You can take the girl out of Disney, BUT……… About This Page:

[rhinohunter]

IoA sure has some colorful theming. I really do love your pix. I keep thinking "only 6 more months and then we will be in Orlando. " Can't wait to go to WWoHP. Is the butter beer like root beer? I saw several things in your pix outside of WWoHP that I do not remember seeing the last time we were there. But then my son and I were on a mission to ride the HULK and Jurassic Park. That done, we left. (My son had been released by his Dr. only a few months before the trip. The doc had told him to take it easy and not put much stress on his heart.) He did fine but almost passed out on the HULK.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by chezp

Lots of great photos of Islands of Adventure.

Thanks

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Great updates! Your pictures are fantastic! I am soooooooo excited for HPatFJ.

Thanks. It's a really fun and unique ride.

Originally Posted by mcc0313

Great pictures, sounds like it was a great ride My sister went a while back and she did not think the ButterBeer was anything that special either.

It's just OK. Not something I would crave.

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

IoA sure has some colorful theming. I really do love your pix. I keep thinking "only 6 more months and then we will be in Orlando. " Can't wait to go to WWoHP. Is the butter beer like root beer? I saw several things in your pix outside of WWoHP that I do not remember seeing the last time we were there. But then my son and I were on a mission to ride the HULK and Jurassic Park. That done, we left. (My son had been released by his Dr. only a few months before the trip. The doc had told him to take it easy and not put much stress on his heart.) He did fine but almost passed out on the HULK.

Butterbeer is more like a butterrscotch cream soda.

I have to say I would pass out on Hulk too. We did not even attempt to ride that. As I get older my body no longer likes those thrill rides....sadly we enver made it on the Jurassic Park ride either. The line was either too long or Claire would veto it.

[jenseib]

Time to board the Trolley Train. Skip and Claire rode together.



I thought I would be riding by myself, but I had a guy jump in behind me. I’m not sure why, as the line wasn’t long and his family didn’t appear to be in any cars near us. It was fine, but I thought it just seemed weird. And then I had trouble getting shots while we rode because he was in my way for some of the better things…..plus moving and not having the correct settings on the camera didn’t help as well.
If it was a family member with my, I would’ve elbowed them out of the way, but I couldn’t do that with a stranger. Darn!



The trolley goes through the Circus McGrukus Café and I took a REALLY bad picture as we went through.









I guess for some reason I felt the need to take a picture of this cactus.



I really liked this view.







Another great view.



The ride is very basic; not thrills, but Claire loved it. You can see some really cute things too, but, like I said, I didn’t get pictures of most of it.

Onward we went.





And we came across the Lorax themed area…which of course is a big hit right now with the movie just being out.











I’m not sure exactly what this area was about. We didn’t walk through it, but I did see it had a path and at one time I saw a TM standing outside the door of the Once-ler’s house and it looked like she was going to go inside. I don’t know if us regular folks can do that or not.

[pamcarey]

What a cute area!

[rhinohunter]

Seuss Landing is a really cute place for the younger set. I really like the bright colors and the designs. Do they still have the fish ride with the water cannons?

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by pamcarey

What a cute area!

It is!

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

Seuss Landing is a really cute place for the younger set. I really like the bright colors and the designs. Do they still have the fish ride with the water cannons?

Yes they do...coming up next in fact!

[jenseib]

Our next destination was One Fish Two Fish.





Claire had also watched youtube videos of this ride. It’s very much like Dumbo…..with a twist. There is a song that plays while you ride and tells you when to go up and down. If you don’t follow it, you have the chance at getting wet. YEP! They have fish along the sides that like to squirt you. This is exactly what Claire wanted. I, on the other hand wanted to stay dry.

The line wasn’t too long. We just had to wait a couple of cycles before it was our turn.





Soon it was our turn to board. The girl was trying to get the 3 of us to ride together and I kept telling her no. She said the seats were big and we would be fine, again, I told her no. She kept at it, and I just flat out said no over and over. I’m glad I stuck to that decision. There was NO WAY the 3 of us would’ve fit in one car.

Claire chose to ride with Skip…Yay! I could avoid getting wet!



Skip told me after, that it was tight with just the 2 of them in the car, he couldn’t see how I would’ve made it in with them.



Soon we were taking off and I tried to follow the song and take pictures at the same time.





I quickly found that following the songs directions was NOT working for me. I couldn’t go up or down fast enough…and got shot in the ear with water. UGH! I hate that feeling.

After playing around, I realized that staying up worked best for me. There were less sprays at the top and if you watched carefully you could dip under them just enough. I pretty much avoided most of the water squirts once I figured that out.

Here’s a couple more I took while riding.





We saw that The Cat in the Hat was out for autographs, but Claire had to go potty, so we dashed over there first and used the restroom. When we came back he was still out, along with a few other characters, one being the Grinch. We got in the short line for the Cat and met him. Claire calls him Dr. Seuss all the time. I try to tell her that Dr. Seuss is the guy who wrote the story, but she keeps forgetting. LOL

We pulled out our cute pillowcase for signatures and she went up and met with him.






As you can see, Claire and Skip got a little wetter than I did. Claire was aiming for the water. LOL







It was then announced that the characters were going in and would be out for a show shortly. That was OK by Claire, because the Grinch looked scary to her anyways. This became a theme with every character there.

Skip and Claire sat down for the show, and I walked away, but for the life of me I have no clue why or where.
I took these pictures though.





I must’ve just strolled the area, I guess. I came back shortly and took a few pictures of the show that had already started.

[jenseib]

After the show was over the characters came down for autographs. Claire said no, but I insisted she meet up with the Things since she was wearing a “thing” outfit and bow.
She reluctantly gave in and had a blast with them. I’ll warn you now. I took over 20 pictures of her with them. I cut it down a bit on what I am posting, but you know me, I like to post pictures.









Her outfit and hair bow was a big hit with them.











They both signed her pillowcase, but I wasn’t thinking and hadn’t moved the embroidery hoop after the Cat had signed, so all 3 signatures are smooshed in 1 small area.









That was fun, but she wouldn’t go visit with anyone else. The lines were not bad at all for the characters, a lot less than most Disney lines, but she didn’t want to wait and she wasn’t as familiar with most of these guys either.

We headed off towards the Cat in the Hat ride. The line was posted as being 10 minutes, not bad at all. I took a couple of pics while in the cue.





When we got towards the front they asked for a party of 3…That’s us! So we got to cut up and get right on. The TM’s fussed over Claire’s outfit too. She loves it when they do that.

You are not supposed to be taking pictures on this ride….but I did…till I got caught. I guess they have cameras watching you because a little ways in we heard an announcement. I couldn’t understand what it said, but Skip did and told me to put that camera away before we get kicked out. OOPS! It was just as well, because I took some really bad pictures anyways.












I must say, this is an awesome dark ride. I really liked the story inside and I think it’s better than many of the Disney dark rides. One thing to know…this ride spins every so often. And not just a small spin, a pretty wicked one. It was fun, but after one ride for me, I was done. Claire on the other hand was not. She wanted to go right back on, so Skip took her on and I told them I’d be in the area waiting. I checked out the gift shop and took a few pictures.





I really loved these Thing tank tops. I debated and decided if I was to get one; it would be when we left so I didn’t have to carry it around all day.

[chezp]

Wow, Claire really did get wet on One Fish, Two Fish - that was the first thing that struck me about her when I saw the pics of her with the characters! You did well not riding with her...

[MayraLR]

Great pictures around Seuss Landing!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by chezp

Wow, Claire really did get wet on One Fish, Two Fish - that was the first thing that struck me about her when I saw the pics of her with the characters! You did well not riding with her...

Yes. Skip complained a bit. I guess he didn't realize that she was going to aim for the water. He made the comment that she purposely did that...and I told him I know...she told me she would. Thats why I didn't want to ride with her.

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Great pictures around Seuss Landing!

Thanks. It's so colorful and great to photograph.

[Suzie-Q]

Originally Posted by jenseib

Our next destination was One Fish Two Fish.



I quickly found that following the songs directions was NOT working for me. I couldn’t go up or down fast enough…and got shot in the ear with water. UGH! I hate that feeling.

Haha! I got nailed right in the ear too - how annoying! I found they REALLY overkilled the water rides at US compared to WDW - there was no question that you are going to get soaked on the bigger ones.
Seuss Landing was a really pretty area wasn't it?
In answer to your earlier question, yes, I will probably do a TR but it's been too busy to get my pictures off my camera yet and I'd like to have some in my posts. Still enjoying your report and the gorgeous photos...keep 'em coming!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by jenseib

Yes. Skip complained a bit. I guess he didn't realize that she was going to aim for the water. He made the comment that she purposely did that...and I told him I know...she told me she would. Thats why I didn't want to ride with her. .

You can tell who knows her best...

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by Suzie-Q

Haha! I got nailed right in the ear too - how annoying! I found they REALLY overkilled the water rides at US compared to WDW - there was no question that you are going to get soaked on the bigger ones.
Seuss Landing was a really pretty area wasn't it?
In answer to your earlier question, yes, I will probably do a TR but it's been too busy to get my pictures off my camera yet and I'd like to have some in my posts. Still enjoying your report and the gorgeous photos...keep 'em coming!

It is. Who wants a wet ear...well maybe I got some wax cleared out then.

Seuss is really pretty and colorful. I know I should've taken more pictures, there was so much to see.

Let me know when you start your TR. I really want to read it. Take your time. Look how slow I'm going. We are only mid day so far on day 2 and it's been like 2 weeks since I went.

Originally Posted by chezp

You can tell who knows her best...

Exactly! I hate being soaked, and even though they weren't completely, I was wet enough on my own trying to avoid the water.

[jenseib]

After a roam around the gift shop I ventured outside.



I roamed a bit and took a few pictures.







And I had read about this spot. A spot where you could get a good shot of the Discovery center at Jurassic park across the River. So I took a picture, of course!



And this one too.



Then a couple started talking to me for a bit. We were talking cameras. They had recently bought an SLR and were asking questions. After a bit of talking, I found they had just gotten married on Sat. (this is now Tuesday) and they were on their honeymoon. Everyone say AWWWWW!

I realized I better get back and see if my crew was waiting for me. I took a few more pictures on the way.





No sign of them yet. I went and looked at the wait time and it had change to 30 minutes. I wasn’t sure how long they had been gone, but I figured I wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

More pictures.









I decided to just sit in front of the gift shop and wait….and wait…and wait. Still no sign, but there was a churro stand right there, so I decided it was time for a snack and purchased one. The carts don’t take the AAA card…I asked though, just to be sure.



It was good, but it wasn’t fresh. But it did its job. I ate about half and then tucked it in my bag to save for Claire. And then I waited some more. I had to go potty, and I debated on leaving. I knew as soon as I did, they would come out, but finally I gave in and left my post and headed towards the bathroom.
I kid you not, as soon as I was in there I got the beep from Skip. (We have Nextel phones and use the two way talk feature, like a walkie talkie.)

I told him I was on my way and headed off towards Cat in the Hat. But they weren’t there! I beeped him back and asked where he was. He said he found a smoking section and was sitting there. His directions were terrible. He said he was under the trolley tracks behind a place with balls on top. Seriously? The tracks run all over, and as for a building with balls on top…no such thing. He elaborated by telling me he was sitting near tables with umbrellas…..no help at all. Finally I broke down and asked a TM where the nearest smoking section was and she pointed the way. It was actually very close to the bathrooms and not anywhere near Cat in the Hat. We had to of passed each other at some point.

Oh well, they were found (and not behind a building with balls on it either) and I pulled out the churro and gave it to Claire. It was a big hit with her.





I took a couple of pictures of the area.







And we pulled out Perry and took a picture of him too.



We now were going to make our way over to Jurassic Park. As we walked we noticed that the Poseidon’s Fury Show line wasn’t too long. It said 30 minutes, but hardly anyone was standing outside, so it couldn’t be too long of a wait, right? We followed a few people towards the line entrance and they asked what this was. The TM told them it was a walk through special effects show. That sounded OK and we decided to give it a shot, but evidently not fast enough, because the guy behind us asked me if we were going in. I said “ I think so” and kept moving. It kind of irked me , as we couldn’t move any faster than the people in front of us, but evidently this guy was special and needed to get in line a bit faster.
We stood in line outside and waited till they let us in. I took a couple of pictures while waiting.









It soon became apparent that this line was going anywhere fast. And being outside was HOT! We got in line at 11:40 and the sun was doing its magic! The line was getting very long behind us too. And then the express people…I think I cursed them a few times this trip. They just kept pouring in, which meant we would be waiting longer. Go away express pass people!!!

You can tell Claire was getting a bit impatient.



Speaking of impatient….”Mr. Impatient” behind us was going nuts. He kept checking his watch and wiggling around. It was just he and his son, and I am not sure if they had to meet up with others or not, but he surely did not want to wait….Now he would be a perfect candidate for Express pass.

Finally we were let into the building, only to find that this is another line as well. At least it was cool in there. And dark! I took this picture and then put my camera away.



This line barely moved at all. Finally we got to move up a bit and the railing split away from the wall a bit. Mr. Impatient took this as there were now 2 lines and dashed past me to go in the other line. It clearly wasn’t another line as the railing only was about a foot away from the wall and got narrower as it went on….and Mr. Impatient quickly found that out. Plus he was the only guy going that way. So he came back and clawed his way back through to get back in the same spot he was in before. Luckily the people behind him were nice enough to let him back in.

At about 12:15 a TM was walking up and down the express pass line and Mr. Impatient asked her how long it would be. She was foreign and very hard to understand, but from what I could gather they were running behind and it would be about 30 minutes from this point, also depending on how many express pass people came into line between now and then. She did tell us that the line would get much longer after the Sinbad show let out, which would be shortly. Oh Man! I was becoming Mrs. Impatient then. Mr. Impatient talked to his son and they got out of line. I guess they had more important things to do.

We stuck it out though. We could see the next door and we had already wasted 30 minutes here, why not another 30. Luckily the wait wasn’t quite that long and soon we made it to through the next door.
We let out a sigh of relief as they were counting people going through and we made it. We are famous for being stopped right before we can enter.
We had to wait a little longer in this next room, but it wasn’t too bad and where we standing at, we could actually sit on a ledge and take a load off our feet.

Finally it was our turn. The show is neat, not great, and not worth a long wait, but if you can do it with a short wait, I recommend it. You go from room to room with different scenes of special effects and a story about Poseidon. We have a guide that takes you through each scene and interacts with the show.
The last room there is a fight with Poseidon and his rival. Whose name totally escapes me? But I had to laugh, because he looked like a Power Ranger. I didn’t know there were Power Rangers back in the time of the Gods, but maybe I’m wrong? LOL! As we exited Skip told Claire that Poseidon was Ariel’s father. I quickly said no, King Triton is. So we figure he must be her grandfather then. No clue if any of this being true, but Claire accepted it and said if she saw Ariel she would ask.