Belle1962
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
Day Four, Nov. 20âÂÂAre we being stalked?
Cast: Please see previous posts
The original game planâÂÂbefore the huge mix-up at check in last night, was to check in, buy groceries and go to Universal to purchase our tickets so we didn't have to this morning. At the time, it didn't seem THAT important that we didn't get the tickets last night. BIG MISTAKE.
We're up early because we did not get any grocery shopping done last night so we planned on stopping at McDonald's for breakfast. Today was "Princess Day" for my niece. Every day of our trip I left goodies at her place at the table and I also left goodies for the boysâÂÂToy Story stuff for my 22 yo nephew and Donald Duck stuff for my 18yo DS.
We arrive at Islands of Adventure at 8:00 am. The ticket windows are not open. HMMM. Could have sworn they opened at 8:00. So we wait in line awhile. Other people are going up to the Guest Services window and then entering the park. Is it possible to buy tickets there??? I suggest we go over and check it out. No else wants to go so I go by myself. After awhile in that line, my son comes over and indicates my DH has asked the people at the gate (where they are letting people in) if I can purchase tickets at Guest Services. They tell him no-- so he tells me to get back in line with the others. I tell them I still think people are buying tickets in that line but move back to the ticket window line. At 8:30 AM the ticket window opens. But they aren't selling tickets yet. Why? Because the computer system is down. OOOKKKK. We hang out there for a little longer and then my brother walks over to the line at Guest Services. He waves my nephew over and then my nephew comes back to get his mom & sister out of the ticket window line. I am left standing in the ticket window line by myself (although I am the first person in line). They finally wave me over to the Guest Services line, where I discover they ARE selling tickets thereâÂÂalbiet the old fashioned by hand way- but still they are selling them. OKâÂÂI was in this line 30 minutes ago and you made me get out of it. We have wasted precious time. I am still not in a very good mood from last night and all of that stress and now we're spending this morning playing hide the ticket line. We get our tickets and enter Islands of Adventure. On the way through the turnstiles at the main entrance they have to hand write the number of the back of each ticket. Those poor employees must have had a serious case of writers cramp!
Once in IOA I want to head for Dueling Dragons (which you just happen to reach by walking through Whoville) but the others head for Marvel Superhero Island. We just sort of stop and stare at each other and my DH tells them to go on and we will just meet them back at that spot at 12:00. Being the wonderful man who knows me so well (after ten years of marriage) he knew I was so stressed that I needed the walk through the whimsical land of Dr. Suess and Whoville to brighten my day. We strolled through Whoville and then onto Dueling Dragons. We rode the front on both Fire & Ice. Then we strolled back through Whoville, after stopping to watch the talking fountain for a few minutes and then did Hulk & Spiderman. By this time I am done with rides. My neck is hurting and Spiderman literally blew my mind. (I still have some neurological problems from the accident and over the week I discovered that 3 D was not for me). We head over to Jurrasic Park and decide that I can do the Jurassic Park river ride (since there's only one "hill" at the end).
On the way to Jurassic Park we get pretzels and hot dogs. We then continue around the park looking at the scenery and just enjoying a leisurely stroll through the park. When we get back to Dueling Dragons, my DH decides to ride it again so we get in line for Fire (planning to do Ice afterwards). After about 20 minutes in line they announce they are adding additional vehicles (or whatever they called them) so there would be a delay while they put them on the tracks. We finally had to get out line and head back to the entrance in order to meet up with the rest of our group.
On the way back to the front of the park I stopped in Whoville to ride Mt. Crumpet. "Adults must be accompanied by a child nine years or younger". WHAT??? We don't have anyone that age in our immediate group. But never fearâÂÂa little boy and his Dad are just exiting the rideâÂÂI ask if I can borrow the little boy to ride but his Dad grabs him and they hurry away while the Dad is mumbling something about a restroom break. I guess asking strangers to borrow their children is out. BUT if we can run into my cousinâÂÂthey have a 2 and a 3 year old with them.
We meet our group back at the designated area and discover YES my cousin is there and his 2 year old is RIGHT THEREâÂÂasleep in the stroller. YesâÂÂI can ride. However I was quickly outvoted because no one wanted to wake a sleeping 2 year old. OkâÂÂmy son is 18 and my memory may have diminished the effects of waking a 2 year old from a sound sleep BUT I WANTED TO RIDE. SpoilsportsâÂÂall of them.
We decide on Hard Rock Café for lunch and walk over. On the way, my brother mentions they ran into the family we shared the cruise with on Saturday night. My SIL wanted to know if I had shared our itinerary with them. I said no and they immediately started making jokes about the dangers of "picking people up" on the internet, and how those of us who spend hours a day surfing the DIS aren't right in the head to begin with and now we have the other family stalking us. From this point on in the trip they would be referred to as "The Internet Stalking Family" (Hey Debbie and CrewâÂÂit was all in fun)
We've eaten at Hard Rock numerous times but this was the first time in the new and improved Hard Rock. My main complaint about Hard Rock (and most other restaurants) is that when you have a larger odd number group they tend to give you a table for the smaller number and squeeze you into it. For example, today for lunch we had a party of 7. Instead of giving us a table for 8 and taking away a chair, they gave us a booth for 6 and just threw a chair in the aisle at the end of the booth. The person who gets the aisle seat has people walking back and forth around them, waitresses trying to maneuver around them and must share table/plate space with the two people who are on the end next to them. But the food was delicious and our server was excellent.
After lunch we headed back to IOA. I wanted to go back to Whoville and ride the carousel so we headed over that way. On the way we passed the If I ran the Zoo attraction. I grabbed my niece and we went in to see exactly what it is. WHAT A BLAST!!! No matter what your age, be sure to leave time to play in here. Even the 18 & 22 year olds found something fun. My DH just loved the drinking fountain. He insisted on taking everyone back to show it to them. He told my nephew to stand back so he wouldn't get wet. It took my nephew a few minutes to figure out that standing exactly where he was told was probably not a good idea. As soon as that realization hit, he moved very quickly to another spot. After horsing around in the Zoo we headed for the carousel. I thought only my niece and I were going to ride and was pleasantly surprised when my too cool 18 year old DS jumped on the creature next to me. (It's moments like those you remember and treasure).
After riding the carousel we headed over to see Sinbad. This was a good stunt show and everyone loved it. On the way out we stopped to watch the men making medallions from bronze and silver. My DS asked if he could have one made and I said yes but we would do it when we returned on Wed.
Everyone had plans for Monday night (okâÂÂthe guys had plans for Monday night) so we headed home for the day. The guys were meeting at the ESPN Club at 7:00 to have dinner and watch the Redskins play on Monday night football. Reports from them indicate a great time was had by all (except maybe the 15 year old who fell asleep during the 3rd quarter and ended up with food stuck up and on various parts of body so that pictures could be made for future blackmail use). Having not had dinner yet ourselves, my niece, SIL and I decided that Ghiradellis would make a fine meal so off we went to Downtown Disney for our favorite meal---hot fudge sundaes. After we returned home we went by my cousin's condo and dropped off a few items I had purchased for them and looked around their place. In all fairnessâÂÂthe condo at the Town Center section of Westgate was beautiful. Brand new, clean and spacious. HoweverâÂÂnow that I know even owners have problems with check in and getting the correct unit I still wouldn't own there.
Off to bed because tomorrow is our "Designated Rest??? Day".
Cast: Please see previous posts
The original game planâÂÂbefore the huge mix-up at check in last night, was to check in, buy groceries and go to Universal to purchase our tickets so we didn't have to this morning. At the time, it didn't seem THAT important that we didn't get the tickets last night. BIG MISTAKE.
We're up early because we did not get any grocery shopping done last night so we planned on stopping at McDonald's for breakfast. Today was "Princess Day" for my niece. Every day of our trip I left goodies at her place at the table and I also left goodies for the boysâÂÂToy Story stuff for my 22 yo nephew and Donald Duck stuff for my 18yo DS.
We arrive at Islands of Adventure at 8:00 am. The ticket windows are not open. HMMM. Could have sworn they opened at 8:00. So we wait in line awhile. Other people are going up to the Guest Services window and then entering the park. Is it possible to buy tickets there??? I suggest we go over and check it out. No else wants to go so I go by myself. After awhile in that line, my son comes over and indicates my DH has asked the people at the gate (where they are letting people in) if I can purchase tickets at Guest Services. They tell him no-- so he tells me to get back in line with the others. I tell them I still think people are buying tickets in that line but move back to the ticket window line. At 8:30 AM the ticket window opens. But they aren't selling tickets yet. Why? Because the computer system is down. OOOKKKK. We hang out there for a little longer and then my brother walks over to the line at Guest Services. He waves my nephew over and then my nephew comes back to get his mom & sister out of the ticket window line. I am left standing in the ticket window line by myself (although I am the first person in line). They finally wave me over to the Guest Services line, where I discover they ARE selling tickets thereâÂÂalbiet the old fashioned by hand way- but still they are selling them. OKâÂÂI was in this line 30 minutes ago and you made me get out of it. We have wasted precious time. I am still not in a very good mood from last night and all of that stress and now we're spending this morning playing hide the ticket line. We get our tickets and enter Islands of Adventure. On the way through the turnstiles at the main entrance they have to hand write the number of the back of each ticket. Those poor employees must have had a serious case of writers cramp!
Once in IOA I want to head for Dueling Dragons (which you just happen to reach by walking through Whoville) but the others head for Marvel Superhero Island. We just sort of stop and stare at each other and my DH tells them to go on and we will just meet them back at that spot at 12:00. Being the wonderful man who knows me so well (after ten years of marriage) he knew I was so stressed that I needed the walk through the whimsical land of Dr. Suess and Whoville to brighten my day. We strolled through Whoville and then onto Dueling Dragons. We rode the front on both Fire & Ice. Then we strolled back through Whoville, after stopping to watch the talking fountain for a few minutes and then did Hulk & Spiderman. By this time I am done with rides. My neck is hurting and Spiderman literally blew my mind. (I still have some neurological problems from the accident and over the week I discovered that 3 D was not for me). We head over to Jurrasic Park and decide that I can do the Jurassic Park river ride (since there's only one "hill" at the end).
On the way to Jurassic Park we get pretzels and hot dogs. We then continue around the park looking at the scenery and just enjoying a leisurely stroll through the park. When we get back to Dueling Dragons, my DH decides to ride it again so we get in line for Fire (planning to do Ice afterwards). After about 20 minutes in line they announce they are adding additional vehicles (or whatever they called them) so there would be a delay while they put them on the tracks. We finally had to get out line and head back to the entrance in order to meet up with the rest of our group.
On the way back to the front of the park I stopped in Whoville to ride Mt. Crumpet. "Adults must be accompanied by a child nine years or younger". WHAT??? We don't have anyone that age in our immediate group. But never fearâÂÂa little boy and his Dad are just exiting the rideâÂÂI ask if I can borrow the little boy to ride but his Dad grabs him and they hurry away while the Dad is mumbling something about a restroom break. I guess asking strangers to borrow their children is out. BUT if we can run into my cousinâÂÂthey have a 2 and a 3 year old with them.
We meet our group back at the designated area and discover YES my cousin is there and his 2 year old is RIGHT THEREâÂÂasleep in the stroller. YesâÂÂI can ride. However I was quickly outvoted because no one wanted to wake a sleeping 2 year old. OkâÂÂmy son is 18 and my memory may have diminished the effects of waking a 2 year old from a sound sleep BUT I WANTED TO RIDE. SpoilsportsâÂÂall of them.
We decide on Hard Rock Café for lunch and walk over. On the way, my brother mentions they ran into the family we shared the cruise with on Saturday night. My SIL wanted to know if I had shared our itinerary with them. I said no and they immediately started making jokes about the dangers of "picking people up" on the internet, and how those of us who spend hours a day surfing the DIS aren't right in the head to begin with and now we have the other family stalking us. From this point on in the trip they would be referred to as "The Internet Stalking Family" (Hey Debbie and CrewâÂÂit was all in fun)
We've eaten at Hard Rock numerous times but this was the first time in the new and improved Hard Rock. My main complaint about Hard Rock (and most other restaurants) is that when you have a larger odd number group they tend to give you a table for the smaller number and squeeze you into it. For example, today for lunch we had a party of 7. Instead of giving us a table for 8 and taking away a chair, they gave us a booth for 6 and just threw a chair in the aisle at the end of the booth. The person who gets the aisle seat has people walking back and forth around them, waitresses trying to maneuver around them and must share table/plate space with the two people who are on the end next to them. But the food was delicious and our server was excellent.
After lunch we headed back to IOA. I wanted to go back to Whoville and ride the carousel so we headed over that way. On the way we passed the If I ran the Zoo attraction. I grabbed my niece and we went in to see exactly what it is. WHAT A BLAST!!! No matter what your age, be sure to leave time to play in here. Even the 18 & 22 year olds found something fun. My DH just loved the drinking fountain. He insisted on taking everyone back to show it to them. He told my nephew to stand back so he wouldn't get wet. It took my nephew a few minutes to figure out that standing exactly where he was told was probably not a good idea. As soon as that realization hit, he moved very quickly to another spot. After horsing around in the Zoo we headed for the carousel. I thought only my niece and I were going to ride and was pleasantly surprised when my too cool 18 year old DS jumped on the creature next to me. (It's moments like those you remember and treasure).
After riding the carousel we headed over to see Sinbad. This was a good stunt show and everyone loved it. On the way out we stopped to watch the men making medallions from bronze and silver. My DS asked if he could have one made and I said yes but we would do it when we returned on Wed.
Everyone had plans for Monday night (okâÂÂthe guys had plans for Monday night) so we headed home for the day. The guys were meeting at the ESPN Club at 7:00 to have dinner and watch the Redskins play on Monday night football. Reports from them indicate a great time was had by all (except maybe the 15 year old who fell asleep during the 3rd quarter and ended up with food stuck up and on various parts of body so that pictures could be made for future blackmail use). Having not had dinner yet ourselves, my niece, SIL and I decided that Ghiradellis would make a fine meal so off we went to Downtown Disney for our favorite meal---hot fudge sundaes. After we returned home we went by my cousin's condo and dropped off a few items I had purchased for them and looked around their place. In all fairnessâÂÂthe condo at the Town Center section of Westgate was beautiful. Brand new, clean and spacious. HoweverâÂÂnow that I know even owners have problems with check in and getting the correct unit I still wouldn't own there.
Off to bed because tomorrow is our "Designated Rest??? Day".
Playing find the ticket booth doesnt sound like much fun. Hope tomorrow is a restful day. 
