Scooby and Shaggy just cruisin'
Our original plan was for all four of us to go to SeaWorld - until I saw what the recent ticket prices were. At that point we said forget it...but DW had an alternate suggestion. I would take DD#1 to Universal Studios (where she was tall enough to ride everything they had there), while DW would take DD#2 to the Disney parks of her choice for a "two girls day". So there are two parts to this day.
Universal Studios Orlando Resort now consists of two full parks - Universal Studios Florida, the original park, and Islands Of Adventure, which they were just starting to construct (as in pushing the dirt around) when DW and I were last there in 1997. While IOA had more coasters, Dueling Dragons was closed during the construction of the Harry Potter section so we decided that we would go to USF for the day, and if we got through it quick enough and decided to go on, we'd upgrade our tickets and go over to IOA as well. The hours were only 9-6 anyways, so it didn't seem likely. I did look at the Express Pass, the Front Of The Line system they have which you pay extra for. They vary the price depending on day and season it seems, and this would have been the cheapest - but it also said to be that on a Wednesday after most schools have already had their spring breaks it wasn't going to be crowded. If I thought there was a better chance of hitting both parks, I would have done it, but it didn't seem necessary - and it wasn't.Scooby and Shaggy just cruisin'
We arrived at 8:50am for the 9am opening - and there wasn't a line in sight. First - remember where you parked. There are two garages, and six different sections to those garages, with multiple levels. We'll get back to that later.
We walked right in through the turnstyles, and the first thing we stopped at was Shrek 4D. There was a little wait before the pre-show began, but it didn't take long to get going. The pre-show features some animatronics and a video screen of some of the characters, and then you are lead into the theater for the main show. Obviously it is based on Shrek, but it was comparable in nature to Honey I Shrunk The Audience, and generally better done with all the 3D and physical effects.
From there, we walked straight up to The Mummy - and straight on. Along the way we noticed that anything that appeared to involve live actors would not open until at least 10am, and in some cases later.
The Mummy queue was well themed, although the theming could be "broken" with the occasional TV monitor showing some making-of type shorts. The ride itself is short, but pretty intense. I thought it was a roller coaster, but it isn't really a full-blown coaster. At first, the ride vehicle made me think of a Dinosaur-type ride system, but it did in fact ride on rails and moved like a coaster - but it would stop at points, change directions, etc. I have a feeling the track itself is fairly short, but the length of the ride in time is probably comparable to other rides. The fire effects can get very hot as well - and I always came out with a wet face when running through the mist.
We left the Mummy and it was still not even 9:30!
Next open attraction we found was MiB Alien Attack. Here we encountered a few people using an Express pass (the resort kind), and it looked like we'd actually have to wait, as if the cast member (is there a different term for them here) were going to let them go through the pre-show on their own - and then let us in anyways. The pre-show in in a small little area where it appears they are going to show you a little video - but then it stops, the cast member says "change in plans!" and a semi-hidden "elevator" opens up and you step inside. Shortly afterwards the opposite door opens, and you are in the MiB headquarters, and are heading into their "training area".
The ride itself is similar to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, except each vehicle holds 6 people, acting as a team. Two vehicles are generally loaded side by side for a competition of sorts, but since the crowd was light they were only using one side. The guns are not mounted but freely held. As you travel through you shoot the aliens, and their eyes change to mark a hit (as well as an indicator on your gun). However the simulation ends because an alien has crash landed and now you need to go after him. Since you are in competition with another team, there is an "exhaust port" on the back of each vehicle. If you shoot it when lit, your opponent's vehicle with spin around for a second or two, making it more difficult for them to shoot the aliens.
Next up was the new Simpsons attraction, which replaced Back To The Future. DW and I remembered NBTTF well - we both hated it for its violent movements and me hitting my head repeatedly on the side. The new ride is themed as an attraction at Krustyland. As with the old ride, there are numerous lines where they seem to split you up, going to various loading levels. Then you go inside where they further break you out into several other lines - these lines don't seem to have any specific loading order though. There are several monitors in here where various Simpsons characters appear as if manning booths at Krustyland, saying various things.
From there you are further assigned to a particular small room, up to 8 people, where there is another video. An then at last you you get to enter the ride vehicle. Watch your head if you are tall - the doors swing upward, and you probably want to sit in the front row if possible - there are two rows for 4 people each. You are then lifted up to begin your "ride". This was a MUCH better ride than BTTF, better themed to the source material. However, because all the ride vehicles are in the same projection area (which is a large omnimax-style screen), guests in the vehicles to the outside may notice a fairly large curved distortion.
Disaster replaced the old Earthquake attraction. It is still fairly the same, but updated. We thought we arrived in time for the 10:30am show, but for some reason we had to wait until 11am - our first wait of any substantial time. The new version is themed around shlock disaster movie director Frank Kincaid needing extras to complete his newest movie, "Mutha Nature". You start out by meeting the assistant director, who picks some extras from among the cast to do specific parts, and then everyone moves into another room where you "meet" Kincaid (played by Christopher Walken). They did an excellent job with this, where they integrated the assistant director (live actor) and Kincaid (projection) fairly seamlessly. From there you enter a soundstage where they film some "stunts" with the chosen extras. Lastly, you enter trams where you go to another stage which represents a subway station for the penultimate disaster scene. Stuff happens on both sides of the tram, but I think the better stuff happened on the opposite side from us. Interestingly, the star of Mutha Nature is Dwayne Johnson - who seems to be Disney's favorite actor of late.
This did eat a fair amount of time, so we decided to stop for lunch at Richter's Burgers. I got a double cheeseburger (which had a special name that I forget), and it came on a far-too-small bun and was horribly put together - but it was a tasty burger.
Next we waited to catch Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue. I remember there being a Beetlejuice show back in 1997, and was a bit surprised it still existed although it has been updated. This was pretty corny, although in a good way - it featured Beetlejuice, Frankenstein, Frankenstein's Bride, Dracula, and the Wolfman, along with Hip and Hop, a couple of cheerleaders. They then sang a bunch of 80s rock standards, including Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen.Wolfman, Bride, BJ, Frankie and Drac rockin'
Twister's next show wasn't for a bit, so we opted to ride Mummy again. At this point it was shown as a 10 minute wait, but it wasn't much longer than before. It does take a while just to walk the queue. The second time I was noticing how easy it would be to turn it into a Stargate-themed attraction if they wanted :)
Now it was time for Twister. We only had a short wait. The effects were neat, but I wasn't sure that all the effects were working. For instance, a fire hydrant that was knocked over didn't gush water.
On one of the side streets we saw a character photo op (the only one we happened to see) with Shrek, Fiona (in human form) and Donkey. Donkey was fully interactive looking out from a stable door, talking to people with a spot-on voice.DD and Donkey chat it up
While walking around towards Terminator 2: 3D, there is a small magic shop, and they were outside asking people to come in for a little magic show. Of course, the point of it was to sell merchandise, but they performed some close-up magic that was very neat. DD even volunteered a $10 bill for one part. I know how it is supposedly done, but I still couldn't see the "trickery", right in front of my face. I wasn't going to shell out $33 for the kit though.
We finshed making our way to T2:3D, but it had very limited times, so we decided to skip it. Instead we went back to ET. The preshow of this ride seems to have changed. We were given "passports" and asked for our names, but I didn't see any reason for it. I went to spell DDs name for them, but it was obvious they didn't care about the spelling anyways. They collected the passports before getting in the boarding lines. I've read that an animatronic ET is supposed to thank you by name, but I don't remember that happening, nor do I know how they would have done it at that point since they already took the passports long before that.
The ride itself is on "bicycles" mounted on a platform 4 across (two or three rows), with the handlebars also forming the lap bar. You then fly over the landscape while dodging the police and government agents, going higher and higher until you are transported to E.T. homeworld, where you need to help save them.
After that, we rode Simpsons (longer wait by then) and MiB again (this time with both sides in operation), and then did Jaws, with a fairly minimal wait. That ride hasn't changed at all - sort of a humorless Jungle Cruise.
We would have ridden The Mummy again, but it had a 35 minute wait posted. The Blues Brothers show had just ended a short distance away and probably stuffed the line.
Our last attraction was Jimmy Neutron. Here it is a theater full of individual motion simulator cars in front of a projection screen. It wasn't in 3D, but it was a fun, funny ride.
At this point it was about 4:30pm, so we decided to head on out back to AKV and rendezvous with DW and DD#2 for dinner. Now we knew we were in the Jaws section of parking, and I thought I knew where we parked, and DD thought she knew where we parked, and they weren't the same place. I didn't remember taking an escalator, but she did. So we checked one floor - nope. We checked the next floor - nope. It's pretty hard looking for a car you rented! So I decided to try the panic button - and I could hear it - somewhere else. It wasn't on the floor we were on, but it was somewhere...it turned out that it wasn't on either floor! It was one floor up! Finally we made our way back...without much help from the street signs which weren't very helpful coming out of the garage, but we eventually found our way back to I4.
So after breakfast at Mara, DD#2 and I headed out to catch the bus to Epcot. Today our focus was going to be getting as many autographs as we could and taking photos of all the topiaries. This was DD#2's first time walking the entire time and she was really excited about them. We hoped to fill her book. We were in no rush to do anything in particular.
After entering Epcot I took some photos of the topiaries as we headed towards Spaceship Earth. We noticed a line and saw Daisy and Stitch so we stopped to take some photos and get autographs. This took about 10 minutes and the characters were fun. Our next stop was to pick up the scavenger hunt form for the topiaries. It was more like a quiz and we had noticed most of the things the day before.The dwarves are looking a little green
As we headed towards Test Track we noticed that there didn't seem to be many people at the Character Spot. I remember when this place used to be just for Disney Visa card members. The CM said we were smart stopping there early as it would be a long wait later on. Mickey was first, followed by Pluto and Minnie Mouse. Donald Duck is my dad's favorite so we made sure to get both of is in the photo. Goofy was the BEST! He was joking around with DD#2 and putting his ears over his eyes. DD#2 was laughing so hard I thought she was going to get sick. She has the best laugh and everyone gets a kick out of her when she's laughing.
Now for our first ride of the day. DD#2 absolutely loves Test Track and that's all she had talked about on the way to Epcot was riding on Test Track first. We usually do Soarin' but had done it twice the day before and didn't want to have to wait. Test Track was a walk on. After that we headed over to do Mission Space, another new favorite of hers. This was her first time being tall enough. We stuck with the Green side as I usually feel quite dizzy for awhile after doing orange. Maybe on our next trip we can do the orange.Goofy being a little...well, goofy
We next headed over to Ellen so we could cool off and sit for a bit. We walked in and sat on one of the benched along the side. The show started and only 2 or 3 of the screens were working. They quickly stopped the show and showed us the way out while they repaired the projection system. DD#2 was upset but I promised her we'd do it on the next day we would be at Epcot.
So we decided to head over to Nemo and Friends. We took some photos outside and then took the long winding walk through the dunes to the clam shells. Very little wait so it was a quick trip.
We then headed through the butterfly garden and made our way towards World Showcase. We stopped and took more photos of the many topiaries along the way. We then headed into the Mexico pavilion to ride the Grand Fiesta ride. Once again there was no wait. We were really lucky not having to worry about crowds and with it only being the two of us we could take our time and enjoy it.
Next stop was Norway and Maelstrom. No wait again. We had to wait longer at the end of the ride to get into the theater which we walked right on through as I've seen the movie many times.
We took a detour back towards Mexico so I could get a margarita as it was approaching noon and getting quite hot. Made another stop to get DD#2 a raspberry iced tea.
We next made it to China and saw Mulan leaving. I was getting hungry so I decided to go and get some potstickers while we waited for Mulan to return. The potstickers were DELICIOUS! I finished eating and then we waited with a few other people to get a photo and autograph with Mulan. She was very sweet with DD#2!
On our way around we saw people waiting for Snow White near Germany. I checked the times guide and decided to head all the way over to France to see Aurora. We had the time and there was very little line. We then made our way back to Morocco to wait for Jasmine and Aladdin. I had a special request for Jasmine. I asked her to sign a postcard for the wife of a former co-worker of mine who will be visiting in August. She thought that was a neat idea!
The one character we didn't seem to be able to meet up with was Belle. That was one that DD#2 really wanted but time was not on our side. We planned to head over to MK by 2 and then meet DH and DD#1 back at AKL.
DD#2 practically lives on chicken nuggets and applesauce so we headed over to the Liberty Inn for her lunch. She ate quickly and then we hit the rest rooms and then continued our way around WS. I decided that it was now time for a Grey Goose slushy before stopping at the Yorkshire County Fish Shop for my lunch of Fish and Chips. This is a must for me each trip. They are the best fish and chips that I've ever had. We couldn't sit at a table so we sat on the ground near the check in for the Rose and Crown. There were some people around us participating in the Kim Possible Adventure that we planned on doing during our day on Friday at Epcot.
We then made our way back to the front of Epcot and stopped at Spaceship Earth before hopping on the monorail to head to MK. Once again no wait!
We walked to the monorail and were at MK in no time. We walked down Main Street and decided to cut through the garden area near the Plaza. We'd never walked this way before and the flowers there were beautiful.A quick view of the show at the castle
OK, now I decided despite all the negative things I head heard to go on Stitch's Great Escape. We waited about 5 minutes outside and then sat in the front row. NEVER AGAIN! I got squirted right in the face almost immediately when the ride started! I think it was worse than the old ride!
We then walked over and got in the line for Buzz Lightyear. Line moved quickly and we were on in about 15 minutes. We then decided to go do the Laugh Floor which we really enjoy. There was about a 15 minute wait but well worth it.
We strolled around for awhile and then got a text that DH and DD#1 were heading back to AKL. We stopped to get a couple raspberry lemonade slushies behind the castle and then strolled down Main Street to catch the bus back to AKL.
It was a very LONG ride back. Traffic was quite heavy and we kept stopping and starting. Finally we came up to a lot of police cars and along the side of the road was the frame of a burned out bus. Now there had been reports of brush fires in the Orlando area but we hadn't noticed anything. One of the bartenders at AKL said that it was the bus for the kids from Africa who work at AK. The bus had somehow caught on fire but everyone escaped safely.
We got back shortly before DH and DD#1 did.
Two Girls Day was a success for DD#2 and me as we got all the autographs we wanted (except for Belle) and took pictures of most of the topiaries.
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