Welcome, Foolish Muggles! IoA/US/MK/SW July 2011* Top Ten "Things" *

[schumigirl]

What a lovely day, it does look so good to be there so early at WW.......we did mean to get up one day.......but never managed it

Loved your pics and your trippie

 

[AnjieNet]

Why does this sign make me thing the shop is for men only?

This had me rolling! And yes, I can see why you got that impression!!

Wonderful pictures! I too hate to see your trip coming to an end.

 

[natebenma]

I can't believe it's the "last day" of your TR! I'm glad you have more updates coming because I have really enjoyed reading along and seeing all your pictures!!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you have enjoyed the report.

What a lovely day, it does look so good to be there so early at WW.......we did mean to get up one day.......but never managed it

Loved your pics and your trippie

We are typically early risers, so we had no problem getting to WW for the early opening. And it was so nice being there with relatively lower crowds.

Thanks for you kind comments about my TR!

This had me rolling! And yes, I can see why you got that impression!!

Wonderful pictures! I too hate to see your trip coming to an end.

I'm glad I could give you a laugh. Thanks for sticking with me during my trip review. There's always some sadness to be coming to the end of a vacation, especially when there is not another one on the horizon.

 

[natebenma]

Two opted for adrenaline. Two went for wet.

We split up again, this time carefully making sure everyone had the right tickets and room keys!

Mark and Nate ended their time at Marvel Superhero Island with Spiderman and a couple more rides on Hulk.

Ben and I took a ride on Jurassic Park River Adventure and one more turn on Ripsaw Falls.

I have already used all of my Jurassic Park River Adventure pictures earlier in my report. After our ride, Ben asked if we could go into the standby line. But he didn’t want to ride. He wanted to look at the miniature mock-up of Isla Nublar. Ben loves these little models:

The ride attendant who saw us taking the pictures asked if we wanted a picture of us together:

There was time for a little splashing here:

Then we rode on Ripsaw Falls again.

My camera was stowed for most of the ride, but of course it had to come out for the final drop!

As we were leaving, I asked someone to take our picture. I love this one!

A couple more pictures in Toon Lagoon:

As we were headed out of the park, we made a stop in the large shop near the entrance/exit. We looked at the wands and a few other things, but I was able to convince Ben that we didn’t need to buy anything.

One last look at the closed Lone Palm Airport Bar- I guess it is not “Five O’Clock Somewhere” We never did make it there.

I don’t have many pictures of people dressed for the Wizarding World, but here is one:

A boat to Portofino was just pulling out as we arrived at the City Walk dock (10:06), but we got on the next one (10:10). An exchange of texts revealed that Mark and Nate were on the boat ahead of us.

We met up again in the concierge lounge for breakfast. When we finished, we returned to our room, checked out at the desk and left our bags with Bell Services.

Next Up: Horror at the Studios! ( or not)

 

[AnjieNet]

I applaud your willingness to get soaking wet with your son (again!) and have your picture taken!

 

[natebenma]

I applaud your willingness to get soaking wet with your son (again!) and have your picture taken!

I don't mind getting wet. Especially on July days. My husband is not a big fan though. Requires a lot of advance planning when he is going to do the water rides. I also don't really care too much how I look in pictures, but I'm grateful that the one I posted isn't too revealing considering I am in a white t-shirt!

I'm guessing I changed when we went back to our room and were getting our suitcases ready for checkout.

 

[heatherenae71]

What a fabulous trip you had!!! I have thoroughly enjoyed following your posts and all these wonderful pics!!!!! I can't wait to get back to Universal next month

 

[natebenma]

What a fabulous trip you had!!! I have thoroughly enjoyed following your posts and all these wonderful pics!!!!! I can't wait to get back to Universal next month

Thank you so much! A couple more posts to go.

I can only imagine how exciting you are getting for your trip! What a great time of year to visit.

 

[natebenma]

It was time to make our final visit to a park. Since it was around 11 am, and very hot, we got in line for the boat. It filled pretty quickly and there was no room for us, so we decided to walk instead. I’m not sure it was the right choice. We were pretty hot and uncomfortable by the time we arrived at the Studios.

The boys wanted to go to the Simpsons’ attraction and Men in Black. I wanted to see the Hollywood Horror Makeup show at 12:30. The reviews I had heard about this show said that this hilarious show is a must-do.

Unfortunately, shows are pretty low on the priority list for everyone else in my family.

We hoofed it pretty quickly through Hollywood to the Simpsons.

We did not have a very long wait for the ride. I think it was around noon when we headed towards MIB, and I knew that riding this would cut it very close for being able to see the show.

We formulated a plan. We would ride Men in Black, then Ben and I would go to the show while Mark and Nate did their own thing, which consisted of riding Men in Black again and a couple more rides on Mummy. We would meet in front of Macy’s in NYC.

After riding Men in Black, I looked at my watch. It was 12:17- Ben and I rushed to our goal- past the Simpsons ride, past the Kwik-E-Mart towards the theater, past the outskirts of Woody Woodpecker’s Kid Zone

And between us and the theater was this:

We had to wait for the parade to pass us before we could dash to the lobby, where we found a couple of Team Members sweeping the floor. The doors to the theatre were closed and we couldn’t get in. Missed it by that much!

I was, and am disappointed that I didn’t see the show. Especially since getting back and reading a several reviews raving about how good it is!

Our backup plan was to ride ET, which we did.

We encountered the Delorean and train from the Back to the Future movie series on our way to meet the other guys.

After reuniting, Nate and I took a final ride on the Mummy.

Nate considered riding Rip Ride Rocket, but this attraction does not have an Express Line. Wait time was listed at 40 minutes.

We decided we were

So we made the journey back to the Portofino for some lunch and to wait for our ride to the airport.


Next up: A Not-So-Magical-Express to the Airport

 

[Seeker615]

Oh bummer on the Make Up show. That was one of my favorite things at Universal. we actually saw it twice and I kind of wanted to see it again but ran out of time.

Make it a must do next time you go! The kids will love it too.

 

[natebenma]

Oh bummer on the Make Up show. That was one of my favorite things at Universal. we actually saw it twice and I kind of wanted to see it again but ran out of time.

Make it a must do next time you go! The kids will love it too.

Missing the show was probably my biggest disappointment. That and not going on Cat in the Hat.

 

[natebenma]

When we arrived at the Portofino dock, we proceeded directly to Sal’s Deli for lunch.

Fried Mozzarella

Garlic Bread Sticks

Toscana- Turkey, pepper cheese, pesto mayo with Caesar side salad

Michelangelo- Meatball sub with marinara, Provolone and Parmesan

Oreo Cheesecake

Brownie Sundae

From Here:

It was close to 3 PM when we finished our lunch. Our driver was scheduled to arrive at 3:15. When we were arranging the pickup time for our 6 PM flight, he recommended 3:15, and said the absolute latest he would be comfortable with was 3:30 on a Friday afternoon, especially with the possibility of an afternoon thunderstorm.

We were very pleased with this driver on our trip from the airport to the Portofino and to/from the Magic Kingdom. I told Mark I wouldn’t be surprised if he was early, so I went out to the resort entrance to check. Nope.

Here are the boys waiting in the lobby.

3:15 came and went. No car.

At 3:20, I called. The driver told me he was stuck in traffic.

“How much longer?”

“10 minutes”

He gave assurances that we would be fine, there would be no problem getting to airport in plenty of time for check in.

I relayed this news to Mark. He was not happy. Travel days are stressful enough when everything is working perfectly. This did not instill confidence in us. Obviously, if our pick up time was 3:15, the driver must have known that he was going to be late by 3 PM.

3:30. No car. No call.

I placed another call, demanding to know where he was.

“I’m at the light at the off-ramp”

“If you are not here in 5 minutes, we are taking a cab”

“Don’t do that! You will be fine.”

3:35. No car. No call.

We headed out to the portico to talk to a valet about calling a cab.

I placed one more call telling him we were hailing a cab. He said that he was right there, but if we took a cab he would meet us at the airport and pay for the taxi.

At that moment, our driver pulled up.

He tried to make excuses. We replied “Just get us there”.

He continued to try to explain what had happened. “Traffic was bad. Life happens”

At this point, we lost it. “You were the one who told us 3:30 was the latest we should leave” “You should have called us as soon as you knew you would be late”

He did not understand the source of our frustration. He once again tried to defend his actions, but I told him it would be a good idea just to stop talking and get us to the airport.

To his credit, he did. It was a very quiet, uncomfortable ride.

Then, 15 minutes after we got into the van, it started raining. Hard! Lightning and thunder. Driving rain that made it difficult to drive. Or see the road. But at this point, there was no way the driver dared stop or slow down.

I think we arrived at the airport a little after 4 PM.

As it turned out, we did indeed arrive in plenty of time to check in for our flight.

But our stress level was definitely in the red zone.

Could our return home get any worse??? (Yes, it could)

Next up: I wish we could use Floo Powder to get home

 

[AnjieNet]

Sorry to see you missed the Horror Make-up Show! I, too, have read that it's a must do. I guess you have your reason you must go back!

Loved seeing the Delorean. Served as a reminder that I must have DD watch the Back to the Future movies. Such a hoot!

 

[AnjieNet]

I am one of those people that hate to be late. If we are set to leave at 3:15; we leave at 3:15. SO frustrating when things don't go as planned when you have to depend on someone else for transportation, especially when you have a plane to catch. I would have been totally ticked as well!

 

[natebenma]

Sorry to see you missed the Horror Make-up Show! I, too, have read that it's a must do. I guess you have your reason you must go back!

Loved seeing the Delorean. Served as a reminder that I must have DD watch the Back to the Future movies. Such a hoot!

I can't believe I didn't see it until the last day! I really want to watch Back to the Future with the boys, but they have no interest in seeing it.

A few weeks ago, we caught Men in Black on tv. Haven't seen that one in ages. It cracked me up!!!

My teen is very impressed with Will Smith, who is indeed awesome, but I just had to burst his bubble by showing him the title song from Fresh Prince of Bel Aire from youtube.

 

[natebenma]

I am one of those people that hate to be late. If we are set to leave at 3:15; we leave at 3:15. SO frustrating when things don't go as planned when you have to depend on someone else for transportation, especially when you have a plane to catch. I would have been totally ticked as well!

It was not a pretty scene!

I emailed the driver the next morning. I told him we did indeed make it to the airport in plenty of time, but I explained that was not really the point. We suffered a lot of unnecessary stress that could have been eliminated if he would have just let us know in advance that he was delayed, and given us accurate information about when he would arrive.

He apologized and a few days later the owner of the company emailed me and offered my family free transport the next time we are in Orlando.

 

[natebenma]

We welcomed two kittens to our family today! It has been over 10 years since we have owned a cat. Raj passed away when Nate was 2 and I was pregnant with Ben.

Ben came home from school a couple of weeks ago showing pictures of two kittens his science teacher was fostering.

We decided we would adopt Oreo, the female on the right.

Well, over the past week we were encouraged to think about adopting them both and I'm glad we did. They have been playing together all day. I don't think I have the energy to keep up with each of them individually!!!

The other one is the cat formerly known as Ramona who turned out to be a Ramone. Nate, my teenager, has renamed him Monster Energy Cat.

 

[jmamom]

They are too cute!!! Everyone I know that has two kittties says that's the way to go, and how could you separate them? Best of luck on the new additions to the family!

 

[Kez250]

oh too cute, i miss having cats in the house - we're down to one and she completely refuses to come in the house - even when there's a foot of snow outside

 

[xApril]

Aww, they're so adorable! I'm such a cat lover.