Travel Log Some More

We'd never been to Islands of Adventure before, but what a great surprise this place was. It's like six theme parks rolled into one. Most of my photos are from Seuss Landing, but the most fun I had was in Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park has a particular ride that made me think I might just get eaten by a real-live dinosaur. eeek! It also has some wicked water cannons that my children (my children!) had to tear me away from. Too much fun! I could barely stand it.


Liam and Patrick on the "Carou-Seussal". For what it's worth--this has got to be the shortest carousel ride in the world. Fun though.


Sean and Laurel had an all-out water war. All in good fun. Note to self--put bathing suits on the kids before bringing them to "If I Ran the Zoo".


Thankfully, we at least had a swim diaper for the little boy. He sat down in this shallow stream and splashed away. Rides? What rides?


In the "Toon Lagoon" our favorite ride was the "Rip-Saw Falls" water coaster. Holly was hesitant to try it at first because of its "big dip", but after trying it once she was hooked. This ride features our hero, Dudley Do-Right of the Royal Canadian Mounties. We're all fans of the Rocky and Bullwinkle DVDs, and this ride brought us right into one of the stories. Fun!

It was at Islands of Adventure too, that Sean got to meet and speak to the Spider Man. He didn't want to do it; said he wasn't going to do it, and then started walking the other way. I said, "OK well, Liam is going to meet him. Just wait for us." Suddenly, he found his courage. Spider Man talked to him about being a good big brother and about the importance of eating his vegetables. What mom could ask for anything more?

I know next-to-nothing about Spider Man, but whoever this guy is, he's OK by me.

We visited "Shrek 4D". Sean was quite afraid of this ride too, until he discovered that it was the same story as our "bonus DVD" from our purchase of "Shrek 2". The pre-show was as good or better than the show itself.

When we got out of the theater, photo opportunities abounded. An animated Donkey was waiting to have his picture taken with us. This guy caught Liam's attention right away. Donkey was talking mainly to Laurel, asking her who everybody was, complimenting her on her hair, etc. Then Donkey turned toward the baby and said, "Liam, how's it going man?" Liam's eyes got wide and he did a baby-double-take and tried to claw his way through me to get away. He was not expecting that thing to say his name. He didn't cry, but he was obviously startled. Poor baby!

Patrick and I rode a couple of great coasters--Hulk, and Dueling Dragons. One attraction we wish we had skipped was Neptune's Fury. This one had no pre-show, so it left us waiting for 40 minutes in a dark, cramped cavern with nothing but blank walls and strangers to look at. The show itself lasted 20 minutes, and aside from an impressive swirling water tunnel there is nothing remarkable to comment about.

Universal Studios was our next stop. This park had little to offer people of Sean's age. Holly and Laurel both enjoyed "Disaster" a lot. This attraction turns audience members into cast members who star in a mini-movie that is displayed for the ride-goers as they experience the ride. Laurel and Holly each got roles (during separate visits to the ride) and thoroughly enjoyed their time in front of the cameras.

By far though, the best ride in the park is The Simpsons Ride. If you're a fan of the Simpons, especially, you will love this ride. If you've ever ridden the Back to the Future ride, you'll recognize the building and the motion-simulators, which have been repurposed. Holly and Laurel rode this one four times! Even the wait in line isn't so bad because they have TV monitors up all over the place broadcasting hilarious bits from The Simpsons.

Enjoying theme parks all day led to many a good night's sleep. He looks so tiny in this gigantic bed.

Good-bye, Florida. We'll miss you.