Moretons Magical Memories May 2012 - Day 10 IOA & Logans

[LLKJDisney]

The Entourage
Me – Kerry, 34 yr old Disney nutcase, head driver and Narrator. 9th visit
Lee – 33 yr old Florida Lover, 10th Visit, Reserve driver and map man
Jacob – 3 turning 4 (on this trip) yr old going on 40 yr old! 3rd visit (lucky boy) loves collecting autographs
Lucas – 5 month old – smiley in the day – grumpy at night (just like his Daddy)
Dick – 59 yr old – Grandad and Jacob’s best mate – loves the Sun and some roller coasters
Sue 57 yr old – Grandma – Chief tea maker – loves Sprite no Ice.

The Plan
Arrive 7th May – 4 Nights at Bahama Bay Resort
11th May move to Sunset Lakes – Shamu Sanctuary Villa
24th May come home

DAY 10 – ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE

Unfortunately, I was up with Lucas from 2 to 4.30am. Apart from that it was a great nights sleep. Everyone else was up just after 6.30am. It was always going to be an early morning as we were off to Islands of Adventure, although the park was open till 8pm, we always find that if we get there early we can be done by early afternoon and there were storms forecast for later on in the afternoon. So after a breakfast of Bagels, toast and Chocolate Ready Brek for Jacob, we were ready to leave.

We left the Villa at 8.20am and arrived by 8.50am. We parked up in Jurassic Park 404 in the very last spot away from the escalators! (It’s a conspiracy). It’s always hard to tell which will be the busiest park at Universal but it did look like most people were heading to IOA.

When we got in the park we decided to take a gamble and not go straight to Harry Potter by way of thinking that by the time we got to Hogwarts the initial crowds would have gone.


We went straight towards Hulk and despite Lee’s goading, Dick was not going on. He went on during the last visit but he thought his life had ended and swore never again! So it was just Lee and I. It was a walk on and as good as ever. While we were on the Hulk, Dick took Jacob on Stormforce which was a little bit fast for him, (Dick, not Jacob!) when they come off they were both a little green looking!

Next up was Spiderman, we were looking forward to Spiderman especially as Jacob was now tall enough to ride, and this was one we had talked a lot about before coming out here. It was another walk on so, Lee waited with Lucas in the baby swap area while the rest of us went on. I was looking forward to seeing the improvements to the ride.

Grabbing our newly designed 3D glasses we headed to the front of the non-existent queue. Lets just say Jacob wasn’t keen, although he never cried while he was on the ride afterwards I asked him if he enjoyed it and he just burst into tears. I felt terrible but I promise you while he was on the ride he seemed to enjoy it (apart from squeezing my hand very tightly). I think it was all just a little too intense for him. There was no way he was going on again so Lee went on, on his own. In hindsight the enhanced graphics and sound effects have made it a little bit more intense and although he loves Spiderman, I think I over estimated how brave my 4yr old would be.

Exiting the ride we noticed that Spiderman had just arrived and I was very happy that Jacob seemed still as eager to go and meet him as I thought the ride may put him off. Even Lucas was happy to meet him


We moved onto Toon Lagoon and although we contemplated it for a while we wimped out of the water rides as it wasn’t quite hot enough to dry off. To be fair there were a lot of empty barges and logs going round today, (logs on the boats on Dudley Do Rights)

Next up was something I had been waiting to do since my 1st visit back in 1999, this is really sad I know but I had always wanted to do the pteranodon flyers! Having not had children that were big enough to go on until now, I was finally going to have a go on the Pteranodon Flyers! I dragged him to the queuing area and the ride was a walk on. To be fair it was a bit of an anti-climax (story of my life J) I thought there would be things to look at below the flyers but it all seemed a bit pointless really.

Saying that Jacob loved it and had 2 more goes dragging Grandad and his Dad on. Although there was no wait I can see how the queuing times for this ride can shoot up in no time at all, it is a very very slow loader. I have to say it was also quite fun to see how many adults were going up to queue only to be turned away again at the top!

Jacob was a couple of inches short for the river adventure so we carried on around the park. We noticed several information boards with exaggerated wait times on. For instance saying the P.Flyers was 45 mins when it was 10mins. This is obviously a ploy they use to encourage people to buy their express passes.

I love this photo of Lucas! pondering that thought!

We were now into Harry Potter territory and the area was much busier than the rest of the park (as expected). I like IOA and love the Harry Potter area and think it has greatly enhanced the park, however I do feel as though the atmosphere in the Harry Potter area is different to the rest of the park. There seems to be a lot of stress and hustle and bustle in the area. I think this is mainly due to the smallness of the area but people do seem to forget their manners in a rush to see the attractions. Anyway that’s my little gripe about Harry Potter land but as I said I think it’s brilliantly themed and very well done. The attention to detail is amazing and so spot on to the films.


Lee tried to take Jacob on the Hippogriff but they got near the front and Jacob decided he didn’t fancy it, as you can imagine Lee was over the moon with having wasted 25mins in the queue! The wait time for Forbidden Journey was 30mins so we went for it. Sue was not going on although she did think about it but we said it might be a little intense for her. Those of you that may have read my previous trip report may remember that Sue had a brain tumour just over a year ago and although she is in full recovery, she still needs to take it easy. We all walked through the queuing area, which is an attraction in itself and you notice different things every time you go down it, especially once inside Hogwarts.

When we got to the ride Sue waited with the boys in the baby swap area while the rest of us went on. Last time it made Lee feel quite queasy when he got off. This time it made us all feel queasy! It is an excellent ride with great affects but I just felt abit squiffy when I got off. I really wanted to keep my eyes open all the way round, but once I saw them spiders I just couldn’t bear to look anymore. I am so scared of spiders!

We then took a bit of time to look round the area as in 2010 it was far too busy to look at anything. I like Harry Potter but I am by no means a fanatic and I do feel as though you have to be a proper fan to get the most from this area. The detail is superb and cannot be faulted but unfortunately a lot of it is wasted on us. No one was really up for the Dragon Challenge as every one still felt a bit weird after FJ.

Jacob then had a mini melt down and decided he didn’t want to do anything else and no matter what anyone said he wasn’t having any of it. Unfortunately when tiredness hits our lovely 4 year old it results in a meltdown. Eventually he calmed down and we decided now would be a good time for an ice cream.

See no more tears!

So after grabbing a soft serve we all sat down to a well-needed break and ate them, we took a pew on the wall just by the ice cream stand. When we got up I noticed a brown stain on Lee’s bum, now I know what you are thinking but I know there is no way Lee would get rid of his ice cream that quickly, he loves it too much. After further inspection it seems that Lee had sat in bird pooh!

The rest of us found this hilarious and although I wanted to leave him wandering around with this horrible stain on his bottom all day I had to tell him, and a clean up ensued.

The clouds had now disappeared and the sun was beating down. We had made our way into Seuss Landing. Jacob loves this area.

I think part of Jacobs’s earlier meltdown was that there wasn’t that much really for him to do up until this point. He managed to get on all the rides here so he was very happy, amazing how his mood can change so quickly.

First up was the trolley ride, which we waited 15mins for, Lee stayed off with Lucas as he had fallen asleep. The carousel was next up with no wait. Then came Jacob’s favourite one fish two fish, he loves to go on this with his Grandad and funnily enough Grandad always comes off much wetter than him, it seems to be a tradition that they ride this one together.


We finished the area with Lee taking Jacob on Cat in the Hat, which again had no wait. By the time we had finished this it was 1pm and we had been around the whole park, we did consider going back to do the water rides but that idea was quickly replaced with at trip to the premium outlets at the top of I-Drive.


Before we left IOA, Grandma bought Jacob a stretchy Spiderman that he had wanted earlier for his birthday. We also got Lucas a little Spiderman, which he loved. By the time we left the parks the wait times had increased a lot. FJ = 40mins, Spiderman = 35mins, P.Flyers = 45mins, Waterides both 45mins. So my advice is get to IOA as early as possible because although it is not a massive park the queues do build up.

We decided to grab a hot dog at City Walk although I think Lee thought it was a cocktail sausage as it was gone in 2 bites! Jacob played in the fountains and loved it


we struggled to get him out of them especially when we told him we were off shopping. We had originally talked about playing mini golf at the new complex at City Walk but it was just too hot at this point in the day to be able to enjoy it. Once again something else to come back for.

First up was Aeropostle and I found this to have a much better selection than the one at Altamonte (typical). I think everyone bought something in here, I know I did. We browsed some other shops before going into Skechers where me and Dick both found some trainers we liked and it was buy one get one half price so we saved nearly $30. I then looked in the kids shops and purchased a few bits and bobs for the boys. Jacob had a few goes on the coin-operated rides outside the shops and before heading back to the car he made a wish in one of the fountains. I think he wished he could stay in Florida forever but don’t we all do that!

We decided to go straight out for dinner rather than go back to the Villa. After a group discussion, Logans Roadhouse on the 192 was the choice. We arrived there just before 5pm and it was fairly full and had a very similar theme to Texas Roadhouse. Our server was very attentive and welcoming. None of us were particularly keen on the menu but we made our choices eventually.
Lee had the mozzarella sticks and the steak and chicken
Dick went for the Ribs and steak
Jacob had a corn dog but didn’t like it!
Sue had – well if you had read other days you know what Sue had! Steak and Jacket Potato and a Sprite – no ice!
I had the appetizer sampler of Mozzarella sticks, loaded skins and mushrooms.

I love this photo of Jacob with his grandad, they really are like best mates

To be honest the food was the worst we had eaten since we arrived, although Lee said his was nice but he would say that about most food he eats. The bill was $72 + tip and we won’t be rushing back there, as the quality of food really let the place down, although I cannot fault the gentleman that served us, his name of which I can’t remember. sorry no food photos again tonight

For dessert we decided to pop into Dunkin Donuts next door and grab half a dozen donuts to have with a cup of tea when we got home, it really did feel like home now. A donut wasn’t enough for Lee so he brought a tub of ice cream for himself, which was $5, but it was the size of a bucket. I enquired how much there birthday cakes were as they did some very good themed ones, for Jacobs birthday, but decided against it in the end, as the ordering process was getting just a little bit complicated with the young unenthused server behind the counter.

By the time we got back to the Villa at 6.30pm it was still baking hot, so there was only one thing to do, hit the pool.

Everyone except Grandma went in. We had great fun it was a lovely evening and the views across the lake were beautiful, I remember seeing how happy my family were and thinking this is the life. Lee and I even managed a dip in the hot tub.

Bobby paid us a visit, which was good, as we had not seen him much in the last few days.
Grandma and Lucas had a chat and a giggle beside the pool

We were still in the pool at 8pm and the temperature gauge was still showing 80 degrees.

We put the boys to bed shortly after and then enjoyed our donuts and ice cream with a nice cup of tea made by Sue. There was not much on TV so we called it a day at 10pm.

It had been a lovely day with a bit of everything. The meal was a bit of a let down but you can’t have everything.

TOMORROW REST DAY

[orlandosgr8]

Sounds like a really wonderful day and lovely photos too, pity about your meal though.

[hermione25]

I know exactly what you mean about the car park conspiracy but DH tells me that the further away we park, the more donuts we can scoff!

[disney owl]

lovely photos, thanks for sharing them

[mickeysgirls]

Hi Lovely!

What a gorgeous day [evening meal aside ] I did have a laugh at Lee's bird pooh bum! I can imagine how easy it would have been to leave it there!

Lovely pics of the boys, they really are going to be a pair of heartbreakers

Tracey xx

[gingermoonman]

Great report and day (apart from meal) some great pics love the ones chilling in the pool and in hot tub (thats the life! )

[Guest]

Lovely photos, the hot tub looks lush.

[Guest]

Sounds like a really wonderful day and lovely photos too