robbalvey
Posts: 111
Registered: 10/19/2000
Rank: Bronze Critic
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 6/1/2005 3:28:10 PM
Day 1 - BGT and IOA
Flew the redeye from LAX to MCO and got in at 6am.
Picked up our rental car and went straight to BGT since we were scheduled to meet up with their PR dept an hour before the park opened.
Met up with plenty of time to spare, and rode Shakira twice to get the footage we needed. The ride is much better than I thought it would be. Really quite a lot of fun! I would "kind of" compare it to the SUF's in that there are parts of it that are REALLY good, and parts that are just 'ok.' Overall, I think I liked it better than SUF and it was VERY well themed up!
The splashdown ending, for example was just REALLY well done. Thumbs up of from all of us! Both drops were really good, and while it may not be as "forceful" as rides like Kumba or Montu, it delivered more forces, both positive and negative G's that we were expecting. And with the recent B&M's, we didn't think it would be.
We did a lap around BGT - rode Montu twice, Kumba once, Cheetah Chase (finaly rode this after, what two years it's been there?), Scorpion and then we headed out.
Got to our hotel, Universal's Royal Pacific, around 3:30, got our front of the line pass and got to IOA around 4ish.
We managed to do nearly a complete lap including Hulk, Spiderman, Buzzsaw, Bluto, JP, F.U. (Flying Unicorn), and dragon hopped three times!
The only thing we didn't hit was Cat In The Hat and 1 Fish, 2 Fish. We'll do those on Saturday.
By now, we were totally wiped out and ready for bed! =)
Day 2 - Epcot, & MGM
Friday morning - we started out at Epcot. Went right to Soarin'. Nice queue, identical to DCA's other than that. We found it quite interesting that there was NO merchandise for this ride...AT ALL! We asked several leads in a number of different merch locations and they simply said "they just didn't make any." Odd.
We did Test Track and Mission Space, then did the tour of 'ghetto boat rides in World Showcase.' The "Mexican It's a Small World" and the "Norway - We have Trolls, Polar Bears, and Oil Rigs Ride." Ok so Norway isn't that ghetto, but it's weird! =)
Friday afternoon - Went to lunch at Big River Brewery. Good beer (says Elissa's dad) and good meatloaf.
Next up...MGM! We managed to get in 4 rides on "Good Tower" (Jon was all...man this Tower craps all over DCA's!), 1 ride on coaster, Elissa got into the hot seat in Millionaire (again!), we saw the stunt show (which I actually think the Paris version might be a little better), and did a little shopping.
The interesting thing about the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show is that they didn't have the guest participation that I remembered in the Paris version. And there was also a water ski part that was really lame, which I don't remember the Paris version having. Overall, though, it's a REALLY good show...and we don't normally do shows!
Friday night - Back to Universal, went to dinner with some friends and just 'crashed' out in the lobby lounge with them chatting about the most random stuff in the world. It was SOOOOO much better than being at any theme park! 
Day 3 - Back to Universal!
Today would be our 'all day at Universal/IOA day.' And it really did kick ass, especially with the front of the line pass.
We did pretty much EVERYTHING!
Mummy a bunch of times, MiB a bunch of times, Jaws, Shrek, Jimmy Neutron, Dragons a bunch of times, Hulk a bunch of times, Spiderman, Posiden's Fury, JP, Ripsaw, 1 Fish 2 Fish, Doom, Cat In The Hat, etc, etc, etc.....
Lunch was at Mythos, and OMFG this is still the best food in any theme park EVER!!! And this time my normal entrees were not there! No Balsamic Chicken, no Spicy Asian Wings, no Tortillia Soup. But I had the most KICK ASS nachos....hard to even describe, and this HUGE Chinese chicken salad. Followed of course by the warm gooey banana chocolate cake! Yum!
I give Universal kudos for allowing the resort guests to have unlimited express passes. I can't wait<
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