Orlando continued

this is a continuation from my previous post about our trip to Orlando...if you haven't read it, you may want to read it first....
Ok, now we are at Saturday night - we left Magic Kingdom as the fireworks were putting on their show, hoping to beat the crowds to the bus stop. We hopped the bus back to our hotel - I couldn't wait to get my feet out of my shoes! At one point in the day there was torrential rain (yay ponchos!) and the drainage system couldn't keep up so we were sloshing through 3 inches of water and my cushy new sandals were soaked. When I finally got them off my feet were like prunes - any longer and I'm sure that soft soaked skin would have been blistering real good.

We decided to check out the pool and had a quick dip before heading to the resort restaurant for our first real meal of the day (11pm!). We both ordered meatball subs and I don't know if it was the weather, the hunger, the exhaustion or what but they were about the best meatball sub ever! I did think it was funny that there were no burgers on the menu.

Sunday morning we caught a shuttle back to Orlando to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. This was by far the most grown up thrill ride park we went to. One of the first things you see and hear is the roaring of the Hulk roller coaster that towers over everything! I like to work up to that kind of thing and I wasn't feeling ready. I could tell Keith wasn't happy - he wanted to do all the big stuff right away before the crowds...but he decided to try and humor me and did his best to hide the sulky pouting. :)

We thought we would try the Jurassic Park River Adventure first - which is a water ride but the attendant told me that if you sit in the back you won't get wet. (much) So off we went - it was pretty tame at first - you float down a river and a piped in voice tells you all about the herbivores you see around you. then you enter this dark cave and start moving a little faster as the carnivores start roaring at you - you are on your way uphill when you see the glowing eyes and giant open mouth of the t-rex right in your path - The t-rex is roaring and shaking it's head making a dive for you as you ride under it through it's legs and plunge down 85 feet to escape. The attendant was right - we didn't get wet - but we did get what I hadn't bargained for - the first roller coaster ride of the day! Keith couldn't believe it when I turned to him and said "that was Great!" (well I think actually he breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing I was back in the game!)

We headed over to the Flying Unicorn which is a kiddie roller coaster that was actually pretty fun except that there's this piped in voice that comes over the speakers telling you some story about a wizard and a unicorn and blah blah yada yada - so you can't forget that you are on a kiddie ride. Plus the fact that you are right beside the Dueling Dragons which is a for real thrill ride where two dragon roller coasters Fire, and Ice duel it out on parallel tracks. This coaster is attached at the top so your feet are free to dangle as they flip you and loop you around the track. Of course with the other coaster on the other track they make you think you are going to crash mid course! There are two lines - one for the front row, and one for the rest - And when the front rowers ride back in they are wide eyed and shakey and everyone else is smiling and cheering. We opted for the back. We ended up riding 3 times - twice on the fire dragon and once on Ice. Fire is FAR faster and the third time we rode I didn't click my harness down tight enough so I could feel myself lifting everytime we flipped!

We walked through Seuss Landing which is incredible and exactly out of a Dr Seuss book - we didn't do any of the rides there tho since they were mostly kiddie rides. We did get Noah and Dora shirts that say "thing one" and "thing two" (Since we call them kid 1 and kid 2 all the time I thought that was pretty appropriate)

The weather had called for showers but boy did they get it wrong - it was HOT and humid all day - plus being the third day we were on our feet and we were suffering! We decided to try a water ride to cool off a bit. We waited in line for an hour (our longest wait ever - the sign said 25 min which we thought was not bad....liars!) to get on Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. All through the line up are signs saying "you will get wet" and "get ready for a good soaking" So we can't say we weren't prepared...and we did get wet! Thankfully, and illegally I had removed my shoes and put them in the raft's dry bin so I didn't have to repeat Saturday's prune feet episode. This was a great ride and way more exciting than the similar one in Animal Kingdom. The rapids are much more intense and the ride is just much faster and much wetter. If you don't get soaked from the sloshing of the waves through the rafts sides, you will probably get dunked under a waterfall or squirted at by Olive Oyl. At any rate, we were much cooler by the end of the ride.

Now for our all time favorite ride - Spiderman. This ride was way up there on the recommended list from Kristen and it didn't disappoint. In fact, we went on three times in a row - just circled back into line when we were done. It's a 3D ride that feels like an interactive roller coaster - it's just amazing!

Keith still wanted to ride The Hulk (the massive roaring Coaster) but I wasn't ready - He finally convinced me that he would go alone since he knows that I don't mind flips and turns but I really don't like steep drops - if you've seen this track you know what I mean. We had a fast pass so he skipped the line up - he was strapped in and ready to go when he got the bad news - the weather that was expected all day had just rolled in...and they wouldn't run the coaster when it was thundering. A sad and dejected man returned....and on that note we left the park sporting our handy ponchos and headed for our shuttle back to the resort.

The ride back was a thrill ride in itself and not the good kind where you know you will safely arrive at your destination. I was scared for my life as the crazy lady shuttle driver careened in and out of traffic like we were in the Indy 500. She did get us back safely tho with no hydroplaning, side swiping or rear ending and I'm sure, in record time.

We decided we were just gluttons for punishment so we bussed to Downtown Disney since it was our last night and last chance to live it up in Orlando. We shopped the massive toy shops and were boggled by all the really cool stuff that we don't need. Grabbed some McDonald's and headed hopped on the ferry back to our room for the night.

The next morning we made it to the Orlando International Airport and I had my first (2) Krispy Kreme donuts. Even tho there was so much build up - they did not disappoint. WOW - I hope this franchise makes it to Winnipeg one day.

We flew to Minneapolis uneventfully and settled in for our 3 hour layover. We hung out in the airport restaraunt eating lunch and watching the Michael Jackson trial verdict. Coincidentally that hour was all the coverage I have seen of the whole trial and more than enough for me! I did find the fan's passion amazing tho - did you see the fan release a dove everytime there was a not guilty verdict? I have to say I wonder if this passion could be better directed....anyway....no soap box today.

Our flight to Winnipeg was delayed, and delayed again. Finally at 8:30 we boarded the plane only to hear the pilot announce that due to weather (lightning again...) we were not moving anytime soon. Keith phoned his parents to tell them not to bring the kids to the airport - to take them home and put them to bed instead. And it was a good thing - we finally took off at 10:40 pm and by the time we cabbed it home it was 12:30!

Tuesday morning I woke up the kids - Dora smiled so big...then disolved into sobs...then cheered up again asking "what did you bring me?" Noah was much cooler - he just gave us a quick hug and had lots to tell us about his great sleepover at Grandma's!

That's it, that's all....can't wait to go back!!