robvia
<font color=red>DIS Veteran<br><font color=indigo>
- Joined
- May 7, 2001
TR: IOA/USF/SWF 10/28/01-10/29/01
Cast:
DH (37)
DD (10)
10/28/01 Arrived IOA from Ft. Lauderdale at 8am, driving by car. Went in and processed our AAA AP tickets. Front row ride in Hulk (10 minute wait) , back row (5 minute wait), then to Spiderman (walkon), which had a few glitches. The cars were stopping after the scene ended, so we ended up seeing a blank screen a few times. My daughter and I laughed it off and moved to doom drop (10 minutes), fun. Then to the Christmas stuff in Dr. Seuss land. Went on the slide, it was short, barely gets moving, and then you hit the bottom. Daughter played in the snow, but only for a few minutes. I dunno, if theyre gonna spend all that time to build a slide, then go all the way and build a big one. If you havent see the slide, then you cant understand what Im talking about. Theres just nothing to it. You get in this big raft thing, like they have over at USF. You go down a snow hill, but its short, a twist to the left, back to the right, and youre done. Im looking at this thing and Im thinking, My gosh, they have all the technology of a raft ride, but its so short, why? This thing should be 50 feet high, and go just like the water slide thing over at USF. It needs to be taller and longer. You know what I really want them to do? Tear out that defunct ride and all those shops along the edge of the park, and put something else in there. I scratch my head everytime I walk by it and see that station that has never been used. The rails over head that are not running anymore get rid of it. The Christmas trees in this area looked nice.
Posidens Fury was next (30 minutes), again, I dunno. Trying to scare us. I liked the old show better. I dont think there was any reason to change it. Most people go to see the water vortex. How much money did they spend to change it, plus all the down time? If anything, it scares the crap out of the little kids, not the adults. And then they bring the devil aspect into it. Im sure the Christian people are gonna notice this. The bad guy (Drakon) is red, and looks like the devil, not that I care, but Im sure others are gonna complain. The problem I have with this is that IOA is spending money to change good rides, or for Christmas rides that dont do anything, but yet, we have no news of a new roller coaster. I want another B&M roller coaster. Where is the B&M flyer? Oh, they cost too much, yeah, they cost too much because the money is being spent to change existing rides. Rant finished.
Watched the talking fountain, funny, daughter got a kick out of it.
Deuling Dragons (DD) was down for about an hour, got an express pass, rode Flying Unicorn, then we came back and it was back up. Great ride, I love DD (B&M rules).
Now were tired and our feet need a break, so we walk out to the garage and eat sandwiches from a cooler.
On the way out we make a reservation at Mythos at the dinner reservation stand just before you enter city walk.
12/28/01 USF Same day, we walk in and get a fast pass to ET, then see if passes are availble for MIB. No, theyve run out, and its only about 1pm. This is the problem with fast pass, they run out by the afternoon, and the line was 1 hour, and my daughter didnt want to ride seperately from me (single rider).
This brings back the same complaints I had from last summer. The fast passes for the big rides are gone by the afternoon. Went on Kong and waved goodbye (rumor). Saw the Wild West Stunt show, good, seems to be a hit if every show is sold out. Used our fast pass on ET. Now this was worth it, got on the ride in 10 minutes versus a 1-hour wait.
12/28/01 IOA Mythos. Got there at 6pm, showed our reservation slip, and we go right in to our table. Atmosphere of the restaurant is nice, we can see views of Hulk and Doom Drop running out the windows. As the managers are walking around, I ask for the 2nd chef and Randy comes out to say hi. Its very busy, so he cant stay long. My daughter and I share the Ribs, and the oven pizza of the day. Needless to say, its da bomb. The ribs have plantains shooting out of them as a presentation, with a special sauce, and they taste great. For desert, we have the oooooey goooey chocolate cake with banana., DA BOMB. This definitely finishes the meal. Ill attempt to explain it. A chocolate cake covered with more chocolate, vanilla ice cream, plantains shooting out from the middle and cinnamon powder on the corner of the plate. You take a piece of each, dab it in the cinnamon powder, and it all melts in your mouth.
Went to Deuling Dragons, rode it a couple times, queue looks nice at night, parts of it have real candles around the top of the room.
12/29/01 USF MIB Since my daughter and I didnt get a ride on MIB the previous day, we came back at 8am for this one ride. Entered the park and a few people were walking to MIB. My daughter and I jogged and quickly made it back there. Ride was a walkon, got two rides winning both times thanks to the tips of MIB999999. Daughter was very happy about this. That was it, left the park, noticing tons of people on the walkways arriving.
Final thoughts on IOA/USF, Express Pass will have the same problems it did last year. Tickets will run out by the early afternoon. There has to be a better way to move people thru the park faster. The early opening at 8am definitely helps, and the later closing is also nice, gives people a chance to see the park at night, which always looks better.
12/29/01 SWF Arrived at 9am and signed up for the Polar Bear tour, it was only $8 for two of us using our AP. Walked to JTA, got two walkon rides. Then over to Kraken, wait time was 20 minutes, front seat wait was 30 minutes. They were adding a 3rd train. This kinda irked me, they should have had all trains running from the start. I sent them an e-mail about this, because I had to drag my daughter on the train for a 2nd ride and she wasnt happy about it, saying the line would be too long. I didnt drive 215 miles to ride Kraken once. Ate lunch early, at chicken and biscuit, good. Fed the seals, theyre so funny the way they bark for the food. Did the sky tower ride, flashed our AP and got on for free. Saw the horses, took our picture with one. The professional photographers no longer do this, a worker will take a picture using your camera. Fed the dolphins, then went on our tour at 02:40pm. This is definitely worth going on. For the Polar Bear tour, you see the behind the scenes stuff of Wild Artic. You learn how the bears are fed, how they are cared for, and how they are kept active with toys. There are some holding tanks behind the exhibit, 4 seals were in them, and when the tour guide opened the next door, they all came out of the water looking for food. A row of filters, pumps, and air handlers are seen next. They dont put chlorine in the water, its ozone, which does a better job of killing bacteria. You learn how it all works and walk past the kitchen area. Then a bus takes you over to another building where penguins are kept. Let me tell you something, its freezing in this room, 45 degrees. Everyone walks in, a handler takes a penguin, sits down, and then everyone gets to pet it. The penguin fur is very soft, thats the best way to describe it. Other penguins are walking around the room and you are close enough to get some good close up pictures. The tour ends and you are led back into the park behind Shamu Stadium.
Daughter and I were tired, and by this time (4pm) the park was packed. There was a traffic jam on I-4 heading west near Disney because of all the merging lanes. Took half an hour to get to US-27. Arrive home 3 hours later, end of trip, well be back. Some of you may be saying, gee, they didnt see any shows. Well, we went 4 times last year, weve seen them all, and we did the tour instead this time.
Cast:
DH (37)
DD (10)
10/28/01 Arrived IOA from Ft. Lauderdale at 8am, driving by car. Went in and processed our AAA AP tickets. Front row ride in Hulk (10 minute wait) , back row (5 minute wait), then to Spiderman (walkon), which had a few glitches. The cars were stopping after the scene ended, so we ended up seeing a blank screen a few times. My daughter and I laughed it off and moved to doom drop (10 minutes), fun. Then to the Christmas stuff in Dr. Seuss land. Went on the slide, it was short, barely gets moving, and then you hit the bottom. Daughter played in the snow, but only for a few minutes. I dunno, if theyre gonna spend all that time to build a slide, then go all the way and build a big one. If you havent see the slide, then you cant understand what Im talking about. Theres just nothing to it. You get in this big raft thing, like they have over at USF. You go down a snow hill, but its short, a twist to the left, back to the right, and youre done. Im looking at this thing and Im thinking, My gosh, they have all the technology of a raft ride, but its so short, why? This thing should be 50 feet high, and go just like the water slide thing over at USF. It needs to be taller and longer. You know what I really want them to do? Tear out that defunct ride and all those shops along the edge of the park, and put something else in there. I scratch my head everytime I walk by it and see that station that has never been used. The rails over head that are not running anymore get rid of it. The Christmas trees in this area looked nice.
Posidens Fury was next (30 minutes), again, I dunno. Trying to scare us. I liked the old show better. I dont think there was any reason to change it. Most people go to see the water vortex. How much money did they spend to change it, plus all the down time? If anything, it scares the crap out of the little kids, not the adults. And then they bring the devil aspect into it. Im sure the Christian people are gonna notice this. The bad guy (Drakon) is red, and looks like the devil, not that I care, but Im sure others are gonna complain. The problem I have with this is that IOA is spending money to change good rides, or for Christmas rides that dont do anything, but yet, we have no news of a new roller coaster. I want another B&M roller coaster. Where is the B&M flyer? Oh, they cost too much, yeah, they cost too much because the money is being spent to change existing rides. Rant finished.
Watched the talking fountain, funny, daughter got a kick out of it.
Deuling Dragons (DD) was down for about an hour, got an express pass, rode Flying Unicorn, then we came back and it was back up. Great ride, I love DD (B&M rules).
Now were tired and our feet need a break, so we walk out to the garage and eat sandwiches from a cooler.
On the way out we make a reservation at Mythos at the dinner reservation stand just before you enter city walk.
12/28/01 USF Same day, we walk in and get a fast pass to ET, then see if passes are availble for MIB. No, theyve run out, and its only about 1pm. This is the problem with fast pass, they run out by the afternoon, and the line was 1 hour, and my daughter didnt want to ride seperately from me (single rider).
This brings back the same complaints I had from last summer. The fast passes for the big rides are gone by the afternoon. Went on Kong and waved goodbye (rumor). Saw the Wild West Stunt show, good, seems to be a hit if every show is sold out. Used our fast pass on ET. Now this was worth it, got on the ride in 10 minutes versus a 1-hour wait.
12/28/01 IOA Mythos. Got there at 6pm, showed our reservation slip, and we go right in to our table. Atmosphere of the restaurant is nice, we can see views of Hulk and Doom Drop running out the windows. As the managers are walking around, I ask for the 2nd chef and Randy comes out to say hi. Its very busy, so he cant stay long. My daughter and I share the Ribs, and the oven pizza of the day. Needless to say, its da bomb. The ribs have plantains shooting out of them as a presentation, with a special sauce, and they taste great. For desert, we have the oooooey goooey chocolate cake with banana., DA BOMB. This definitely finishes the meal. Ill attempt to explain it. A chocolate cake covered with more chocolate, vanilla ice cream, plantains shooting out from the middle and cinnamon powder on the corner of the plate. You take a piece of each, dab it in the cinnamon powder, and it all melts in your mouth.
Went to Deuling Dragons, rode it a couple times, queue looks nice at night, parts of it have real candles around the top of the room.
12/29/01 USF MIB Since my daughter and I didnt get a ride on MIB the previous day, we came back at 8am for this one ride. Entered the park and a few people were walking to MIB. My daughter and I jogged and quickly made it back there. Ride was a walkon, got two rides winning both times thanks to the tips of MIB999999. Daughter was very happy about this. That was it, left the park, noticing tons of people on the walkways arriving.
Final thoughts on IOA/USF, Express Pass will have the same problems it did last year. Tickets will run out by the early afternoon. There has to be a better way to move people thru the park faster. The early opening at 8am definitely helps, and the later closing is also nice, gives people a chance to see the park at night, which always looks better.
12/29/01 SWF Arrived at 9am and signed up for the Polar Bear tour, it was only $8 for two of us using our AP. Walked to JTA, got two walkon rides. Then over to Kraken, wait time was 20 minutes, front seat wait was 30 minutes. They were adding a 3rd train. This kinda irked me, they should have had all trains running from the start. I sent them an e-mail about this, because I had to drag my daughter on the train for a 2nd ride and she wasnt happy about it, saying the line would be too long. I didnt drive 215 miles to ride Kraken once. Ate lunch early, at chicken and biscuit, good. Fed the seals, theyre so funny the way they bark for the food. Did the sky tower ride, flashed our AP and got on for free. Saw the horses, took our picture with one. The professional photographers no longer do this, a worker will take a picture using your camera. Fed the dolphins, then went on our tour at 02:40pm. This is definitely worth going on. For the Polar Bear tour, you see the behind the scenes stuff of Wild Artic. You learn how the bears are fed, how they are cared for, and how they are kept active with toys. There are some holding tanks behind the exhibit, 4 seals were in them, and when the tour guide opened the next door, they all came out of the water looking for food. A row of filters, pumps, and air handlers are seen next. They dont put chlorine in the water, its ozone, which does a better job of killing bacteria. You learn how it all works and walk past the kitchen area. Then a bus takes you over to another building where penguins are kept. Let me tell you something, its freezing in this room, 45 degrees. Everyone walks in, a handler takes a penguin, sits down, and then everyone gets to pet it. The penguin fur is very soft, thats the best way to describe it. Other penguins are walking around the room and you are close enough to get some good close up pictures. The tour ends and you are led back into the park behind Shamu Stadium.
Daughter and I were tired, and by this time (4pm) the park was packed. There was a traffic jam on I-4 heading west near Disney because of all the merging lanes. Took half an hour to get to US-27. Arrive home 3 hours later, end of trip, well be back. Some of you may be saying, gee, they didnt see any shows. Well, we went 4 times last year, weve seen them all, and we did the tour instead this time.
The banna gooey cake is excellent! It's like heaven in your mouth! 
Well, at least I will get to UO next month. 
