The Much Anticipated Bubba's Mom's Pictorial Trip Report To Universal-June 2007

[Spidey7]

I do plan pretty well, well enough to where there was only one thing I forgot. A can opener for the pineapple juice to mix with drinks!!! Oh well no harm no foul.

Planning that much is fun though, makes you think about the trip. Those trips just never last long enough do they. Just got back from last week and it just zoomed by in a wink of an eye.

 

[tlinus]

Great Installment, as usual, Barb!!!!

You really have a way with telling the story so people really feel like they are right there with you!!

 

[bubba's mom]

Great Installment, as usual, Barb!!!!

You really have a way with telling the story so people really feel like they are right there with you!!

Tricia....the Ball Factory is straight back ..... you have to walk through CG to the "back" to get inside the BF.

 

[keishashadow]

you didn't train them better than that?

it was all downhill after potty training them

 

[bubba's mom]

ain't you 'posed to be goin somewhere?

 

[macraven]

love this installlment

 

[keishashadow]

ain't you 'posed to be goin somewhere?

yep, i'm lolling away the day instead of packing...

actually waiting until Kalahari Water Park releases their Tuesday Noon specials (nobody told me it they ran on Central time lol) specials...might hit the jackpot.

I'm confused, thought Sandusy was on central time...will have to check. Mac, do you know?

If not, it's the econolodge maingate for us . While it's ranked #10 on trip advisor out of the Sandusky hotels, i am a-scared. Think i'll throw some lysol spray in the bag.

regardless...

thanks for posting such a great TR barb!!!!

 

[bubba's mom]

glad you all are enjoyin'.....

you're welcome janet....have a good, safe, fun trip

(i know it ain't no UO, but try to make the best of it!)

 

[macraven]

I'm confused, thought Sandusy was on central time...will have to check. Mac, do you know?


thanks for posting such a great TR barb!!!!

it's on eastern time


have you ever been to kelleys island in ohio?

 

[dsmom]

Another incredible installment! I love all the pictures(the one of your son looking at the pictures is my favorite.)

I am learning so much reading this too- I never noticed the lockers at Wimpys before. We are leaving this friday and have never done Curious George or Popeyes- I can't wait to try them this time! (It is supposed to be like 104 degrees this week-end here so it should feel great.) I will definately try Jaws at night too. EVERY time we have ridden it we have got the chum bucket! We were in row 5 once and row 6 once and thought we were safe but no such luck

And my husband does believe me now

 

[OnceUponADream07]

Hi Bubba's Mom - love the TR - only got to day 4 - but yes, I am reading at work AGAIN
Got lots of great ideas from you. I bought the over the door shoe holder for my toiletries - i'll let you know how that works. Also, think I will try the plastic card holder, too.
It is awesome that you guys actually could meet up face-to-face. Hope maybe I can do the same on my trip - I will have to check that out, too. Bringing my best friend, maybe we can find her a nice Dis/US kinda guy
Thanks,
Fern

 

[hayanyujah847]

I just finished catching up on your TR. I love it~! Love all of the pictures & details. It's totally getting me psyched for my trip in a month~! I look forward to reading your final installment!!

 

[OnceUponADream07]

I just finished catching up on your TR. I love it~! Love all of the pictures & details. It's totally getting me psyched for my trip in a month~! I look forward to reading your final installment!!

Couldn't agree more. I really enjoyed your TR and love the way you insert the pix where applicable, really makes it enjoyable and the pix more relevant.

...........yes, I am reading at work AGAIN

 

[srburks]

What a great report. We just got back on Aug 4th. Our teenage girls love the pictures that you took of the water show. They met the guys and got to ride a few rides with them. They were "in love". I am not sure if the guys were supposed to do that, but the girls were thrilled.

Thanks for the report

 

[GemmaPixie]

Finally caught up with the TR. Great days!! We went on Jaws at night aswell and it was soooo cool!! I really loved it!

 

[SpideyHulk24]

I love the report and the pics!

 

[bubba's mom]

Okay homies........I know it's been forever since an update, but I didn't remember so much going on the last day! So, onto our last day and sum up this TR.......

Sunday, July 1st..........


We slept in until about 9am-ish. After we were up and had some breakfast eats, DBIL stopped down to our floor/room to pick DH up drive him across the street to Holiday Inn Universal to retrieve our rental car at the Budget there. I gave DH the confirmation printout and 3 different coupons to use. (You have to know the coupons were in a certain order I preferred him to use them in ) When DH came back, I asked if he was able to use any of the coupons. He said the guy at Budget said we had gotten such a good rate ($167 incl taxes), that it was hard to get their system to accept any of them. (fyi: i got this rate just before we left thru SW. They sent me an email advertising car rental specials and I checked it out w/ Budget. I couldn't get the Holiday Inn Universal code to come up thru the SW site, so, I copied and pasted the SW code at the rentalcarmomma website.....worked like a charm! Saved about $35!) So, instead of using a coupon, the guy offered DH a $15 discount or free upgrade..DH chose the free upgrade because we had reserved an Economy and he said what he had for us was really small (which, doesn't really matter to us....3 people and 2.5 bags plus backpack...no big deal) We ended up with a Chevy Impala...nice n roomy.

We decided to opt for television checkout (this seemed to work really well for us in the past). When we pulled up the final bill, we were shocked it was so low!!!! We thought our bill would have been So much MORE!!! We was under budget! We compared the "paper" bill to the bill on the tv, and everything looked good...no mistakes. (We didn't really buy anything, so most of the charges were eats and the room!) The only thing we had to "think" back about was a "cart" charge back on Day 1.


I decided to keep the styrofoam cooler this year, so we emptied the water out of it and filled it strictly with ice. We put the last few waterbottles, the last 2 juices and the last beer in it and stowed it with our luggage while we went to the park. We could have stored it in our car, but DH figured the ice wouldn't melt as fast if we stowed it inside vs. the car outside in the heat and sun. This plan worked out nice, as we had cold water after our day in the parks for the car ride to Dad's.

We called DBIL to see where the rest of the family was, and they were eating breakfast downstairs, so we told them we would meet up with them at IOA. It was now almost 11:30. If I haven't mentioned it yet, I will take a second to mention it here. When entering IOA, if it's sunny/hot, stay to the left turnstiles. There are more trees on the left offering some shade vs. the right-side turnstiles. Upon arriving at IOA, we decided to do Spiderman first. We were going to do it again, but the EP line was backed up to the entrance (I noticed the time of day was about noonish....seems to usually back up around noon here). So, we decided to go the other way, and hit Storm Force. On the way, I hear someone yell out my name, It was keishashadow! She was keeping a spot on the bench comfy while waiting for her DH & DS. We chatted a few minutes about how things were going, what rides seemed to "break down" briefly, etc..... We met her husband and son when they returned and chatted a couple more minutes. We eventually moved on to Storm Force and and then the Hulk -- twice! Not sure why, but for some reason the "mist" on the Hulk wasn't working today... ....figures....good, hot day for it too!

After our spins on Hulk, we met up with the rest of the family at One Fish Two Fish in Suess Landing. The 3 of us did this ride for the first time (well, DH & I's first time...Bubba did it in Feb.) We sat in a "Two Fish" (seats 3 people) with me on the inside and DS manning the controls on the outside. I got the wettest out of the 3 or us....drenched! And of course, DH was the one who wanted to get wet (it was already getting pretty hot & humid). **HINT: Be sure to notice which "fish" you are in...it matters in the song....you'll need to know what to make "your" fish do (The idea is to follow the directions in the song to "avoid" getting wet....the opposite is true in our family however.... ....our kids' goal is to GET wet.... ) There are actually "red" fish and "blue" fish and if you are in neither a red or blue fish, then you are in a "1" (single) fish or in a "2" fish (seats up to 3). If you look at the ring of fish, they are in the order of: 1, 2, red, blue The EP line was really long for One Fish Two Fish because both the Cat in the Hat AND the Car-o-Suess-el were closed.....but not for long, as they were open by the time we got on One Fish Two Fish.

After this, we all decided to head to Poseidon's Fury. The line went rather quick I thought. While waiting for the second room to fill, I snapped this picture and this one and then got yelled at: "No photography"....ooops! My bad I, of course, ignored my warning and shot this picture of the water tunnel. Did you know that water is warm?! However, if your feet were fortunate enough to get a little wet walking through the tunnel (they may if you walk along the edges), be warned they will be freezing by the time you enter the next room! I got cold toesies from the jacked up airconditioning!

After Poseidon, 6 of us headed toward the Dragons and the rest ventured toward Flying Unicorn. Of course, we stopped to be entertained by the Mystic Fountain, where our nephew ticked him off. After a brief pause here, we finally arrived at DD.

We entered the Fire queue first and were going to wait for the front row, but the line for Ice's front row looked shorter....so, we jumped into the Ice front row line (We prefer the front row on Ice anyway...mostly because of the 'wall') After Ice, we went right back on Fire (got the 2nd and 3rd rows I believe)....almost no wait.

After DD, we grabbed drinks at Alchemy Bar and headed toward Flying Unicorn to meet up with the others....at least, that's where I thought we was goin'. Turns out, they weren't waitin' on us, and headed toward Jurassic Park River Adventure. When we arrived at JPRA, some were in line for the ride, others went to the Splash Zone to get some wets and cool off! Bubba said he was getting hungry, so DH went to get him a hotdog. While waiting for him to return, the gang in line for JPRA came back saying the ride was having some technical difficulties. ......I was wondering why nobody was getting wet in Splash Zone and I hadn't seen a boat in awhile! (I did realize at this point, I hadn't ridden JPRA this trip either )

While the kids were a little disappointed they couldn't ride or get wet in Splash Zone, we decided to head toward Popeye (this family loves that ride!) So, the 16 of us went on Popeye ....... twice! The standby line was 2 hours (it was really hot this day) and we rode it twice in the time it took a lady to come down the steps to the loading area and actually board a raft! Something about that onsite FOTL when you are hot, wanting to get wet, and doing it twice in a row before somebody standing in line for 2 hours rides once..... At the time we were shoving off from the loading dock, they made an announcement that inclement weather was on the way and there may be delays on the ride. But, they were still loading boats while playing the announcement.....guess they were 'preparing' the people who were waiting for 2 hours that they may not get to ride..... I tell ya, if I had been waiting all that time, and just missed riding.... oh I'd be so

We were going to ride Dudley (which, I hadn't ridden this week either!), when we heard some thunder rumbling. We bagged Dudley's and hoofed it to Confisco's pretty quick (gotta watch out for that lightening ya know)! We were moving pretty quick (didn't even stop to do Spiderman!) and our party of 16 arrived at Confisco's approximately 4:15. We thought we'd have to wait a while for a table (since we figured everyone was taking cover and there were SO many people in our group...but, when we got to Confisco's, the place was empty! I couldn't believe it. They sat us right away in the back corner by a window.

We weren't at Confisco's long before the wind really started picking up and it started raining. We took turns changing out of wet clothes and wet swimsuits in to dry duds in the restrooms and ordered drinks. By now, it was really starting to rain hard, get windy and it was really thundering and lightening out. (It was even concerning the resident Floridians in our party) We also decided to order "dinner".... I don't remember who ordered what, but some of the dishes we had were.....quesadillas, paninni, chicken wrap, kids pizza, mac & cheese a salad, and a cheeseburger. We ate, talked, watched the rain and thunder and lightening get worse and then let up...then get bad again. It was kind of humorous to watch as the rain let up a little, people walking or running for the exit. We could always tell how hard it was raining by the amount of people outside and if they were running.

After a couple of hours, it was still raining, but we didn't hear thunder or see lightening. We figured it would be raining the rest of the day, so we may as well call it a day. For our last day, I promised Bubba we would buy candy as our last day treat (we didn't really buy any souvys, and we NEVER buy candy, so this was a splurge for us). We decided if we were walking from Confisco's at POE back to the RPR, then a few more drops of rain walking back around the corner to the candy shop in SL, wouldn't kill us. It wasn't a pouring rain, nor a drizzle, but a steady light rain. We said our "goodbyes" to family and headed out in the rain (yes, in our dry clothes).

Of course, on the way to the candy store, we had to pass Cat in the Hat. Oh well...why not take a spin? The EP line was almost non-existant. We did our last spin on Cat in the Hat and headed toward the candy shop. We noticed the Car-O-Suess-El and One Fish Two Fish were running....and they were running with people ON them! (I guess some people are just "diehard" and don't mind getting a little more wet. ) We browsed the Mulberry Store and book store (something we haven't done before) and the last stop was the candy store. We purchased a mixture of candy and "sampled" it to be sure it was okay and took Bubba's picture.

On our way to the exit from Suess Landing, the rain had lightened up quite a bit, and DH asked who was up for one last ride on Spiderman? Well, of course we weren't going to say "no"! We headed for Spiderman and we actually waited about 5-10 minutes (I guess everyone was taking cover from the rain). I did notice the standby line was 25 minutes (still, not bad). After that ride on Spidey, we decided "may as well go again". Now there wasn't anyone in the EP line, we got on right away with no wait.

After our second spin on Spidey, we decided it was probably time to go. It was 7:30pm and it was still raining -- lightly, but steadily. Figuring it was going to rain the rest of the evening, we headed back to RPR. I will say, Universal made a ton of money today on ponchos and umbrellas! I checked the price of the ponchos on my way out (again, walking through the Trading Company gift shop to stay a bit drier), and they were $7 each. I didn't bring my dollar-store ponchos today because I figured if it rained, we'd already be wet....go figure! (Turns out, a couple of days later, I would be emptying the bag I was carrying, and find those ponchos in a different pocket! I forgot I put them in there and didn't tell DH so he could remind me (like I usually do)....serves me right!)

We walked back to the RPR and by the time we got there, we were wet, but not soaked. Our feet and flipflops were soaked, but we toweled off and put the heat on in the car and warmed right up! We started on our way to Ocala to Dad's for the rest of the week and while DH was driving, I took this picture and did this day's TR in the car on my laptop.

All in all...a wonderful week at Universal Orlando. A few things we didn't even do, figuring "we had all week" to do them, but that week went so fast, before we knew it, we didn't have time! Oh well...we CAN say we've done everything on the map (except Fear Factor and Barney) and look forward to another trip....planning next summer already!

Our week at Dad's flew by also......here's some highlights of our week:

Bubba relaxing in the pool
Bubba practicing snorkeling
more snorkeling practice
a pro snorkeler after 15 minutes! [url=http://www.freesmileys.org][/url]
giving it a go w/ flippers
Dad's birthday...4th of July
family pic (DH with his Dad, sister & brother)
my darling husband
DS 'body surfing' DH
goofin' around in the pool
"cannonballing" Dad
My son and my FIL
Bubba at Mom's Memorial Tree
outside of SeaWorld (i think?) at MCO
DH "hittin' on" Snow


I would like to thank everyone for reading.....I hope someone learns a tip or trick to make YOUR vacation a bit more enjoyable! I am afraid that is all I have to report for this trip.....but, there's always next year

 

[macraven]

and we want to thank you for sharing your life and your vacation with us!

i it all

 

[GemmaPixie]

Awwww it's all over...Great trip report!!

 

[RVGal]

Fabulous report!

I'll agree with Gemma and maybe pout a little that it has come to an end.

I don't know if I can wait a year for another one...