Karen was off and running by 7am. After dropping her off, I took a nap. I don’t know how she kept going that whole week being up so early and then busy at night. I spent the later morning at the pool until she returned. Karen was pale white and wanted some color before returning home so we sat by the pool for the first part of the afternoon. Afterwards, we did some shopping at the Marketplace. First stop was World of Disney for some pins (DVC resorts) and gifts for out Cat sitters. So impressed with the Millennium music, I bought the CD. The Lego store was next. There seems to be a little different display each time. After strolling though the Christmas and Home stores, we had a very late lunch/very early dinner at Rainforest. Annual Passes came in handy to give us a 10% discount on food.
It was now time to return to the hotel to clean up for our evening event. All of the participants of Karen’s conference got a complimentary ticket to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure. Apparently, because of the large number of participants, the park had closed early and would only be open for us. I was lucky to get a reduced rate ticket. This would be an exciting new `adventure’ for us as we had never been to Islands of Adventure nor had Karen been to Universal Studios. We took the chartered bus service from the hotel to the park and arrived just at opening time. It took us a little time to orient ourselves to what was where. Having the luxury of multiple visits to WDW, we rarely have to consult the map as to where we are going. This was a whole new park for us.
The tour buses dropped us by the back entrance to the park, right into Jurassic Park. Having just showered, we decided to skip the Jurassic Park River Adventure as the people exiting looked like they had just gotten out of a pool. Instead we opted for the more tame Pteranodon Flyers. A two person chair ride that is suspended from an overhead track and with wings above. Gives you a vantage point of the park and make you feel as though you are flying free.
Next stop was to Toon Lagoon. As we arrived rather early after the park opening, Popeye and Bluto Bilge Rat Riders, an even more of a wet ride than Jurassic Park, was just getting started. We continued over to Marvel Super Hero Island where I rode the Incredible Hulk Coaster. This was similar to MGM’s Rock N Roller Coaster in that it kept you upside down, sideways but different in that it was entirely outdoors. The other difference is that Hulk is not quite as smooth as Rock N Roller Coaster but it is considerably longer. All in all it is a great ride!!!
Next up, the Port of Entry. This is the usual place to start this park as the turnstiles are here. Since we started in the back of the park, we only now made our way here. As the entryway (as well as exit way) of the park there is mostly food and souvenir shops here. I must say that these folks spent a lot of time and money designing the architecture of the buildings and building them so that they have a real feel of a middle ages sort of time. We were both impressed.
After looking though the shops, we jumped on our motorcycle (pics) and headed to Seuss Landing. Much tamer rides here. Mostly for kids but since there were mostly (95%) adults, we got to ride on all of them. First up was The Cat in the Hat. Here you ride your couch through the storybook of The Cat in the Hat. The couch ride whips you left and right and all around, a fun representation of the storybook. After the Cat ride we walked over to the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. This ride is similar to Dumbo in that you get into flying fish that you can maneuver up and down. The difference is that periodically water sprays from the periphery of the ride. If you listen to the song (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish) it gives you a clue as to whether it will spray a red or blue fish and whether you should go up or down. Sometimes, the person controlling it (in our case Karen) sits on the inside and can really play havoc with your dry clothes. A very fun ride!
Right across the way from the Fish ride is the Caro-Suess-el. A Dr Seuss inspired carousel. (pics) The usual horses are actually characters from Dr. Seuss storybooks and the music is most definitely of the same flavor. With no waiting time, this was a must do!
After Suess Landing, The Lost Continent was next. We approached this massive, impressive stone building to find Poseidon’s Fury. This attraction tells the story of the duel between Zeus and Poseidon and how Zeus banished Poseidon to the seas. The story goes on to tell how Poseidon has reformed himself and how he would like the mortals to come ‘visit’ him. The entryway opens to revel water spilling onto the walkway which quickly transforms into a passageway with the water traveling up and around the passageway. Very impressive! As you walk through the water, you enter Poseidon’s Kingdom. The Kingdom is set up so that it appears like an underwater cavern with rock and water. On the screen at the back of the theater the story begins. The old man that leads you into this realm begins conversing with Poseidon and soon turns into an on-screen Zeus. Zeus and Poseidon begin to do battle with explosions of water and the actually battle being projected onto a falling wall of water. The ending results in Poseidon being banished again to the sea. Kind of reminiscent of Fantasmic actually.
After Poseidon’s Fury we began to get very hungry. Because this was a special event, not all of the staff was on duty and very few of the food places were open. So we walked our little feet off trying to find something to eat. Nothing!
Also here in The Lost Continent was the Dueling Dragons- the world’s first inverted roller coaster with tow tracks intertwined. Ah, skip that.
Back again to Jurassic Park, Triceratops Encounter. This is set up as a walk though attraction in a fictitious Triceratops laboratory. At the end is a huge animatronic Triceratops that you can actually pet.
As it was getting late and attractions were closing down, we decided to make our way to the buses. We casually walked through again and bought a few souvenirs from the Traders in the Port of Entry. After leaving the park, we walked through CityWalk (Universals night life district) and then to their massive parking facility. This is a huge multi-level parking garage with an area for bus parking. Settled into the bus, we were back to the hotel in no time.