The Florida, Fringes and Other F Words Tour Day Three

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Previously on this tour...

Pre Trip Ramblings
Introduction
Day One
Day TWo

Day Three – Tuesday 25th August

I'm up at 6.30 because we need to pack. This two weeks has certainly gone quickly!

Oh no, wait, we're only off to the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal for a night. As we pack I secretly hope that the parks will be absolutely rammed, so that my front of the line privileges will maximise the chances to use the smug smile I've been practising.

I put the coffee on, but it scalds a bit, and doesn't really cover the body as I'd like, so instead I choose some clothes. This early in the holiday I'm still on the “T shirts that just fit, but will have no chance of doing so by week two” phase. I choose a suitable set of clothes, pack some more for the next day or so, then have a quick bagel breakfast. I am astounded at how much stuff it appears we need for one night away. By some miracle we are all in the car and pulling off the drive by 8.20am.

We are back at the villa at 8.22 am as I had forgotten my Universal park tickets.

As we leave Sunset Lakes the school bus is there, and the kids use their smug smiles as they wave all the local kids off to school. We sit and wait for it to pull away as it seems if you try to do anything whilst the school bus is parked up a SWAT team tumble from the boot and take you out.

So we make it onto the 192, and then the I4 heading what is in effect North, but is signposted East. Go figure. We are soon pulling off at what I think was junction 74a, and into the gates of the RPH.

We valet, (who ever said I was tight), and we are soon checked into rooms opposite each other. We had 1444.

Emily goes into Mum & Dad's room as the prospect of the girls sharing a bed would have the UN in tears.

Some unpacking happens, and Rebecca is really helpful.



I am thankful that we paid for the extra special view.





I know how coveted the “foliage” view rooms are. Lucky us.

After a three hour speech about how anybody found to even looking at the minibar will be dealt with in the strongest possible terms, we are allowed to leave and head for the parks. We wander down to the water taxi, past the Tchoup Chop (however you spell it) place,



and are soon at the water taxi. It is waiting just for us it seems so we get on and off we go. It was a suprisingly long flight to the parks!











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We are dropped off opposite the Hard Rock Cafe.



and get our first glance of the new Rip Ride Rockit ride.







Louise takes one of those photos that turn out great as everyone is staring directly into the blistering sun.



Mum & Dad are totally disorientated by the strange orange glowly thing in the sky.



(I was not in charge of the camera at this time).

We wander onto here...



and it is hot today. Just looking at these photos makes me hot. Well, more hot than am I naturally!



Louise demonstrates her complete unfamiliarity with the zoom function on our camera.

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We are soon through the gates and...



There is no contest for the first ride of the day. Rebecca has found her coaster legs for this year and there is nothing she will not ride...a bit like Ulrika Johnson.

Her choice is the Hulk.



Dad is not allowed to ride as he has been suffering from some heart problems over the last couple of years. One condition of him being allowed on holiday was that he promised not to go on BIG rides. This is the first test, which he passes, by taking Ryan from me and wandering off to find some shade.

For all her statements of intent over the last few months, Emily decides not to ride and sits in the shade too.

So Rebecca, Louise and I set off, ready to flash our credentials for the first time. Our Express, I am pleased to see, is required to avoid a whopping ten minute queue. These queues had better get bigger or I want a refund.

It is good to see the Express queue really does take you right to the front, and we are on the ride very quickly. Rebecca loves it, and isn't put off by some stupid bald bloke screaming rude words all the way round!

We meet the others and wander on to Spiderman.



We deem this safe for Dad to ride, and ignore all the warnings about those with heart conditions not riding. We've all done it before so know what to expect.

It has been a few years since we did this, and I was impressed all over again by how clever this ride is. Top marks.

The natural flow takes us to the two big water rides, but we have planned to do these last before escaping back to the hotel, to avoid spending the whole day moist. So we walk past these and head onto the Jurassic Park bit.





There is no getting away from it, the park looks as empty as Kerry Katona's work diary.

We all pile onto the dinosaur ride thing, with Emily having to coaxed as she hated it last time she did it. We point out that she was about six, and encourage her towards the boat. She isn't over sure, but in the end enjoys, or endures it well enough.

I have a smart guy next to me, with his girl fiend, who spends the entire ride commentating on what is coming next. Yes, yes, I get it, you've been on it before. I think he heard our accents and obviously thought us Australians don't get to go to the US more than once, as it was all for my benefit.

Too cheap to buy the ride photo, I take a snap of the screen as we leave.

See if you can spot the wise guy on my row (with the visor) and Emily's “enjoyment” of the big drop.



It is 10.30 now, and my bagel is a distant memory. To continue our balanced diet we stop at a Churro stand, and take on board another few thousand calories. That's better.

This part of IOA is all bit confused now, as the construction of the new Harry Potter stuff is understandably causing some disruption. We wander in the direction of Duelling Dragons, only to find that the non riders have nowhere to go but on the ride, so have to walk all the way back to where we just ate.

Louise, Rebecca and I ride. Enjoyable of course, but I wander back to others feeling dizzy and queasy. I do wish Universal wouldn't try to copy Disney with their own set of dwarves.
We battle the crowds to find Mum, Dad and Emily.



They are sat by the Dinosaur exhibit centre thing, and have found a lovely dead rat in what appears to be a lovely bit of stagnant water.



One churro too many I would imagine.

We walk past the soon to be Hogwarts thing...



and take some snaps from the bridge back across the park of the Hulk.



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At this point, I come across a turtle head. There must be a restroom around here somewhere, and by coincidence we see a little fella below.





Our wandering brings us round to the Lost Continent, which at the moment is a bit lost! It has some Midway game stalls, a few shops and the Poseidon show, and that is about it. The next show isn't for forty minutes so we carry on into Seuss.

Even Dad is allowed to ride Cat in the Hat, and this then brings us round to the front of the park again. Rebecca insists we ride the Hulk again, so we do, and then it is time to get wet!

The riders for Dudley's Ripsaw Falls are everyone except Mum and Emily, so they watch our now bulging rucksacks, as I've changed my trainers for Crocs, and we've all dumped our loose items too.

A bit of good news here, as the normal queue is over forty minutes. The bad news is that the Express took at least ten.

One thing I noticed on this ride was the size of the log. I really must find that restroom soon.

Also, the seats on this ride are snug. I'm sure they have changed from the last time we were here, as now there are new things like, things to hold on to. We are somehow squeezed into a log and we're off. Like most log flume rides ninety per cent of the ride is sedate, and frankly just a prelude to the big drop. Unlike other log flume rides, the big drop sees your life flash before your eyes, and necessitates clean underwear.

Another subtle difference is the lack of the usual few drops of water that you may get on most similar rides. If you sit in the bath fully clothed for ten minutes you are getting somewhere close to the level of wetness this ride delivers.

Now that we are nicely dampened, we move on to the Bilgerat water rapids. Everyone rides this.
It turns out that we were only ever so slightly damp from the first ride, as the state of us upon leaving this one can only be described by words for wetness yet to be invented.

So like any sensible family we ride it again, immediately. The girls go a third time too.

We sit in the sun in a vain attempt to get anywhere near dry.







We had stowed our rucksacks in the nearby lockers whilst riding, and this was not without it's problems.

The hole was just not large enough for Ryan's girth. Getting him in was like making sausages, and getting him out again took me back to the birth of the girls.

As a sign of the lack of people in the park, and having Express tickets, we are more or less done in IOA by about now, which is about 1.30 I think. I did find the park a bit light on stuff to do, and they really need to get the HP stuff open to get back to full capacity.

We wander back to the entrance and decide to get lunch at the Croissant Moon Bakery. As we are still dripping we find a nice table in the sun. Rebecca helps me carry the two trays of food back to the table, and promptly drops all our drinks all over the floor. In best teenage strop mode (even those she is still 12) she blames everyone else for not helping her.

I ask Emily to go back in and get some more drinks. As this involves actually speaking to people she doesn't know, she is delighted, and does so without a huff or any sign of insolence. I sit down with my hoagie...that's it, if I don't find a restroom soon it is all going to turn nasty... and ignore the urge to strangle both my kids.

Not wishing to be greedy I only have a sandwich where as everyone else has a sandwich and a huge piece of cake. Louise has an enormous chocolate eclair. Noticing a large bite from the bottom of it she has the cheek to accuse me of pinching some!



I have never been so insulted.

We walk back to the water taxi, and are soon back at the hotel. As we get off the boat, we see yet more turtles.





We head up to the rooms to get dryish and into swimming gear for the pool. All except I. I declare that I am going to go to the gym and Dad's heart condition immediately kicks in, and Louise needs smelling salts.

You may think this is a little out of character, but let me tell you for the past nine months I have been going to the gym at lunchtime, about three or four times a week. Very soon, I shall even start actually doing some exercise whilst I'm there.

So everyone else wanders down to the pool, and I strike out to the gym. I am astounded to find that there is a charge for hotel guests. Anyway, I do my forty minutes or so... of trying to figure out how the equipment works, and finally actually get a sweat on by using the cross trainer thing.

That's enough exercise for the fortnight. A quick shower in the room and I find the others down by the pool.

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I do a bit of lying down and a bit of swimming with the girls.

We all head back to the room at 5.45 to get ready for the evening. The plan is to eat at the Hard Rock.

I do about ten minutes getting ready and three and half hours watching telly, and we are off. We head down to the water taxi, but the dark clouds we've seen all afternoon are coming closer, as is the lightning. The water taxis are off due to the weather, and with the rain just starting we don't fancy the walk.



This is the NFL top I mentioned. If Rebecca wears this in the UK I'll run naked through the streets of Bolton... again.

So Plan B is to eat in the hotel. We have a good old chortle at the prices at Tchoup Chop, before moving on to find Jake's American Bar.





We order...

Appetisers – Mozzarella Sticks and Shrimp Cocktail.

Louise – Chicken Caesar Salad

Rebecca – Pizza



Bit late with this photo.

Emily – Burger



Dad and Me – BiPlane Combo



Mum – Steak

Mine, which was roast chicken and the best ribs I've ever had, was absolutely delicious and everyone else seemed happy too.

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As you probably tell from the lack of her usual smile, Rebecca was exhausted.



I was equally tired, but obviously didn't show it one little bit.



Not even the temptation of a pudding could keep us awake.

We pay the bill of... hmm..I was so tired I didn't even jot that down. I think it was $200 and something, and go back to the room by a mightily impressive 9.30. I manage to read for a bit before giving in to sleep.

Tomorrow – Universal.

Day Four is Here

[moolie19]

yipee, day three, I am so loving your reports

[spencem]

Great day, even with light crowds those room keys are great fun.

[JoJo88]

Another great day - I hope the crowd levels pick up a bit for you tomorrow! We've booked a night at RPR too, but as we are going in term time (tut tut), we may not get to use the smug smiles either

[Guest]

FANTASTIC! love your reports.