PTR: Thanksgiving at Walt Disney World

[packfanlv]

Thanks Natalie. Great trip report. I agree about Primeval Whirl. It is the most painful mouse that I have ever been on. NEVER AGAIN! I love Animal Kingdom though. Expedition Everest was a pleasant surprise for me and the safari is awesome. I'm looking forward to your Universal pics.

[dino]

Great TR (well, obviously). Love the pose of the guy next to you in the Everest on-ride photo. As for the shot of you on Dinosaur...haha you look so cute covering your ears! LOL

[Hotlanta]

Terrific pictures and captions. Really well done. Your night time pictures are simply superb.

 

My whole Disney trip ended up as a blur literally because i didn't spend enough on a good camera

[natatomic]

Day 4: Universal Orlando Resort

 

First of all, thank you for your patience with me. I'm well aware of my sloth-like speed at these updates. I'm sure you hate hearing excuses, but that makes me want to use them even more, so here they are:

 

1) I got some dust in my camera sometime last fall, and I have yet to figure how to get it the heck out. I've tried special cloths, special brushes, and everything else special that the camera store people could sucker me into buying (I've since returned it all, but still...). I could send it off for a professional cleaning, but it's $65 and I refuse to spend that much money on something I could (theoretically) do myself. Anyway, the downside of my frugality is that I have half a dozen black spots in every single photo I take, and I have to go through each one individually to photoshop the spots out. And I have a lot of photos. You can imagine the fun.

2) School started last week, and that always puts me in an unmotivated funk. It's a boring excuse, yes, but true and reasonable nonetheless.

3) I keep stalling, hoping that tomorrow - yes, maybe tomorrow! - TPR will magically get a nifty multi-photo uploading tool like facebook or myspace, which would reduce my TR-making time from 37 1/2 hours to 5 minutes and 14 seconds (I've done the calculations). Come on, Robb...you can do it! I will personally bake you a pie from scratch and send it to you if you make it happen.

 

But on to the report.

 

I got to do Universal all by my lonesome that Sunday, which was fine by me because through my numerous visits, I have come up with a very specific and efficient way of conquering the two parks, and I don't like anyone else's wants or desires dragging me down (I know, I'm so sweet, right?) Of course, the weather ended up being a giant monkey wrench in my oh-so-efficient plan - the rain came pouring down around lunch-time, it never let up, and I called it a day around 3:00, but with there being only about 5 people between the two parks all day, I was able to get almost everything in except for Dueling Dragons (which was closed most of the time due to the weather anyway) and all of Toon Lagoon.

And thus concludes the Universal Orlando Resort portion. Magic Kingdom to follow.

Some pretty buildings to wrap us up...

Um, yeah, things were about to get real ugly, real soon.

Psh...stupid Poseidon.

DD was running again as I left, but I was cold and wet enough as it was. Plus, I saw a lightning bolt in the distance, so I knew it wouldn't be open much longer.

Well, after about three hours of putzing around a couple of shops hoping for the rain to stop, I decided to cut my losses and call it a day. I went back the way I came, so I still didn't go through Toon Lagoon, but it's not my favorite land, so I didn't feel like I was missing much.

This! Tadaaa!

 

If you don't think that's hot, you better check your pulse.

This is some Dino DNA they mixed with mine to create...

I'm no paleontologist, but I'm pretty sure those temporal fenestrae aren't supposed be filled in.

By the time I made it here, I was soaked to the bone.

 

Haha, get it? BONE? Like dinosaur bones...? Ha...ha? Yeah? :/

After taking this picture, I then proceeded to make out with this sign.

YES.

After a while, I realized that the rain wasn't going to stop any time soon, so I made my way deeper into the park by dashing from covered area to covered area. This is the view from one such spot.

 

I suppose I could have done this Poseidon's Fury thing with it being entirely indoors and all, but I was pretty peeved with them for turning off the water vortex tunnel a few days previous. Besides, I NEVER got over them changing to that stupid Darkenon story line a couple years back. Wasn't Poseidon the bad guy originally? And now they want us to ROOT for him against the lamest-named fictional character to have ever fictitiously existed? PUH-LEAZE.

 

Yeah, no, sorry Universal. I'm starting a one-woman boycott against this attraction until you fix this mess.

Awww, see?!

 

Though as cute as he was, I still couldn't bring myself to buy him. Kinda regret that now. But if I have any fans out there, or maybe even a generous stalker or two, this would be an excellent present you could surprise me with. I'm sure you could find one on ebay. I'd give you my address so you could ship it to me, but, unfortunately, I'm not stupid. Still, a TRUE stalker would find out where I live. That's kind of their function, right?

And I found Horton! He's so cute in stuffed form!

I ducked into this shop for at least a half hour hoping that the weather would clear.

Ah, then the rain came.

It's nice too see that despite his depression over the Truffula trees, the Once-ler still has enough cheer within himself to decorate his house for Christmas.

They don't allow flash photography on this ride, and since I had to use such a slow shutter speed on my camera, I'm surprised these pictures came out as well as they did.

I'd love to work on this ride if for no other reason but to wear that awesome Cat in the Hat get-up.

Just another crazy long line.

As a huge fan of Dr. Seuss, this land is one of my favorites, despite the fact that it's quite tame, ride-wise.

However, I can live without thrills, so long as they make up for it in cuteness.

 

And they do.

Oooo....scary dark clouds....

I know you expected to see Toon Lagoon next, but I decided to go back the other way. I'm tricky like that.

I think this had about a 10 minute wait as well, but I got to use the single rider line which allowed me to ride 6 times in a row with no wait at all.

 

Word of encouragement out there to the lonely and friendless - sometimes it's worth it.

I love this room. That spider is brilliant. It's both decorative and functional, and I'm totally putting one in the living room of my future house.

The Spider-Man ride always satisfies the occasional urges I have within me to fight crime against those who break the laws of physics and probability.

Yeah, it's kind of a niche field...

I think I had about a 10 minute wait for the front row. All the other rows were walk-ons.

Still, the coasters at IOA are what got me into this hobby to begin with, so they'll always have a special place in my heart no matter what kind of brain damage they inflict upon my delicate cranium.

 

(By the way, I apparently missed this photo in the de-spotting process. See 'em all?)

I got to ride the Hulk before the rain, but I almost wish I hadn't. The B&M rattle is almost becoming too much for me.

This thing needs a paint job. BADLY.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love the architecture of the buildings in the Port of Entry.

Mmmk, enough Studios. Time for some I of A.

Cyberdyne! Yet another name to add to my ever-increasing list of possible baby names to be used at a later date.

Three seconds after I took this shot, rain fell down in BUCKETS without any warning. I mean, yeah, the dense gray clouds were kind of a hint, but there was just no gentle sprinkle to ease us into the downpour.

Luckily, it only lasted for about 2 minutes. But it was a teaser of what was to come later.

E.T.!

 

I swear, if they ever get rid of this, heads will roll.

Ohhh, you know what this is...

Okay, BttF-bias aside, the ride was well done for what it is. Kinda funny, kinda obnoxious, totally Simpsons.

By the way, this actually had a relatively long line. I'd say I waited over a half hour. Not because there were that many people in line with me; but they were only running ONE row in one theater. That tends to severely hinder capacity.

Some pre-show stuff.

At least they included an homage to Back to the Future in their queue video loop.

Sigh...

Are these those sphere things? I've just never seen them deflated before. They look like floating boobs.

MIB never seems to be that popular, but I always make sure to ride it at least once. Any ride that has both competition and shooting is my kind of ride. It's where I shine.

Honestly, when do you EVER get to take a picture of this shark without millions of other tourists in the shot?

Yeah.

There's no real purpose for including this picture, I just think the building is neat.

 

By the way - have I mentioned how windy it was that day? 'Cause it was.

Ugh, it looks tacky even from here. Sorry, Simpsons fans - I'm a traditional girl at heart.

I think their buildings are anorexic. :/

Mummy is always my first stop. I rode it four times in a row, with no wait for the front row. It was magical.

I'm telling you - NO ONE WAS THERE.

And I don't think they can use severe weather as an excuse.

I mean, it's Twister.

*Twister*

Twister was a bit slow to open

I know they've probably got half the track up for the new coaster by now, so this photo isn't really relevant anymore, but eh...this is what the construction looked like nearly two months ago.

I don't usually have many pictures of me in my trip reports, mainly because my photogenicity (uh, photogenicness...?) is not something that usually falls under the umbrella of my self-confidence. Also because my camera is really big and difficult to take self-shots with. But I needed a new facebook picture for my reserve, so I made the extra effort.

I like to start off at the Studios first, and I really have no good reason for why other than that's how I've always done it, and I am nothing if not a creature of habit.

[dino]

Wonderful TR! I actually think I need a tissue now.

[natatomic]

^What, did my trip report open up your sinuses or something?

[televisedconfession]

^ or something else..

 

I've always said I've wanted to work in the Cat in the Hat ride. Every time I go on that ride, all I want are those damn shorts they wear. I WANT A PAIR OF THOSE SHORTS NOW!

 

I'm kinda glad I didn't go all the way up to O-Town to go with you on such a miserable day. Though It still would have been worth it. Next time you come down, let me know earlier, and we'll change the weather for you.

[dino]

^^ Well your TR was just so good it caused me to...

 

tear up...

 

yeah, that's it...

[natatomic]

^Well, it's not the first time I've made a grown man cry.

[U2Rox]

Hey Natalie,

I loved your pictures!!

 

Reminded me of a day when my brother and I went to IoA. It was a day just like yours. Hardly any people and it started off great. We had a tradition at IoA where we would share a few rounds at the Enchanted Oak Tavern, then go and ride Fire and Ice. Well when we went into the Tavern it was sunny and fine, but when we got out it was dark and stormy. Storm Clouds just like yours were very close and we couldn't ride. We made it to the car just before it started pouring!

 

Gotta Love that Florida Weather!!!