After lunch we headed back over to Adventure Isle. We went the long way around, grabbing a fast pass for tron again as we were within our time limit for the rapids.
The fastpass for the rapids worked out well as the sky was clearing a little and the rain had stopped
Now I’m not a fan of water rides, unless it’s boiling hot and I know I’ll dry, otherwise the idea of being soggy for the rest of the day is not something I particularly enjoy.
As we queued I started to get a little nervous, as everyone was putting poncho’s on… it didn’t look THAT bad though….
As it turned out I only got a little damp. We ended up in a raft with a large group and only one member got particularly wet with an ill timed wave. We all had a good laugh, laughing at another’s misfortune breaks language barriers apparently
Infact looking at other riders, those that were even a little bit damp were in the minority, bilge rat barges this was not!
Now I really fancied the idea of the climbing wall, it looked a bit tame but I was intrigued.
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The wait was 20 minutes so we joined the queue. Again we had to pop everything in lockers and then join the queue. This really was a military operation and we were in awe of the organisation of it.
First you get given a harness, colour coded based on your size. Then at the next station you stand in front of a CM, legs akimbo whilst they reach around and between your legs and clip everything in (no, not my idea of dream job either!). Finally the next station attached the top guide rope and you’re off! Incredible!
Now the description of this attraction is:
“Traverse challenging rope courses, hike scenic trails and dig for ancient relics as you explore Adventure Isle.”
A few people in front of us were in heels (I was in wedged boots) so I didn’t think I had anything too challenging to worry about, I was focusing on the “scenic” part of the description…
BIG MISTAKE
Yes, it is rather scenic at first. At each stage you have a choice of different “levels” of crossing, usually three, from easy; a normal bridge, to hard; widely spaced, wobbly rope bridge.
This was fine, we went with the hard one every time without much issue.
Then we got to the last bit… HOLY HELL!
Adam was a little bit behind me so I looked back so I could see his face when he saw what I’d clocked… And there it was, the same look of terror I was feeling
In the concept art it looks like this…
A big waterfall ran down the middle of a large drop, around the outside on both sides was a “ledge”. I quote mark that because on the concept art they look quite wide. In reality they were tiny… and wet.
I didn’t take a photo, I was too busy hanging on for my life, but I found a partial one online
I took a moment to compose myself before setting off. Holding onto the smooth rock face with my fingernails as best I could.
Halfway around the woman in front of me froze, and started shouting at her other half who was a little way in front. I’m not sure what she was saying but she was panicking and wobbling in her heels. Problem was, I was now stuck on a really narrow bit, trying to hold on. Adam was on the right side and that look a little wider, I’d obviously gone the “hard” way
Now I knew I was attached and safe. I could have swung across if I had wanted to, but at the time it was pretty terrifying, Go Ape has NOTHING on this.
If you want to see it, watch this video from 4 minutes in (they went the same way as Adam, mine wasn’t this wide! )
The woman’s other half came back and literally dragged her across and we both finally made it to the other side. Both a little wobbly on our feet. This was going down as the SCARIEST attraction I’ve ever been on… EVER! there was one final bridge to cross…. we took the easy one :P
Still amazing fun though and a highlight so don’t be put off :P
As we were a little wobbly, we decided to go and see what voyage to the crystal grotto was like. It wasn’t like anything we’d been on before, well maybe the storybook ride at DLP that’s often closed. I can see what small children get out of it though.
Finally we reached the entrance to the grotto… Hopefully this was gonna be good!
….ermm
No really that’s it, you can’t say the description wasn’t accurate though, it was a crystal in a grotto
Give me the dragon under DLP over this any day though, again what a waste!
Finally we pulled up at the docks on the other side of the castle, a little underwhelmed
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