Tink *~*~*
Cast Member
Posts: 1066
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 11-15-02 11:25 PM
Friday 08 November 2002
7-11 Coffee Tastes the Same Nationwide
For some other people, crossing 192 on foot might seem like a scary proposition, but this girl was brought up in the Big Bad City of New York, so it was a cake walk. I crossed with the light, thank you very much, at Reedy Creek Blvd. and went to the 7-11 to fetch breakfast. Wished there was a Starbuck’s in sight within walking distance, but hey, we can’t have everything in life. Noted the presence of a Perkins across the street, and remembered that someone on Common Ground mentioned that they love to eat at Perkins. Made mental note to drag brother and co. to dinner there one night to check it out. Brought the breakfast back to the covered patio at the hotel and made some trip report notes, as would become tradition for this trip.
Universal Studios, and Why We Missed The Trams
We parked in Jaws 117. Yes, we did. What a pain that loooooooong walk was. Even with the moving sidewalks, it was quite a hike to the park. Additionally, SIL was pushing the stroller, and you can’t go on the moving sidewalks with the stroller. Little 6 year old AN, who is reading everything in sight these days, informed us of such and chastised her father for same. When we finally got to the gate, we were presented with ticketing options, and since we all knew we’d be back in Orlando within a year, we all opted for the Annual Pass. From there we proceeded to the place where we got our photos taken for the passes. SIL suggested we head straight for Twister, since they’d liked it so much last year. Me, I’d never been to a Universal park before in my life, so I was open to all suggestions and followed along. On the way down the street, a car pulled up with a bunch of Ghost Busters inside, and they made a big deal out of capturing and restraining Beetleguise. They shouted out the show times, and we were really interested in going, but first, Twister.
Children Are Strange
The Twister attraction is really well done. For those who have not been there, a brief description. First you go into a room where you see clips of the film and the stars doing commentary. Then you are ushered into another room that is totally wrecked, as though a twister had just been through there. SIL and I kidded around when we saw the broken coffeepot – “Oh no, not the coffee pot – how will we live?”. At one point I saw the receiver of the telephone embedded in the wall. Soon we were ushered into yet another room where the fun begins. It is just a spectacular simulation of a twister, taking out the movie theater and other town fixtures. At one point the water comes, and I didn’t really appreciate being smacked in the side of the head with it at probably a billion miles an hour, then being treated to steady wind on that side of my body for the rest of the attraction. It was so loud, we didn’t realize that AN had burst into tears. Bro and SIL could not understand it – she’d been to the same attraction the year before and was fine with it. Now all of a sudden, the semi-collapse of the awning above us sent her over the edge. We got her an autograph book (it comes in a clear plastic holder with a special pen, very convenient) and she was somewhat cheered, but remained really sensitive to all the attractions for the rest of the day.
Don’t You Hate It When They Fill Your Cup Too Full?
After Twister, we decided to hit the Beetleguise live show, and on the way I spied a Starbucks! Five minutes later, SIL and I were exiting with mocha fraps, tall, no whipped cream. However, mine was too full and spurted out the straw hole, causing a cascade of mocha all over my light blue faded denim sleeveless FAVORITE summer shirt. I found the nearest ladies room and cleaned the best I could, applying an extra dousing of that pineapple scented liquid soap in hopes that it would help to remove the stain. (NOTE: after returning home, I did some laundry, and no, the stain did not completely come out. didn’t put it in the dryer tho, maybe an application of Dreft with a toothbrush will help).
Beetleguise – Wow!
I have to say that the quality of the singing and performing was more than I was expecting, especially the woman that sang “I Will Survive”. What a set of pipes on that one, she was really excellent. Loved the “pre-show” – the CM (or whatever you call them at Universal) had a water gun and he conspired with the audience to shoot unsuspecting people. When they turned around, he and the entire conspiracy section of the audience were gazing at the ceiling, as if to determine where the water leak was coming from.
Lunch Break
After Beetleguise, we went across the street to Richter’s for lunch. One of the things that bothers me about all theme parks is that the majority of the foods, even the salads, are not low fat options. This makes one come home from vacation with pants fitting much more tightly than when one left. Richter’s was no exception – seems like most everything on the menu is fried in some way, shape or form. Oh well – we’re on vacation. Gimme the fries!
More Movie Attractions
After lunch, we headed over to Earthquake, where we were trapped in a “subway” car and watched as the street above us collapsed. A vehicle slid down the collapsed pavement and nearly crushed us, a train crashed next to us, and a water main broke threatening to drown us. The good thing about this attraction is that while you are sitting there watching, they start putting things back together. We could then point out to AN that it was just pretend, see, nothing REALLY got wrecked. She was only moderately convinced. Next up was Back to the Future, where you get into the DeLorean and race through time chasing Biff, who is clearly up to no good. At one point, we go back to prehistoric times and nearly get eaten by a T-Rex. I amused everyone in our car by playing with all the buttons on the dashboard. I know they don’t really do anything, but it seemed like every time I pushed a button, the vehicle would lurch or lights would flicker or some similar action would occur. After Back to the Future, we intended to ride MIB (no, not THOSE MIBs, I mean the movie attraction Men In Black) but the line was over 30 minutes long and the Express pass machines were all shut down, so we skipped it and headed to ET. I absolutely LOVED this ride! The idea of bicycles as the vehicles was ingenious, and the forest was extremely realistic. I ended up purchasing the collector’s edition DVD after the ride. I could have given it a second go, but the line was again long when we exited. We then ended up in the kiddie area,and I took AN on the Woody Woodpecker roller coaster, which she loved. My bro reminisced that last year they came on a day when the park was very nearly empty, and just sat on the Woody coaster for a long time, going again and again and again. We did some other kids stuff and then cruised over to Terminator, which was well done. Then we hit one of the souvenir shops on the way out before exiting the park and doing the LOOOOOOOOOOOONG walk back to Jaws 117.
“Silence Is Good”
When we got in the car to go home, I was reflecting on why I didn’t really have the best time at this park. My brother turned on the car radio and I promptly turned it off, saying, “Silence is good”. Then I realized, the park is really LOUD. Everything about it is extremely loud. The music in the streets is loud. The attractions are loud. Many of the attractions are violently themed, and I don’t usually go in for loud and violent. Also, when one lives alone, one is used to silence. Silence is very very good. I’m not one of those people who has to fill up a silence. I think it is something to be savored. So I guess it was a bit of sensory over load for me.
Perkins For Dinner
I persuaded bro and SIL to go to Perkins for dinner, and we all just loved it! Whomever it was who mentioned it, thanks for the recommendation. Really good food at a really decent price, served in what could pass for your mom or grandparents’ kitchen - with frilly curtains, tchokees and everything. I vowed to make the perilous 192 cross in the morning and come back for breakfast.
More Shopping
At some point, we got a phone call from one of our other brothers, informing us that he and his wife had arrived at their hotel. They were staying somewhere near Palm Parkway, much closer to Disney. They were meeting a relative for dinner in Downtown Disney. SIL AD and I had already discussed returning to Downtown Disney that evening for a true shopping expedition. So we dropped AN and bro off at the hotel and headed out together. We parked close to the marketplace and hit the World of Disney store for “stuff”. We still had another brother and his family back at home – they’d opted not to pull their three from school because it would be too much like work to keep up with schoolwork for the whole three of them while on vacation. So they needed compensatory presents. Also, SIL AD had been admiring my Disney fanny pack, which I’d picked up in March. It is rectangular and long enough to hold guidemaps, and generally more roomy than the typical triangular fanny packs. Mine says “2002” on it and has Mickey. So we were in that section of World of Disney, when I got a tap on the shoulder and it was SIL D! She had dragged her father and my other brother PD into the store after dinner at the Rainforest. We made some quick plans for the next day, and then took our purchases to the check out. I pooled everything and used my Disney Club card for the discounts, and we saved a bundle.
TOMORROW: Islands of Adventure – those are some serious rides!
[Edited by Tink *~*~*]
Tink *~*~*
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and I SO agree that the Beetleguise show is superb!