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

Day ?#£$? – Time is fleeting

OK I’ve messed up here on my timeline. I’ve created somewhat of a time warp… For some reason on my PC when I moved all my character photos to a separate file it actually cut them and not copied them.

I feel the need for a post to catch up on all the amazing character interactions we had on this holiday because Are you ready for the time warp… OK!

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time is fleeting and madness will take its toll…

Jumping back to Day 2, while in London it was very early in the morning and we saw that the Knight Bus conductor and shrunken head had no queue so we said hello to them and took some pictures. If I’m honest I can’t really remember the interaction with them, I think Martin and the shrunken head had some banter about Birmingham. The interaction we had last year was better I think.

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No idea why i'm pulling that stupid face but oh well!

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With a bit of a mind flip, you’re into a time slip… lets do the time warp again….

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Going back to yesterday (Day 3) we had two great interactions. Firstly with Scooby and Shaggy who were just arriving in their Mystery Machine when we were walking down Hollywood. Martin didn’t want to be in the photo but Scooby pretty much insisted that he had to be in the photo and dragged him over.

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Shaggy said if he didn’t he’s be very sad. We chatted about… something…

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and had our photo taken.

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Then a few steps down the road I shouted out! “beetlejuice!” I’m sorry, I just couldn’t contain myself. Forever I’ve been trying to get a picture with Beetlejuice when I come to Orlando but I’ve always missed him for some reason. I love the movie, I love Michael Keaton and I love Beetlejuice. Don’t believe me? He’s a picture of my phone case.

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Do you believe me now?

There was no one with him so I walked over and said, “Beetlejuice what happened to your show?” and he shouted back, “They cancelled it!” sounding really offended, I laughed, then he continued, “but you know, thanks for rubbing it in and all. Salt meet wound,” and he gestured cutting his arm. I burst out laughing and apologised for bring it up. He said it was OK because I was pretty (aww I think?) and we had a picture.

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I’m so happy I finally got my picture with him… I have no idea why I always missed him before but its all OK now! Love the guy that portrayed him, he really got his mannerisms down to a fine art. Now I know that the "main actor" who portrays Jack also does Beetlejuice and the Grinch (I may have stalked his twitter) so maybe....????

Before going into the holding area I now remember going to the bakery opposite where Disaster used to be and having an oatmeal cookie and Martin had a piece of black forest gateau. The one thing about Martin…. He luuurvs his back forest gateau. Then we took some pictures of the shark.

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I had to do “kiss the fish” because… this is just going to sound odd. When we were having our pictures taken at the wedding by the photographer we actually went down the town’s high street (its called Burford Oxfordshire, in the UK very pretty town if I do say so myself) and went into an antiques shop. There was a big metal fish and I did a picture “kissing the fish”. Long winded explanation I know…

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OK we’re all caught up now!

Let’s do a jump to the left, and then a step to the right. You’ve got to put your hands on your hips and tuck your knees in tight. Now pelvic thrust, it might drive you insane… LETS DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!

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Hahahaha, I might just be a little insane… still I choose a theme and I stick to it! (for a post at least)

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Day 4 - Graaaaaahhhhhhhrrrrr

We had a lie in on this morning and by lie in we actually woke up at about 8am. I for one am an early riser and seem to wake up pretty much as soon as there is light if not before. Martin on the other hand could sleep through the apocalypse. So I gently woke him, OK, I shook him awake (per mentioned missing the apocalypse) and asked if he wanted to get to IOA for 9am to ride the hulk. He was game with this so we got ready, grabbed our Wal Mart breakfast and headed out the door.

It was a glorious morning!

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We arrived at IOA at about 8:45 just before they stared letting people in the gate. While in the queue Martin popped out to ask again at the guest services if they had any celebrate pins but again he was told they’d had a really small amount come through but they’d run out again. I told him not to worry about it anymore. It didn’t really matter anyway as we were having a great time.

When the gates were open we rushed, no, flew, no, walked as quickly as an early morning would facilitate… yea pretty much, over to the Hulk. I cannot tell you how excited I was to ride this coaster. I LOVE the Hulk. My last ride was in 2010 and it was pretty rough back then but when they announced they’d be ripping down the track and replacing it with new stuff I was ecstatic! Even if it did mean on our last trip to Orlando I wasn’t able to ride it.

But that didn’t matter I was here now and so was the Hulk. We went to the lockers and emptied all our pockets into the teeny tiny lockers. I mean seriously these lockers are small! Enough for Martin and I but only just. I do hear there are larger lockers around the back.

During all this fuss did I remember to take any pictures of the Hulk? Of course not! So I’m going to scrounge some photos from later in my trip report and stick them here. The readers will never know… I mean…. Forget that last sentence.

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The queue line was pretty cool although there isn’t much to interest a person stuck in a hours long queue so I do not envy people queuing for a long time in here. At the loading station I could hardly contain my excitement! We got placed on row 6 pretty close to the back which was OK by me.

I’m going to get a big geeky here so please excuse me.

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Hulk is designed and manufactured by B&M coasters which is a German manufacturer. The same manufacturer as Dragon Challenge and my favourite coaster of all time, Nemesis in Alton Towers (in the UK) I love their coasters as they are renowned the world over for making smooth but thrilling rides that have the distinctive “roar”. The hulk in its later years was an exception to the smooth rule but definitely had the massive “roar”! I couldn’t wait to have my first “smooth” ride on the hulk I years!

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We sat into the chairs and what I like about B&M coasters and it works for all of them, I’m just the right size to get one more ‘click’ out of my harness which results in a very comfortable firm restraint. I call it ‘the Rachel click’. Its so well know that Martin actually turned to me and said, did you get your extra click. I smiled and said YES!

The ride… oh my goodness… the ride. I LOVE IT! The onride audio isn’t really loud enough to be heard in the back of the train but the sensations of this coaster put it right back at my number two spot of roller coaster favourites. The very first inversion as you come out of the top of the tunnel is amazing and the cobra roll and the loop. I LOVE THIS COASTER. Thumbs up Universal for taking the time to refresh this classic. Thank you.

After the Hulk, we collected our stuff from the… “its…. An….. itsy bitsy, teeny, weeny, green and grey, theme park locker” Ah hem… sorry for the sudden outburst of song. I know you’ve spotted a trend here.

Spiderman only had a 5 min queue so we jumped on this ride next. Spiderman is probably one of my favourite rides out of the two USO parks so I thoroughly enjoyed our ride through. I much prefer it to Transformers as I appreciate the more physical sets. I think Transformers is too much screen.

While walking through Jurassic park we noticed the Veloriceraptor encounter had just opened and there was pretty much a 5 minute or less queue. I’d wanted to do this encounter so badly since it opened but there was always a huge queue. We jumped in line. The fun of this attraction I think is you get to watch all the other familys interact with the dinosaur before you do. *cough* not to spoil any magic *cough* turn back now if you think it’s a real dinosaur *cough* but the person in the suit… I mean THE REAL VELOCIRAPTOR, is really funny with their interactions with the guests and the trainer is so, so funny too.

When it was our turn I said, “We’re on our honeymoon, is this safe? I don’t want to lose any arms or legs on my new husband”. To which the trainer replied, “Just do exactly what I say and you’ll be fine” followed by a nervous laugh. We backed up to the dinosaur, who initially enjoyed munching on my hair…

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After a couple of snaps it turned to eating Martins head!

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This is when the trainer cooed while taking pictures “very nice, who’s the cutest little third wheel dinosaur, you are!” That made me burst out laughing!

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They gave us back our cameras and we thanked them for the experience. I’m so glad we did it. It was definitely one of the highlights of our holiday.

Next we headed to the back of the park to Forbidden Journey. We took some pictures on the bridge over.

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It’s such a good reveal to the castle this bridge. You’re walking along Jurassic Park and you see glimpses of the spires over the top of the trees… then you walk under the Jurassic park gates and BAM…

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there’s this huge amazing, detailed Hogsworts.

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One more photo…

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We headed towards the queue.
 
Day 4 - those benches can be a bit dodgy

We braved the cramped locker rooms to stow our stuff and headed in. Much like Gringotts the queue line on this ride is an attraction all of its own. The queue was about 15 minutes and started in the green house area. I did manage to take some good pictures of the defence against the dark arts classroom

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and even HP & the gang in.

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I finally got a good, non-blurred, picture of Dawn French as the Fat Lady Portrait. For the limited lines she has, she is so funny in the HP series and in this queue line.

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The final picture I took was of the long corridor with the sorting hat at the end. Cool.

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Again this is another stellar Universal ride. The range of motion on the “magic bench” is amazing and much like Spiderman it combines a lot of physical effects with some screens and to me, not having all screens is greatly appreciated! I think Forbidden Journey and Spiderman have the balance just right.

After the ride we spent some time in Hogsmead. I had my, not sad at all, wand and was following my map to find all the interactive windows.

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This area is always so busy. Its like a huge corridor so there is a lot of footfall through here.

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Hey Dragon Challenge… not this time I’m afraid. Nether Martin nor I felt like riding this during this visit. Can’t really put my finger on why we just didn’t. Still, here’s a picture.

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The train!

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We also didn’t go on the Hogswords express, partly because we always were going from USO to IOA and not vice Versa the queues were always no less than 30 minutes going this way. But we ride it 3 times last year so we didn’t feel like we had to.

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Next update coming now... hold onto your broomsticks!
 


Day 4 - details, its always in the details

Here are some more pictures of Hogsmead we took. Smile Martin!

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Love how none of the lines are straight in this land. It looks like the buildings have sagged under age.

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Don't leave your broomstick unattended!

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Martin smile... I am smiling... facepalm. haha

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It was about lunch time so we headed over to the one counter service restaurant in IOA that isn't burgers and fries. That being Thunder Falls in Jurassic world. I tell you what, I was really impressed with the food! I had a rotisserie chicken and Martin had chicken and ribs. My chicken was really really good. Not dry, flavoursome and I ate every last bit! I had corn on the cob and roasted potatoes with it and I would absolutely eat there again!

We took some pictures of River Adventure as we'd not got any yet.

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And a really serious selfie which bocked out the ride... no idea what we were doing here.

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Then it was time to leave as it was POOL TIME! Just by the turnstiles Martin said he needed to pop to the loo so I stayed outside and took some pictures.

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As I’ve said before I love the details in this area.

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See everyone going into the park... mwhahaha

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When Martin came back he was grinning from ear to ear. I had no idea why… Then he pulled out these…

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He got some! That sly dog… he snuck into guest services, I thought we was taking a long time in the toilet but I didn’t think to question. Awww well done Martin!

Next update is coming quick... with more HHN!
 


Day 4 - Beetlejuice as the next HHN icon!

We walked into toothsome and this is the only picture I took inside all holiday. I think Martin gets tired of all the photos after a while, ha. These are actually the chocolates he ended up buying for his mum as a gift.

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It was back to the pool for us for some rest. We ate in the Hideaway Bar & Grill for lunch. We both had chicken wings. I wanted BBQ and Martin Hot & Spicy but they charged us for twelve instead of two sets of six which I thought was sweet. They were yummy and actually quite filling as they come with carrot and celery sticks to munch on as well.

I had another nap in the sun again which was nice. We had a swim in the pool and the lazy river until about 2pm. Then we then popped up to the room, got cleaned up and headed back to the park for our 2nd night of HHN.

All during the morning I’d had the same annoying sore throat I’d had for the past 5 days. Not to complain but all holiday it had been raw and I was constantly gulping down water to try and keep it hydrated because it felt like my throat was made of dry sandpaper. Magically during the pool time the pain completely vanished! I was elated. My headache, my sore throat and general unwell feeling just poof.. gone. I was so happy now I could finally enjoy my evenings and drink!!!

Walking through city walk I saw that no one was on the surf board for once so I took the opportunity to take my picture on it.

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Once in the park we had a mooch around the US store and Martin insisted I had my picture taken with mannequin Chance. Those things was creepy.

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We had a wander as it wasn't quite time for the holding area just yet and who did we see? Why Beetlejuice again! I said to Martin why don't you have your picture with him as we got close a guy asked if we would take his picture with Beetlejuice and of course we said yes. As a thank you he offered to take both of our pictures with him. Yey! This one is now my phone wallpaper!

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And then Beetlejuice noticed the pin and said "don't stay with this guy come with me" and started kissing the air towards me.

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Hahahaha, what a cool interaction. Just as Martin was getting back the camera I quickly asked. Why aren't you an Icon for Halloween horror nights? He said, "they can't afford me." Of course :D

We elected to go into the very front holding area which would give us early access to American Horror Story and work our way from there. Martin got a beer and we ended up chatting to a really cool American couple. We had a chat about Halloween horror nights, UK politics, US politics and American states. They were really fun to talk to and the time in the holding area flew by.

Soon enough the HHN music started up and we bid the other couple good luck and good bye. We joined the masses heading towards American Horror story. In the end we waited for about 15 minutes.

The production value on this house was through the roof. Every set was detailed and amazing. We've never seen the show, so a lot of the visuals went over our head but the "smiley face guy" in the beginning of the house was CREEPY. One of these guys just loomed over me as we walked past him and came really close to my ear. Cool.

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The room with the black shiny PVC people was mega creepy too! It was a good house but I think it would have been amazing if we'd actually watched the show. The exit follows along the side of the queue for it and already it was pretty much full!!! I couldn't believe it. No way were we queuing in that so we elected to carry onto something else.

Once we got out I wanted to take some daytime pictures of Chances scare zone and low and behold the lovely lady was out herself. I asked if we could take a picture. She said, of course, come closer I don't bite...

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She is awesome... love Chance. :lovestruc I know she can't do it all and there is more than one Chance but really there is only one... just as there is really only one Jack ;). I think... this was the "real" Chance if you get my drift and she was awesome. How she keeps that voice up I'll never know.

If you want to read more about the amazing actors behind Jack and Chance I read this article from Orlando weekly. Here's the link...
http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orland...nd-the-makeup-at-edf-2016/Content?oid=2475830

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This scare actor was amazing too. Chance called her Princess!

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Next update with LOTS... and me LOTS of HHN pics... coming up soon
 
Day 4 - That's not a football

Next we wanted to head to the back of the park to do Tomb of the ancients and I'd heard good things about this house. I must admit I was looking forward to the non IP houses the most this year. Both Tomb of the Ancients and Ghost Town sounded like amazing ideas.

To get there we had to walk through Vamp 55. We took the opportunity to take some of daytime pictures.

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I heard this area originally was supposed to be a Purge area. I'm so glad they didn't go with that idea as this was a great scare zone. Where else would you get Vamps just chillin' on a parade float with a dead cheerleader on?

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The set pieces were the best in this scare zone.

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Somehow I don't think that's ice cream... errrr

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I also did a short video... don't worry I didn't have a costume change. This is actually a video from the following night but I don't want to cram all my videos onto one post. So here it is now...


We got to Tomb of the Ancients but it wasn't quite open yet but the team member said that Halloween was open and the exit to that was right next to the entrance to Tomb so do that 1st and then jump into Tomb. Good idea! Thanks nice team member.

Halloween was just as good the 2nd time round as the 1st in face I'd say it was even better. I got some good scares here as the actors were really into it. Once we'd finished it was just as the TM had said, Tomb was open and posting a 10 minute wait. It was a tiny bit longer than posted but it was well worth it! This house probably ended up being one of my favourites. Visually it was fantastic and the scares were great too. The guys on stilts got me so many times as the pathway folds back around so they let you see them once and then get you when you loop back on them. Ah! Great house!

We took a walk through Springfield and got some pictures of the lumberjacks... Lumberjacks with chainsaws... really? You couln't think of anything more original??? Still I give the actors a thumbs up! Their personality were really funny. I was being followed by one guy who said in a real hillbilly accent "Where ya goin?"

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Chance's house only had a 5 minute wait so we did this again. I elected to do it without the 3D glasses this time and I think I preferred it more this way. It was so quiet at the back of the park by this house we pretty much walked though alone so we got lots of attention from the Chance's. That stupid sad face guy got me AGAIN in exactly the same spot! OMG!

A quick picture of Harry Potter in the evening... so pretty

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With the light still OK we took some photos in Deadmans Wharf.

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And the spooky boat...

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I really want to take a walk around the warehouse where they put all this stuff when its not in use. It must be really cool!

More HHN posts soon.
 
Day 4 - I'll join your gang

I promised to give my thoughts on Deadman's Wharf area and here they are: This was a cool area, being by the water side really helps sell the theme. The guys with the diving gear with black lights inside the helmets were definitely the best. The one thought I had with this area is it was way better in the dark. During the day the fog and lighting didn’t really work. But once it was dark and the strobes came into effect… it was pretty cool!

Back at the front of the park again I wanted to take some pictures of the Survive or Die area before we lost all the light.

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During this walk though I noticed that they were actually playing the soundtrack music from Mad Max Fury Road, yes I listen to the soundtrack, what can I say, I love that movie.

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Taking pictures during HHN is so difficult! The actors are always moving and its dark so of course its hard to get the camera to focus.

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This guy was "recruiting" for his apocalypse gang.

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I'd join :D

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I wish I had a tree growing out of my car.

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Distant shot of the area.

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The mapping projections onto the building to make it look like it was crumbling was amazingly cool! I made sure to properly look at these buildings during the day and the way the projections transform them is just amazing. Wow

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another update coming now.
 
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Day 4 - Undead cowboys!

We saw the Ghost Town house had a 20 minute wait and as we’d not done this house yet we jumped in line. The queue actually ended up being only about 10-15 mins. This house was another hit in my eyes! The special affects in here, especially the air blasts, were so good. They made me jump a couple of times. The fact that it was “raining” in one scene was just amazing! And the mines, the mines at the end felt like you were really in a mine! The mirrors effect was great! Loved this house. Loved the costumes and everything. Big thumbs up!

We walked past American Horror Story…

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Ummmmmm…. No thanks!

We took some pictures of the front of the park.

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It was getting pretty busy!

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The people were pouring in the front of the park.

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We walked past Vamp 55’ again. she does not look happy!

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Their interactions with each other were really fun.

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Here is a video just after I'd take this picture.


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This is one of the very few pictures I got of the Lair of the Banshee.

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We were on our way to see Bill and Ted! What to think of this years show??? There were a few jokes that made me laugh. The Chewbacca laughing mum made me giggle and the Pokémon girl (I may have played Pokemon Go for a couple of weeks when it first came out… don’t judge me) But all the vs. jokes pretty much fell flat for me. Dancing was top notch as always and the very last Avatar joke actually made me burst out laughing, so they got me there! It was an entertaining way to spend 30 or so minutes but meh.

After Bill and Ted we rode Men in Black as it had a 10 minute wait. Martin told me to try the doors as we walked through the queue line. I did… but I won’t spoil the surprise for anyone who’s not done this…

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It was a fun ride as always. I’ve found out how to *almost overcome my sickness from the spinning. If I sit in the middle seat you get slightly less spin than the outside ones. I still don’t like the spinning but it’s just on my limit.

Next update coming now!
 
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Love the pics and the update Rachel........Dead Man's Wharf was better at night, we loved it but so short an area.......

Thunder Falls has always been an excellent choice for food.......:thumbsup2
 
Day 4 - smoke monster

After Men in Black all the houses had 40 minute queues + so we decided to just walk round the park enjoying the ambience and people watching. We walked through Lair of the Banshee one last time for the evening and I got the best scare of all the scare zone scares I’ve ever had.

We were about half way through and the fog had just blown out so it was really dense, I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. I wasn’t holding onto Martin but I knew he was to the left of me. Then suddenly the cat guy rushed right into my face. He literally came out of nowhere! How he knew where I was in the fog I’ll never know! I quite literally jumped into the air and screamed a scream of pure terror and startled-ness. Martin was in stitches… har har har. Well done cat man… well done!


And that was us done for the night. As you can see it was pretty darn crowded but night 2 with two more left to go and we’d done all the houses except Krampus! Pretty good going I think!

I'll leave you with some final pictures of Deadmans Wharf


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That was it. The end of the day and time for us to sleep!
 
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Day 5 - Its Friday

It was Friday! We did our usual routine and was out of the room with Supermarket breakfast in hand by about 8:30 and arrived to IOA around 8:50 ready for HULK!

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Not much to say, which I haven’t said already. Love this coaster.

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I have no idea why this train was empty. The train in front was full and the one behind... but for some reason this one was empty. Heh.

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Then we decided to ride Kong again as we’d only ridden it once so far this holiday. This time we took our time in the queue and got lots of pictures from inside.

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Just looking at these switchbacks makes me bored.

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I would not like to queue in here for a long time. The animatronic lady is fun and the theming is great but that’s a lot of back and forth.

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We didn’t see this thing last time we queued. I think we must have bypassed it. It was gross! Liked the movement of it tho.

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As fortune would have it we were sat on the other side of the truck this time so we got to watch the other screen. 2nd time round this ride was just as fun but still short and lots for screens.

Zig zagging we headed back over to Marvel Island to ride spiderman. Great ride! And then rode Dr. Doom.

Now this is a ride that is still firmly set in the 90’s. Would I want them to change it? Of course not! We were facing the park when we flew up so got some lovely views after I’d stopped screaming.

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Next update is now.
 
Day 5 - where are my keys?

We took some pictures of the Marvel Island.

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I took a picture of the Hob Goblin because <3

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A Team member offered to take our picture because I was struggling to get Wolverine and us in it. It didn’t really work out but thanks TM for offering.

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Another one of me pulling a stupid face by the Hulk. Errrr.

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The day was hotting up and the queues were getting longer so we decided to ride some water rides… ah… of course. :S

And this time I went on these rides… with… no…. PONCHO! *GASP!

We did the usual routine… Jurassic River Adventure. Stayed pretty dry just a light face sprinkling.

Then Ripsaw Falls, yup got pretty wet on this one. It’s the first ruddy drop! You splash down and the water splashes up to the concrete sides and then comes back around on top of you! What the flip!

I want to take some time to talk about this ride. It’s a fun ride, we both like it but I really needs some love. On our ride round a lot of the animatronics weren’t working and when they do work its so clonky! It’s just dated… I don’t want them to change it but if they would just update it (and maybe clean it) that would be really cool.

Ok next up, Popyes. Oh gosh. Well I think if I’d gone swimming in a river I’d be dryer. Here is a picture to prove it.

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I know it looks like I’ve done something unmentionable but being that wet is just uncomfortable. The clothes just stick to your body and… gah. Not a good feeling.

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I was quite literally ringing out my hair. I actually popped into the bathroom, ringed out my t-shirt and put it back on. That was a bit better because it stopped the clinging.

Well that was us done for the day. It was time to head back to the hotel for pool time! I took some pictures of the toon bit of the island.

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And here are some pictures from the previous day that I forgot about… lets do the time warp aga… no no no! NOT THAT AGAIN!

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I love taking pictures in this area, there are so many props to have fun with.

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Next update on its way!
 
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Day 5 - Red, Blue and Blegh

One of the Hulk

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And Toothsome.

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We decided to walk along the path back to the hotel rather than take the bus. I didn’t want to sit, wet, in that freezing, icy, air conditioned bus! The walk was actually really easy. It took us from gate to hotel room door about 25-30 minutes. That can be how long the bus takes if they have to load a wheelchair or scooter. I think if we ever stayed at the Royal Pacific we’d use this walking trial a lot, especially if it was peak season and the boats had long queues.

Back at the pool we had Chicken wings again from Hideaway and martin got some of this lovely cheese sauce in a pot… So ORANGE.

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We headed back into the park a bit earlier this time. We were back for about 3pm just as the Horror Make Up show was about to begin. And who was drumming up a bit of interest? Why it’s our old mate Beetlejuice again. He was really funny and waved at us all when the doors closed after we’d taken our seats.

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I have such a funny story to tell about this particular showing of the Horror Make Up show. The “presenter” was a lady for the first time I’ve ever seen and the “make up specialist” was a guy. OK… all good so far, their banter was OK. Not as funny as the guys we saw on the last show but then… If you’ve seen this show before you know that when they’re talking about Latex one of the gags is the Presenter says Playtex. Har har its funny but not the 4th time you’ve heard it… WELL. This show the guy goes “That’s not Playtex, this is Playtex” rips open his shirt and he’s wearing a padded zebra print bra underneath! OMG! My jaw dropped. The whole theatre erupted in laughter. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It was so unexpected I think I was in tears with laughter. That was new.

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After seeing a guy’s bra we had just enough time to run over to see the last showing of Terminator. Love this attraction. I mean its one of the oldest rides but for me it’s just what I love about late 80’s/early 90’s action movies. I hope they never get rid of this ride. I wanted to sit right at the back of the theatre and I actually prefer it back there. When the three screens drop you get all of it in your field of vision and you also get a great sense of depth when the T one million *stifled snigger points its pointy things in your face. Love you T2… never change.

The mummy had a 10 minute queue so we jumped on it. This was actually our 2nd ride through of the holiday but I can’t remember when we rode it last time… ops. Love this ride too although the breaks need a bit of adjustment, I mean you definitely know you’ve stopped don’t you.

It was about time to get into a holding area. We went for the Springfield area so we could do Texas Chainsaw again and hopefully Halloween and Tomb of the Ancients.

While waiting Martin purchased the biggest Do”nut Sunday in the world. I mean it was the same size as his head! I had to “help”. It tasted good but it was so sweet I only had a few spoonful’s and I was done.

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I was more interested in the adult beverages I could now drink as I’d got over my evil cold. I purchased a blinky glass because… I had to. I had the red drink, I can’t remember what the flavours were so I’ll just call it the red, blue and blegh.

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A picture with Duffman because of course! I was wearing my new HHN26 t-shirt and I was way too hot! Bit of a wardrobe malfunction on my part.

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Next update is coming up quick
 
Day 5 - blink, blink, blink

Halloween hadn’t quite opened yet so I got the blue drink to pass the time. I like the flavours of the drinks. I mean they were very sweet but when it’s in a HHN blinky glass… anything would taste good. Here's a video of Survive or Die while I drink my drink...


Soon they opened Halloween and we joined the queue. The best scare of the holiday happened during this walkthrough of the house! Walking through the house I was still blown away with the attention to detail and just the amazing-ness of it all. I’d got used to where the boo holes were so I was enjoying the visuals. The very end of the maze was still amazing and I could see the Myers behind the burning wall and I thought “that’s very very cool”. We turned to the right and I saw the curtains that signify the end of the maze and I was just thinking what a cool maze it was when BAM! From behind the curtains one final Myer burst out right into my face brandishing a knife. I was so not ready for it and he startled me so much I stepped backwards, tripped over my OWN foot and bumped into the set! Ops. I’m really sorry Universal! I didn’t actually fall onto the floor thank goodness but jeeeezzzz! That actor got me good! Best scare of the holiday.

We did Tomb of the Ancients again because it was right there with a 10 min queue. How could we not?!

Next up the last house we had to do. Krampus. I’m not sure what to think of this house. I don’t know if we walked though on a cast changeover but there seemed to be a lot of big rooms with not much going on. The “goblins” or whatever they were, just weren’t that scary and neither were the snowmen. I mean the visuals of the house were AMAZING. And the smell of gingerbread was a really nice touch. The sets were detailed but I just didn’t find the humour or the scares in this house very impactful. I wasn’t blown away but it at all. This house I would personally rank at the bottom. It’s a bit hypercritical isn’t it? I didn’t find Chances house very scary but I enjoyed the visuals. It’s the same with Krampus but I didn’t like it. Maybe it was because, as I said it felt a bit dead to me, big rooms, not much happening.

We tried to do it again, to give it another chance, on another HHN night but it always had a 30 minute queue and I didn’t want to queue in it for this house.

After this we had a walk through some scare zones. We bumped into Chance again (fancy seeing her here)

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and also one of her “friends”. Awesome.

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When it got dark we headed into Diagon Alley to take some pictures and get some gifts for friends. We also rode Escape from Gringotts again as it had a short queue.

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Fire breathing dragon!

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Please come home with me dragon. You'd make such a good pet. I'd look after you.

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We watched Bill and Ted again after Diagon Alley. The 2nd watch through was better than the first but my previous points still stand strong.

As it was a Friday night the queues were getting really long so we decided to call its quits and leave the park. When we got back to the hotel we had a lovely chat with a guy around the fire pit. We found out something rather funny. He told us that he lived in Florida for 10 years or so but originally was from New York and apparently there are lots of family's that move to Florida from New York. I had no idea! It was a nice chat with a nice guy but we were tired and soon it was time for bed.

The next day was Saturday and it was our rest day! Our HHN tickets weren't valid for Saturday so our plan was pool & Margaritaville for dinner!
 
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I'll be here waiting for more


Such a nice read !

I never replied! I'm sorry Mac. Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm really glad you're enjoying the report. I'm nearly down now... only 2 and 1/2 day's left :(

Love the pics and the update Rachel........Dead Man's Wharf was better at night, we loved it but so short an area.......

Thunder Falls has always been an excellent choice for food.......:thumbsup2

I can't believe I'd never eaten there before! Really good.
 
I'm still with you on this trip !


Your pictures are fantastic!

Watched all your videos and it made me ooh and aah
Can remember them clearly now for when I was there last month
 

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