kimmar067
TAGS?? It's all about the 'likes' now!
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2001
- Messages
- 154,985
Sunday, July 28 ~~
Since today is NOT a "Disney park day", I opted to wake up earlier than the rest of my family in my "rental-car" quest. I quickly hurried to the bus stop and , within minutes, my 8 y.o. DS and I were on our way to DTD. Once at Stop #4, (the bus driver must have thought we were crazy , since there was not another soul in sight at DTD at 8:30 AM!) we proceeded to walk around the iron fence that surrounds the bus depot and walked along the road, heading to Courtyard Marriott. How is it that a distance by car seems SOOOO much longer when "on foot", not to mention the hazard of dealing with the construction?
The Dollar counter is conveniently located to the left as soon as you enter the Marriott lobby (next to a Disney store !) Within 8 minutes, I was searching for my Dodge Sport Caravan in the side parking lot, keys in hand and returning to CBR. The van was perfect for our family ~ spacious, roomy, and comfortable.
Upon my return to CBR, I eagerly picked up the rest of my family, as we were spending the day at IOA. We were also meeting friends from NJ here to spend the day with them. We finally greeted them at the entrance to IOA, where we quickly purchased our tickets and proceeded to the Cinnabon counter for coffee and --. We have only previously visited Universal Studios, so, we were a little unsure of the layout. Okay, first stop "HULK"!!! There was a 45 minute wait and the park was getting really crowded (and REALLY HOT!!) so we decided to grab a few FastPasses (well, it's called something else, but I seem to use that term for the concept ~ sorta like saying "Kleenex" to mean tissue!) We utilized some of the time by riding the "spinning ride" (not unlike the "Teacups" at MK) next to "Hulk", the "Tower of Doom (?)", (I'm a "newbie" to IOA, so I am a little shaky with the correct names) and Spiderman. While the rest of our group waited on the stand-by line for almost 25 minutes, by girlfriend and I decided to try the "Single Riders" line. We were on and off this awesome ride TWICE within 20 minutes!! I would have to say that the Spiderman ride is one of the best rides I've ever experienced - it is SO different than any other type of ride available to the adventurous.
While hurrying back to "Hulk", a parade of "heroes and villains", hurried by on 4-wheelers, spraying bystanders with giant water guns(which was not such a bad thing!
) Let me say, "Hulk" is NOT for the faint-of-heart! You think that you are ascending slowly in a giant tunnel, when suddenly you zoom 0-40 mph in 2 seconds, followed by a twisting drop. All I can say is ,"WOW! What a rush!"
We wandered along the other "lands", riding Jurrassic Park Water Adventure, Dueling Dragons (go on "Fire" - it's the better of the two), Buzz Saw Falls, and others. We had a reservation at FishBones for 6:30 PM, so it was time to head back to the parking garage. We got as far as the arcade (yep, folks, ANOTHER one!) when it began to drizzle. Suddenly, the drizzle turned into a downpour, so we waited about 15 minutes for it to subside. After 20 minutes, seeing no sign of a let-up we ran to City Walk to catch up with my DS-in-L and her friend, who had departed to shop at Jimmy Buffet's Margueritaville(Shop?? Yeah, right !)
It's now 6:20 and we are just pulling into the parking lot of FishBones, located on Sand Lake Road, just off International Dr, when the sun reappeared. Little did we know that we were about to embark on, what was to be, one of the BEST MEALS we would eat during our stay at WDW! Dress is casual (thank goodness, because we kinda looked like drowned rats after a hot day in an amusement park, followed by a downpour!) The podium is directly to the right, with a glassed "refrigerator" to the left. It was filled with all kinds of fresh fish ("catch of the day"), steaks, and chops. Directly in front of us was an open pit/grill, where the meat is cooked over an oak fire. We started off with a cold appetizer platter of Alaskan King crab legs, soft crabs, shrimp cocktail, and smoked shrimp. Outstanding! We also decided to try gator. Guess what? It really does taste JUST LIKE CHICKEN!!! Some of our entrees included 28 oz. prime rib, 18 oz. lobster tail, NY strip steak, and grilled chicken. EVERYTHING was cooked to perfection - even the baked potatoes! Needless to say, we couldn't even THINK about ordereing dessert, so I suggested that we visit DTD and treat ourselves to ice cream at Ghirardelli's.
We had no problems finding a parking space at DTD. In fact, DTD wasn't really too crowded. After a quick stop to the Lego store, we proceeded to Ghirardelli's, enjoying the sights and sounds of the passersby. We did manage to do some quick browsing at World of Disney before heading back to the van and CBR. This time - no arcade. We wanted to get a good jump on tomorrow's itinerary, driving to Daytona Beach...
(one observation: it seems to me that IOA takes better care of its guests in at least one aspect - there are PLENTY of those misting fans strategically placed throughout IOA ~ WDW should take heed!!)
Day 1
Day 2
Day 4
Since today is NOT a "Disney park day", I opted to wake up earlier than the rest of my family in my "rental-car" quest. I quickly hurried to the bus stop and , within minutes, my 8 y.o. DS and I were on our way to DTD. Once at Stop #4, (the bus driver must have thought we were crazy , since there was not another soul in sight at DTD at 8:30 AM!) we proceeded to walk around the iron fence that surrounds the bus depot and walked along the road, heading to Courtyard Marriott. How is it that a distance by car seems SOOOO much longer when "on foot", not to mention the hazard of dealing with the construction?
The Dollar counter is conveniently located to the left as soon as you enter the Marriott lobby (next to a Disney store !) Within 8 minutes, I was searching for my Dodge Sport Caravan in the side parking lot, keys in hand and returning to CBR. The van was perfect for our family ~ spacious, roomy, and comfortable.
Upon my return to CBR, I eagerly picked up the rest of my family, as we were spending the day at IOA. We were also meeting friends from NJ here to spend the day with them. We finally greeted them at the entrance to IOA, where we quickly purchased our tickets and proceeded to the Cinnabon counter for coffee and --. We have only previously visited Universal Studios, so, we were a little unsure of the layout. Okay, first stop "HULK"!!! There was a 45 minute wait and the park was getting really crowded (and REALLY HOT!!) so we decided to grab a few FastPasses (well, it's called something else, but I seem to use that term for the concept ~ sorta like saying "Kleenex" to mean tissue!) We utilized some of the time by riding the "spinning ride" (not unlike the "Teacups" at MK) next to "Hulk", the "Tower of Doom (?)", (I'm a "newbie" to IOA, so I am a little shaky with the correct names) and Spiderman. While the rest of our group waited on the stand-by line for almost 25 minutes, by girlfriend and I decided to try the "Single Riders" line. We were on and off this awesome ride TWICE within 20 minutes!! I would have to say that the Spiderman ride is one of the best rides I've ever experienced - it is SO different than any other type of ride available to the adventurous.
While hurrying back to "Hulk", a parade of "heroes and villains", hurried by on 4-wheelers, spraying bystanders with giant water guns(which was not such a bad thing!
) Let me say, "Hulk" is NOT for the faint-of-heart! You think that you are ascending slowly in a giant tunnel, when suddenly you zoom 0-40 mph in 2 seconds, followed by a twisting drop. All I can say is ,"WOW! What a rush!"We wandered along the other "lands", riding Jurrassic Park Water Adventure, Dueling Dragons (go on "Fire" - it's the better of the two), Buzz Saw Falls, and others. We had a reservation at FishBones for 6:30 PM, so it was time to head back to the parking garage. We got as far as the arcade (yep, folks, ANOTHER one!) when it began to drizzle. Suddenly, the drizzle turned into a downpour, so we waited about 15 minutes for it to subside. After 20 minutes, seeing no sign of a let-up we ran to City Walk to catch up with my DS-in-L and her friend, who had departed to shop at Jimmy Buffet's Margueritaville(Shop?? Yeah, right
!)It's now 6:20 and we are just pulling into the parking lot of FishBones, located on Sand Lake Road, just off International Dr, when the sun reappeared. Little did we know that we were about to embark on, what was to be, one of the BEST MEALS we would eat during our stay at WDW! Dress is casual (thank goodness, because we kinda looked like drowned rats after a hot day in an amusement park, followed by a downpour!) The podium is directly to the right, with a glassed "refrigerator" to the left. It was filled with all kinds of fresh fish ("catch of the day"), steaks, and chops. Directly in front of us was an open pit/grill, where the meat is cooked over an oak fire. We started off with a cold appetizer platter of Alaskan King crab legs, soft crabs, shrimp cocktail, and smoked shrimp. Outstanding! We also decided to try gator. Guess what? It really does taste JUST LIKE CHICKEN!!! Some of our entrees included 28 oz. prime rib, 18 oz. lobster tail, NY strip steak, and grilled chicken. EVERYTHING was cooked to perfection - even the baked potatoes! Needless to say, we couldn't even THINK about ordereing dessert, so I suggested that we visit DTD and treat ourselves to ice cream at Ghirardelli's.
We had no problems finding a parking space at DTD. In fact, DTD wasn't really too crowded. After a quick stop to the Lego store, we proceeded to Ghirardelli's, enjoying the sights and sounds of the passersby. We did manage to do some quick browsing at World of Disney before heading back to the van and CBR. This time - no arcade. We wanted to get a good jump on tomorrow's itinerary, driving to Daytona Beach...
(one observation: it seems to me that IOA takes better care of its guests in at least one aspect - there are PLENTY of those misting fans strategically placed throughout IOA ~ WDW should take heed!!)
Day 1
Day 2
Day 4
Your dinner at FishBones seems fantastic - I've never heard of it before - thanks for the tip!
Krissy
