to the front (painfully) we noticed that Terminator was getting ready to start. Antonio had wanted to see it last time so we head in , at least I would get to sit. I must say I wasn't really that impressed but than again I don't really like Terminator so that might have something to do with it.

By this point it is time to go [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] But we got to talking and we both really wanted to do Spider-man one last time. So even though it was pure torture we made our way back to Islands of Adventure, got in line (which was pretty long) at this point and rode it again.

Now it is really time to leave. We slowly make our way to our spot Spider-Man 454 and we were off. As I am riding back to the house I am trying to figure out exactly what happened to my knee. The pain came on so suddenly. We made it home just in time to eat. I took some pain medicine and sat down with some ice on my knee when it hit me. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/foreheadslap.gif[/img] I have been walking around theme parks and the like for days now wearing only flip flops. Yeah, not the smartest thing that I have done but hopefully after a night of rest it will feel better. So we shower, watch our soaps and climb into bed. Just a side note by the time we made it to the house my skort was still damp in a few places. So between being wet all day, having a painful knee, and now two raw thighs thanks to the wet skort it had been some kind of day. Tomorrow is our last day in Orlando and we head to the Kennedy Space Center. Would my body be able to handle it?

Up next: Kennedy Space Center

**Colexis Mom** · 07-10-2006, 12:28 PM

Great update Maria [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] I'm glad you had a much better time at US in the afternoon [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Looking forward to KSC [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Meggera · 07-10-2006, 02:25 PM

Glad you enjoyed the last half of your day. Sounds like fun (except for the bum knee, wet skort and raw thighs!)!

Laura

luvnwdwgal · 07-10-2006, 06:28 PM

I'm feeling for you! It must have been pretty miserable walking. Glad you and Antonio were able to enjoy yourselves on the rides though. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Jillybean · 07-10-2006, 07:37 PM

I am very impressed that you made it the rest of the day with a wet skort and a bum knee! Sounds like you two had a blast! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Jill

Tara O'Hara · 07-10-2006, 07:52 PM

Wow! It sure sounds like your day got much better!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

**HiddenMickey** · 07-11-2006, 12:18 PM

We did Bluto's Bilge Barges in March too.....It was unbelievable how much water they pour onto you on that ride! It took a LONG time for us to dry out too!

I feel like you missed out on so much at IOA. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] You skipped over some things I think you two would have enjoyed (Sinbad show, Lost Continent, Jurassic park hands on activities in the downstairs area of the Main bldg, Pteranydon Flyers) Glad you took the time to go back to Universal to do the things you liked though!