Erik & Smisty's Florida Oddventures

[cfc]

It needs more giagantic presidents' heads.

Where is the love for Millard Fillmore?

[robbalvey]

How exactly do places like this still stay in business?

[Tikifire Jones]

How exactly do places like this still stay in business?

 

The owners are independently wealthy? Seriously, I know that place has been there at least since the early 80's, maybe longer so maybe they have owned it forever and the overhead is low?

[paiging_jen]

^ I seem to remember it being advertised as a wax museum back in the day. Looks like they kept some of the wax figures and added a bunch of junk from yard sales.

[RCFreak]

 

 

 

AMERICAN RABBIT!!!!!!! That was hands down my favorite VHS as a kid (that and one of the Ewok spinoffs, but we won't get into that one...). I would totally kill...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

... a spider for an action figure of him.

[Electerik]

How exactly do places like this still stay in business?

 

How?

 

Erik & Smisty, that's how.

 

/Actually, I have no idea.

[moinab]

OMFG, that is epic!!!

 

I still have tears in my eyes from John McCain in the bathroom!

[PriestofSyrinx]

^ Tears of joy or pain?

[moinab]

^Both!

[Electerik]

SeaWorld After Dark

 

During summer, when SeaWorld Orlando is open late, the hours of 6:00pm to 10:00pm feature rock music throughout the park, live DJ's, and three special shows that you can't see during the day. "After Dark" is included with park admission, and so too is this update included with your normal subscription to Erik & Smisty's Florida Oddventures.

The After Dark soundtrack includes many stupid songs, such as Owl City's "Fireflies." However, they also play "Limelight" by Rush, so I can't hate on it too bad.

The first stop on our night time adventure, Sea Lions Tonight--which makes fun of all the other SeaWorld shows.

 

No, really, they make fun of their own shows--which is just one more reason why SeaWorld is awesome.

The ever popular mime.

Sadly, she did not take him up on his offer.

If you like the mime normally, you'll love Sea Lions Tonight--because the mime's not just preshow in this one; he's all through it.

 

Here he is making fun of Shamu Rocks, which we haven't even seen yet. (Patience.)

Next up to mock is Pets Ahoy.

Is Clyde tall enough to ride Manta??

Yay, he is!

That doesn't necessarily mean he should, though. (Probably shouldn't have had all that fish before riding.)

And now, the wonder of Blue Horizons.

"Where anything you wish for, CAN BE...!"

"A'Lure: The Call of the Ocean" is up next.

Did I mention that they're making fun of their own shows?? And it's awesome?

"Wal-rus! Wal-rus!"

"And what do you want to be when you grow up, Timmy?"

"A rapper."

"Did you hear that, ladies and gentlemen? A whale trainer!"

No, I don't think orcas can do sit-ups. They can totally kick a walrus's ass though, so I'd be careful.

Sea Lions Tonight is now Misty's favorite show at SeaWorld. Actually, probably anywhere.

A DJ doing his thing in Penguin Plaza. He played a really whacked- out version of Jessie's Girl that I enjoyed. Can't seem to track it down though.

If you want to see the penguins, After Dark is not the time to do it. In fact, you really need to be there between about 9:30am and 3:00pm, this time of year.

This is what it looks like if you open your shutter up a bit, though.

And now, a quick night time tour of SWO's biggest rides, starting with Journey To Atlantis.

Kraken. (Yes, there's a train in this photo. It's that blurry thing behind the rocks. Hey, it's dark out! Let's see you do better!)

Manta, with the Sky Tower in the background. Hey, just think of the blurry photos we can get from up there!

Manta, JTA, and Aquatica, among other things. Just take my word for it.

Kraken, the Sea Lion stadium, and a really bright freaking light.

Happy Harbor and Shamu Stadium, where we are headed next.

Shamu Rocks. You like a hurricane. They don't use that song. But they should.

"I like fish!!!"

"Bitch, we all like fish!"

Ladies and gentlemen, Yngwie Malmsteen.

"Admiral, there be whales here!"

Honestly, while it's certainly not a bad show, I don't think Shamu Rocks is as good as Believe.

 

Then again, it may just be that this show suffers more from not having trainers in the water with the orcas. I don't know; I'd never seen Shamu Rocks before this summer.

Oh, I don't know; It'll probably be really crowded.

 

/end sarcasm

Shamu's Happy Harbor tends to be pretty dead at night--especially if you go DURING a Shamu show.

Smisty does her 'we've got the whole place to ourselves' dance.

"This is lame. I want to ride Manta."

 

(Don't sweat it, kid. One day you might like coasters so much that Shamu Express will be just as good.)

A second DJ is set up at Wild Arctic.

"Ah, I didn't see it because it's dark out! And now it's got my leg! Curse you brown night bear!"

As I understand it, there used be a water ski show here. Now, the only thing it gets used for is special events and the summer fireworks show.

A guy warms up the crowd. Maybe I'm just getting old, but he's no mime.

Fountains and fireworks.

Let's open up the shutter a bit.

"Ah, I'm blind!"

From the other side of the lake. Center-left is Bayside Stadium. Center-right is the Renaissance hotel across the street.

The Waterfront area.

SeaWorld After Dark.

Edited August 3, 2010 by Electerik

[triggernel]

That first show sounds really fun. Kind of like a family-friendly Bill and Ted with sea animals

[PriestofSyrinx]

Great trip report as always!Its been a long time since I've been to Sea World at night, and it brought back some good memories!

 

And extra brownie points for the Rush reference!

[Six Flags Enthuseast]

I wish I wouldn't have gotten an ear infection when we visted Florida in 2005 and 2006! I missed SWO because of it.

[larrygator]

And extra brownie points for the Rush reference!

 

 

OK, I admit it! I skimmed and missed the RUSH reference. Now I have to go back and read it again. Luckily, re-entry is also included in the admission price.

[Electerik]

OK, I admit it! I skimmed and missed the RUSH reference.

 

It was very brief. But I should also mention--as if it's not awesome enough already--that they play YYZ before the Sea Lions Tonight show.

[moinab]

^Sold!

 

-Maureen "didn't miss the Rush reference - shame on you, Larry! " O'Donnell

 

(but did have to edit out the wrong name! )

 

[sspaz1000]

So it took me 3 days, but I finally caught up on all of this. Great reports. I loved reading everything

 

 

Nicole

[bean.zilla]

Was there ever anyone dancing around near the DJ's or anything? They look so lonely out there!

[Electerik]

Was there ever anyone dancing around near the DJ's or anything? They look so lonely out there!

 

Yeah, not much. Mostly little kids at the one in Penguin Plaza. The one at Wild Arctic gets some attention when the Shamu show lets out, but that's about it.

 

At least from what I've seen, the DJ's are a bit pointless, really.

[haiderodes]

I did the After Dark thing last summer and I have to say I was pleased with their offerings, except Shamu Rocks. Perhaps it was due to a smaller locals attendance in Orlando, but San Diego's Shamu Rocks seems to have so much more energy. There was such an excitement over the crowd especially with the sea of blue light-up wands. People went crazy for it. AND the fact that you can see the fireworks after the show without leaving the stadium also helped. It just didnt seem to "gel" in Orlando...at least during my experience.

 

I saw both last year before the incident and from what I remember the traininers spent a lot less time in the water than during Believe so that wasnt it.

[Electerik]

Islands of Adventure is a great park. And the best part of it is Seuss Landing.

If you think it reasonable to call Seuss Landing a "kid's area," then it is surely the best one ever.

Geisel Gulch just didn't have the same ring to it, I guess.

Yes, you can order a green eggs and ham sandwich here (although I've never had the nerve).

"If I Ran The Zoo" is an interactive play area. Let's check it out, shall we?

"Cold"? This is Orlando. [Note: This caption is a reference to the sign in the picture above. So if you haven't read it (or can't), then never mind.]

Wanna see what's in there?? Well, I guess you'll just have to go, now won't you?

I wouldn't come out either if people were trying to catch me. [Dude, come on, start reading the signs!]

Pump, Smisty, pump! Make the little dude rise! [Wow, that sounded dirty. Sorry.]

Slides are cool. [And you do know that I'm not really sorry, right?]

You get this guy to pop up by tickling his feet. [is that dirty, too? No? Okay.]

Now what's all this then?

 

For reference sake, the green table with the orange seats (in the background) is for the Green Eggs & Ham Restaurant.

The biggest single area in If I Ran The Zoo. And the wettest.

Don't disturb the giraffe cow!

I must take a bath? [sign.]

It's some sort of centipede cow. And Misty's riding it. Which is a fine way to leave If I Ran The Zoo, don't you think?

"Young man, you're sort of a fool! You'll never catch fish in McElligot's Pool!"

Successfully throw a coin into the fish's mouth, and you get squirted with water as a reward.

If I recall correctly, there used to be a sign here that read, "Snack snack, eat a snack. Eat a snack with Brown & Black."

Smisty gets suckered into sitting on some stupid bird's egg.

"We looked and we saw him, The Cat in the Hat!"

The queue. For those few. (Who care about such things.) [Look, I suck at rhyming, okay?]

This is Misty's favorite ride at IOA, and her favorite dark ride anywhere.

The grouping and loading area.

Unfortunately, and for reasons unknown to me, Universal seems to have gone to a policy of "no photos allowed on anything that moves even slightly." So here's a photo of a sign in the gift shop that's very similar to something that can be seen on the ride itself.

And here's Unload. Not really the full ride experience, to be sure, but what can you do?

The aforementioned gift shop the ride exits into, "Cats, Hats and Things." An yes, don't worry, they do sell Thing merchandise here. [Trust me, as dry as it was, that joke is still absolutely hilarious if you've been to Universal Orlando lately.]

The inside of the gift shop. [That joke is less funny.]

She's really not that much trouble. [sign. Okay, well, shirt actually. But still.]

Everything in Seuss Landing has a cool name. Even popcorn stands.

Or, "This Place Is For Faces."

The Street of the Lifted Lorax is a small outdoor walk-through...

...that leads to the entrance of the Caro-Seuss-el.

I'm not quite sure this makes sense, but I still really like it.

But you don't have to visit The Lorax to get to the Caro-Seuss-el. It's just an option.

Okay, so, if you've never heard of this before, it's a carousel populated exclusively with critters from Dr. Seuss stories.

I sort of blend in, but I actually am in this photo.

"Now hear this, all fish that fly! Follow me, and you'll stay dry."

Dude, seriously? No photography?! What on Earth...?

Coolest "Dumbo" ride ever. Here's the deal: If you don't do what the song tells you ("one fish, red fish, up up up--two fish, blue fish, down down down") the 'bad fish' squirt you with water.

Next to the ride is a show/meet-and-greet.

Hey, what's in the wagon?

I...can't.

The main eatery in Seuss Landing is the very cool Circus McGurkus.

The inside is very tastefully decorated. And, also, a ride goes through it.

It's quick-service, but still pretty decent.

Mmm, pizza. (And lemon cake.)

Imma drive all your food away, bitches!

Even the restrooms here are awesome. (As you can see from this gentleman's satisfied look.)

The most completely random thing in Seuss Landing (at least, in my opinion) is this sign sticking up from over a fence.

A shot of the midway. On the left is the Hop On Pop Ice Cream Shop, and on the right is All The Books You Can Read.

It's a store.

It's a Smisty!

It's another store. (That's actually connected to the first.)

Man, I really hope they have some Thing merchandise here.

Meanwhile, across the street at All The Books You Can Read....

I mean, if I wanted to.

For those that don't know: This ride was originally supposed to be a sort of elevated car ride based around Sylvester McMonkey McBean. But concerns that people might try to get out of it, and how exactly it might be evacuated in an emergency, led to it being abandoned midway through park construction. The track just sat there, for years, before finally being revamped as The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride.

Hey, Misty, what's the wait time for this one?

Oooh...!

Push the button, get a star on yer belly. (I like to think that the story of the Sneetches was an allegory about the stupidity of tattoos. But that's just me.)

Now it's more of a coaster-train-on-a-monorail than a car ride. It's still really cool, though.

There are two different tracks. The teal one goes through Circus McGurkus.

Heading over to the quiet side of Seuss Landing and Sneetch Beach.

Okay, now remember, this photo update is just for Seuss Landing. So I need you to focus on Sneetch Beach and NOT on The Incredible Hulk Coaster on the other side of the park. Thanks.

Legend has it that this was the first thing placed at Islands of Adventure, and everything else was then built around it.

Instead of a gift shop, THITSSTTR (seriously) exits you into a candy store! (Awkwardly, but still.)

Misty is just happy to see Moose Juice & Goose Juice open.

Also, there was a Zamp in the Lamp.

Q is for Quan. Quan is for Quandary.

Seuss Landing. Way more awesome than Harry Potter.

Edited September 14, 2010 by Electerik

[BarryH]

I have never seen this photo TR thread before and I spent 2 hours looking at everything. After 2 hours, I do declare that these are the best photo TRs ever! I was laughing so much!

 

While reading the photo TRs, I was wondering what you could do with the Holy Land Experience. If you give me $100, I will buy you 3 tickets with my uber not-so-secret AAA discount. I won't tell AAA.

[Rastuso]

I can verify that the North and South bound Zax were indeed placed before the Island was built. THere was an IOA exhibit at the SPace Center years back that showed some construction footage, and they were there, with lots of dirt around them.

 

-RO

[disneyfan1313]

Was the green egg and ham stand open when you were there? I haven't seen it actually open for years!

[robbalvey]

What a great report! Overall you get an A- You would have gotten an A+++ had you included the "Q is for Quan" sign... but overall it's AWESOME to see some of the things that were broken during at least our last 2 years of visits are now working again. Most noticeably the spraying fish. Thanks for posting this!

 

When you see the overall size and number of attractions that are in Seuss Landing versus Wizarding World, shouldn't Universal be referring to Seuess Landing as "The Dr. Suess Theme Park?"

 

--Robb

Edited September 5, 2010 by robbalvey