I Can't, I'm Not Wearing a Princess Dress! - New TR link!!!!

[Gracefulskinny]

Probably because very few people actually care.

Yeah... since you don't like to have fun.

Because vomiting for hours on end until you can get a suppository and a bed and hours of sleep is just so delightful. I get motion sick easily and am very sensitive to most drugs. (most actually cause their own nausea)

Got em! And I've read your last answer like 20 times... I'm trying to figure out "what you did there."

Its a classic kids song reference. You can google "If all the rain Drops" if you need the memory jog but I'll warn you. THe only videos of it I could find are barney videos and creepy animations.

"If all the rain drops were lemon drops and gumdrops oh what a rain it would be. I would stand outside with my mouth open wide saying AH AH AH AH AH AH AH. If all the rain drops were lemon drops and gumdrops oh what a rain that would be. " (The song goes on switching out the lemon drops and gumdrops with other candies.)

I'm a tad surprised your kids haven't sang it.

 

[afwdwfan]

Orlando Informer website has posted some rumors (from a supposedly accurate informant named "Unknown"). This is what they say about The Hulk

Because informants who go by "unknown" should always be trusted.

As The Incredible Hulk Coaster continues to make good progress on getting most of its track put back together, it would seem to be rather obvious that, after all the rumorin’ and speculatin’ and daydreamin’, the roller coaster is going to employ the exact same layout as it had before, although it’ll certainly be a smoother ride – and a fancier one, too, as the queue will be completely bulldozed and rebuilt from the ground up, of course.

Hulkstruction!

Sounds promising... looks promising... cautious optimism creeping up...

Except, well, Unknown has a few things to say about that expectation. Although the track is exactly the same as before, the coaster will be faster, making for a more aggressive ride experience right off the bat. But don’t think this means the attraction’s running time will be decreased; on the contrary, our slippery friend maintains, it’ll actually be longer, thanks to an expanded story that riders will be exposed to via on-board audio. Will this tie into the new queue? Your guess is as good as ours, as the line’s waiting area is entirely unknown (heh) to us.

Wow... almost a minute longer? This actually concerns me a little bit. How do you make this ride a minute longer while keeping it the same length without significantly impacting the ride experience or the loading speed? I could see a few seconds longer with a little bit of backstory leading into the launch... but a whole minute? And I don't see how they can add a train to keep up with capacity. They'd almost certainly have to add a second loading station at the very least to try to keep up.

Well, except – perhaps – for this little tidbit: the metal detectors that have since become a permanent part of Hulk’s façade will be getting an overhaul, making them tie into the ride’s newly expanded theming. (OI’s resident rumor-monger also says to keep an eye out for similar redos on Dragon Challenge’s and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit’s detectors, as well.)

Can't we just have another gamma ray accident that destroys them all???

I forgot to mention this when we were ranting about the lockers. I have a friend who went to US during Tropical Storm Faye (I was at Disney that week and it rained non-stop for a few days). She said that the lockers did not recognize anyone's finger prints when they were all wet, so Team Members had to keep overriding the lockers. That must have been fun!

Oh boy... I just... no. Get me out of this hell hole.

 

[afwdwfan]

Because vomiting for hours on end until you can get a suppository and a bed and hours of sleep is just so delightful. I get motion sick easily and am very sensitive to most drugs. (most actually cause their own nausea)

I'm sorry... I know, it isn't fun. And I'm just moderately affected by motion sickness. I'm just afraid I'll be like you one of these days. My dad used to be about the same way I am now. But the past 10 years or so he gets motion sickness so bad that he can't ride anything.

Its a classic kids song reference. You can google "If all the rain Drops" if you need the memory jog but I'll warn you. THe only videos of it I could find are barney videos and creepy animations.

"If all the rain drops were lemon drops and gumdrops oh what a rain it would be. I would stand outside with my mouth open wide saying AH AH AH AH AH AH AH. If all the rain drops were lemon drops and gumdrops oh what a rain that would be. " (The song goes on switching out the lemon drops and gumdrops with other candies.)

I'm a tad surprised your kids haven't sang it.

Yeah... I guess this isn't a common one in our neck of the woods. And Barney is after my childhood and before theirs!

 

[natebenma]

So sorry your time at Universal/IoA was not more enjoyable.

We have really enjoyed our recent trips there, but they have been multi-day, non-rushed, onsite experiences.

I have a friend who is going to Disney with her family for the first time and I am helping her plan it. First I had to let her know that Harry Potter was not part of Disney. She has now informed me that her 11 year old daughter is obsessed with Harry Potter and they are all going there for one day. They refuse to split up for the day. It is my friend, her husband (who doesn't ride intense rides), 11 year old daughter (ditto), 9 year old son (who will ride coasters), 6 year old daughter and my friends mom. She knows it is going to be an over $1000 day so her daughter can sip some butterbeer and buy a wand.



At least they shouldn't need express passes since they won't be riding anything!


What did you listen to on Rip Ride Rockit?

We did the Twister experience once. The special effects were awesome. The queue and preshow were the most depressing things I have ever seen at a theme park.



I'm sorry you were disappointed with Transformers. I don't know the movies, so I have never been very impressed with the ride, it really is a copy of Spiderman and I like Spiderman storyline better.

What a bummer that you didn't get to eat anything very interesting and even more so that you didn't get the drink you wanted.




Contest guesses-
1. 7:57 am- I think the airlines fudge the arrival times so that they land "early"
2. Prince Charming, Drizella, Anastasia
3. Cinderella, Lady Tremaine
4. It started to rain so you had to roll up the windows of your car. Or, you remembered you left the car unlocked and the AllSpark you were entrusted with at the Transformers ride was in jeopardy.

:

 

[afwdwfan]

So sorry your time at Universal/IoA was not more enjoyable.

I had a good time... but I clearly just don't enjoy Universal as much as I used to a few years ago. Hulk being open might have made me look past some of the negatives. But then again, I'd have had to go through another metal detector so it could be a wash.

We have really enjoyed our recent trips there, but they have been multi-day, non-rushed, onsite experiences.

That definitely would help. But then when I look at it... in all honesty a day or 2 is more than enough for me to do what I want to do there.

I have a friend who is going to Disney with her family for the first time and I am helping her plan it. First I had to let her know that Harry Potter was not part of Disney. She has now informed me that her 9 year old daughter is obsessed with Harry Potter and they are all going there for one day. They refuse to split up for the day. It is my friend, her husband (who doesn't ride intense rides), 11 year old daughter (ditto), 9 year old son (who will ride coasters), 6 year old daughter and my friends mom. She knows it is going to be an over $1000 day so her daughter can sip some butterbeer and buy a wand.



At least they shouldn't need express passes since they won't be riding anything!

Yeah, that will be a rough one. I mean, I can see them all wanting to go to see the theming, but yeah, that's going to be an expensive walk through.

What did you listen to on Rip Ride Rockit?

Rollin. I don't even try the secret list. It isn't my favorite song ever by any stretch but it really fits with the ride.

We did the Twister experience once. The special effects were awesome. The queue and preshow were the most depressing things I have ever seen at a theme park.

You do make a good point.

I'm sorry you were disappointed with Transformers. I don't know the movies, so I have never been very impressed with the ride, it really is a copy of Spiderman and I like Spiderman storyline better.

I kind of like the Transformers storyline. It feels more cohesive to me. But really, does it matter? They're the same ride.

What a bummer that you didn't get to eat anything very interesting and even more so that you didn't get the drink you wanted.

Oh well... at least I got a burger. Even if it wasn't a Krusty Burger.

Contest guesses-
1. 7:57 am- I think the airlines fudge the arrival times so that they land "early"
2. Prince Charming, Drizella, Anastasia
3. Cinderella, Lady Tremaine
4. It started to rain so you had to roll up the windows of your car. Or, you remembered you left the car unlocked and the AllSpark you were entrusted with at the Transformers ride was in jeopardy.

:

Got em!

 

[cindianne320]

Except for HP, I could go without a trip to Universal for, well, forever. I was also massively disappointed in the Transformers ride for the same reasons you mentioned.

1. 8:45 am
2. Prince Charming, Drizella, Lady Tremaine
3. Cinderella, Anastasia
4. I'm going to have to go with the Princess dress!

 

[franandaj]

But before I could get there, I had to go through the metal detector of course.


And then get wanded.

Ugh, is it not bad enough for them to do this when you go into the park, but then to do it again on almost every freakin' ride!

It was a close call, but in the end, we escaped from the Mummy and I didn’t lose my keys or my phone despite the serious warning from the TM.

Maybe they just want you to leave your stuff in the locker so that you might forget it there and they can confiscate it and resell it on eBay when you forget about it!

Sadly, I can’t say that I was terribly excited about Transformers. It just felt like a well themed re-tread. I might have liked it better if there was at least one scene of an AA Megatron trying to smash our car rather than nothing but 3D video screens. It wasn’t horrible, but I was excited about the ride and got off feeling kind of “meh” about it.

I only watched the Transformers in "reruns" on cable channels. In fact I was perplexed when friends of mine (in your age group) mentioned that the husband wanted to name their now 4 year old son "Optimus Prime". The wife nixed that name and instead he is now Elwood, they're pregnant again and we'll see if they have a "Jake".

I think this really helped me put my feelings about the Wizarding World into perspective. I really appreciated the theming and detail that went into those lands. And it isn’t that I dislike the movies at all. I was starting to really enjoy them by the time I got to the end. Yet I still just felt like I should have been more impressed by the rides than I was with all the hype and love they seem to get.

That's most of what I'm looking forward to seeing is the theming although I do want to ride Gringott's and the Hogwartt's Express. The funny thing is that HP world is opening at US here in So Cal in April, but since Disney has brought back their F&W Festival at DCA I think I will delay my visit to US/Hollywood. Hmmmmm.... Coincidence? I think not.

Instead I went back outside and saw that Lard Lad didn’t have a line at all. They had plenty of great pastries to choose from, but I like apple anything. I’d have liked to have tried one of the signature donuts but the apple fritter just sounded too good. And holy crap, that thing was huge!

Dang! I was really hoping you would try the Big Pink and post a picture! I'm still going to get at least one of those. Fran thinks we need a dozen still.

I really was impressed with the level of detail here. I definitely like Diagon Alley and Knocturn Alley more than Hogsmeade. I was impressed with how ridiculously dark it was in Knockturn Alley. It was so dark that I couldn’t see 10 feet in front of me and I can’t imagine how they could get by with having it so dark without it becoming a liability issue.

I totally can't wait to see this!

I didn’t buy anything, but when a store has a product called U-No-Poo, you know the humor is high-brow.

See that's one of the things you miss when you don't read the books. The Weasley's had a number of treats that would have sparked your fancy. I'm not sure if the (not quite sure about this) Skiving Snack Boxes were in the movie but they had all kinds of stuff to make you too sock to stay in class. There were a number of other things that I'm sure we're skipped over in the movie that they had there.

After I finished enjoying my snack and wandering around Diagon Alley, I thought I’d get a picture on the way out to show how crowded it had gotten in just a few hours.

We will definitely get there early and leave by noon ish.

The ride is a fun one. It’s kind of like Buzz Lightyear where you have a gun and can shoot aliens but the gun isn’t stationary and it is frankly a better ride than Buzz.

I know that we both went on this ride in 2008 because I remember having to use the lockers, but not sure how important it is to ride it again .

Maybe because it is what it is… it doesn’t seem to sell itself as being anything more. You sit in a car in front of a screen and it is entertaining. You don’t ride the car from a screen in one room to a screen in another room for the next scene while they try to make scrambled eggs out of your brain as you move from scene to scene.

I just remember feeling pretty I'll after this ride. Not as bad as Forbidden Journey but almost. Again in 2008.

It was closed. Apparently it doesn’t open till 4 or 6. I forget now which it was. Either way, I had to leave well before it would be opening. So I just took a picture and of course had to send it to a friend who was on that trip with me.

Bummer. I hope to hit the original next month.

Let’s see, do I want to pay for parking, stand in a 15 or 20 minute line to get wanded and patted down so that I can eat dinner in an overpriced restaurant? Thanks, but no thanks. There’s another place that I can drive to in the time it would take to drive to Universal and wait in the security line, but I can park for free and still eat dinner in an overpriced restaurant. But we’ll talk about that in the next update…

Looking forward to that one!

I figured I’d still have time to do this after I got back this evening.

Well, I got in the convention center and I was in front of Hall F. I’d have to walk the length of the concourse to get to Hall A. As I was about to find out, that’s nearly a mile. Someone in our group ended up using their phone to map it from the hotel lobby to Hall A and it was .99 miles.

I got registered and made it into the trade show a little bit after 4. But I then found out the event I was supposed to be at didn’t actually start until 4:15 anyway so I was actually right on time. I was too late to get a seat though, so I ended up having to stand there for about an hour and a half.

Well good you weren't late, but sucks you had to stand. I would have considered sitting on the floor, but that'sprobably not manly.

They had a free reception with some appetizers and drinks set out at the trade show, so I decided to just grab enough snacks to make a meal of it (yes, I was that guy) and call it a night.

I would have totally done that too. Fran would have said it was not enough food and we would need dinner somewhere. It's all perspective.

I was already tired and sore after just a day and a half in Orlando. I laid down on the bed to watch the Bengals do what they do best – choke in the playoffs – and I fell asleep probably at around halftime.

I read this and not being a sports person had no idea what you were talking about. I was thinking, I've heard of the Goldbergs. The real o"neals, but I've never heard of the Bengals.

Them I saw halftime and realized it had to be a sports thing

1. My step count for the day was 24241.

when I wore a fit bit I averaged 6 maybe 7000 steps a day. When. I hit my goal of 10,000 I was always exhausted. The one time I got 21,000+ was the day we moved and I thought I was going to die. I could not move for the next two days. You are a olympian!

Captain_Oblivious 185

SarahDisney 179

Jandlinz 171

Chillitsanne 146

Franandaj 142

Yay! I'm catching up!

1. DW’s flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 8:17 am. What time did they land?

8:12AM

2. We had dinner Sunday night at (spoiler) 1900 PF. DD wanted nothing to do with 3 of the characters there. 10 points each if you can name the 3 characters she didn’t like.

The two step sisters and lady Tremaine.

3. There were 2 characters she loved seeing at 1900 PF. 10 points each if you can name them.

Prince charming and Cinderella

4. I had to (literally) run back out to the truck after we checked in for dinner but before we were seated. If you can guess why it is worth 50 points. Bonus points available for creative and entertaining answers even if you’re wrong.

Because she couldn't meet Cinderella without her princess dress!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

It sounds like you got a lot done at US/IOA. That pass sounds very worth it too - those lines were pretty long! Besides all of the annoying metal detectors, sounds like you had a fun solo day!

On my way out of the park I saw Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe in the middle of the street meeting with park guests. It was kind of interesting to see a meet & greet using actual people rather than a fictional character.

I love this! That does sound like a very fun meet and greet.

Unfortunately, I think the speed walking at Disney World on Friday night and all morning at Universal had caught up with me. I made it to about Hall C and my back and knees started to feel a little bit stiff. It wasn’t horrible, but I was starting to feel sore.

Ugh that sucks. You did do a lot so that's a pretty normal effect.

Questions for the next update:

1. DW’s flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 8:17 am. What time did they land?

8:30am

2. We had dinner Sunday night at (spoiler) 1900 PF. DD wanted nothing to do with 3 of the characters there. 10 points each if you can name the 3 characters she didn’t like.

Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizilla. Either because a) she didn't know who they were or b) she knows exactly who they are and knows they are mean! (I felt like guessing beforehand lol)

3. There were 2 characters she loved seeing at 1900 PF. 10 points each if you can name them.

Cinderella and Prince Charming!

4. I had to (literally) run back out to the truck after we checked in for dinner but before we were seated. If you can guess why it is worth 50 points. Bonus points available for creative and entertaining answers even if you’re wrong.

DD forgot to put on her special dress. Also, you forgot your matching "father/daughter" tiara set to wear to show Prince Charming, with lots of glitter of course.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Look, I realize this wasn’t the greatest attraction ever. But I actually kind of enjoyed it. I thought the effects were cool. I mean they make a tornado inside a building! It used real, actual, physical effects. I always tried to do it if we had time. I can’t say that I’m terribly excited about it being replaced by a Jimmy Fallon attraction. Not that I don’t like Jimmy, but it sounds like the attraction will be… well, just guess…

I fell the same about Twister. It was nothing phenomenal, but at least it was a bit different, instead of the new stick-you-in-front-of-a-screen-and-shake trend. I wasn't that sad when I heard Twister was going, but I was disappointed to hear the replacement.

This is a fun ride. It is kind of close to Space Mountain in intensity, but with some neat visual effects and a very short backwards section. I enjoy it, but it’s not something I’ve felt compelled to do every time in the past. Well, now I’ve got a new favorite ride at Universal… a rollercoaster without a metal detector.

I've never gone on The Mummy. I don't mind roller coasters with speed and turns (BTMRR is my favourite), but I really don't enjoy big straight drops. I was always too nervous to try The Mummy since you can't actually see the track. But it's good to hear it compared to Space Mountain, which I have done. I might have to try Mummy next time.

Sadly, I can’t say that I was terribly excited about Transformers. It just felt like a well themed re-tread. I might have liked it better if there was at least one scene of an AA Megatron trying to smash our car rather than nothing but 3D video screens. It wasn’t horrible, but I was excited about the ride and got off feeling kind of “meh” about it.

I had the same thought the one (and possibly only) time I did Transformers. I really found little to get excited about and feeling like I had just been through a blender didn't give it any bonus points. Although Spiderman is similar, I like Spiderman better. It seemed like it had more practical effects and the motion was smoother. Transformers just gave me a headache.


Contest answers:
1. 8:23am
2. Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drizella
3. Cinderella, Fairy Godmother (she's probably not there often, but I remember my DD hated any of the princes when she was younger, so I'm going against the trend )
3. You left your knee-high kinky boots for your Prince Charming costume, because you're that "cool" Dis Dad who plays dress up. (OK, that was my attempt at a creative answer). The real reason is, of course, forgetting the princess dress for your DD.

 

[Dugette]

That "Hurricanes to go" sign - they didn't have an open window or anything? If not, they should take that down!

I was too late to get a seat though, so I ended up having to stand there for about an hour and a half.

Ugh, no good. Sorry.

1. DW’s flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 8:17 am. What time did they land?

8:31am.

2. We had dinner Sunday night at (spoiler) 1900 PF. DD wanted nothing to do with 3 of the characters there. 10 points each if you can name the 3 characters she didn’t like.

Anastasia, Drizella, Lady Tremaine

3. There were 2 characters she loved seeing at 1900 PF. 10 points each if you can name them.

Cinderella and Prince Charming

4. I had to (literally) run back out to the truck after we checked in for dinner but before we were seated. If you can guess why it is worth 50 points. Bonus points available for creative and entertaining answers even if you’re wrong.

Because Cinderella was trying to steal your truck and leave town.

Or maybe someone needed their princess attire.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

But before I could get there, I had to go through the metal detector of course.


And then get wanded.

Urge to kill...rising...

I saw the old Twister building. It looks like it was literally hit by a tornado.

Wow. Now I know why Disney invests in those big screens.

I can’t say that I’m terribly excited about it being replaced by a Jimmy Fallon attraction. Not that I don’t like Jimmy, but it sounds like the attraction will be… well, just guess…

Full of live animatronics, I'm sure.

He told me they don’t, but you should empty your pockets anyway, because it is a rollercoaster.


Thanks. I’ve ridden it before, I’ll be fine.

A WHAT???? Stop the presses! Maybe they have to warn people there is no motion simulation involved.

This is a fun ride. It is kind of close to Space Mountain in intensity, but with some neat visual effects and a very short backwards section. I enjoy it, but it’s not something I’ve felt compelled to do every time in the past.

Good to know. Space Mountain is one my kids can handle. I have to figure out what they'll be able to do when we finally break and plan to go see the Harry Potter stuff.

I’ll admit. I like the movies. The first one is clearly much better than any of the subsequent follow ups. But come on… robots, awesome cars and lots of explosions. What’s not to like?

Shia LeBoeuf, for starters.

I thought the first one was ok. Dumb, but entertaining. Now it's just the exact same movie over and over.

Even a lot of the effects were absolutely identical to what they do in Spiderman. It was basically like they just dropped the same thing they already had into another building and put Decepticons in there instead of the Spiderman bad guys.

So the ride is basically doing the same thing as the movies.

The way he moved, talked and interacted with guests was pretty incredible. It looked great and really was a well-done M&G opportunity. I took a short video, and I’ll try to link it here if you want to see it.

Cool! Now that's actual creativity!

I didn’t buy anything, but when a store has a product called U-No-Poo, you know the humor is high-brow.

Oh, man, is this the store for me! I've always wanted to hang with the cultural elites.

It took me a couple of scenes to figure out that it was shooting about 3’ below where I was aiming.

So you have to go into this pretending you're a Cleveland Browns QB.

The Simpsons ride is another one of Universal’s patented motion simulators.

Oh, good. Something new.

Maybe because it is what it is… it doesn’t seem to sell itself as being anything more. You sit in a car in front of a screen and it is entertaining. You don’t ride the car from a screen in one room to a screen in another room for the next scene while they try to make scrambled eggs out of your brain as you move from scene to scene.

I remember riding that one when it was Back to the Future. It was a fun ride then. I think they just re-purposed the same ride with a Simpsons theme.

It was closed. Apparently it doesn’t open till 4 or 6.

D'oh! I need my early-afternoon alcohol, dang it! Why are you looking at me like that?

Unfortunately, I think the speed walking at Disney World on Friday night and all morning at Universal had caught up with me. I made it to about Hall C and my back and knees started to feel a little bit stiff. It wasn’t horrible, but I was starting to feel sore.

It really is amazing the toll walking around a theme park takes on your body. Or we're just getting old.

I thought about just pushing through and going back to the room and lying down, but I was afraid I’d make it about halfway before my back locked up and started to spasm.

Maybe karma for posting that Stacy photo...

I laid down on the bed to watch the Bengals do what they do best – choke in the playoffs – and I fell asleep probably at around halftime.

Ouch! It's funny because it's true. Although I had to give them a bit of a pass for not having Andy Dalton available. Then again, the penalties at the end were beyond moronic.

Overall Leaderboard:

Captain_Oblivious 185

I'm just going to sit here and let this soak in, because it's not going to last long.

1. DW’s flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 8:17 am. What time did they land?

Good tailwinds. 8:10 a.m.

2. We had dinner Sunday night at (spoiler) 1900 PF. DD wanted nothing to do with 3 of the characters there. 10 points each if you can name the 3 characters she didn’t like.

I guess I'll go with the obvious and say the evil stepmother and step-sisters.

3. There were 2 characters she loved seeing at 1900 PF. 10 points each if you can name them.

Cinderella and Prince No Personalit--uh, Charming?

4. I had to (literally) run back out to the truck after we checked in for dinner but before we were seated. If you can guess why it is worth 50 points. Bonus points available for creative and entertaining answers even if you’re wrong.

One of the kids NEEDED a toy with them for dinner. Or NEEDED a diaper change. Those two things have sparked more runs to the parking lot than I care to admit.

If I missed on that, then obviously you were warned at the check-in desk that you were about to experience EATING IN A RESTAURANT. You were instructed to remove every single item from your pockets, including the lint and the paper clip you smuggled into Universal Studios earlier. Because you didn't plan ahead and neglected to wear cargo shorts or rent a locker at the Grand Floridian, you needed to run back to the truck to empty your pockets before you could enter and experience the thrills of sitting down to eat. Just to be sure, you got wanded before entering.

 

[MissMaryQC]

What a day! You really did a lot.

Rip, Ride, Rocket/Rock it, not sure, is so scary! That 90 degree angle when you first head up is more than I can handle. Glad you liked it though!

Twister is gone?! What the heck Universal? I agree with you 100% on that ride. I always enjoyed it, when we had time for it.

LOVE the Mummy! The first time I went on I didn't know it was a coaster; very fun surprise. And yay for no crazy metal detectors!

Sorry you didn't like Transformers. I've not heard such great things about that attraction, but that stinks that it's essentially Spiderman.

Sorry lunch in Springfield was a bust! Sounded like you were looking forward to it. I hate the Simpson's ride. I was so upset when they took out Back to the Future and made it that. You'd think they'd at least make it something equally as awesome!

Love Men in Black, such a fun shooter ride. I have an amazing photo from that ride from a family reunion years ago.

Admittedly I only scanned through the Potter portion; we've not visited that side yet, and I wanna be surprised!

Burger bar for lunch isn't too shabby. Sorry about your beverage though; I do love a good Hurricane.

I wonder if the convention had the shuttle specifically cause people are out at the parks all day? Sorry your back was acting up. I know how torturous that can be.

Hope you got some good sleep that night!

I haven't played the question game till now, but I'll join in (and likely lose miserably)

Questions for the next update:

1. DW’s flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 8:17 am. What time did they land?

Answer: 9:20 AM

2. We had dinner Sunday night at (spoiler) 1900 PF. DD wanted nothing to do with 3 of the characters there. 10 points each if you can name the 3 characters she didn’t like.

Answer: Lady Tremaine, Drizzelda, Anastasia

3. There were 2 characters she loved seeing at 1900 PF. 10 points each if you can name them.

Answer: Cinderella and the Prince
-not clue here cause we have never been to 1900 PF!

4. I had to (literally) run back out to the truck after we checked in for dinner but before we were seated. If you can guess why it is worth 50 points. Bonus points available for creative and entertaining answers even if you’re wrong.

Um, your camera? I'm terrible at this. LOL!

 

[SarahDisney]

But before I could get there, I had to go through the metal detector of course.


And then get wanded.

I feel like there comes a point where they should just give you some sort of card to hand to the team members that says "I will set off the metal detector" which tells the TMs to just skip the metal detector and go straight to wanding you. It saves you and them a few seconds.

I saw the old Twister building. It looks like it was literally hit by a tornado.

A tornado named Jimmy Fallon.

Well, now I’ve got a new favorite ride at Universal… a rollercoaster without a metal detector.

So all you need to be happy is a roller coaster with no metal detector? That should be easy.
Oh wait, this is Universal. I take that back.

I’ll admit. I like the movies. The first one is clearly much better than any of the subsequent follow ups. But come on… robots, awesome cars and lots of explosions. What’s not to like?

So, I've only seen the first one, but in answer to the question of "what's not to like?" ... Shia LaBeouf.

Sadly, I can’t say that I was terribly excited about Transformers. It just felt like a well themed re-tread. I might have liked it better if there was at least one scene of an AA Megatron trying to smash our car rather than nothing but 3D video screens. It wasn’t horrible, but I was excited about the ride and got off feeling kind of “meh” about it.

Well, that's sad. I hate when rides you hope to enjoy end up being disappointed. Bummer.

But I was most impressed with Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. Come on, it is a store full of practical jokes and gag gifts. What’s not to like? I thought it was well themed and just a fun store to look around. I didn’t buy anything, but when a store has a product called U-No-Poo, you know the humor is high-brow.

So, after reading this, I popped the DVD of Half-Blood Prince into my computer to see how much you would know about U-No-Poo from the movie. I'll admit, I only watched like 2 minutes, but I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't in the movie at all. So now I must type up part of the book for you:

(This is from Chapter 6 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - it's a giant poster that Harry sees in the window of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes on his first visit)

WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT
YOU-KNOW-WHO?
YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT
U-NO-POO -
THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION
THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION​

I would have typed the whole paragraph, but I wanted to cut down on the required reading. But that's where U-No-Poo comes from. And this is why you need to read the books.

The Simpsons ride is another one of Universal’s patented motion simulators. It is basically a spoof on theme parks (with a few shots taken at Disney) where the Simpsons family is trying to enjoy the park while being chased by Sideshow Bob. It’s a fun ride. Although I’m not crazy about the other simulator rides, I do like this one a little bit better than most at Universal.


Maybe because it is what it is… it doesn’t seem to sell itself as being anything more. You sit in a car in front of a screen and it is entertaining. You don’t ride the car from a screen in one room to a screen in another room for the next scene while they try to make scrambled eggs out of your brain as you move from scene to scene.

So ... I don't know when you first went to Universal, but the Simpson's ride was originally Back to the Future. It was one of the early attractions at Universal (not sure if it was an opening day attraction), and while it was technologically advanced then, it isn't really now. And from what I've heard, they didn't really change the ride mechanism when they switched it over to Simpsons, they just changed the theming. So I think it intentionally doesn't try to do too much because that would have been too much work for them when they switched it over.
I'm glad you did finally find a simulator ride that didn't kill you.

On my way out of the park I saw Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe in the middle of the street meeting with park guests. It was kind of interesting to see a meet & greet using actual people rather than a fictional character.

We have a picture with Lucille Ball from Universal Studios Hollywood. It was weird for us, but kinda fun.

It was closed. Apparently it doesn’t open till 4 or 6. I forget now which it was. Either way, I had to leave well before it would be opening. So I just took a picture and of course had to send it to a friend who was on that trip with me.

Interesting. I never thought of New Orleans as a place that was not in favor of drinking all day. You'd think a place like Pat O'Briens would be open a little earlier.

There’s another place that I can drive to in the time it would take to drive to Universal and wait in the security line, but I can park for free and still eat dinner in an overpriced restaurant.

Is it Disney World?

Well, I got in the convention center and I was in front of Hall F. I’d have to walk the length of the concourse to get to Hall A. As I was about to find out, that’s nearly a mile. Someone in our group ended up using their phone to map it from the hotel lobby to Hall A and it was .99 miles.

Well, that's a nice short walk.
But still shorter than my walk to Starbucks, so I have no pity for you.

They had a free reception with some appetizers and drinks set out at the trade show, so I decided to just grab enough snacks to make a meal of it (yes, I was that guy) and call it a night. I went through the line and got 2 sliders and some chicken wings and some iced tea. The wings were ok, but the sliders were awesome. I went back and grabbed a couple more. I have no shame.

Hey, if the food is there and it's free, you're allowed to have as much as you want!

I laid down on the bed to watch the Bengals do what they do best – choke in the playoffs – and I fell asleep probably at around halftime.

It could be worse. They could be the Jets and choke in the last regular season game so that they don't make the playoffs.

SarahDisney – 5 points for being closest on mileage.

Yay! More bonus points!!

Totals for this round:

Captain_Oblivious 100

SarahDisney 90

Overall Leaderboard:

Captain_Oblivious 185

SarahDisney 179

Second place for the round and overall. Nice!

1. DW’s flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 8:17 am. What time did they land?

8:17 AM. Because it's weird when a flight actually lands at the schedule time.

2. We had dinner Sunday night at (spoiler) 1900 PF. DD wanted nothing to do with 3 of the characters there. 10 points each if you can name the 3 characters she didn’t like.

Well, she's a princess kinda girl, so I'm gonna go with the "villains" - Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella.

3. There were 2 characters she loved seeing at 1900 PF. 10 points each if you can name them.

Cinderella and Prince Charming

4. I had to (literally) run back out to the truck after we checked in for dinner but before we were seated. If you can guess why it is worth 50 points. Bonus points available for creative and entertaining answers even if you’re wrong.

I'm going with ... DD lost one shoe in the car and you had to go get it.
Cinderella is always losing a shoe! That girl needs to get some shoes that fit properly.

 

[Leshaface]

Yes i'm all caught up! That surely deserves some points right?

I just wanted to say first, you and your family are definitely in my thoughts and prayers and praying that the baby will be healthy once he/she is born

There wasn’t any rigid schedule for Saturday until they laid this one on us. Unfortunately, this meant I had to back out of my plans to meet the Disdads for dinner. I’d really been looking forward to that, so it was a big disappointment.

Wow cause they couldn't have said this months in advance That's a bummer.

Vacation time!

and I quickly came to the realization that this is one of those hotels that likes to punish you for getting a free room.

I've never had a free room before, but have had the 'amenities' of a free room before. Yikes!

Apparently the room they gave me is positioned so that all plumbing draining the building runs through the wall at the headboard of the bed. I could hear water rushing every time someone flushed a toilet, turned on a sink or took a shower. I was in bed unable to sleep for a few hours. Granted, part of that was probably the excitement of getting some Disney time the next day, but the noise wasn’t helping. Every time I’d get close to drifting off somebody would flush a toilet or something.

UGH that's just bad. But not as bad as what kept me up most of the night from a trip that we took in October. An inebriated couple decided that doing the 'horizontal hula' in their room wasn't spicy enough and took it out to the pool area...where the pool is located in the center of the hotel This was when we went to Disneyland (not at a Disney hotel or anywhere in Anaheim) so my mom blush:) was with us too and I was PRAYING that I was the only one awake to hear it, but it was definitely hard to ignore it.

I mean, I guess I could have cut a blueberry muffin in half and made a breakfast sandwich

Blew my mind. Sweet and savory?!

Way to get those shots while driving!

Only the points aren’t completely worthless, just mostly worthless.

I had a paper in the room indicating there would be road closures due to the races

What's up with you always going on vacation during races?

Wild turkeys.


Maybe he had been drinking some Wild Turkey???

And this, boys and girls, is why we don’t pay attention to rumors spread by bus drivers.

I've heard to never take a bus drivers advice before, now I really won't.

The diving bell

Well, what's left of it looks good. And you did get a food pic, which is always lacking in your TR's. I feel that you sir, must be awarded your own points for this accomplishment.

Oh well, at least I got to see the inside of Trader Sam’s.


It really is a cool place.

At least it's further than you got at Disneyland right??

So I walked backtracked towards the busses, made a left turn and walked as fast as I could. I was walking along for a little bit when a runner passed me as he was jogging. He must have been doing some kind of interval thing, because just after he passed me, he proceeded to slow to a walk.


In no time at all, I passed him again.


I continued walking and a few minutes later, he jogged past me once again.


As before, he then slowed to a walk and I passed him.

This would have been a funny sight to see.

I found the lobby and it didn’t take me long to make it to Belle Vue Lounge. It was almost 6, but I finally made it! There were about 8 or 10 Disdads sitting there enjoying some drinks. It was kind of a fluid group throughout the evening as Dads would come or go as we made our way around the Boardwalk

How cool is that?! So was it only dads or were there some with their spouses/families too?

Well, when a group of Disdads walks in taking up half the lounge, it obviously made for some good interactions with him. I’m not sure if he was impressed or frustrated with us when he’d try to set up a joke and someone would steal his punchline.

We had a fairly long periscope session going while we were there and chatted with some of the dads that couldn’t make it

Okay what is periscope? I've heard of it before, but is it like Chatroulette or Vine or something?

With obstructed view, I was able to hear the soundtrack and see the show… which is better than not seeing it at all!

According to Twitter, the dads had moved on over to Crew’s Cup Lounge at Yacht Club.

Don't you just love Social Media?

He got a Kimonos Dragon, I believe. The server kind of gave him a sideways look and told him it is pink and has rose petals in it. He smiled at her and said he’s secure in his manhood.

Before DH ever orders a mixed drink, he ALWAYS asks two things: 1) what color is the drink and 2) what kind of glass is it served in. Unless he's already had several drinks before hand, then the questions are meaningless.

Interesting choice! Not a big fan, although will have some if I get sushi every once in a while, but would rather have a beer. That and I can never remember which way I like it, hot or cold? Were all these served cold?

I ordered a burger and fries and grabbed a tie die cheesecake and Powerade.

Can't go wrong with the classic Disney burger and fries!

but this was the absolute worst food I’ve ever had at Disney World.

Oh guess you can

I saw ABC Family running a marathon of the movies so I DVRed them and managed to watch all 8 movies right before my trip

Good for you! More points for you!

I love the foggy perspective than the sunny that i'm always seeing on TR's. This looks way more accurate!

I really hate to say it, but I’m still not impressed by it.

SMH.

Universal is so kind that they provide lockers for everyone to stash their valuables outside of the rides. However, they designed these areas when the only requirement was that you couldn’t take a bag in line with you. People like me who wore shorts with a pocket that you could zip were fine. Well now that everyone who has a wallet, keys, a cell phone or just anything at all has to use those lockers... Let’s just say inadequate doesn’t even begin to describe it. They don’t have enough lockers and nowhere near enough space to get people in and out of there.

Ah, yeah, this would suck.

I’m trying to tell him it is my frickin’ belt buckle, but the TM is accusing me of having something in my pocket. As this is going on, here come the Minions going right past me. It was at this point that I was starting to get fed up with Universal Studios.

I really can’t explain it, but just before we started down the hill something happened and my leg must have spasmed a little bit. It caused the bar to abruptly come back up a few inches and they were sitting upright for the splash. Oops. Sorry about that.

Seriously, before you posted this, I was hoping you were going to do this since you were in 'control' of the lap bar!

I always tried to do it if we had time. I can’t say that I’m terribly excited about it being replaced by a Jimmy Fallon attraction. Not that I don’t like Jimmy, but it sounds like the attraction will be… well, just guess…

More like a Jimmy 'Failin' attraction.....yes??? Points?!?!

But come on… robots, awesome cars and lots of explosions. What’s not to like?

Uh and a pretty decent looking woman to look at too

I didn’t buy anything, but when a store has a product called U-No-Poo, you know the humor is high-brow.

On my way out of the park I saw Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe in the middle of the street meeting with park guests. It was kind of interesting to see a meet & greet using actual people rather than a fictional character.

Oh that would be very cool to see!

It was closed.

Bummer.

I was too late to get a seat though, so I ended up having to stand there for about an hour and a half.

Oh heck no.

They had a free reception with some appetizers and drinks set out at the trade show, so I decided to just grab enough snacks to make a meal of it (yes, I was that guy)

But what I want to know is, how many of those sliders actually make a meal for you?? That would have been hilarious to see.

 

[pkondz]

I entered Universal Studios and thought momentarily about stopping for lunch. But my plan was to eat in Springfield

Going all the way back to Illinois, just for some lunch, seems excessive.

It’s no Hulk, but I really like this coaster. It is fast, it gives you some zero G air time and it is smooth as can be.

Sounds like one I'd like.
I don't particularly care for the "shake the kidneys loose" coasters.

The wait was posted at 60 minutes

Nope.

The Express Pass was a huge help here. The EP line was parallel to the Single Rider line going up the steps to the loading platform… and the Single Riders really didn’t move the whole time as I was walking right past all of them.

Nice! That right there pretty much sums up the argument in favour of getting the Express Pass.

But before I could get there, I had to go through the metal detector of course.


And then get wanded.

Who is this Wanda, and why does she want to get you?

I saw the old Twister building. It looks like it was literally hit by a tornado.

I wonder if they did that on purpose?
It would certainly fit.

I thought the effects were cool. I mean they make a tornado inside a building! It used real, actual, physical effects.

Huh. I'm sorry I never got the chance to see that.

I can’t say that I’m terribly excited about it being replaced by a Jimmy Fallon attraction. Not that I don’t like Jimmy, but it sounds like the attraction will be… well, just guess…

Sounds Dangerous with Drew Carey.

you should empty your pockets anyway, because it is a rollercoaster.

And it's wayyyy more inconvenient that way.
So... funny.

This is a fun ride. It is kind of close to Space Mountain in intensity, but with some neat visual effects and a very short backwards section.

Hm. Not bad.

I'm thinking I really need to get to Uni, at least once.

Well, now I’ve got a new favorite ride at Universal… a rollercoaster without a metal detector.

So that's what it's come to.

It's pretty ridiculous, though.
Metal detectors at the gates, fine.
But for the rides, too? Come on.

How about just post a sign saying guests are responsible for their own items and will be prosecuted and sued if anything falls out and injures someone.

Oh, right. Sorry. Heaven forbid making someone responsible for their own crap.

It was a close call, but in the end, we escaped from the Mummy and I didn’t lose my keys or my phone despite the serious warning from the TM.

You da man!

I’ll admit. I like the movies.

I'll admit. Never seen any.

But come on… robots, awesome cars and lots of explosions. What’s not to like?

Well... okay. You sold me. Next time I see one show up on TV, I'll watch.

And even if we want to take the movies out of the equation, I grew up on Transformers. I played with the toys and I had several VHS videos of the cartoon Transformers. So there’s some definite nostalgia factor here.

And that's just my problem. They were after my time. So no connection.

The line, once again, was rather long. I think about 45 minutes. The Express Pass was definitely working to my advantage. I was through the line in about 5 minutes

Nice! Another ringing endorsement for the Express Pass.

Even a lot of the effects were absolutely identical to what they do in Spiderman.

Boring. Think of something new.

It wasn’t horrible, but I was excited about the ride and got off feeling kind of “meh” about it.

Too bad. Especially since you were so looking forward to it.

Yet I still just felt like I should have been more impressed by the rides than I was with all the hype and love they seem to get.

Let me design it! I'll ensure that no one goes home without puking!

After I rode though, I did see something really cool. Behind the ride building is a meet and greet area. I just stood there for a few minutes and watched Megatron.

Who?



JK. I do at least know that much.

The way he moved, talked and interacted with guests was pretty incredible. It looked great and really was a well-done M&G opportunity. I took a short video, and I’ll try to link it here if you want to see it.

That is pretty cool.
Wouldn't you want to borrow that costume for the next Halloween party you go to?
Or even just to wear when the kids come trick or treating...


Or every day?

I decided to go over to Springfield and see about getting some lunch.

Flying or driving?

Instead I went back outside and saw that Lard Lad didn’t have a line at all.

Lard Lad. Sounds oh, so appetizing.

They had plenty of great pastries to choose from, but I like apple anything.

You and me both!

I was impressed with how ridiculously dark it was in Knockturn Alley. It was so dark that I couldn’t see 10 feet in front of me and I can’t imagine how they could get by with having it so dark without it becoming a liability issue.

Next you'll have to go through a metal detector just to go in and they won't let you in without a white cane.

But I was most impressed with Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. Come on, it is a store full of practical jokes and gag gifts. What’s not to like?

Sounds like my kind of store.
We used to have a gag store that a friend and I would always go to when we were teens.
It sadly closed up and now the city is boring.

I didn’t buy anything, but when a store has a product called U-No-Poo, you know the humor is high-brow.

But... you didn't buy... anything???

Nope.

I did note that my Express Pass got me on a ride vehicle at the exact same time as someone who entered the Single Rider line when I entered the EP line. I don’t think we waited more than 5 minutes to get on the ride.

Okay! Okay! You've sold me!

The ride is a fun one. It’s kind of like Buzz Lightyear where you have a gun and can shoot aliens but the gun isn’t stationary and it is frankly a better ride than Buzz.

That's good. 'cause I don't think that Buzz is all that great to be honest.

It took me a couple of scenes to figure out that it was shooting about 3’ below where I was aiming.

Yeah, that could be a bit of a problem.

After helping save the world from aliens

Or not... considering your poor showing.

Sadly, even with the EP, the wait was 30 minutes.

Wonder what it was like for the non-EP slobs?

You don’t ride the car from a screen in one room to a screen in another room for the next scene while they try to make scrambled eggs out of your brain as you move from scene to scene.

mmmmm.... scrambled eggs.

On my way out of the park I saw Lucille Ball and Marilyn Monroe in the middle of the street meeting with park guests.

Haloween Horror Nights? I mean... two corpses...

It was kind of interesting to see a meet & greet using actual people rather than a fictional character.

Huh. Never thought of that. And you're absolutely right.

There was a Burger King Whopper Bar and it had basically no line, so I grabbed a burger there.

I'm so sorry to hear that.
How much did you suffer, the next day?

we had 1 week passes to Universal that costed less than a one day ticket does now.

but I wanted to grab a hurricane to go and drink it quickly on my way out.

Because if you're going to drink alcohol, do it quickly.

It was closed.

Dang.

Gotta love booze to go.

I headed back to the parking garage and noticed that the line to get through the 4 metal detectors at the security screening area was incredibly long. We had thought about coming back to Universal later in the week for dinner, but seeing the line that was waiting just to get through security and into CityWalk put a quick end to this idea.

I wonder if they'll ease off on the security requirements for CityWalk if attendance falls?

Let’s see, do I want to pay for parking, stand in a 15 or 20 minute line to get wanded and patted down so that I can eat dinner in an overpriced restaurant? Thanks, but no thanks.

I can see that.
But a free pat down?

Well, I guess it depends on the pat-tee.

I thought about taking pictures of the room before I hauled all of our things in, but I needed to shower and get going to the convention center. I figured I’d still have time to do this after I got back this evening.

Uh, huh. No pictures ever. Right?

I made it to about Hall C and my back and knees started to feel a little bit stiff. It wasn’t horrible, but I was starting to feel sore.

Crap. Getting old doth sucketh.

I was too late to get a seat though, so I ended up having to stand there for about an hour and a half.

Oh, that should help!

I decided to just grab enough snacks to make a meal of it (yes, I was that guy)

So that was you!
I don't know if I could do that with everyone in the room staring and pointing at you.

I have no shame.

Obviously. But this is not news.

she’d have to be up at about 3 am

Yuck.

I was already tired and sore after just a day and a half in Orlando.

Thank goodness that's over!!

1. DW’s flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 8:17 am. What time did they land?

2. We had dinner Sunday night at (spoiler) 1900 PF. DD wanted nothing to do with 3 of the characters there. 10 points each if you can name the 3 characters she didn’t like.

3. There were 2 characters she loved seeing at 1900 PF. 10 points each if you can name them.

4. I had to (literally) run back out to the truck after we checked in for dinner but before we were seated. If you can guess why it is worth 50 points. Bonus points available for creative and entertaining answers even if you’re wrong.

1. 8:37
2. Eric, Lady Tremaine and... uh... Cindy.
3. Both sisters.
4. You were informed that there was a vehicle that had broken loose of its corral and dashed out of the restaurant. Sure enough, your truck was coasting in neutral towards an open pond and the waiting arms of some gators (reptiles, not college football players.) You chased after your truck and managed to get inside the cab and slam on the breaks just before it plunged into the water. Unfortunately, when you started the engine and put it in reverse, the truck refused to move. Several gators had clamped their jaws around the tires and front bumper and were inexorably pulling you in the opposite direction! Thankfully, as a former boy scout, you always come prepared and just happened to have some "gator-be-gone" powder in the glove box. You reached over, grabbed the powder and liberally sprinkled it out the window. Within moments, the gators had retreated into the water and you were free to leave. You drove back to the hotel, breathing a sigh of relief. Which was short lived when you remembered that you left your family over at the restaurant, and the gators wanted something to avenge their loss. (College football players, not the reptiles.) You drove back to the restaurant where your DD was in tears because she wanted to wear a princess dress and you left it in the truck. You didn't have the heart to tell her that some gators got a hold of her dress and were now wearing it (again... football players) so you drove to Disney Springs and bought her a new one at an incredibly inflated price which prevented you from buying that triple strength alcoholic beverage that you so desperately needed.

 

[irene_dsc]

Coming out of lurkdom to say hi, and that I'm really happy we visited US before they stayed metal detectors for the rides!

 

[afwdwfan]

Except for HP, I could go without a trip to Universal for, well, forever. I was also massively disappointed in the Transformers ride for the same reasons you mentioned.

I enjoy their rollercoasters, so I'm sure that will draw me back. Clearly I have an unhealthy obsession with Hulk, but Rip Ride Rockit and Dragon Challenge are also among some of my favorites to ride. But aside from that, their newer rides just don't do much for me.

1. 8:45 am
2. Prince Charming, Drizella, Lady Tremaine
3. Cinderella, Anastasia
4. I'm going to have to go with the Princess dress!

Got em!

Ugh, is it not bad enough for them to do this when you go into the park, but then to do it again on almost every freakin' ride!

Yeah, it felt like overkill. I mean, I get the liability issues, but it just seemed ridiculous.

Maybe they just want you to leave your stuff in the locker so that you might forget it there and they can confiscate it and resell it on eBay when you forget about it!

Well, I can assure you I wasn't going to forget! I wasn't very thrilled with the idea of leaving my wallet, keys and phone in a locker to begin with. I don't take much into the parks with me, but what I take is what I need and they're all things that I have with me at all times. I didn't hardly feel good about the security of a theme park locker with those items in it.

And whether this has anything to do with it, I don't know, but I have a credit card that I rarely ever use - I actually didn't use it while in Florida, but it was in my wallet. Just after we got home, I got a fraud alert that it was used for a $200 purchase at a grocery store in Florida.

I only watched the Transformers in "reruns" on cable channels. In fact I was perplexed when friends of mine (in your age group) mentioned that the husband wanted to name their now 4 year old son "Optimus Prime". The wife nixed that name and instead he is now Elwood, they're pregnant again and we'll see if they have a "Jake".

Yeah, no way I'd ever suggest that name. Look, it isn't a cinematic masterpiece, I'll be the first to admit. But it is a fun time waster movie. I'll sit and watch it when it is on. I got the movie on DVD at right around the same time I had surgery to repair a torn Achilles a few years ago. Pain meds definitely make it more interesting. DW (who was my fiancé at the time) recalls me sitting there rewinding and re-watching a scene where Starscream flies under a bridge, transforms in mid-air and lands on top of it over and over.

That's most of what I'm looking forward to seeing is the theming although I do want to ride Gringott's and the Hogwartt's Express. The funny thing is that HP world is opening at US here in So Cal in April, but since Disney has brought back their F&W Festival at DCA I think I will delay my visit to US/Hollywood. Hmmmmm.... Coincidence? I think not.

Wow! I'm glad they're bringing it back! You haven't burned up all of your GCH points have you?

Dang! I was really hoping you would try the Big Pink and post a picture! I'm still going to get at least one of those. Fran thinks we need a dozen still.

I thought about it, but the apple fritter seemed just a little more substantial than donuts. And I have a hard time resisting anything apple.

I totally can't wait to see this!

It was pretty impressive. I couldn't believe how dark it was.

See that's one of the things you miss when you don't read the books. The Weasley's had a number of treats that would have sparked your fancy. I'm not sure if the (not quite sure about this) Skiving Snack Boxes were in the movie but they had all kinds of stuff to make you too sock to stay in class. There were a number of other things that I'm sure we're skipped over in the movie that they had there.

Hmm, interesting. It seems for the most part that it was just fireworks in the movies. At least that's what I remember.

We will definitely get there early and leave by noon ish.

That would be wise.

I know that we both went on this ride in 2008 because I remember having to use the lockers, but not sure how important it is to ride it again .

I really like it. It is a fun ride, but I don't know that I'd ride it by myself again. It wasn't really as much fun riding in a car full of people I don't know. I guess I prefer the competitive rides with friends and family.

I just remember feeling pretty I'll after this ride. Not as bad as Forbidden Journey but almost. Again in 2008.

Yeah, it is definitely not the "best" for me either. It just doesn't hit me quite as bad as the other US rides. I can only do this once and I'm pretty much ready to get out of there by the time it ends, but I do enjoy it.

Bummer. I hope to hit the original next month.

I hope you can!!!

Looking forward to that one!

Ah, yes, the Strawberry soup discussion.

Well good you weren't late, but sucks you had to stand. I would have considered sitting on the floor, but that'sprobably not manly.

I'd have been trampled. It was a discussion taking place on a central stage with chairs and standing room all around it. There was really nowhere out of the way. Although I could have gone over by the food and sat in chairs, but if I'm doing that there would really have been no point even showing up.

I would have totally done that too. Fran would have said it was not enough food and we would need dinner somewhere. It's all perspective.

I could have had more to eat, that's for sure. But lack of motivation won out.

I read this and not being a sports person had no idea what you were talking about. I was thinking, I've heard of the Goldbergs. The real o"neals, but I've never heard of the Bengals.

Them I saw halftime and realized it had to be a sports thing

Cincinnati Bengals... football. NFL playoffs. And I'm not a Bengals fan, but football was on TV, so I might as well watch.

when I wore a fit bit I averaged 6 maybe 7000 steps a day. When. I hit my goal of 10,000 I was always exhausted. The one time I got 21,000+ was the day we moved and I thought I was going to die. I could not move for the next two days. You are a olympian!

I'd like to shoot for 10K. The fact that I work in an office and I'm chained to a desk usually keeps me below 5K. When I can get outside and work though I tend to go from one extreme to the other.

8:12AM

The two step sisters and lady Tremaine.

Prince charming and Cinderella

Because she couldn't meet Cinderella without her princess dress!

Got em!

It sounds like you got a lot done at US/IOA. That pass sounds very worth it too - those lines were pretty long! Besides all of the annoying metal detectors, sounds like you had a fun solo day!

It was a good day. I'm glad I went and I had some fun. But I can't say that I'll be back anytime within the next couple of years.

I love this! That does sound like a very fun meet and greet.

It was interesting. I actually knew they were there, but I'd never seen it before. It kind of caught me off guard.

Ugh that sucks. You did do a lot so that's a pretty normal effect.

Yeah, I pushed myself pretty hard going back and forth Friday night and then getting everything done that I wanted to do at US. It was a lot of fast walking!

8:30am

Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizilla. Either because a) she didn't know who they were or b) she knows exactly who they are and knows they are mean! (I felt like guessing beforehand lol)

Cinderella and Prince Charming!

DD forgot to put on her special dress. Also, you forgot your matching "father/daughter" tiara set to wear to show Prince Charming, with lots of glitter of course.

Got em!

I fell the same about Twister. It was nothing phenomenal, but at least it was a bit different, instead of the new stick-you-in-front-of-a-screen-and-shake trend. I wasn't that sad when I heard Twister was going, but I was disappointed to hear the replacement.

Yeah, this is pretty much how I feel. I think the writing has been on the wall that Twister was going to go for a few years now, but I can't say that I feel they're replacing it with something I'll like more.

I've never gone on The Mummy. I don't mind roller coasters with speed and turns (BTMRR is my favourite), but I really don't enjoy big straight drops. I was always too nervous to try The Mummy since you can't actually see the track. But it's good to hear it compared to Space Mountain, which I have done. I might have to try Mummy next time.

Oh, it's a fun ride. It doesn't have any huge drops... there are a few big drops, but I wouldn't think anything more than 50' or so.

Actually... I just looked up the stats on this one. It shows the max height at 45', with a 25' drop at a 50 degree angle. Max speed around 40 mph. It stops a few times and has some show effects that go along with it. There's a brief backwards section, but it is closer to the backwards portion of Maelstrom than the backwards portion of EE for comparison sake.

I had the same thought the one (and possibly only) time I did Transformers. I really found little to get excited about and feeling like I had just been through a blender didn't give it any bonus points. Although Spiderman is similar, I like Spiderman better. It seemed like it had more practical effects and the motion was smoother. Transformers just gave me a headache.

Honestly, both of those rides shake me around so much that I can't really focus on the details of the attraction, if that makes sense. I can't tell you scene by scene what really happened in either one. I just remember the big effects like the fireballs and the freefall.

Contest answers:
1. 8:23am
2. Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drizella
3. Cinderella, Fairy Godmother (she's probably not there often, but I remember my DD hated any of the princes when she was younger, so I'm going against the trend )
3. You left your knee-high kinky boots for your Prince Charming costume, because you're that "cool" Dis Dad who plays dress up. (OK, that was my attempt at a creative answer). The real reason is, of course, forgetting the princess dress for your DD.

Got em!

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

I decided to press on to the next attraction, Rip Ride Rockit.

Thought you’d save that one till last on the way out of the park to end on a high note.
That’s what I get for thinking; should know better than that.

But before I could get there, I had to go through the metal detector of course.


And then get wanded.

You know that it’s not the belt buckle…
It’s that tracking device that the Shadow Government had one of its operatives plant on you.

I saw the old Twister building. It looks like it was literally hit by a tornado.

That’s one way to “plus” the experience I suppose.

Look, I realize this wasn’t the greatest attraction ever.

No argument here…

I can’t say that I’m terribly excited about it being replaced by a Jimmy Fallon attraction.

<<cue pensive piano music>>
Thank you… Universal Creative Design Team…
For developing yet another video screen driven ride experience that promises to rocket you through the streets—and skies—of a major city, from the deepest subway tunnels to the tallest skyscrapers, encountering colorful characters, famous landmarks and anything else imaginable…

…because neither Spiderman nor Transformers does an adequate job of accomplishing that task.

you should empty your pockets anyway, because it is a rollercoaster.

No kidding!
I had no idea that was a rollercoaster.

This is a fun ride.

I find the seating to be a mite uncomfortable, but it is a good indoor mine-train type coaster.

Well, now I’ve got a new favorite ride at Universal… a rollercoaster without a metal detector.

Seems you’ve got you priorities in order here.

It was a close call, but in the end, we escaped from the Mummy and I didn’t lose my keys or my phone despite the serious warning from the TM.

The Mummy was having an off day.
Next time, he’ll get you.

But more importantly, I was close a ride that I’ve never ridden, but have been looking forward to ever since it was announced.

Transformers!

You have had to wait a while to get on this one.

I’ll admit. I like the movies. The first one is clearly much better than any of the subsequent follow ups.

I’ll take your word for it.

And even if we want to take the movies out of the equation, I grew up on Transformers.

And that’s the secret to the lack of appeal for me.
I was long past caring about such when they arrived on the scene.

I was through the line in about 5 minutes…

That pass does seem to have been worth every penny for you on this trip.

I might have liked it better if there was at least one scene of an AA Megatron trying to smash our car

Or at least a Disco Yeti

At least the Wizarding World and the Simpsons have whole lands that are very well themed and fun to walk around. The Transformers basically get a big industrial looking building.

Which also seems rather out of place among the rest of the area it’s plopped down in the middle of.

After I rode though, I did see something really cool. Behind the ride building is a meet and greet area. I just stood there for a few minutes and watched Megatron.

A bit of redemption.
I figured it would’a been Optimus, but I knew that was the kind of character interaction that would catch your fancy.

I walked into the food court area and the line was insane.

Too bad that express pass don’t work for grub acquisition in the same way it works for bone jarring slide show presentations.

They had plenty of great pastries to choose from, but I like apple anything.

I did not know that…
will have to add that fact to your list of weaknesses for future reference.

I really was impressed with the level of detail here. I definitely like Diagon Alley and Knocturn Alley more than Hogsmeade.

This seems to be the general concessions and a potential argument for seeing only one of the parks if I get back down there (especially if Hulk is not yet completed its restoration).

It was so dark that I couldn’t see 10 feet in front of me and I can’t imagine how they could get by with having it so dark without it becoming a liability issue.

Surprised they didn’t have you empty you pockets into a locker before letting you in.

But I was most impressed with Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. Come on, it is a store full of practical jokes and gag gifts.

They have those in most shopping malls down this way.
A place called: Spencer’s.

What’s not to like? I thought it was well themed and just a fun store to look around. I didn’t buy anything, but when a store has a product called U-No-Poo, you know the humor is high-brow.

Certainly DisDad worthy.

After I finished enjoying my snack and wandering around Diagon Alley, I thought I’d get a picture on the way out to show how crowded it had gotten in just a few hours.

Whoa…
looks like MK during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

Only this time my gun was screwed up.

That’s what she…

Oh never mind; too easy.

but needless to say, my score sucked.

And again…

You don’t ride the car from a screen in one room to a screen in another room for the next scene while they try to make scrambled eggs out of your brain as you move from scene to scene.

Nope… That one is more Old School.
DW still has to close her eyes about halfway through it but it doesn’t try to put you in traction.

There was a Burger King Whopper Bar and it had basically no line, so I grabbed a burger there.

No line is good.
And at least you have a pretty clear idea what you’re getting.

I haven’t tried the Krusty Burger either so I can’t compare ‘em.

We came to Florida to spend a week going to Spring Training games and we had 1 week passes to Universal that costed less than a one day ticket does now.

Those were the days.

And proof that not only am I old…
But you’re catching up.

But every night ended in the same way.

In a drunken stupor?

Sitting at the bar or at a table at Pat O’Briens drinking hurricanes.

Semantics!

It was closed. Apparently it doesn’t open till 4 or 6. I forget now which it was. Either way, I had to leave well before it would be opening.

Both sad and fortuitous…
No reliving of a long past and never again to be regained youth, but then again, no opportunity to find one’s self sleeping on the floor in the drunk-tank.

Let’s see, do I want to pay for parking, stand in a 15 or 20 minute line to get wanded and patted down so that I can eat dinner in an overpriced restaurant?

Isn’t that everyone’s idea of the perfect night on the town?

Well, I got in the convention center and I was in front of Hall F. I’d have to walk the length of the concourse to get to Hall A. As I was about to find out, that’s nearly a mile.

A bit like hiking all the way from the back of the WS up to the monorail.
That’s a right large convention center.

I was too late to get a seat though, so I ended up having to stand there for about an hour and a half.

A place that big and there wasn’t enough seating?
It’s not like they had no idea as to how many folks were scheduled to be showing up.

I had considered possibly going back to Universal to see the Cinematic Spectacular at 8 this evening or going to the Poly to have a few drinks with the Disdads after dinner at Ohana. But my back and knees were getting even more uncomfortable as I was standing there.

That’s unfortunate.

…the sliders were awesome. I went back and grabbed a couple more. I have no shame.

Well, we already know you’re shameless, but they’re the ones that under estimated the room capacity and overestimated the concessions. You should’a gone back for thirds.

It was still early, but she’d have to be up at about 3 am to head to the airport…

Let’s see here…
DW: kids, luggage, airport, 3AM?
Andy: a day at US and unlimited sliders…

Son, you’re gonn’a be paying dearly for that one.

Naturally it was raining and I ended up getting soaked…

Divine retribution?

I laid down on the bed to watch the Bengals do what they do best – choke in the playoffs

Similar outcome for our local cats.
Except they chocked a few weeks later.

and I fell asleep probably at around halftime.

Mercifully, if I remember the highlights from the end of that game.

Questions for the next update:

Well, with nothing to really go on here, I’ll just toss out some random wrong answers….

1. DW’s flight was scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 8:17 am. What time did they land?

8:20

2. We had dinner Sunday night at (spoiler) 1900 PF. DD wanted nothing to do with 3 of the characters there. 10 points each if you can name the 3 characters she didn’t like.

Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Charming

3. There were 2 characters she loved seeing at 1900 PF. 10 points each if you can name them.

Cinderella, Drizzela

4. I had to (literally) run back out to the truck after we checked in for dinner but before we were seated. If you can guess why it is worth 50 points. Bonus points available for creative and entertaining answers even if you’re wrong.

Some other disgruntled guest at Universal the other day got bent out’a shape when you smugly passed them by in the queues with that magical express pass of yours. So, out of sheer spite, he maliciously slipped a double dose of U-No-Poo into that apple fritter you got while all the time grumbling under his breath: “pass me by will you, well now I’m going to make sure you won’t be passing anything else for good long while, Bucko”. The effects of this tourist terrorist’s diabolical sabotage had taken full effect and become an intolerable problem by the time you got to the GF and you found yourself compelled to make an emergency “run for the boarder” as a possible emergency antidote. Otherwise, you’d be forced to go back though the expense and endless wandings required to get back over to the Weasley’s shop for the actual cure.

Either that it was time for this TR’s excellent title to make its highly anticipated appearance.

 

[afwdwfan]

That "Hurricanes to go" sign - they didn't have an open window or anything? If not, they should take that down!

No, they were completely closed. The sign looks like it might be a somewhat permanent fixture. I remember when we were there in 2005, they had a bunch of tables and chairs sitting out in this area near that sign and we'd actually just order from the window and sit there a few nights.

Ugh, no good. Sorry.

It was kind of brutal, honestly.

8:31am.

Anastasia, Drizella, Lady Tremaine

Cinderella and Prince Charming

Because Cinderella was trying to steal your truck and leave town.

Or maybe someone needed their princess attire.

Got em!

Urge to kill...rising...

Not sure it can get much higher than it was on Jurassic Park without actually snapping.

Wow. Now I know why Disney invests in those big screens.

Hadn't thought about it like that... but good point!

Full of live animatronics, I'm sure.

What else would you expect?

A WHAT???? Stop the presses! Maybe they have to warn people there is no motion simulation involved.

WARNING!!!! This ride actually goes somewhere. You will move in real time and space.

Good to know. Space Mountain is one my kids can handle. I have to figure out what they'll be able to do when we finally break and plan to go see the Harry Potter stuff.

I'm sure it will happen soon. Might want to go ahead and buy some tickets now before they can go up any more.

Shia LeBoeuf, for starters.

Ok, there's that.

I thought the first one was ok. Dumb, but entertaining. Now it's just the exact same movie over and over.

Well, they destroy different cities in each one.

So the ride is basically doing the same thing as the movies.

You make a valid point...

Cool! Now that's actual creativity!

Oh, man, is this the store for me! I've always wanted to hang with the cultural elites.

When I walked through there I thought "Mark would love this place!"

So you have to go into this pretending you're a Cleveland Browns QB.

No, I was sober.

Wait, they're getting rid of Johnny Football, right? I guess that would be an accurate statement then.

Oh, good. Something new.

I remember riding that one when it was Back to the Future. It was a fun ride then. I think they just re-purposed the same ride with a Simpsons theme.

That's exactly what they did. That said, I do miss Back to the Future, but I like what they did with the re-theme giving the queque and pre-show area a carnival type atmosphere.

D'oh! I need my early-afternoon alcohol, dang it! Why are you looking at me like that?

That's kind of what I was implying!

It really is amazing the toll walking around a theme park takes on your body. Or we're just getting old.

A little bit of both, I'm afraid.

Maybe karma for posting that Stacy photo...

Don't worry, I've still got another.

Ouch! It's funny because it's true. Although I had to give them a bit of a pass for not having Andy Dalton available. Then again, the penalties at the end were beyond moronic.

Yeah, they are their own worst enemies. Or so I hear. I was out cold by the time they gave it away.

I'm just going to sit here and let this soak in, because it's not going to last long.

You killed that last round...

Good tailwinds. 8:10 a.m.

I guess I'll go with the obvious and say the evil stepmother and step-sisters.

Cinderella and Prince No Personalit--uh, Charming?

One of the kids NEEDED a toy with them for dinner. Or NEEDED a diaper change. Those two things have sparked more runs to the parking lot than I care to admit.

If I missed on that, then obviously you were warned at the check-in desk that you were about to experience EATING IN A RESTAURANT. You were instructed to remove every single item from your pockets, including the lint and the paper clip you smuggled into Universal Studios earlier. Because you didn't plan ahead and neglected to wear cargo shorts or rent a locker at the Grand Floridian, you needed to run back to the truck to empty your pockets before you could enter and experience the thrills of sitting down to eat. Just to be sure, you got wanded before entering.

Got em!

What a day! You really did a lot.

It was definitely a park commando type day. I was on a mission, and for the most part, succeeded.

Rip, Ride, Rocket/Rock it, not sure, is so scary! That 90 degree angle when you first head up is more than I can handle. Glad you liked it though!

Oh, it is a lot of fun! I love that one. I think if you can get over the fear of that first hill, it's really enjoyable. And honestly, going up isn't bad. You're laying back so you can't even see how high you are or anything.

Twister is gone?! What the heck Universal? I agree with you 100% on that ride. I always enjoyed it, when we had time for it.

I always thought it was fun. I guess it wasn't high tech enough to fit into their line up.

LOVE the Mummy! The first time I went on I didn't know it was a coaster; very fun surprise. And yay for no crazy metal detectors!

I knew it was supposed to be a coaster, but I was surprised by how long it was my first time riding. I didn't expect all that to fit inside the old King Kong building.

Sorry you didn't like Transformers. I've not heard such great things about that attraction, but that stinks that it's essentially Spiderman.

Yeah, it was pretty disappointing.

Sorry lunch in Springfield was a bust! Sounded like you were looking forward to it. I hate the Simpson's ride. I was so upset when they took out Back to the Future and made it that. You'd think they'd at least make it something equally as awesome!

I was upset about that change too. I liked Back to the Future, but I'm also a Simpsons fan and it has kind of grown on me.

I forgot to mention this, but did you see the train and the Delorean out in front of the Simpsons area as a nod to the old attraction? I saw Doc Brown doing a M&G out there when I was walking by.

Love Men in Black, such a fun shooter ride. I have an amazing photo from that ride from a family reunion years ago.

Cool! It is a lot of fun. But more fun with a group. Not sure I'd do it again if I'm alone.

Admittedly I only scanned through the Potter portion; we've not visited that side yet, and I wanna be surprised!

Oh sorry... I hope I didn't spoil anything.

Burger bar for lunch isn't too shabby. Sorry about your beverage though; I do love a good Hurricane.

It worked. I always like a burger. Would have preferred something that I can't get just anywhere though. I love hurricanes, but I seriously haven't found any near as good as Pat O'Briens. I think the fresh fruit that they put in it adds as much to it as anything.

I wonder if the convention had the shuttle specifically cause people are out at the parks all day? Sorry your back was acting up. I know how torturous that can be.

I don't think that is why. I think it was just that much farther away. The demographic for this conference tends to be somewhat older... walking in general can be a strenuous exercise for some of them.

Indiana, though, had a relatively large group of 30 somethings in attendance and I think most of us made some time for the parks afterwards

Hope you got some good sleep that night!

I definitely did.

I haven't played the question game till now, but I'll join in (and likely lose miserably)

Yeah... you'll have a hard time catching Mark... but I'll give bonus points for trying.

Um, your camera? I'm terrible at this. LOL!

Got your answers!

I feel like there comes a point where they should just give you some sort of card to hand to the team members that says "I will set off the metal detector" which tells the TMs to just skip the metal detector and go straight to wanding you. It saves you and them a few seconds.

A tornado named Jimmy Fallon.

So all you need to be happy is a roller coaster with no metal detector? That should be easy.
Oh wait, this is Universal. I take that back.

Rock n Rollercoaster is my happy place.

So, I've only seen the first one, but in answer to the question of "what's not to like?" ... Shia LaBeouf.

Yeah, you make a good point.

Well, that's sad. I hate when rides you hope to enjoy end up being disappointed. Bummer.

Yeah, it was a bummer, for sure.

So, after reading this, I popped the DVD of Half-Blood Prince into my computer to see how much you would know about U-No-Poo from the movie. I'll admit, I only watched like 2 minutes, but I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't in the movie at all. So now I must type up part of the book for you:

(This is from Chapter 6 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - it's a giant poster that Harry sees in the window of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes on his first visit)

WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT
YOU-KNOW-WHO?
YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT
U-NO-POO -
THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION
THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION​

I would have typed the whole paragraph, but I wanted to cut down on the required reading. But that's where U-No-Poo comes from. And this is why you need to read the books.

I'll get to them eventually. I'm going to probably need some reading material sitting in hospitals this summer anyway.

So ... I don't know when you first went to Universal, but the Simpson's ride was originally Back to the Future. It was one of the early attractions at Universal (not sure if it was an opening day attraction), and while it was technologically advanced then, it isn't really now. And from what I've heard, they didn't really change the ride mechanism when they switched it over to Simpsons, they just changed the theming. So I think it intentionally doesn't try to do too much because that would have been too much work for them when they switched it over.
I'm glad you did finally find a simulator ride that didn't kill you.

Yes... If Back to the Future wasn't there on opening day, it had to have been close to opening day. I know it was there the first time I went. I miss Back to the Future, but I felt like they did a nice job re-theming the area and making Simpsons fit in well without taking away from the experience.

We have a picture with Lucille Ball from Universal Studios Hollywood. It was weird for us, but kinda fun.

It was kind of cool, but a little weird too.

Interesting. I never thought of New Orleans as a place that was not in favor of drinking all day. You'd think a place like Pat O'Briens would be open a little earlier.

No kidding! But there are a few little places along that row that are essentially bar/night club type places. I don't know if it is the individual places or a City Walk thing, but none of them were open in the afternoon.

Is it Disney World?

Well, yeah!

Well, that's a nice short walk.
But still shorter than my walk to Starbucks, so I have no pity for you.

You walked longer than that for Starbucks???? That's your own problem.

Hey, if the food is there and it's free, you're allowed to have as much as you want!

I can't argue with that logic!

It could be worse. They could be the Jets and choke in the last regular season game so that they don't make the playoffs.

I'm a Colts fan. They didn't even have a chance to choke. They consistently played their way out all year long.

Yay! More bonus points!!

Second place for the round and overall. Nice!

8:17 AM. Because it's weird when a flight actually lands at the schedule time.

Well, she's a princess kinda girl, so I'm gonna go with the "villains" - Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella.

Cinderella and Prince Charming

Well, she's a princess kinda girl, so I'm gonna go with the "villains" - Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, and Drizella.

Cinderella and Prince Charming

I'm going with ... DD lost one shoe in the car and you had to go get it.
Cinderella is always losing a shoe! That girl needs to get some shoes that fit properly.

Got em!

 

[afwdwfan]

Yes i'm all caught up! That surely deserves some points right?

Hi! I'm glad you're here and all caught up. Who are you, again? The name seems kind of familiar...

Sure I'll give you some bonus points! I'd probably give more points if you had actually answered the questions in the last update though...

Don't worry, there's still time...

I just wanted to say first, you and your family are definitely in my thoughts and prayers and praying that the baby will be healthy once he/she is born

Thank you.

Wow cause they couldn't have said this months in advance That's a bummer.

No kidding.

Vacation time!

Always a wonderful moment!

I've never had a free room before, but have had the 'amenities' of a free room before. Yikes!

I worked for the US government my first 4 years after school and traveled all the time. There was a particular hotel that I stayed at on several different occasions. And always got the same room. They never wanted to give me rewards points because I was staying on the federal govt. rate and they always put me on the top floor, farthest room from the lobby. At least it was clean and quiet. And I always got the rewards points anyway after a quick e-mail to the national chain.

UGH that's just bad. But not as bad as what kept me up most of the night from a trip that we took in October. An inebriated couple decided that doing the 'horizontal hula' in their room wasn't spicy enough and took it out to the pool area...where the pool is located in the center of the hotel This was when we went to Disneyland (not at a Disney hotel or anywhere in Anaheim) so my mom blush:) was with us too and I was PRAYING that I was the only one awake to hear it, but it was definitely hard to ignore it.

Blew my mind. Sweet and savory?!

Maybe I should have done it!

Way to get those shots while driving!

What's up with you always going on vacation during races?

I don't know. They just schedule my conferences at crappy times.

I've heard to never take a bus drivers advice before, now I really won't.

Proof positive, in my eyes.

Well, what's left of it looks good. And you did get a food pic, which is always lacking in your TR's. I feel that you sir, must be awarded your own points for this accomplishment.

Yeah, I'm just not much of a photographer to begin with. And when I'm hungry, all bets are off.

The picture was borrowed from google, but this is literally the exact vantage point I had from the seat where I was sitting at the bar.

At least it's further than you got at Disneyland right??

Exactly! This time I made it through the door! Next time I might actually make it to the bar!

This would have been a funny sight to see.

Funny for me... embarrassing for him.

How cool is that?! So was it only dads or were there some with their spouses/families too?

Mostly just dads. There was one spouse. Most left the families behind for a few hours to come have drinks that evening, but there were 2 2BR villas at OKW that were being shared by several dads who abandoned the families and came down for a solo trip. They pretty much all hung out together for the whole trip.

Okay what is periscope? I've heard of it before, but is it like Chatroulette or Vine or something?

Ok... you're speaking of things I don't use... including periscope. I think it is some kind of an add-on app thing for Twitter (which I also really don't use - I have an account that I use to get information, but I never tweet). But long story short, they could live broadcast audio and video of what we were doing.

Don't you just love Social Media?

Sometimes.

Before DH ever orders a mixed drink, he ALWAYS asks two things: 1) what color is the drink and 2) what kind of glass is it served in. Unless he's already had several drinks before hand, then the questions are meaningless.

You know... I just want it to taste good.

Unless I've already had several and then even that is meaningless.

Interesting choice! Not a big fan, although will have some if I get sushi every once in a while, but would rather have a beer. That and I can never remember which way I like it, hot or cold? Were all these served cold?

I just wanted to try something different. It was ok, but I don't know that I'd get it again. They were all 3 served cold.

Can't go wrong with the classic Disney burger and fries!

So you'd think...

Oh guess you can

Good for you! More points for you!

Yay me!

I love the foggy perspective than the sunny that i'm always seeing on TR's. This looks way more accurate!

Yeah, I just thought it really added to the effects.

SMH.

I'm sorry... Harry Potter fans all hate me now.

Ah, yeah, this would suck.

It was a huge PITA.

Seriously, before you posted this, I was hoping you were going to do this since you were in 'control' of the lap bar!

I ordinarily would just let it go. But the frustration was piling up and I was in no mood to put up with their crap.

More like a Jimmy 'Failin' attraction.....yes??? Points?!?!

Sure, why not? I mean if you aren't even going to try to answer the actual questions I can just pile on the bonus points without you coming close to the back of the pack.

Uh and a pretty decent looking woman to look at too

Well, the first 2 anyway. Not that they don't have any attractive ladies in the others, but it's hard to follow up to Megan Fox. I'm really not even that big of a fan of her, but this might just be the best scene in any Transformers movie...

Oh that would be very cool to see!

It was pretty cool, really. They weren't bad!

Bummer.

Oh heck no.

It wasn't fun... but I guess if I want to play all day, I can deal with it.

But what I want to know is, how many of those sliders actually make a meal for you?? That would have been hilarious to see.

Well, I managed to make a meal out of what... maybe 4 or 5? I really don't remember. But I could have easily eaten more. Like a lot more.