DisneyDINK
09-26-2013, 03:46 PM
2 days down and 2 to go, and I was really looking forward to this one.
The previous night I gave the Disney Resort wake-up call another shot. I woke up about 5 minutes before the phone was SUPPOSED to ring. AGAIN, nothing. AGAIN some poor guy from Bell Services had to come to my room, the one as far from the front of the hotel as possible. (“Room 4004! Awe MAN!! –Sigh- -trudge-trudge-trudge-) The alarm was for 7:00am and there he was at 7:45 doing a police style welfare check. Before he went into his speech… “Yeah, I know. You saw I requested a wake-up call and somehow you know I didn’t get the wake-up call. Don’t sweat it. It’s all good. I’m going to shut the door now and go put on some close, K!” Surprisingly, I was not irked in the slightest, I was just laughing it off.
I walked out the WL and asked for a cab to get me to Universal. This would be my first time visiting there. As luck would have it my cab, a van, was pulling up and the family of 4 to my right was going to Universal too. “Wanna share,” said mom. “Sure! I have cash, let’s do it!” They were from upstate New York near Albany and had a young son and daughter. I can’t remember everything, but we had a great chat. I told them I was doing this trip alone. The mom and I talked a bit about web sites. She uses Dis Boards and Touring Plans. I talked a bit about Intercot. Like me they were regular visitors to the park, so we regaled each other with information we all already knew. Nice family!
We were dropped at the transit area, went over the bridge and took a left to IoA. There were VERY few people there for the opening; I guess they were on island time bruddah. Here I chatted with a family of 5 from Sydney Australia. They were renting (hiring, right? Letting would mean leasing) a house ($1700 for 7 days) which worked out well. Those darn Aussies and their 2 month holidays!
I got through the gates and, as planned, went straight towards Harry Potter and ran into some Seattleites from the Ballard neighborhood. He was wearing a Seahawks jersey so we talked football a bit. (They moved from Georgia, so he routes for the Falcons too.) How fowl! (have you all reached your pun limit yet? Close, right?)
Off to the single rider queue for WWoHP. Wow, what an amazing ride! Have you done this? You should! Next was Dragon Challenge which I guess was rethemed when HP came to town, decent coaster. Next was the Jurassic River ride designed to severely moisten you; it worked. Next was Rip Saw Falls which was fun. I shared the log with a Spanish speaking family. The kids just laughed the whole time. It made the experience much more fun. Good little flume ride! Next I did Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall which was the first measurable wait of the day. OK attraction with one cool lift and fall, but I honestly prefer ToT.
It is now 10:20am! I’ve done most everything I wanted to do at IoA. So I go to the Hulk and it is down. Lame! Oh well, so I head on over to Universal Studios where I discover I had committed a bit of a faux pas when buying the tickets online. I bought the 2 park Express Pass, but somehow I only got the 1 park base ticket. So, I had to wait about 30 minutes at Customer Relations to upgrade my ticket. Oh that reminds me, for those of you who use the print your tickets at home option, be sure to bring along a good Zip-Lock baggie or some other method of keeping your paper tickets dry! (especially important at IoA!) The agent who would help me had dealt with the same two women for the previous 30+minutes which astonished both me and the English gentleman in the queue behind me. I approached the window and I said “Hey, how ‘ya doin? I have a nice easy one for you here. She smiled. I told her what I needed. I had printed out 2 sets of tickets. One set was printed double sided, park ticket on one side, express pass on the other. The other set I cut out. She took both my moist park cut out ticket and the equally soggy back-up ticket and express pass leaving me with a new and better/drier park ticket, but only one express pass which could disintegrate or tear at any moment! It all worked out, but I wish I knew them what I know now.
Back to the rides: I rode the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit two times (Evanescence and whatever the default music is, wait… just looked it up: Busy Child by the Crystal Method). Great coaster! Next was Minion Mayhem which is just a hoot! Then I experienced Twister, not bad, just OK. The Mummy Returns was next and that was a pretty well done ride.
Time for lunch. Where can I eat? I looked across the street from the mummy and I spotted a sandwich board sign with some food pictures on it. Then I stepped in to find Finnegan’s, a place that felt to me like a neighborhood bar smack-dab in the middle of an amusement park. I sat down and was greeted by Jim, a retired Marine with hands about twice the size of mine. He was originally from Chicago but he got out many years ago when the politics there got a bit too liberal from him. His views differed from mine, but it didn’t matter, he was a big friendly guy and he was a pleasure to talk to. He and his wife raised 7 kids and had 5 fosters as well. We shared some pretty personal stories I won’t repeat here since we both opened up quite a bit. I couldn’t quite bring myself to admit to this big Marine I was here solo. Disney is a bit of a guilty pleasure. Intercot is like my support group for my Disney addiction, so you all get it, but I thought he might not. If you have ever read Cannery Row by Steinbeck there is a great anecdote about wanting to order a beer milkshake. If you tell the barman you want a beer milkshake they will inevitably ask you “Why?” If you say it is because you are curious, the truth, he’ll say to himself “What a whack-job!” If you tell him “My doctor recommended it” he’ll say “Oh, OK.” and think nothing of it. A plausibly lie is sometimes more convenient than an unusual and/or creepy truth. Jim asked why I was in Florida and it was just easier to leave out the solo trip part. (I was honest with everyone else I met; cut me some slack!) Anyway, he and his colleague Jan both provided excellent service and the Shepherd’s Pie was super tasty as was the cabbage and other veggies that accompanied it. I enjoyed it with 2 or 3 pints of Smithwick’s. The prices were very reasonable too. All told I walked out of there feeling just fantastic.
I wandered out the doors at Finnegan’s and the show Beetlejuice show had just started, so I went and caught that which was a nice rest after a meal and a pretty good time. Next I went to Disaster.
Now the rains came so I scurried on over to MIB to zap me some aliens. Seriously, this beats the pants off of Buzz! When I came out the rain was getting much harder. This is where I will inform you of the second biggest fail behind my choice of footwear. BRING A PANCHO! The last time I went to Florida in the summer was as a kid. I had just forgotten about how the rains can be sometime. I come from Seattle, a place where I NEVER use an umbrella. I figured if it rained I’d just get wet. Well, there is a huge difference between rain and RAIN!!!!!! Like I said, next time, pancho!
I hurried on over to the Simpsons ride and gave it a whirl. I have so-so vision in one eye, so it was nice not to have another 3-D ride. The preshow and the plot on that ride are both just plain funny. Next I made it to the E.T. ride. E.T. said my name! Awe, how cute! When I got out of this one the inexplicably heavy rain had gotten inexplicably heavier! I got a good video of it on my little point-and-shoot. I sat on a bench outside the E.T. gift shop and gave DW a call. I sat there for about 20 minute and the rain let up only slightly. So, I took off my sandals which were destroying my feet and walked barefoot for toward the exit, but I stopped and did T2 3-D to try and dry off a bit and maybe wait out the rain a bit. I enjoyed the live/3-D/animatronic combo and when I got out it was still raining, but it had let up a bit. I decided to call it a day. I would save the Hulk, Shreck and Transformers for another trip. Hakuna matata! Right now I just wanted to be dry so I headed for the taxi stand and got one in about 3 minutes and I was off to the WL.
It might not sound like it here, but I was having a great time, but I was drenched so I thought it was time to dry off and save some of the attractions for the next visit. I’m thinking I might give it another whirl in January maybe. Universal does a lot of things right. The place is Disney clean, the thrills are top notch, the rides don’t take 5 years to come to market, the food prices are very reasonable by my standards and while the quality is good, it isn’t Disney; that’s a strength, not a weakness. It is great to be able to change things up and have a very different experience. Another thing I really like is that the 2 parks are small and close together making touring both in the same day a breeze; there’s no waiting 30 minutes for a 30 minute bus ride. Like Arnold and the soldier termite say “I’ll be back.”
I DINK Alone! – Day 3 Pt. 2 – A Little Epcot (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=2378268#post2378268)
The previous night I gave the Disney Resort wake-up call another shot. I woke up about 5 minutes before the phone was SUPPOSED to ring. AGAIN, nothing. AGAIN some poor guy from Bell Services had to come to my room, the one as far from the front of the hotel as possible. (“Room 4004! Awe MAN!! –Sigh- -trudge-trudge-trudge-) The alarm was for 7:00am and there he was at 7:45 doing a police style welfare check. Before he went into his speech… “Yeah, I know. You saw I requested a wake-up call and somehow you know I didn’t get the wake-up call. Don’t sweat it. It’s all good. I’m going to shut the door now and go put on some close, K!” Surprisingly, I was not irked in the slightest, I was just laughing it off.
I walked out the WL and asked for a cab to get me to Universal. This would be my first time visiting there. As luck would have it my cab, a van, was pulling up and the family of 4 to my right was going to Universal too. “Wanna share,” said mom. “Sure! I have cash, let’s do it!” They were from upstate New York near Albany and had a young son and daughter. I can’t remember everything, but we had a great chat. I told them I was doing this trip alone. The mom and I talked a bit about web sites. She uses Dis Boards and Touring Plans. I talked a bit about Intercot. Like me they were regular visitors to the park, so we regaled each other with information we all already knew. Nice family!
We were dropped at the transit area, went over the bridge and took a left to IoA. There were VERY few people there for the opening; I guess they were on island time bruddah. Here I chatted with a family of 5 from Sydney Australia. They were renting (hiring, right? Letting would mean leasing) a house ($1700 for 7 days) which worked out well. Those darn Aussies and their 2 month holidays!
I got through the gates and, as planned, went straight towards Harry Potter and ran into some Seattleites from the Ballard neighborhood. He was wearing a Seahawks jersey so we talked football a bit. (They moved from Georgia, so he routes for the Falcons too.) How fowl! (have you all reached your pun limit yet? Close, right?)
Off to the single rider queue for WWoHP. Wow, what an amazing ride! Have you done this? You should! Next was Dragon Challenge which I guess was rethemed when HP came to town, decent coaster. Next was the Jurassic River ride designed to severely moisten you; it worked. Next was Rip Saw Falls which was fun. I shared the log with a Spanish speaking family. The kids just laughed the whole time. It made the experience much more fun. Good little flume ride! Next I did Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall which was the first measurable wait of the day. OK attraction with one cool lift and fall, but I honestly prefer ToT.
It is now 10:20am! I’ve done most everything I wanted to do at IoA. So I go to the Hulk and it is down. Lame! Oh well, so I head on over to Universal Studios where I discover I had committed a bit of a faux pas when buying the tickets online. I bought the 2 park Express Pass, but somehow I only got the 1 park base ticket. So, I had to wait about 30 minutes at Customer Relations to upgrade my ticket. Oh that reminds me, for those of you who use the print your tickets at home option, be sure to bring along a good Zip-Lock baggie or some other method of keeping your paper tickets dry! (especially important at IoA!) The agent who would help me had dealt with the same two women for the previous 30+minutes which astonished both me and the English gentleman in the queue behind me. I approached the window and I said “Hey, how ‘ya doin? I have a nice easy one for you here. She smiled. I told her what I needed. I had printed out 2 sets of tickets. One set was printed double sided, park ticket on one side, express pass on the other. The other set I cut out. She took both my moist park cut out ticket and the equally soggy back-up ticket and express pass leaving me with a new and better/drier park ticket, but only one express pass which could disintegrate or tear at any moment! It all worked out, but I wish I knew them what I know now.
Back to the rides: I rode the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit two times (Evanescence and whatever the default music is, wait… just looked it up: Busy Child by the Crystal Method). Great coaster! Next was Minion Mayhem which is just a hoot! Then I experienced Twister, not bad, just OK. The Mummy Returns was next and that was a pretty well done ride.
Time for lunch. Where can I eat? I looked across the street from the mummy and I spotted a sandwich board sign with some food pictures on it. Then I stepped in to find Finnegan’s, a place that felt to me like a neighborhood bar smack-dab in the middle of an amusement park. I sat down and was greeted by Jim, a retired Marine with hands about twice the size of mine. He was originally from Chicago but he got out many years ago when the politics there got a bit too liberal from him. His views differed from mine, but it didn’t matter, he was a big friendly guy and he was a pleasure to talk to. He and his wife raised 7 kids and had 5 fosters as well. We shared some pretty personal stories I won’t repeat here since we both opened up quite a bit. I couldn’t quite bring myself to admit to this big Marine I was here solo. Disney is a bit of a guilty pleasure. Intercot is like my support group for my Disney addiction, so you all get it, but I thought he might not. If you have ever read Cannery Row by Steinbeck there is a great anecdote about wanting to order a beer milkshake. If you tell the barman you want a beer milkshake they will inevitably ask you “Why?” If you say it is because you are curious, the truth, he’ll say to himself “What a whack-job!” If you tell him “My doctor recommended it” he’ll say “Oh, OK.” and think nothing of it. A plausibly lie is sometimes more convenient than an unusual and/or creepy truth. Jim asked why I was in Florida and it was just easier to leave out the solo trip part. (I was honest with everyone else I met; cut me some slack!) Anyway, he and his colleague Jan both provided excellent service and the Shepherd’s Pie was super tasty as was the cabbage and other veggies that accompanied it. I enjoyed it with 2 or 3 pints of Smithwick’s. The prices were very reasonable too. All told I walked out of there feeling just fantastic.
I wandered out the doors at Finnegan’s and the show Beetlejuice show had just started, so I went and caught that which was a nice rest after a meal and a pretty good time. Next I went to Disaster.
Now the rains came so I scurried on over to MIB to zap me some aliens. Seriously, this beats the pants off of Buzz! When I came out the rain was getting much harder. This is where I will inform you of the second biggest fail behind my choice of footwear. BRING A PANCHO! The last time I went to Florida in the summer was as a kid. I had just forgotten about how the rains can be sometime. I come from Seattle, a place where I NEVER use an umbrella. I figured if it rained I’d just get wet. Well, there is a huge difference between rain and RAIN!!!!!! Like I said, next time, pancho!
I hurried on over to the Simpsons ride and gave it a whirl. I have so-so vision in one eye, so it was nice not to have another 3-D ride. The preshow and the plot on that ride are both just plain funny. Next I made it to the E.T. ride. E.T. said my name! Awe, how cute! When I got out of this one the inexplicably heavy rain had gotten inexplicably heavier! I got a good video of it on my little point-and-shoot. I sat on a bench outside the E.T. gift shop and gave DW a call. I sat there for about 20 minute and the rain let up only slightly. So, I took off my sandals which were destroying my feet and walked barefoot for toward the exit, but I stopped and did T2 3-D to try and dry off a bit and maybe wait out the rain a bit. I enjoyed the live/3-D/animatronic combo and when I got out it was still raining, but it had let up a bit. I decided to call it a day. I would save the Hulk, Shreck and Transformers for another trip. Hakuna matata! Right now I just wanted to be dry so I headed for the taxi stand and got one in about 3 minutes and I was off to the WL.
It might not sound like it here, but I was having a great time, but I was drenched so I thought it was time to dry off and save some of the attractions for the next visit. I’m thinking I might give it another whirl in January maybe. Universal does a lot of things right. The place is Disney clean, the thrills are top notch, the rides don’t take 5 years to come to market, the food prices are very reasonable by my standards and while the quality is good, it isn’t Disney; that’s a strength, not a weakness. It is great to be able to change things up and have a very different experience. Another thing I really like is that the 2 parks are small and close together making touring both in the same day a breeze; there’s no waiting 30 minutes for a 30 minute bus ride. Like Arnold and the soldier termite say “I’ll be back.”
I DINK Alone! – Day 3 Pt. 2 – A Little Epcot (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=2378268#post2378268)