LifL and DW's TR

Thank you. I hope it does help and bring a little magic to people when they can't get to the World. Will be working on it this weekend.

Ehhh...I wouldn't necessarily call it relaxing, but it wasn't taxing either. I was not able to be truly at ease, as we all like to be on vacation; but we were having so much fun I was just fine with that. So, simply put, it would have been more relaxing without the extensive planning but it wouldn't have been nearly as fun.

It is, a bit, but the planning in and of itself is not the hard part. The hard part for me was that DW didn't know about any of it. It took a lot of extra effort to keep her in the dark and it also meant I didn't have any help with logistics or time-management.

It did, but it was all worth it. Our upcoming trip will be much easier, but I will still plan a few nice surprises for my sweetie.

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom pt 5

Arriving back at The Fountains was a nice break.
Funny, we didn't so much as dip out toes in the pool. We were out in the World morning, noon, and night.

We headed inside, relaxed for a few then showered and changed into summer clothes (even though it was SUPPOSED TO BE fall). We did not have to worry about carrying our costumes into the park since we had left them in the lockers.

Arriving back at MK we decided to take the ferry in instead of the Monorail. It was a nice relaxing way to start our evening. We noticed immediately there were a lot of other adult couples, sans children, in costume. This was really exciting for us to see like-minded people right off the bat. As we sat down, a couple from the UK sat down next to us all done up in their best vampire attire and make-up. It was clear they put a lot of effort into their costumes, which again made me feel better about the lengths I'd gone to.

As soon as we were allowed to disembark the ferry, we raced to our locker. We collected our costumes (Wicked Witch and Flying Monkey) and headed to the nearest restrooms to get all suited up. We had decided DW would not wear her moss green stage make-up since it was so hot. DW was ready long before I was since mine was a bit more involved. Even as I was in the bathroom, only halfway in my monkey fur I was sweating like nobodies business. This was going to be a long night...awesome, but long. As my sweetie was waiting for me, a man who had just come from the bathroom where I was still getting into my costume walked up to her and said "He's coming". We thought it was pretty funny he immediately put together that we were a pair. As I finally joined DW, the man came back over and said smiling and shaking his head "I understand man, my wife has made me dress up too". We both got a kick out of this, but DW had to point out it was actually all my idea. We put our bags and clothes in our lockers (which really came in handy, since you get them all day) and headed into the Kingdom.

As soon as we walked out of the locker area, we started getting lots of looks and comments. People stopped us at times to talk and take pictures of us. A lot of people made the Wicked Witch cackle as we walked by or made other Oz comments. I was surprised though at how many people apparently had no idea 'what we were supposed to be'. I didn't know there were that many people alive that had not seen the Wizard of Oz. We stopped at several PhotoPass locations on our way down Main Street USA. Over the course of the evening, we got some amazing shots thanks to the PhotoPass folks.

Our first destination for the evening, fittingly, was the Haunted Mansion. Out front were former or current residents of the Mansion (AKA talented CM's) and photo ops with the Hearse. As we made our way into the foyer, the CM was behind us singing "Dun unt dun unt dunt nuh nuh, Dun unt dun unt dunt nuh nuh" where only we could hear. I couldn't believe it, and I was absolutely cracking up. It only got funnier when DW didn't get it (more on that later). As he led us all into the stretching room, he did it again which prompted DW to put on her best wicked face and glare at him. Although already very hot and drenched in sweat, this was one of the best HM rides ever.

Leaving the Haunted Mansion, we decided to start our trick or treating. I think this is a great touch. You, even as big kids like us, can actually trick or treat in the park and they give out the good stuff (although much of it was not fresh). As we headed to our first station, we ran into a woman dressed and Dorothy. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw us coming. From here we slowly made our way to the next station; slowly because some of them were hard to find. As we were walking away from this station, someone walked up behind us and let out a loud Wicked Witch cackle. After a split-second of hesitation DW jumped, spun around, landing with her feet wide, hunched and made her best wicked face. Apparently this was a big hit as the cackler broke out into roaring laughter.

One of the best things about doing MNSSHP the same day we went to MK (though not the cheapest option) was the fact that we didn't have to worry about squeezing everything in. I knew we would have plenty of time to ride our favorites again and catch anything we had missed with minimal waits. After a few treat stops, we decided to head over to Stich's Great Escape. On the way there, an older woman was staring at us and pointing. As we got closer, DW gave her a sinister look and a finger wave. The woman seemed started, which we got a kick out of. I enjoyed the ride, as I usually do, and DW thought it was real fun but didn't so much enjoy the burp. From here we headed toward Fantasyland and rode The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan's Flight. While we did enjoy the former, it was not in the same league for us as the latter. I don't know what it is, but I just love Peter Pan's Flight (DW really enjoyed it as well). Odd part is, I wasn't even a big Peter Pan fan as a child. For some reason, everything about the ride just works for me. It is immersive and for whatever reason allows me to forget I'm a grown up more than any of the other kiddie rides. To my recollection, Peter Pan was the longest line of the evening at maybe fifteen minutes. It was at least three times that all day before MNSSHP, even with the relatively light crowds.

After the rides, we decided it was time for more trick or treating. We were told there were a number of stations in the Toon Town area, so that's where we headed. Just as we arrived in the area, Hallowishes was beginning. We had planned not to view the fireworks from Main Street or the Castle but hadn't decided exactly where we would watch them from. As it turned out, we found a bit of a hidden gem. From where we were, we had an amazing view. Instead of watching somewhat of a 2D fireworks show (where all the fireworks are in front of you) we had fireworks all around us. What's better is we were about the only ones there. We were able to stand in awe, or sit down to enjoy the show. The show, as many of you know, was spectacular. The music and all the colors were outstanding and stood out from the other shows. When the show was over, we made our way into Toon Town and made out like bandits.

At this point, we were all kinds of hot and sweaty so we decided to change out of our costumes to really enjoy some rides and the rest of our time in the Magic Kingdom. We headed back to our lockers and didn't even bother changing in the restrooms since we had clothes on underneath our costumes. We were the only ones in the locker area but did duck behind the lockers to get out of the costumes. It felt great to get out of the costumes and into some cooler clothes. We stowed our costumes back in the lockers and headed out. First thing we wanted to do was cool off on Splash Mountain. There was hardly any wait and we were able to get right on. DW was surprised at how long the ride is, while I (having been on this and the DL version many times) just soaked it all in. The drop was a bit more tame than expected because there were only a few of us on the "log".

By now it was getting close to closing time, so we decided to head back to Big Thunder Mountain. This time there was a wait and we could see the trains were full. This was one of very few times, I was glad there was a wait; since our earlier rides were slower because of the near empty trains. This time the ride was significantly faster and even more fun. So much so, in fact that we had to ride it twice. The second time we rode we switched sides, with DW sitting on the right. She found out quickly this was not her favorite since the rider on the left (me) tends to be thrown into the rider on the right. I kept sliding into her and smooshing her, but I was laughing so hard I couldn't help it. She still had a great time the second ride, and I laughed so hard my face hurt. Now it was time for this memorable night to draw to a close. We headed out, stopping by our lockers to grab our costumes. DW and I decided we wanted to take the ferry again and wouldn't you know it the same vampire couple from the UK sat next to us on the way out as they had on the way in. We shared a few friendly words but it was clear both couples were worn out. This was a very relaxing way to end our evening.

Universal parks are next. Hopefully I'll be able to work on this Tuesday as I am traveling on business.

Wednesday - Universal Studios

First thing first, we needed to go to Kissimmee Guest Services to pick up our gift bags (since they weren't open when we got in town). When I expressed my frustration that they were closed (again, they did not have any indication online or otherwise their hours had changed) the gentleman working there was empathetic and gave us two goodie bags instead of one. They were filled will all sorts of stuff including keychains (my favorite the light up PotC sword ones), stuffed toys, assorted souvenirs, and kiddie things like those little teeny playing cards all from the local theme parks.

Arriving onto Universal property, I found the layout very interesting. You have to walk quite a ways past stores and vendors galore. While this is of course no different than what Disney does, it felt poorly executed to me; was like they are trying too hard. There were some interesting restaurants, stores, and entertainment but none were interesting enough to us to warrant a stop.

One of the first things we encountered when entering the park was the Terminator 2 3D show. We were excited to check this out, but we had some time to kill before the next show so we went over to catch Shreck 4D. The holding area from Shreck was interesting, but there wasn't much more to see after you've been standing there a few minutes. The show itself was real neat, especially if you like Shreck. It had the characters you would expect and some of that crass humor. It also had 4D elements like water, as so many 3D shows do these days. As we exited the attraction, we came across the animatronic interactive Donkey (a la Push, the talking trash can - only this one was not mobile). We stood and watched him interact with guests for a few minutes and got a kick out of that. Next we went back across the way to catch the Terminator show. As you're led into the holding room, you are greeted by a representative of "the company" who is just in a SUPER mood. She was super excited to see us, and super enthusiastic (seeing a trend here?). If you have not yet, when you do see this show remember this part is SUPER! We both thought she was very, very funny and did a great job with the character. The show itself consisted of live actors interacting with set pieces and a 3D screen. Though it was older technology, we thought the show was pretty cool. Exiting the ride, you are have to go through the gift shop (sound familiar Disney fans?). They had some neat Terminator paraphernalia including a life-size T-1000 replica. It was very detailed and all kinds of cool looking. I don't remember how much it was, but it was not cheap. The poor woman behind the counter had to ask people not to touch it (despite the big sign) over, and over, and over again as people exited the attraction. It was clear this woman had said this many times before this day, as she really looked run down by the process.

Once back outside, we started to see a lot of the characters roaming the streets. Fairly convincing Lucy and Marilyn were among the first we saw. Among others were the Blues Brothers, and characters form the Mummy including big creepy guys on stilts. There were mock sets and movie props all over the place. We enjoyed looking over them and taking some pictures, but it didn't have any of that 'magic' we've come to expect. We decided this would be a good time to check out the "Lucy - A Tribute" nearby. It was a rather extensive walk-through exhibit with all sorts of footage, artifacts, and historical information. Being Lucy fans, we really enjoyed this. It was fun to walk through at our own pace and take the time to read and look over everything. It wasn't huge, but there were a lot of interesting things to see. Even being pretty familiar with the woman and her career, I learned a lot of things I did not know.

From Lucy, we headed to Revenge of the Mummy. This ride had one of the best queues you're likely to find anywhere. It had a very convincing Egyptian feel with tons of interesting pieces and some interactive ones. You really feel like you're in a different world, at least for a little while. The ride itself was very fun, but not quite as exciting as I expected. There is a lot of fire, so it gets pretty warm. After our enjoyable Mummy experience, we went over the Twister - Ride It Out. This attraction had the longest, worst, most boring queue I have ever been in. Being the only time I've been to the attraction I don't know if this is the norm, or if there was some sort of delay. We watched the same intro (filler) movie over and over and over again. This was after waiting from some time in a line outside the attraction building. I'm not sure how long we waited total, but I suspect it was close to an hour. It was awful; we almost left several times. After all that waiting, the show/attraction was pretty neat. You are basically standing right in a big Twister set, watching tornadic chaos all around (in front of) you. Nothing too astounding, but it's worth seeing.

After our lackluster Twister experience, we decided to up the stakes and head over to the Hollywood Rip Ride Rock-it. This was our first experience with Universal's locker system. Their rides are not designed to let you take anything on with you. For any of the coasters or thrill rides, you have to rent a locker. They are synched with the queue timers of the ride, and as long as you go straight to the locker from the ride you won't have to pay anything. When you get back to the lockers, you have to remember which locker was yours (seems easy enough, but remember you have to do this every time you ride one of the 'big' rides) then wait for the inevitable technologically challenged people ahead of you to struggle to try to figure out how to get the locker to work/open. If you forget or go to a store or something first you will have to pay to get your things back. Pretty dirty trick if you ask me.

Though the crowd level in the park was low, the lines were quite long for this ride. I suspect this was do to its being new, and maybe the staff getting used to operating it with a large volume of guests. At least I hope it was something new to the staff, because they did an absolutely terrible job of managing the queue and efficiently getting people on the ride. The line moved very slowly, and the person tasked with assigning guests from each of the two lines (regular and single rider) to a car and row seemed to be doing so arbitrarily. We had plenty of time to observe, and could not figure out any sort of logical system. The only objective he seemed to have was to go out of his way to make sure people together in the single rider line were not seated next to each other. He would let thirty people from line A, then six people from line B. Once we finally got close, I was getting very excited. There were a number of other excited first-time riders around us in line. I was sharing what I knew with people, as I'd done a good deal of research (as is the norm for me). Once seated, I prepared for the moment when the screen would come to life to be sure I got my secret code in in time. For the first ride, I chose a hidden metal track that escapes me. DW had trouble accessing the hidden tracks, so she got stuck with a default track. I could tell right away as the ride got going that this was a new type of experience. On it's own, it's a good coaster with some novel elements but nothing too crazy. The ride is very smooth for this type of coaster, so you are able to just enjoy the mild thrills. It's not so scary as it is fun (mind you that's coming from a coaster enthusiast). Now, when you couple all this with the lights and music of your choice it is another story entirely. I (especially being a music nut), thought they really hit it out of the park with the concept. It is a different experience each and every time you ride, depending on your choice of music. The second time we rode, we decided to wait in the single rider line since that would be quicker, right? WRONG. It took even longer than the first long wait. Several parties got out of line, fuming mad and went to complain it was so ridiculous. The long wait was made a little easier when we befriended a mom and her two boys in line. They were near us in line the second and third time we rode. The boys were around seven and nine and very excited to go on the ride again. They really got a kick out of all the new information I had for them, such as how to access the hidden tracks. For my second ride, I chose the hidden "Break on Through" by the Doors and this was a special experience. It was like the ride was made for the song, or vice versa. They did an outstanding job, synching the music to the ride elements. The only downside to the hidden tracks is you can not see or purchase your music video (a video featuring your music and YOU on the ride, with some schnazzy post-production to tie it all together) after the ride as you can with a normal track. As I recall, DW picked standard tracks the second and third time, I tried a standard track the last time - Beastie Boys I think. As stated above, each track yielded a markedly different ride experience. We both loved this ride and would consider going back to ride some more.

Next up, we head to DTD for another special surprise.

Thanks, dsoup. I do have DW's notes to help but they are pretty basic.

Annie, to access the hidden tracks you hold the RRR logo at the top of the screen for ten seconds (need to do it as soon as you can when seated), then release, when you do a numeric keypad appears where you can enter the three digit code for your song of choice, then press 'Enter'. Right now there are only hidden tracks in the 100, 300, 500, 700, 900's. You can find lists online, but it's not easy. If any of you guys are going, just let me know and I'll compile what I've got and share it. OR, you can spend $.99 and buy the handy iPhone app I just found out about.

From the Wiki: "The coloration and lighting of the ride track was selected to enhance
the ride experience and to minimize the visibility of the track's
support columns.
The ride vehicles themselves feature color-changing LEDs for a dynamic appearance,
with each train having its own display pattern, which itself will change
as it passes through each major section of the ride's layout." Unfortunately we were not able to ride at night, but we would love too. I hear it's even better after dark. It's pretty neat, even in the daylight.

About the ride itself, I feel I should be clear that it does have some very thrilling parts. My contention is that, if you are used to thrill rides, it is nothing too scary. It's thrilling, but still comfortable in my opinion. The scariest part is probably the initial lift, as it is at ninety degrees. Cool part is, though, that you're already rocking out to your music so it is not nearly as tense as on other rides.

More on the Mummy ride; I failed to mention it is an indoor coaster. It is rated (by Amusement Today, the ones who give the Golden Ticket Awards) as the NUMBER ONE indoor coaster in the world. Initially in my review, I wasn't thinking much about the ride but the theming and other elements. The ride itself is excellent. While it does not have any inversions, it does have eighty degree banked turns and other very exciting components. The neat thing about it is it incorporates all sorts of other features normally not present on a coaster. Special effects and surprises you normally only get on a more classic style dark ride where you're simply on a slowly moving seat.

Brad, you are absolutely right. As a whole, their parks simply do not measure up. They don't have that carefree, happy (tried real hard not to use "magical" that time) atmosphere we all love so much. The staff were okay on average, but only okay. Some were very pleasant and quite helpful, but others were flippant and acted like we were bothering them by being there. I do think their parks are worth a visit if you've never been. Beyond that, it's a judgement call. I would consider going back this year, but am leaning towards having some relaxing non-park days instead.

I've read recently they've upped the number of trains on RRR to five or even six making the wait time dramatically shorter. Read one account that said it hadn't been over fifteen minutes their whole trip. In the past, even when the park was slow it could be 90min plus.

She didn't used to be She did enjoy them before we met, but is afraid of heights and didn't have nearly the fondness for them she does now. The 90 degree lifts are tense for most of us, myself included. Like I said though, on RRR you're already rocking out to your choice of music before the lift even starts. It makes it much more tolerable. You can ride it with a very relaxing song the first time (or every time). Honestly choosing a soothing song, something very comfortable and familiar to you, would go a long way for you. I mean, how could you possibly be scared zipping around listening to The Muppets?

It is a hidden track, but I'm assuming they had to pay licensing as with any other track (with the below mentioned exception). Does bring up an interesting question though; why or IF Disney would allow that. Maybe they got around it by using covers of such songs.

Thanks again for the encouragement.