2003 04-05

Well last night’s plans and today’s reality turned out to be different.  We were up and ready to do something, so after breakfast (killing off the remainder of the Krispy Kremes), we decided to hit a park and come back early for some swimming.   

We elected to return to Universal, this time to Universal Studios.

 Today was another beautiful, sun-filled day, and since it was Saturday, we expected the park to be much more crowded than Thursday, but we were pleasantly surprised.  We had a 10 minute wait for T2-3D, a combination 3D and live action show continuing the Terminator story line.  From there, we headed to the back and caught the Back to the Future motion simulator.  Like many of the motion simulators, this one was showing its age.

 We continued on to the Men In Black Alien Attack. 

This is one of the big rides in this park, and yet there was only a 10-15 minute wait.  This ride is fun and entertaining.  You and five teammates fire your laser blasters at evil aliens.  They fire back, sending your vehicle spinning out of control.  Based on memories from three years ago, this ride is very similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrow Land at Disney.  Since we are heading to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow, we will be able to tell.

 We took a short walk to Amity and boarded the boat for Jaws.  The kids jumped at the appropriate times, so the effects still work.  We continued on the fear program and proceeded to Earthquake.  After a review of movie special effects, we got to experience an 8.3 earthquake from the confines of a subway car.  After Earthquake, the Beetlejuice Graveyard Review show was beginning, so we took a break and enjoyed the break and the music.

 Since we were all rested up, it was time to start a new disaster with Twister.  The pre-show seemed more like an ad for the movie than anything else.  The demonstration itself was pretty neat, though, simulating an F5 tornado.  Water is flying, along with cows and other typically ground-based items.  All these disasters got us might hungry, so we hit the Monster’s Café for chow.

 We stopped by the Nickelodeon Studios, but our timing was off to catch a show, so we went to the back of the park again and hit E.T. Adventure, based on the movie E.T.  You get to ride a bike and are sent flying through the air, helping E.T. get back home to save his planet.  We had heard that the new Jimmy Neutron ride was supposed to be running today so we went back to the front of the park, but unfortunately, they were still testing.  We elected not to wait and called it an early day.

 Since the Explorer was reporting an outside temperature of 87 degrees, we thought a bit of swimming was in order.  Unfortunately, the pool was still maintaining it close relationship with the lower temperatures and only the kids were brave enough to go in.  Still, it was nice to relax and enjoy some quite time.

 We had a quiet dinner at the house, eating up some restaurant leftovers and some frozen food.  Alex crashed on the couch shortly after dinner so it was off to bed for him.  The rest of us caught a little TV and headed for bed.

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This page last updated on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 09:24:33 PM