I'm not going to write another boring trip report about Universal Orlando, seeing as how it's the fourth time I've been there in the last year. The only thing different, and it's pretty significant, is that I went with someone who had never been. Diana was mostly an Orlando virgin!
Operationally, the whole place seems to be working better and friendlier. When I was at IOA on Wednesday, they were running four trains on Dueling Dragons even though the place was a ghost town. Mummy was fully operational, which is sweet because I was excited for Diana to see it. There were some missing dinosaurs on the JP River Adventure, but I suppose they need to get refurb'd at some point. Once again, I was robbed as Ripsaw Falls was closed for the annual rehab.
I noticed a fair amount of construction going on behind Jurassic Park, but I don't know if that's for the JP attraction I've heard about or if it's for the Harry Potter thing. There are a great many new foundations poured across the access road between the park behind Dueling Dragons too, and I don't know if that's infrastructure or stuff for the new section. They were giving the Dragons queue castle some paint too.
On Diana's first Spiderman ride, our car totally crapped out on us. It didn't do any of the right audio cues, no motion, and always pointed in the direction of the track. Everyone else in the car knew what it should have been doing and were bitching, while poor Diana had no context at all. They put us on another car and she got the real experience and loved it. It was strange going forward, looking away from the screen, where Doc Oc comes through the brick wall and throws fire at you, because the heat still gets blasted at you.
Diana has a real enthusiast streak about her. I ended up riding Dueling Dragons a total of five times, Mummy four times, Spiderman four times, and hit most every major attraction. She was even outscoring everyone (but me ;)) at Men in Black. She's hardcore!
The Blue Man Group show was again top notch. I love how there are voices singing, "Bathroom! Bathroom!" in the restrooms. The show has been tightened up quite a bit since it opened. They changed the paper finale to use "Last Train to Transcentral" instead of that bad "I Feel Love" mix, thank God. It works so much better, and with less strobe lighting in the song you can actually stand (probably easier for the blue guys too). Diana almost got picked for the Twinkie feast, but she made too much eye contact I think, so they went looking elsewhere. But they did climb over seats bracing on her head. Did I mention last time how much I love the "Utne Wireman" arrangement?
Friday ended up being very, very cool. Or cold is more like it. Saturday was much warmer, as we could sit on City Walk waiting for our table without freezing our asses off. We really didn't wait for much of anything despite it being crowded. That's why staying on property pays. I'm still thinking I'd like to stay at Portofino next time, although that was one hell of a long walk when we had to go there for our massage appointment. The boats didn't start running until around 8:30.
I was pondering if the whole club level thing is really worth it. I didn't have to pay for it this time, but I wonder if I would at some other point. You pay a full $100 extra per night, which entitles you to continental breakfast, beverages all day, beer and/or wine and hors d'ourves, and sweets at night. Plus one "free" Internet terminal, since there is no free Net access elsewhere. They have dedicated concierges too, but who cares, they have a ton of them working in the lobby. Seems like the perks aren't entirely worth it.
Overall, I had a great time, and I can't believe we logged like 16 hours in the parks, plus another five for me solo on Wednesday. I was also surprised we got drunk Saturday night, and did so in that perfect sustained long-term buzz. That's hard to do! Although, that's probably it for me for awhile. My body can't handle that the way it used to, although we were both smart enough to drink lots of water before bed and on bathroom runs during the night. Neither one of us were hungover.
Hopefully this escape will help recharge me for the holidays and what is quickly becoming a fiasco for volleyball. No work for me tomorrow, so an ultra-short week is ahead!
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