Thrillin',Chillin',Feet are Killin' Day 9: Part 1: Hangovers, Hearing Loss and Hypothermia

[WileyCoyote]

Ok
I have to apologise :This installment is very late

Is this because ...

a] We have been traversing the length and breadth of the country eyeing up the hovels called standard student rooms as the beloved eldest faces the prospect of leaving home

b] We have finally faced our wardrobes and have spent hours sorting them out

c] I have been far too busy doing essential holiday stuff for next years trip, by which I mean buying new dresses ( see point above)

d] My 6 hour a day commute has been more like 7 or 8 hours a day so when not viewing hovels , I have been hibernating

Or

e] I discovered that Once Upon a Time , all 5 seasons were on netflix and I have spent the hours when not hibernating or hovel inspecting, gorging myself on catching up. And how hot is Captain Hook

hmmmm, tough choices

Needless to say, all have interfered with trip writing time.
So here is what I have done so far on Day 9 - and I promise I will get the rest done asap

Thursday 27 August

The night following a day that has seen consumption of too much fast food and cocktails plus other “free” beverages is bound to be one of a peaceful nights kip, deep glorious slumber , yes?

No

No no no no

It was a surreal evening

Super snorer did his favourite trick of falling asleep first and thus putting the mockers on anyone else snoozing unless they were in a near state of zombiefication

Somehow I did drift off around midnight but woke up an hour later to the sound of music – no not Julie Andrews and the pesky Von Trapps but some bizarre tune and I lay there for a few minutes in that nether world of being half asleep and half awake trying to work out what on earth was happening.

And whether I was dreaming it or not

And then I realised it was coming from the other side of the room :angry:

It was Connor, who when I asked what the jeff was going on, said the snoring was so loud , he decided to listen to some music – but clearly not through his headphones



Unbelievable Jeff

So I was awake until 2 and nodded off again, waking at 3 as Andy was now feeling poorly

Being a dutiful wife I was very sympathetic and got up to keep him company while he had the chunders

Or maybe I took advantage of the fact that while he was in the bathroom he wasn’t snoring and promptly fell fast asleep around 4 am

I am all heart

But I was by this point completely knackered

And very grateful to sleep until , oh , 7 am

I woke up feeling a bit like this



Chances of making early park entry – lower than a snakes belly.

Expecting to be on my own in the land of the awake for some time, I set off for breakfast with my book, ipad and notepad to write up some notes.

I was in for the long haul

Breakfast was the usual assortment of pastries , cereals, toast etc

Although my selection was pretty feeble , clearly due to sleep deprivation affecting my ability to put together a coherent breakfast offering



And after consuming cocktails ( I absolutely did NOT have a hangover today .. much )

That mimosa was the worst idea – way too acidic and bubbly for my delicate self

I was somewhat surprised when himself loomed over me at 7.30

And even more surprised to hear that midnight DJ Dimwit and his sidekick were also awake

Maybe we will get some park time after all

Andy took a plate of high sugar specials to the boys and they gorged themselves whilst I packed up the last few things and took the bag down to bell services and checked out.

By 0830 we are on our way to the park – and seemingly all quite perky.

A couple more snaps in the lobby as we left




This is our destination today





I had apparently made the observation that I wasn’t in any photos so Andy had the camera today and there are lots of pics like this



And this



And this



And this



Not even exiting the ladies was sacred



So after about 30 minutes strong words were exchanged and normal photo service was resumed – thank goodness for that

The boys run ahead to get onto Forbidden Journey – with advice to use single rider line and we will meet them by the clock tower

We had a more leisurely stroll





Water not needed due to the night before – not at all



Superbly placed lamppost completely ruining the vista



We felt the eyes boring holes into us as we walked past the off siters waiting for park opening



Ah , Seuss Land , I love it



I mean, its just so scenic

[WileyCoyote]

Finally we made it to Hogsmeade at 0850





No sign of the boys so we sit in the shade for a bit.

Not realising that the whole time they are sitting under the clock on the bench tables

But that was to be discovered about 15 minutes later

As I walked round several times and saw them

And they hadn’t been on FJ – the queue had been too long and they denied all knowledge of Single Rider lines

They had been on the Dragon challenge ride though

So we walked up to FJ to discover, that lo, the Single rider line was indeed open with a 10 minute wait so they scurried off to get on.

It was now 0910 and the standby line said 145 minutes. Gulp

We both opted to give FJ a miss, it made me queasy last time and Andy was suffering with claustrophobia with rides that had over the shoulder restraints.

No sooner had I walked back than the boys were running down towards us – on and off in 10 minutes .

So despite pretty much missing most of the early hour, they had still done the two rides that they had wanted to in this section of the park.

We agreed to split up and meet on the bridge by Hulk at 1130.

We headed this way



Hogwarts does dinosaurs – I feel a pre-quel coming on

Yes its crass, but we all do it ..



We didn’t fancy the river adventure so carried on round past the emerging skull island







I do hope this is finished when we return next year – the Kong sequence on the studio tour in Hollywood was fantastic so we can only assume this will be even better

Round into Toon Lagoon and I do my best “ not going on this ride” face












I thought it might be inappropriate to complete mimic the pose of the character above my head so went for just the thumbs up



We found ourselves at Spiderman and continuing my new quest to try a new ride in each park, decided to give it a go



What have I been missing out on – absolutely loved it . New fave .

Fresh from my new ride triumph we walked back to Seuss Land where we rode blissfully on the Cat in the Hat



loved these tees

[WileyCoyote]

A quick trip on the sky trolley which is one of my absolute must dos !

And then on to here



Where we managed, thanks to Andys expert steering to get much wetter than is at all necessary !

And so as we were now both quite wet, we decided to try another first



Well this is just a full on soaking !



We were completely drenched – and getting off was quite funny as I decided to store my glasses in my bag and so had to get off the ride and walk out completely reliant on my sonar as I couldn’t see a bleddy thing

Re united with glasses, and soaking wet



So glad I chose a lined cotton dress that weighed a ton when wet and refused to dry out thanks to the double layering

We decided as we were completely soaked that there couldn’t be any harm in trying out Ripsaw Falls

As we get near the entrance we spot the happy smiling faces of the offspring





Who it seems have had a bit of a falling out

And Jamie’s ear is playing him up again

Neither of them are bothered about going on anything else and are ready to leave

But we have one more soaking ahead of us – yes on ripsaw falls

Another one best ridden with no glasses and eyes shut – I shrieked the whole way round and we got totally and utterly drenched

I looked like I was wearing a j cloth

Not even the dryer helped – maybe because Andy was in there too – somewhat defeating the aim of getting dry back and front when someone quite large is blocking the airflow

And so the double layered cotton dress was marginally drier – but not the undies – ewww, I mean , we had got a drenching – squelch squelch .

Where are your swimmers when you need them ?

( ahem, usually in the boot of the car in my case).

Ladies, you will appreciate the total chaffness that is soggy bottoms



But despite all the unintended dampness, the morning had been good fun and meant we had tried 3 new rides and enjoyed them all

Jamie was definitely suffering with his ear – so we agreed to give it 24 hours and if it didn’t improve , we would re mortgage the house and pay (for) a visit the walk in centre.

His ear was blocked and he was getting angry at not hearing properly but wasn’t in any great pain – he just kept shaking his head all the time . I was convinced there was water in there from the swimming a couple of days before.

The boys were thrilled to pose for some pics on the way out



What a pair of cheeky monkeys eh !



We stopped at guest services to renew our tickets for next year and upgrade to Aps –but the system had crashed and as we could see the sky getting darker, we decided it would be a good time to beat the rain and we would come back this evening as we could still park at the Hard Rock using todays parking payment.

A couple of the obligatory fountain snaps for facebook



Observe the sky ..



And so we set off for home just after 12, passing here, which looks funky, although none of my lot want to visit



We have been on the road for 5 minutes and the rain arrives



And this is ok, driveable

Then it gets a bit heavier



And a bit heavier



And then it get scary , thunder, lightning , biblical downpour




I think this may have been one of the downpours that prompted a Dibb discussion about whether the term biblical was over egging a bit – well , it was certainly biblical in our car with plenty of Holy somethings being said .

It absolutely scared the pants off us.

And so we were very, very happy to get home in one piece by 1230 – with another drenching ( who needs the water rides) running to the condo and developing webbed feet on the way.

The condo aircon had been set to polar sub zero so we were like walking ice cubes within milliseconds of getting in.

The chaps immediately disrobed , leaving wet clothes in a nice pile by the door and the two boys got straight into their beds.

I stupidly pottered about unpacking the bag and putting the washing on

Still in my ever so – not dry at all- dress –

And in fairness , Andy said numerous times – you will get a chill, get changed

To which I reminded him of the infamous Nan saying “ you cant get a cold from being cold” – which is true.

And of course completely ignored the advice

How did that work out then ?

the rest of the day is here

additional pics courtesy of google

[letty]

Welcome back…we've been waiting with baited breath….excellent writing as usual

[SammyScotland]

That drive home looked horrendous. Looking forward to the next part.

[EllieP]

Loving reading your trip report, don't you just love arguments between siblings! Looking forward to the rest of the day. We are hoping kong ride is finished by next August too! Looking excellent at mo

[Milner]

Another good read.

[Redrach1903]

Haha that was a funny read!

Well done on the new rides! Spider-Man is awesome! I'm glad you liked it!
xx

[abiknox]

Great start tot he day, apart from the bad sleep!

I always mean to go on the water rides but never brave up to it.

Good Lord that rain!

[flo-tinka]

Just catching up with your whole report as the gales outside keep me awake! We left HRH after 5 wonderful nights on this day, in the rain, back via Florida Mall , in the rain, to the airport. Our first stay at HRH and loved that whole staying onsite thing.
We did the water rides at I of A in one go the day before, agree about the wet knickers!
Thanks for sharing your memories.