DAY 4
SAT 14th OCT 2000
Tam
and I wake about 5:30. The jet lag has not worn off fully yet.
The girls snooze until 6:30 and then get up. A quick breakfast in
the room and we are on the way to Universal by 7:30 to use up the
last day of a multi pass we have left over from January.
With perfect timing we are at the gates for 8:00 opening and head
for Men in Black Alien Attack. We come off the ride and head
straight round to ride again, so you can tell how much we enjoy
it. I am once again top dog at shooting aliens and easily trounce
the wimpy women with my manly score of 330,000.
They are preparing the park for one of the Halloween Fright
Nights and the mascot seems to be a rather scary clown similar to
Pennywise from It but called Jack. The catch phrase being 'If
you're not afraid of the dark, you don't know Jack'. Georgia
finds him particularly scary but fascinating at the same time. We
tease her for the rest of the day about this. She will probably
develop deep psychological problems and grow up to be a mass
murderer of clowns.
Over to do battle with King Kong where our guide is a complete
nutter. Tam and I are laughing for the whole ride as he really
hams it up with an over the top performance.
Next is ET which is always fun, especially for the children. I'm
not sure if I've ever heard him say goodbye using our proper
names. This time he mutters something about Klammy and Ingra.
A lot of the rides and shows have special Halloween versions
prepared for tonight such as Nightmare Creatures II and Bill and
Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure. As we pass the Animal Actors
Stage I say that they ought to have a naughty version where the
animals bite people and poo everywhere (snigger!). Tammy tells me
not to be so childish, so I sulk for the next hour, head bowed,
kicking at stones.
Twister is very clever. A little too short maybe but Georgia
enjoys the flying cow.
The girls now go to the Kiddies area with Tam while I go to see
Terminator 3D. This is the first time that I have seen it with
the motorbike working properly which is a big plus.
I join the rest of the tribe in the Curious George play area. The
whole reason for this part of the park seems to be to get
children as wet as possible, which they all love of course. At
regular intervals a huge trough of water empties from a great
height. Never mind wet, I'm surprised no one drowns.
After this we leave for Islands of Adventure where we have a
quick ride on the Cat in the Hat before lunch in the Enchanted
Oak Tree Tavern. Large amounts of greasy American style food are
consumed including ribs, chicken, corn and fries (6/10) but this
does not stop Tammy and the girls from venturing forth in search
of sweets while I sit and write up my trip report. They return
with bags full of jelly beans and sour laces. The girls finish
all theirs but Tam has got quite a few left. I reckon she should
keep some for later to be pulled out at an appropriate moment to
head off a child rebellion, only to be told 'They're my sweeties
and you can't MAKE me share!'
Oh, you think so do you young woman? Well, Mr Hand will be paying
a short sharp trip to Bottieland some time in the very near
future I do believe. Hang on though, she's 36. Oh well....
We watch Poseidon's Fury using the IOA version of Fastpass for
the first time and it works wonderfully well as we stroll
casually passed a long line of suckers ..... er .... other
customers. I'm sure that this show has a different ending from
when we saw it in January and is much better for it.
Georgia is using the earplugs as last trip for anything loud and
they work a treat. If you have a child that is a little afraid of
loud noises then give this a try.
Back through the Lost Continent, which I still think is the
prettiest of all the lands, and on to the Unicorn themed
children's coaster. Georgia loves this and wants to go again, she
also derides Tammy who doesn't like anything that goes higher
than 5 ft off the ground.
It's a fairly run of the mill ride that is supposed to represent
a trip on a Unicorn through an enchanted forest. A ride through a
few less than magical twigs more like. It could have been much
better, a ride through a forest like the walk through area of ET
would be excellent.
Popeye's Bilge Rat Barges is next and we somehow avoid a massive
soaking. Afterwards the girls play on Me Ship, The Olive while
Tam and I split a beer (I'm driving) and watch the people getting
soaked on the ride. Why is it so funny to watch another human
beings getting wet? The most fun are the ladies who are dressed
nicely with immaculate makeup on. Evil aren't we?
Just a minute, I should be ashamed to be British! Here I am, a
long way into the afternoon and not once have I mentioned the
weather. Well, it's sunny with a few patchy clouds, mid 80's and
a light breeze. Wonderful!
We go to Spiderman next where the line is 30 minutes. there are
definitely more people in the park than when we were last here in
January. Most everything was a walk on then.
This is Georgia's first time on Spidey and although she looks a
little apprehensive when I glance at her during the ride, she
say's she enjoys it. For the rest of us it is the highlight of
the day again.
We decide that we have been on everything that we want to for the
day and leave the park around 5:00. The traffic on I4 is heavy
and we don't arrive back at the Boardwalk until 5:45. The journey
back is not helped by the fact that Tam decides she has had
enough of the rock station on the radio and fiddles around trying
to find something quieter.
Back at the Boardwalk we use the valet parking facilities again
and trot off to our room. We are very lucky with our room
location as it is about 50 yards from the lobby and on the same
floor. Directly opposite our door are the stairs which lead to
the main pool. The girls are looking forward to a swim, so off we
go.
The main pool is quite crowded and noisy so we plump for the
quiet pool, which lives up to its name as there can't be more
than half a dozen people there. The girls hire rubber rings ($2
per hour for DVC members) and happily wallow around while Tammy
and I relax in the last of the early evening sunshine, with a
beer of course. a very pleasant way to relax after a day at a
theme park.
A quick word about Universal. We have enjoyed all our trips here
and today has been no exception, but this will probably be our
last visit for a little while as we have ridden everything we
want to several times. it is not the same as Disney for me in
that the rides themselves are the only reason for being there.
Once you have done these the rest holds little long term appeal.
The Disney parks give me much more in terms of an all round
experience. The shows, the parades, the music, the lights, the
food, the people. Substance over glitz. Now if they could just
move Spiderman to MGM Studios....
After a shower and a beer we take to the Boardwalk to perambulate
and enjoy the atmosphere. Hunger is calling us again so we have a
pizza from the take away window at Spoodles. It takes about 20
minutes but is very nice, hot & fresh.
Georgia is now getting tired so we walk back along the Boardwalk
towards Atlantic Dance where a disco has been set up. I want to
stay and impress the lovleeee laydees with my sexy dancing but
I'm outvoted. Just as well, the sniggering and finger pointing
often puts me off my stroke.
Back at the room the girls are swiftly to sleep at 10:00 and I
spend a happy hour on the balcony watching the comings and gongs
at the Boardwalk entrance. Wow, there are some strange people
around. Sometimes I think I am the only sane ..... pass the
kipper Mildred the ferret needs washing ..... person here.
Bed at 11:00 a happy bunny.