Who's the cutest little third wheel? - USO, HHN & IOA trip report Oct 2016 COMPLETE

[Lynne G]

Nice! Great report so far, and congrats on the wedding again. I love all the details in the park.

There is Turkey Lake, it is a state park, just north of Universal. There are Indians who called that lake a name in their language, and it was interpreted as meaning turkey lake. So I guess that is where the road got its name.

Follow on....

 

[BagOLaughs]

I don't know how I missed your trip report until now...better late than never.

I had to laugh about your RRR experience since the same thing happened to me not the first time but the second time I tried to get the secret menu...I think I got that same disco song nobody knows

Keep up the good work

Haha, so it's not just me then! The numbers are so small and you have to push really hard. It was so stressful trying to get it done before the lift and I failed. Haha. But it's so funny to know you got the same disco song! Brilliant!

This is a fun trippie read !

Thanks mac, gotta make it interesting you know

Nice! Great report so far, and congrats on the wedding again. I love all the details in the park.

There is Turkey Lake, it is a state park, just north of Universal. There are Indians who called that lake a name in their language, and it was interpreted as meaning turkey lake. So I guess that is where the road got its name.

Follow on....

I knew if I mentioned it on here, someone would know the story behind the name! Thanks for the info.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 2 - Let the cringe fest begin!

I think I’ve left you in enough suspense. This is where we were headed…



Was that a collective groan I heard? I feel like I need to justify my reasons for going here. I shall do them numerically.

1. Martin had never been on this “attraction” before. So he really should experience it while he can. (Although this particular experience doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon).

2. I had not been on this attraction since 2010! My memories of it were, it’s corny and the effects are dated but actually it’s kind of enjoyable. Also it’s sort of based on Greek mythology… I love Greek mythology.

3. It looked to me like they’d recently spent some time tarting up the outside of the ride so maybe they’d done something with the inside? Like I said, last ride in 2010 so I could have just been imagining it.



If there is one thing to be said about this attraction… the theming around the outside of it is amazing. Everything is so big and you can imagine that you’re really walking into some ancient ruins.



What to say about the actual attraction… most of those points I listed on no.2 above mostly apply here. Is it a good show... errrrr... no... is it a BAD show.... errrr kinda yes, kinda no... is it so bad it's good? ummmmm.... I don't really know what to say about it. Its not good and yet I can feel the actors trying so hard...

BUT! I was really disappointed to see the ONE cool effect that I remember wowing me from all those years ago, the water tunnel didn’t work. Now I don’t know if this is permanent but from the looks of the water marks on the tunnel it seemed like the water had long since stopped working. How very sad. The effects at the ‘main’ bit of the show are just as dated as I remember. Projecting old grainy footage of very 90’s looking costumed men onto a water screen… we’ve moved on Universal, come on. Update this once amazing show!



Martin’s opinion of the show? “That was a waste of time”. Martin the poet with words. In the end I don’t think I’ll be seeing that show again unless they improve it in some way or change it completely.

We had a little wander around Hogsmead and I took this photo. Why? Because we are the knights that say neep!



That’s why.

I don’t know if it was my imagination, the time of year, or the fact that a hurricane had just passed through but the foliage in all the trees looked very sparse compared to what I remember. I just assumed that Universal might have gone tree trimming crazy to prepare for the hurricane and so reduce the clean-up time. Anyone know?



The queues were too long for any of the big rides so be scooted back to Marvel Island so Martin could do this.



I will not go on these rides with him. I don’t really get on well with spinning and being sick into a bin in a theme park is NOT on my list of to-do’s. Also when I do go on ‘tea cups’ with Martin I can just about handle it if he does not spin the cup. To get me on he always promises that he won’t spin the cup but once we’re sat down I’m trapped. He just can’t help himself… he spins the cup. I feel green and grumpy after. It’s not a good combination. So no matter how much he pleads, or begs I shall stand outside and take the pictures.

Another picture of the Hulk for good measure… soon…



And we were back outside IOA. Martin took a picture of the lighthouse for good measure and from across the bridge. Good Martin, taking pictures that I forgot about.





That was it for the day! And I remember now this was when I purchased the Menchies frozen yogurt so yea… grr… bring to the UK, yadda yadda yadda, we’ve been through this. One thing I forgot to mention was I got the seasonal spiced pumpkin flavour. I thought it was really yummy! Martin, not such a fan. I was trying to go out of my way to drink and eat all the seasonal stuff on this holiday because I LOVE autumn and Halloween!

We had dinner at Bay Liner Diner that night, I had the beef with jasmine rice and broccoli. Martin had the big burger. I really enjoyed mine although the beef could have been a bit warmer. But the sauce was just as delicious as I remember it, the rice was perfect and the broccoli was… well broccoli. Martin thought his burger was just OK, but we were fed and tired so we decided to grab the marshmallows and roast them over the fire for some dessert for a bit. It was warm and toasty by the fire so it was nice just to sit for a bit and relax.

But we soon started falling asleep by the fire so it was time for bed. I think we went to sleep at about 10pm… early I know but it was a busy day and we’d been up early. More importantly the next day was a big one… the first night we’d be experiencing HHN26! Wooohh…

 

[schumigirl]

I'm with Martin on Poseidon........my words were more or less the same when I came out from seeing it for the first time......and last time......lol........

Yeah, spinny rides are not for me either.......lol.......

Nice update again........

 

[BagOLaughs]

I'm with Martin on Poseidon........my words were more or less the same when I came out from seeing it for the first time......and last time......lol........

Yeah, spinny rides are not for me either.......lol.......

Nice update again........

Hahaha, it really isn't a good show is it. I want it to be better because I can remember it from my childhood and being blow away by it all... but I suppose it was pretty high tech in the 90's

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 3 - can I remember what I did on this day??

Good morning everyone! We woke up early yet again (thanks jet lag) so instead of wasting the morning in bed we decided to get to it. We jumped on the bus with our Wall Mart breakfast in hand and arrived at Universal Studios at about 8:30am. We took a family photo for a group in front of the globe and they took ours in return. Thanks family!



It was a little bit overcast this morning but the weather forecast looked good for after Midday. We entered the park and yet again using our hotel room keys gained access into the inner sanctum of the park. I took this stellar shot of Rip Ride Rockit, although we didn't actually ride it this time. Plus blue skys!



And martin took some photos of the surrounding area. The clouds to me look like a wave rushing in from the sea in this photo.



Oh, ops I seem to have mixed up some of my pictures from our London trip in this report...



Did I fool ya? Of course not haha. but it is pretty realistic. Especially the tidal marks on the water front. All that is missing is big splodges of bird poop on the black lamp posts and some graffiti. Then it would be just like home.

A photo of the Simpsons ride stood from London below. We didn't actually ride this at all this holiday, partly because the queues were usually no less than 20 minutes and also I'm not a massive fan of this ride. The film is grainy and the ride is just MEH... there are plenty more interesting things to do in USO.



If you're wondering why I'm not saying more in this post its because I can't seem to remember what we did on this morning. I have no idea if we rode anything or not! I don't know why i'm struggling to remember. Usually I can pin point stuff like this. Ah well. I hope you're enjoying the pictures!

However I do remember what I did next... maybe that's the reason I can't remember the rest of the morning. This, slightly embarrassing thing probably has erased all the rest of the morning from my memories... We popped into Diagon Alley...



Any somehow I ended up with a $50 dollar wand in my hand. *nervous laugh*



Oh guys & gals, I just couldn't help myself. I'd always wanted one and where else is it acceptable other than Universal Studio's in Florida for an adult to walk around with a plastic "magic" wand? I have a more close up picture on a later update but I'm actually really glad I purchased it. It was super fun and when I was still battling a cold and didn't want to ride many rides, having an interactive wand was a load of fun! The first "spell" I tried was outside the animal shop. I managed to make a brightly coloured bird sing a song. Then we headed into Knockturn Alley.



I made an eye appear in a door way and on the next door along I made every lock close on this door and pretty much jumped out of my skin when I tried the handle of it. When I put my hand on the door knob a jet of air blasted out! I was not expecting it and shouted pretty loudly! ha.



Back outside Knockturn the team member shown in the bottom left of this photo helped me cast a charm on some lights in a window. *SPOILERS AHEAD* when you're at a spell point you can usually make out where the camera that looks at the tip of the wand is. I was struggling with the interaction and he said to me... point your want more this way and gestured with his hand. I exclaimed, Oh I see it now... to which he replied, see what? Quickly I said... um nothing! To which he said, I'm sure you weren't referring to the ministry of magic camera over there. I gotta give them credit they keep to character! That made me laugh and was a fun interaction.



OK you witches and wizards hold tight for another exciting update soon!

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 3 - No no... its latex

Not many words in this next post. We were just in the right place at the right time for the first showing of the Horror make-up show that day. We've seen this show plenty of times and we love it. So we happily wanted to see it again. Pretty much all of this post is going to be photos of the props they have inside of the waiting area... so here we go...

First up is a maquette for Legend, which is totally amazing in its level of detail.



And now some foam face pieces for the Grinch. I'm one of the strange people who actually enjoys this movie. I think Jim Carrey is actually hilarious in his scenes. I did read that he almost didn't appear in the move because it took 7 hours to apply the makeup the first time to his face and he couldn't take it. In an interview he said he had to get lessons from an ex-marine about how to undergo torture and interrogation because he found the makeup so claustrophobic.



Some Halloween favourites in the next box. I love a bit of chucky.



They have lots of classic monsters stuff too. like Frankenstein's monster.



Phantom of the opera I think is the one below.



The wolf man. Now this must have been hardcore. Back in the old days before modern prosthetics.



Soon enough it was time for the show to begin. As I said both Martin and I love this attraction! I actually find myself laughing out loud at multiple points during the show. It's not so much the scripted bits that make this show great. Its the banter between the two actors on the stage and the ad-lib lines they add to it as they go. In this go round the female "assistant" chosen from the audience was from Canada so they started doing really terrible Canadian accents. The audience was in stitches.



Once the show was over we headed over to Transformers the ride which had a 10 minute queue.

I don't have any pictures at all of this, ops, but we both like this ride. Its not as good as Spiderman in IOA but there are some really stand out points. *SPOILERS* I love the slow motion bits and when the rocket is fired at you. Hot air is blown onto your face and it actually tricks my mind to the point where I'm actually questioning if we're going in slow motion in real life... not sure if that makes sense but it doesn't in my head either. Its sometimes hard to follow the action on the screen because, like most Michael Bay movies, there is just so much stuff on it at one time. Its over-stimulation at its best.

Hold tight, for another update is on its way shortly.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 3 - its time to chill

After the show we decided it was about time to go back to the hotel for some r&r. The throat lozenges were helping my scratchy-ness but it was hard work being in the park and I struggled going on roller coasters as I couldn’t scream. Being on a roller coaster and not being able to scream is like being in a lake without a boat or a paddle… pointless.

We walked out of the park and the sky was beautiful! So we decided to take some pictures.



And one from the docks.



It’s very surreal leaving the parks as all the masses are only just arriving. I must say we felt slightly smug.



The obligatory selfie...



As I promised before here is a picture of the Toothsome chocolate ‘and savoury’ shop. He didn’t eat in here this holiday but Martin did buy some chocolates for his mum as a gift. They were chocolate covered almonds, she said they were very yummy. We saw loads of people walking around with the milkshakes from here which were massive! I wish I could have stomached one but for some reason whenever I’m really hot, like in Orlando, milkshakes are the last thing I want to drink. Pure liquid milk and all that sugar just don’t seem appetizing to me. However it was lots of fun to spy on everyone else’s crazy concoctions.



Martin wanted to have a look round the surf shops to see if he could find some shorts or a tank top but I didn’t really want to go into the icy cold of the air conditioning so I found a spot on the fake grass opposite the Hard Rock Hotel and enjoyed the sun and took some more pictures of course.



I love this sign when the wind blows it





I also got a close up picture of my wand. Those of you HP fans might recognize this is Bellatrix’s wand because of course she is best witch.

I’m sorry all you Griffindors but I’m a Slytherin. Always have been and always will be. Also I love villains and bad guys. Bellatrix is not only played by one of my favorite actors but Helena Boner Carter is who I was imagining when reading the books (before the movies).



Martin had returned by this point, it was about 11:30am, how do I know this? Because the hot dog place had just opened up and guess where Martin wanted to go next? Martin had been longing for a hot dog from here since the last holiday but we were just never that hungry when we were in this area. But finally here got to have a hot dog.



He really enjoyed it. He got a chilli dog because that’s what he likes to eat when in the States. I really am not a fan so I just nibbled on a couple of his chips. I pulled the whole ‘that chip is obvs poisonous so I think I should eat it’ trick. Totally fooled him.

After the hot dog we made our way back to the hotel. It was time for the pool! The sky was bright blue and I wanted to try out my new towel. Oh yes I forgot to mention I’d been shopping. I needed a new beach towel. Last year I’d already got Martin one of the lovely Cabana Bay beach towels with the blue stripes which is an amazing towel and I’m slightly jealous that I got it for him as a gift and not myself.

But not to worry, while in IOA the previous day I purchased a Jurassic world towel!

*crickets*

Oh come on the movie’s not that bad. OK maybe it’s not the best but I actually really enjoyed the movie. Hold back your boo’s. It’s not a great movie, I admit that, but as a fun way to spend a couple of hours, there are worst things. Also I loved the design on the towel, it has blue silhouettes of Dinosaurs on it and lighter blue foliage, and naturally a massive JURASSIC WORLD logo slap bang in the middle.

As I said, I was excited to use the towel. We spent some good time down by the pool. I had a nap on the sun beds and a little bite to eat from our Wall Mart stash. At about 3pm we got ready to go back to the parks as it was that time… that time to be scared out of our minds… to be startled and spooked to our very cores…

It was time…

For Halloween Horror Nights 26! (and Chance)

Side-note: Did I tell you lot how excited I was to see Chance? No?? Well I better set the stage. I LOVE JACK! Last year, HHN25, was our 1st ever Halloween Horror Night experience and boy what a year to experience it! To say I became slightly obsessed with all things Jack & Chance is a small understatement. I regret not buying more HHN STUFF while I was there.

I know Jack has to go back into his box and probably come back out for the next anniversary and I think that’s the right thing to do, you want to keep him as something special. But I was so excited for the return of Chance.

Now stating the obvious she is very Harley Quinn like. Which is fine by me, but I think she is more than that too. She is her own character and it was nice she was going to get the lime light for a bit. The narrative of her being arrested and committed after the Carnival of Carnage was a nice way to continue the story. Going into HHN I knew she was going to be in her scare zone and that it was a dance show on the stage… which tbh disappointed me slightly.

Anyway, I’ll leave it at that and continue on the next update in which I’ll give my views of what we experienced.

 

[schumigirl]

Love the Horror Make up Show........so funny!!

Nice update again though.......you both look to be having a lot of fun.......I`m with you on the milk shakes......far too hot for those......well for me anyway........it was nice to see them though!

 

[Raeven]

I'm also a Slytherin!

And I liked Jurassic World. I was never really a fan of the originals when I was younger, but I thought Jurassic World was entertaining.

2015 was our first year at HHN too! Jack was awesome.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Love the Horror Make up Show........so funny!!

Nice update again though.......you both look to be having a lot of fun.......I`m with you on the milk shakes......far too hot for those......well for me anyway........it was nice to see them though!

They were massive. I think even two people would struggle to finish one of those off.

I'm also a Slytherin!

And I liked Jurassic World. I was never really a fan of the originals when I was younger, but I thought Jurassic World was entertaining.

2015 was our first year at HHN too! Jack was awesome.

Jack is the best. Don't know if you agree but I'm glad he only comes out for the big anniversary. It builds the anticipation of seeing him again. Nice you're following along.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 3 – Drumming and pouting, pouting and drumming

We arrived at universal studios at about 3:30pm ready for a night of Halloween horror fun. I always like the way Universal put up the large billboards under the arches for HHN. It builds anticipation for what is to come.



I'm ready to go!



After getting through the turnstiles I looked in the map and saw the next showing of the Beat Builders was about to start so we scooted over to there. Unfortunately due to high winds they didn’t climb up the towers this time but they were still really cool to watch.



The picture below made me completely laugh into stitches when I saw it. When I was taking the picture I never noticed the guy on the right but looking back at it now… hahahahahahaha. That guy is awesome! He’s really into it.



I bet these guys were fun when they were kids... banging pots and pans ha



I took a short video too if you want to watch them in action.

The show was a fun little distraction. All the other rides had quite large queues so we decided to take a look around some of the shops. We found the HHN tribute shop next to the mummy. This was a really cool shop but I’d already purchased my HHN stuff from Cabana Bay before coming into the park. For some reason, neither of us got ANY pictures from in here.

Next we took a look around the Christmas shop which was fun but again we didn’t buy anything. Next up was the film vaults, I like this shop because it’s got a lot of different stuff from classic movies in it. I saw a Blues Brothers t-shirt I thought my stepdad might like so I put that in my mental list of maybes.

It was about 4:15pm by this point so we decided to go into the holding area. We’d found out that this year there were 3 holding areas and each holding area allowed early access to different mazes. We were in the Finnegans holding area so we’d get access to the Exorcist (the house we were aiming for) and the walking dead. I grabbed a spot on the pavement while Martin gota beer. I didn’t have anything because, yea you know, I wasn’t feeling 100%. I had a couple of sips of Martins beer.



Soon enough at about 5:30 the HHN music came on and everyone started crowding around the exit. We were let out not long after that and headed straight over to the Exorcist. We had to wait for about 15 minutes in the queue line as they hadn’t quite opened the house when we arrived.

WARNING – I’m going to give SPOILER reviews of these houses… I mean HHN is pretty much over now but you’ve been warned!

This house was really good! This is one of the movies I have actually seen and I could recognize loads of scenes from it. On first impressions alone it was amazing. You walk into the sound stage and the exact house from the movie is directly in front of you, lamp post and everything! The first hallway you enter has some trick glass so one minute you’re seeing just a hall way and then all of a sudden it disappears and you can see into hell or a graveyard or something…

There were also some good scares in this house. I remember there being a room with the girl floating above the bed and just after this room a priest got me really good by popping out from behind the door way. God I jumped so high! The one other bit I can remember really well is a section where she is walking down the stairs like a spider and the lights were flashing. I was holding onto Martin like my life depended on it and as the lights started flashing I instinctively closed my eyes and screamed “ahh, what is it! What is it!” Martin was laughing his head off! All in all it was a good solid house.

The other house open up to us was the walking dead so we headed there next. To be honest I'm not a massive fan of the walking dead. I watched the 1st season but totally lost interest in the 2nd. This house was good and I had a really funny moment when a zombie jumped out at me and I stuck my head into martins shoulder, shutting my eyes. Into my ear the zombie whispered “om nom nom nom”. That made me laugh. I don’t remember much about this house other than the start with the season 1 camper and tent with zombie inside. It was good but after doing the walking dead last year I was already over it.

After the house we headed to the back of the park to do the houses there. Usually guests will swamp the houses at the front and the ones at the back are quieter at the start. On the way we walked through Survive or Die.



I have a video for another update but for now here are some pictures of the amazing costumes and props. For 2016 I think this was, by far, my favourite scare zone. I think its because one of my favorite movie series of all time is Mad Max and this scare zone really made me feel like I was in one of those movies. The costumes were top notch and there were SO MANY SCARE ACTORS! This zone was swarming with them!



I took a picture of this guy who was staring at me. I then smiled and goofy waved at him and quickly turned away to find the safety of Martin. I saw Martin and started walking towards him. As I passed a pile of oil drums the guy from that picture must have flanked me because he burst out from behind the other side of the drums and chased me. I jumped and screamed so much! It was great!



OK so lets run away from this crazy zone and... er right into another one... next update is coming...

NOW!

 

[macraven]

Still reading along !

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 3 - here fishy fishy fishy

To get to the back of the park we also had to walk through Deadmans Wharf. I’ve got lots to say on this scare zone but I’ll save that for another post. Here however are some pictures.





These guys were the best once it was dark!







Texas chain saw massacre had just opened up so we jumped in the queue for that. We waited less than 5 minutes to get to this house. The front was really cool!



Can't remember what the house looked like from the movie, someone will have to tell me if this looks about right.



This house was good. I’m not really a fan of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and it was ages and ages ago that I saw the movie so I didn’t really recognize any of the scenes. This house was super disorientating however and dark. I swear I walked into loads of walls just because I couldn’t see where I was going!

Just down the way from Texas CS was Lunatics Playground 3D with a 5 minute wait. So we jumped in line for this house… 1st night and we’d already done nearly half the houses! This was the 3D maze which I know some people like, others don’t. I’m pretty meh about the whole thing. The tunnel at the beginning was too much however. As I said before I don’t do spinning and that tunnel is a complete mind mess for me. I just have to hold onto the rail and martin and squeeze my eyes shut until I’m out. Or else I’d make a huge mess if you get my drift…



There weren’t many scares in this house. One guy with a “sad” face did get me good in one part of the maze but the rest I just enjoyed for the the visuals. I actually really enjoyed this house which might be because there were loads of Chances and some of the scenes were really enjoyable. The one I remember the most is where Chance is electrocuting a guard and bright coloured strings of lights were going to the clips in her hands. Then when the guard slumped down a black light came on and there was loads of splattering’s of “blood” which was invisible before. I thought that was really cool! I gave this house a thumbs up because it was so fun!

We decided to scope out the rest of the houses in the area so we wandered through Springfield to get over to the kids area. Outside the Simpsons ride where some cheerleaders with chainsaws.



I give this roaming scare actors a meh. In Martins words… there were a bit too straight laced and other than the fact that they had chainsaws… weren’t really that scary. I agree with him. I miss the clowns who had so much character from last year.



Hold tight because another update is coming... right now!

 

[macraven]

Agree about the lame cheerleaders

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 3 - Hell has come to Universal Studio's Orlando

Halloween had a 15 minute wait so we jumped in line! The front of this house was really cool and set the mood, especially with the music too!





this was by far, one, if not the best house of the event. The sets were amazing, the scares were amazing. The number of Mike Myers in the house was amazing…. It was just amazing. This house was the house I got the most scares in. There were some really good boo holes such as some white lockers that pulled back and some great special effects such as compressed air. To get into the house you have to walk single file through clothes in a long closet. That’s pretty amazing!

In the first room a guy fires a gun at Mike in the corner and you actually feel the air on your side when he pulls the trigger. This made me freak out because I thought something had actually hit me. It was AMAZING!

The ending to this maze is also eye popping! It’s literally like the set around you is burning and they pump that smell into the air. Martin and I both loved it!

We had dinner reservations at Bubba Gumps at 8:00pm so we decided to start heading towards the front of the park. The light had pretty much gone when we walked though Lair of the Banshees. This scare zone is always good because of the tight and wooded walkway. They really pump the smoke in here and it feels so atmospheric.



That below is a picture of a white witch lady... she'll show up again later in one of my videos.



The colours of the lighting is always so cool in this area.



As we got to the end of that zone the stage show was literally just about to start so we jumped into the viewing area as we had some time to kill before dinner.



We probably waited like 5 minutes for this show to start.



My views on this show…. I mean it was a good show! That crazy guy who did the back flips and drums and juggling and fire… he was mad! (in a good way of course). There was also some good humour and it was a great spectacle… However…. It wasn’t Carnival of Carnage. If you’ve read my half-finished trip report from last year I gushed about how much I loved that show… and I really, really do. Even now I still watch it on youtube from time to time. I loved the show production, the humour, the dancers, the stunts and of course Jack & Chance!





Academy of Villians was not Carnival of Carnage, not even close to as good. Did this mean I couldn’t enjoy the dancing for what it was? Of course not. It was a good show but in my mind like less than half as good as Carnival of Carnage was. Still a massive round of applause to the dancers! They did an amazing job.



Next update is now... wow, i'm on a roll!

 

[macraven]

I'm ready for more trippie .....

 

[BagOLaughs]

Day 3 - I'm coming to get you... run forest run...

Finally we were close to the front of the park but we couldn’t leave just yet without first saying hi to Chance. Now this is what disappointed me most about HHN26. Sorry to put a bit of a downer here in the trip report but there was Chance the star, the icon of the show, stuck on some small stage… not roaming… just there. A glorified selfie prop. I understand the logistics of allowing her to roam would be really difficult but by having her on a stage it felt really restricted. I understand she's elevated and everyone could see her but to me it just fell flat. She didn’t have anything to do really… no one to interact with. I wanted so much more for her. Also what compounded it was people were just stood around looking at her and it was a bit… awkward. I dunno, my views did soften later in the trip but on first impressions I was disappointed.

Heres a video of her talking to herself...

The scare zone that she was situated in was very fun. The scare actors in there were really imaginative and creepy. They would either just creep you out by staring at you, or sneak up behind you and give great scares. This zone was probably my third favourite (even after my points below).



The other thing I didn't get about her zone was the other stages. I mean they were fun props but they looked like they should have been used for so much more. It kinda felt just tacked on. In fact Chances scare zone didn't really feel coherent. Everything felt so random and not really like it should belong together. Sigh... so disappointed.



That's all the pictures I have for this day! I guess we didn't take any at all in Bubba Gumps! We were seated really quickly once we arrived and we got a better table that what we'd had last time (by the toilets). Our waiter was really nice although nothing will beat the upbeat, wired energy of our waitress from dining here last time.

We ordered our food, did the obligatory Forest Gump quiz which is a bit of fun while you're waiting for your food. I ordered a Mojito and Martin had a peach something or other, that came in a 20 year anniversary glass that we got to keep. The drinks were really good. When the food arrived that was good also... I had the shrimp, shrimp and more shrimp. That's not what its called but that's basically what it is. Martin had the dish that was basically a little bit of everything. The main courses were pretty good but nothing can beat the "bucket of boat trash" that I had on our last visit. They've taken it off the menu now which is a shame.

We ordered a dessert which was the three "mini" desserts, cookie, bread pudding and strawberry short cake. I tell you, that dessert was NOT GOOD. Everything was cold, no idea if it was supposed to be or not, and there was nothing mini about the portion sizes. The bread pudding was really stodgy, the short bread was dry and the cookie was hard as a rock. Martin and I had a spoonful of each and sent it back. We didn't even want a replacement because after eating bits of it to find out it was all bad we didn't have the appetite to try again. We paid the bill, picked up Martin's glass and left.

All in all a mixed review for Bubba Gumps this time around. Last visit it was amazing, the food the service and the dessert. This time it was mostly just OK but the dessert was bad. Not sure if we'll do it again when we come back but there are plenty of other restaurants in City Walk.

Full of food we headed back for the night. It was getting pretty late and we were tired from our second early start in a row. The next day was Thursday which meant more HHN and FINALLY... the HULK!

 

[BagOLaughs]

Still reading along !

Yey!

Agree about the lame cheerleaders

Lame

I'm ready for more trippie .....

Last one of the day I think, I've gotta do some video editing for some upcoming posts. Nice to have you reading along Mac

 

[Raeven]

Yeah that house is right on from the original Texas Chainsaw movie. I watched it right before the trip. I didn't really like the movie, but the house was pretty exact.

I hate the spinning tunnel too I have to close my eyes or focus really hard on the person in front of me.

I also completely agree with only having Jack out on anniversary years, I can't wait to see who the icon is next year.