BoddaH1994 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 This report actually starts after day 2. I just wanted to note that after leaving Sea World, I met up with an old friend of mine down in Orlando and he showed me around a little bit. We stopped by Universal's Boardwalk, which was a very nicely lit up area outside of the Universal theme parks. We ended up eating at the Hard Rock Cafe' on the Boardwalk where I had some incredible mac 'n cheese. The place was as elaborate as any other Hard Rock. The most interesting part of the experience was when I was asked to take a survey as we were leaving the boardwalk. The question they asked was, "Do you ever post on theme park related web sites?" I told them I do quite often. ha ha Day 3 - Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We began day 3 at Universal Studios. The park was absolutely beautiful and totally convincing that it was a movie backlot. The operations left a little to be desired... the park opened at 9:00 with only four attractions. The rest of the attractions were scheduled to open at 10:30. Not that big of a deal, but a little irritating when you're trying to compress as much stuff into a week's span as we were. The first ride of the day was their famous ride themed after The Mummy. This ride was every bit as good as people say it is! The ending really makes the ride -- I'm not going to completely spoil it for those of you who haven't ridden, but let's just say when you think it's over the room catches fire. Next we went on to ride The Simpsons. It was kind of a bittersweet experience since I'm a huge Back to the Future fan and I had been dying to ride it since I was little and I know I never will. The Simpsons was, however, a really fun ride with some laugh-out-loud quirks including a billboard in the ride asking you to send money to Universal Studios and several direct shots at Disney World. Next we rode the famous Men in Black ride. I was impressed by how large the ride is. There were some rooms that were hundreds of square feet of just scenery. The ride was good, but I thought the shooter part of the ride was a little hard to operate. We waited for Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rocket to open, we decided to check out the Twister show. Like any other show, there is a long-winded preshow that sets the scene, but this one was worth it. You walk into this "movie set" that gets hit by a tornado. Before long, power lines are down, roofs are being torn apart, fire catches and the building that you're in looses its integrity Check it out: After we got out of Twister, Hollywood Rip, Ride Rocket opened. This ride can be summed up in one word: sad. The concept of the ride is that you're making a music video, and I liked the fact that you picked your own music for the ride. I pick The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels. They did the best they could to sync the music with the ride but that didn't mask the fact that the ride experience itself was mediocre and it was an eyesore in the Universal skyline. It simply didn't fit in with the rest of the rides there. Why didn't this end up at Islands of Adventure? Somewhere along the way I got to meet a childhood hero: Dr. Emit Brown - inventor of the Flux Capacitor. I must admit that I felt like a kid again when I did this... I'm probably reaching the photo limit now, so check out pt. 2 of day 3 involving Islands of Adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback FOF Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Would that really be the photo limit already? Other trip reports have many more photos than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avatar Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Ryan – again your enthusiasm and enjoyment shows through your words while describing you trip to us. Have recently visited I enjoy reading you assessments of Universals attractions. Mummy The Ride is spectacular and trying to explain it can never do it justice. I have seen some of your FaceBook photos and one that I seen in there but not mentioned here was the Betelgeuse show. How did you like it? I loved it and laughed out load many times with all the cleaver double meaning one liners. I wanted to text you and tell you to not miss the show but I knew Todd would steer you right and if you did not see it this trip I could tell you would be back and would be able to catch the shows/attractions you missed the first time through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted November 13, 2009 Author Share Posted November 13, 2009 Oh, we saw Beetlejuice. It kind of reminded me of Ghouls Gone Wild (in fact, they make a reference like that in the show). It was a lot of fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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