Day 5

On One Fish Two Fish, you sit in either a red or a blue fish, in either a single or a double seater car. You have to follow the instructions as they are given to you in the very catchy song that accompanies the ride, in order to steer your fish past fountains that squirt in time with the song. If you get the instructions wrong, you get wet!

I'm sure Beth knew this because although we were sat in a blue two fish, when the song went 'Red Fish One Fish UP, UP, UP, we went up also, when we should have gone Blue Fish Two Fish Down, Down, Down. What Beth hadn't realised was that I was sat on the inside, so as the fountain squirted at us, it got her first. She soon began to follow the correct instructions in an attempt to stay dry, for now!

Next Beth wanted to go to The Lost Continent to try out the new ride The Flying Unicorn, so we made our way around the park. As we got by the Enchanted Oak Tavern, San hadn't visited the toilets here, so she couldn't resist checking them out.
I took this opportunity to check how long the queue was for Duelling Dragons and as the wait was 0-minutes, San took Beth to the Flying Unicorn whilst Peter and I legged it to do Duelling Dragons.

After stumbling through the near-dark queuing area, lit only by dim torches, we chose the Fire Dragon as we considered this to be the best track last year. We only had to wait long enough for two cars to leave and when the third one arrived I beat Peter to the 'outside' seat. As you sit waiting, the floor lowers and the two coasters leave the loading bay at the same time and climb the steep hill side by side.
Duelling dragons is an inverted roller coaster, so the ride vehicles hang from the track and your feet dangle in mid-air. That is until you are whipped upwards or dropped downwards as you speed along the track. At one point you are swept skywards as your feet fly inches away from the feet of the occupants of the other car. Duelling Dragons is our third favourite coaster ride in Florida, but once again it all seems to be over much too quickly.
Just to make sure that we still thought the Fire dragon was superior, we re-joined the queue and rode the Ice dragon. I now couldn't decide so we had to ride the Fire dragon again, just to make sure. The verdict; - The ice dragon comes a very close second.
By the time we had rejoined San, Beth had rode the Flying Unicorn six times, (twice with San and four times with Rachel), and she wanted to make it a nice round ten. I volunteered to take her on again so she guided me through the queuing area, whilst telling me the story of the Magic Unicorn.
The flying Unicorn is a kiddie coaster, similar to Goofy's Barnstormer and Woody Woodpeckers Nuthouse coaster, and this was the ride that gave Beth her new found love of 'The Need for Speed'. It is a gentle ride that swoops smoothly around the track, banking gently around tight twists, until it suddenly slams on the brakes near the end, which caused the safety bar to dig into my gut.
I rode again with Beth and then volunteered Peter's services for her final two goes. This is definitely Beth's favourite ride in Orlando and I would have liked to have bought her a Flying Unicorn T-shirt, but they only sold ladies ones that were $26.00.
We then headed to the Jurassic Park River Adventure, but for some reason it was closed. We managed to get Beth past the Camp Jurassic playground and decided to see if she was tall enough to ride Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls.
This must be the wettest ride in Orlando because as our log made its way around the flume, it was difficult to follow the story of the calamitous Canadian Mountie, whose girlfriend had been kidnapped, as water was being flung at us from all directions. It was mainly the little dips that splashed us the most and when we climbed for the final big drop, it seemed to take ages to reach the top. (Somehow I knew that we were going to get soaked! I had my new Liverpool shirt on and wasn't very impressed!)

Whilst we were already drenched, we decided to get all the wet rides over with in one go, so we popped over to Popeye & Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges. Beth wasn't allowed on these last time, so as the ride attendant measured her height she looked pensive. When he said "You're good", she quickly skipped through the long queuing area in case he changed his mind.
The Bilge Rat Barges are more or less the same as the Kali River Rapids, however we seemed to get wetter on this maritime misadventure. With no wait at all, we clambered aboard our raft from the rotating platform and as I fastened Beth's seatbelt, I was greeted with "Alroight Mate" from our fellow passengers - Oh No - a Chelsea supporter and family. (I could tell by the trademark skinhead, earring and his I love England tattoo was spelt correctly!)
Peter and I were most amused as we came around the first bend and a huge wave splashed over them, but we did get our come-uppance when the next one got us. The main thing to remember on this ride is to put your feet up on the bar around the middle post. This prevents your shoes from getting all soaked and squelchy………. just like mine did.
If the splashes don't get you, the fountains that pour down at several points of the ride wont miss. As we climbed out of the raft we were all soaked again, but as they say - 'Grab your spinach and head for the finish'.
After squelching off the barges, we went to see if Spiderman had started working. It had but the sign outside indicated that there was now a 90-minute wait. As it was only 9.45AM, I confidently strolled up to the ride attendant and asked which way we went for the shorter Express line. Unfortunately there was no shortcut as the ride had reached capacity, (whatever that means), and the Express access was no longer available, so instead of joining the 90-minute queue, we decided to see if the Jurassic Park River Adventure had opened.
We got to the ride at about five minutes to ten, just in time to use the Express line, much to the disapproval of the growing line. By now there were lots of people in the park who did not have Express pass privilege. I assume that when the park opens officially to 'day' visitors at 9 O'clock, they do not issue Universal Express tickets, as these are only available to multi-day ticket-holders. (Why else would they be standing in a separate queue?)
Beth wasn't sure whether she wanted to ride it again, as she remembered what happened from last year, but as we were in the Express queue, we didn't wait long enough for her to change her mind. She was fine as we meandered around the first part, but as we changed course and drifted through the restricted zone, she decided to hide under my armpit. Jurassic Park is similar to Jaws in the way that at first you are on a gentle tour, that goes horribly wrong.
Beth snuggled closer when we passed the point where the previous tour boat had supposedly sunk. She squeezed even closer when the venomous Spitters sprayed us with snot, and by the time we got to where the Velociraptors had escaped, she was almost inside my shirt with me. Needless to say, when we were climbing for the final drop, just as the big T-Rex comes out to say 'Hello Beth, I'm going to eat you', she peeped out. I'm sure with counselling she will get over it ……….eventually.
That besides, Jurassic Park is a great experience. San did complain that when we had boarded the boat, apparently we had all stood on her seat which gave her a wet bum, and as we had insisted on sitting on the front row with San on the right hand side, she had been sitting in the 'wet' seat. (Whilst the rest of us had got splashed, San had got soaked - again!)
As a result of this, San had to pay another visit to the toilets, this time to dry out her trousers with the hand dryer. Meanwhile I tried to dry out my socks on the sun canopy of Beth's pram. My shorts were now becoming uncomfortable as they started to rub at the top of my legs and as I sat on a picnic bench outside Pizza Predattoria, I was dripping onto the floor. San tried to phone home, but again had no success.
When we were ready to move on, as I stood up I left a big wet bum shape on the bench. On seeing this, Peter lay on top of the picnic table and left a body shape on it, his version of a 'snow angel'. We spent the next few minutes amusing ourselves whilst trying to outdo each other with elaborate body shapes, which gained a few odd looks.

We were well impressed that we had managed to get on most of the rides in the park, and all before 10 O'clock, which meant that we had the rest of the day to do as we pleased. We made our way back to the Flying Unicorn so that Beth could ride it a few more times, whilst San and I sat on a hot rock to try to draw the water out of our wet clothes.
We then returned to Seuss Landing to see the 11.15 'Dr Seuss Presents: - A something for everyone' show. This is an entertaining show that features the Dr Seuss characters as they recreate his most famous works including Green Eggs and Ham with Guy and Sam I Am, aided by Thing 1 and Thing 2. Then the story of the Grinch who stole Christmas, in which a child from the audience gets to give the Grinch a present to make his heart grow. There was also an appearance by an elephant who had a flower stuck in his trunk who had to be tickled by Thing 1 and Thing 2 to make him sneeze it out. This tickled Beth and she thought it was great fun and sneakily made her way to the front row.
The show is performed on the small 'Tremendous, Stupendous, Everything Wagon, and the audience just sits on the floor in a semi-circle right up close to the fun. Not many people seem to watch it but it is worth checking out, even if you don't know the stories.
After the show we killed time in the 'All the books you can read' shop, where the soft seats 'boing', 'fart' and complain when you sit on them. We bought Beth a Cat in the Hat T-shirt, as last years is getting a bit small for her, and Peter bought a One Fish Two Fish cap, (that I've never seen him wear!).
Beth took Peter on the Caro-Seuss-el again, whilst San and I sat by the Truffula Trees. Rachel then came running over as she had spotted the Seuss characters in the Circus McGurkus restaurant, as they hold a character meet and greet for autographs and photos at 12.30 there each day. This was as good as a character meal, as the characters spent plenty of time interacting with the kids, and we didn't even have to buy any food or pay for the privilege.
San met the Grinch whilst Beth made a beeline for Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Beth and me then caught up with Sam I Am and Guy and she had fun with them as they signed her book and posed for photos.

Beth thought that the Grinch was really rude because he refused to sign her book, at first, being completely in character. He kept standing behind Thing 1 wafting the air as if it had farted. As you can imagine, Beth thought this was hilarious. Thing 1 got his own back though, as the Grinch was finally signing Beth's book after she had chased him around the whole restaurant, T1 put a plastic fork down the Grinch's collar. This all made for a highly entertaining 15-20 minutes.
When Beth had finished collecting her autographs and playing with the characters, we realised (as we were in a restaurant), that we hadn't eaten since 6.30 in the morning. Beth wanted to see what was on offer in the Green Eggs and Ham Café. We were not impressed by the menu though, as it was just an ordinary fast-food window that just sold burgers and fries and you had to sit at plastic tables to eat outside. Beth was disappointed as there were no purple pancakes in sight, and I was much too hungry to settle for just a burger.
After checking out the menus at the Confisco Grille and the Croissant Moon Bakery, I decided that only the Hard Rock Café would combat my hunger, so we all got our hands stamped and headed out of the Islands of Adventure after a very successful morning.
As we squelched past the NBA City Restaurant, we had a quick glance at the menu, but I had already made my mind up, it was The Hard Rock or bust. We only had to wait about five minutes before being seated by our server 'Charlie'. He looked like a proper Charlie as well because he had the saddest goatee beard I have ever encountered, (and I've seen Metallica).

As he went through the 'specials' on the menu, I got the impression that he was more interested in selling souvenir glasses, than describing what each dish was. Beth had her own menu and chose pizza, but when it arrived she didn't like it and she didn't get any fries with it. It was served on a boiling hot plate and the guy who brought it looked puzzled as to why we asked for another 'cold' plate. She made up for it though with a huge chocolate ice cream sundae.
I chose a 'pig sandwich,' which was tenderised, pulled pork served on a bun with a barbecue sauce, fries and barbecue beans. San and Peter chose burgers, plain for San, extra cheese and bacon for Peter. Rachel had a chicken club sandwich and we all had cokes with free refills, except for Mr $6.00 milkshake Peter. He soon realised that he had not chosen wisely as he had drained his drink in minutes, whilst the rest of us enjoyed copious amounts of free refills.
San of course went to check out the ladies room to see if there were musical notes or autographs on the toilet roll. When she returned, she commented on how untidy the toilets were, compared to our last visit when they were spotless and there was a lady there offering hot towels. The man whistling George Michael tunes, who offered me aftershave last year, wasn't in the gents either, when I went, (he may have been arrested….hmm, perhaps he wasn't an employee after all!).
When we paid, we felt as though we had been rushed and even noticed that the air conditioning had been turned colder to try to get people to leave more quickly. (We may have only noticed this because we were still damp!) Even though I was still wet, I wasn't inspired enough to buy a T-shirt, although I did enjoy the great memorabilia from bands like Aerosmith, KISS and Guns n' Roses.
When we went outside to warm up, we decided that we had seen most of the things that IOA had to offer, so instead we headed to Universal Studios. As we entered the park, Peter had to run to the toilets by Nickelodeon Studios, to relieve the strain on his waistband!
I took Beth to try to make the 3 O'clock 'A Day in the Park with Barney' show, whilst San and Peter went to do Terminator 2-3D. They only had to queue for about 15 minutes and San said that the show was better than she remembered it, but she still had to shut her eyes during the 3D bits.
A little hint from San here for contact lens wearers; she found that as she had changed back to her glasses earlier in the day, having been splashed in the face several times - when she put the 3D glasses on over her normal glasses, the 3D images were much clearer than they were during other shows where she had worn her lenses. (This may be due to either the focal length being shorter, or her contact lenses needed cleaning!)
Meanwhile Beth and I arrived at Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone, just too late for the 3 O'clock Barney show, so we went on Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster instead.
This is another great kiddie coaster with excellent theming. Beth particularly liked the saw shaped placards, which had Woody's seesaw and Woody's chain saw written on them, and the woodpecker holes with graffiti around them written as though Woody and his friend had been fighting over who was the best woodpecker.
We then joined the queue for the 4 O'clock Barney show and managed to get Beth on the front row, with me sat behind her, awaiting the delights to be found 'Down on Barney's Farm'. We were soon clapping and singing along with a seven foot purple dinosaur and his sidekicks Baby Bop and BJ. Beth loves this show and as she was on the front row, she was able to collect some of the shiny little sequins that were fired into the air when her prehistoric pal appeared.
At the end of the show we were invited to stand around the stage to receive a 'special' hug from Barney. San had by now caught up with us, just in time to take a picture of Beth on my shoulders giving Barney a great big hug.

We then let Beth play in Barney's Backyard Playground for a while, before heading to Back to the Future where we only waited about 15 minutes to go on. (Beth still shut her eyes when the dinosaur ate us.)
As we passed a pretzel cart, Beth decided that she wanted to try one as she had seen them on the Simpson's the day before. She took just one bite before deciding that they were disgusting and tasted of salt! Peter then proceeded to tease her each time we went past a pretzel wagon.
As we made our way through Amity, we came across the Amity Games, where you had to knock down three plastic tumblers with a beanbag. The prize was a 24inch Pikachu Pokemon, so Peter and I tried to win one for Beth, again without success. After several goes we decided that it was a good idea to leave Universal before we spent the rest of our money.
As we passed the Funtastic World of Hanna Barbera, there was only a ten-minute queue so we joined the line. The ten minutes must have included the pre-show because we went straight in.
This is another simulator ride where you sit in a space ship that moves to react to what is happening in the story of the cartoon that is being shown on a big screen in front of you. This involves chasing Dick Dastardly and his dog Mutley, through a cartoon land whilst trying to rescue Elroy Jetson who they have kidnapped.
As dark clouds gathered overhead it was definitely time to leave after a long day in which we had accompanied a lot, (and we didn't want to get wet again). We headed back to the car park and drove back to the villa to relax in the Jacuzzi, before a Chinese meal, a few Buds and bed.