Day 7

My tip for this park is to wear your darkest sunglasses and take extra sun-cream, as the sun does actually reflect off all the bright colours. We made a beeline for the Cat in the Hat ride, which was excellent, telling the story of the wayward cat, but including a few surprises and spins along the way. Keep an eye out for the goldfish down the toilet, which is hilarious. As we came off the ride we managed to get Beth through the shop quite quickly, (Universal has a habit of making the exit to a ride through a shop selling its merchandise, how thoughtful of them!).

We then decided to split up, so while San, Beth and Rachel toured the rest of Seuss Landing, Peter and I went to check out the 'real' rides in Super Hero Island, that we'd heard so much about. When we first spotted the Incredible Hulk Coaster it was easy to tell why the adverts said 'it will turn you green'. Just looking at the twists in the track and the speed of the cars as they thundered around it was enough to make you feel ill. After stowing Peter's backpack in one of the free for an hour lockers, (I don't know why he didn't leave it with San), we waited for about 15 minutes or so, whilst watching the pre-ride story about the Great Green Dude on the many TV screens in the queuing area, and whilst laughing and joking about who would bottle out first. The queue for the first car was about 20 minutes extra so we decided to settle for any seat.

Making sure that my glasses were secure with the sports strap, we climbed aboard our car and were squashed down, as far as it could physically go, by the safety harness. Suddenly we were sent hurtling into the great blue yonder, like a bat out of hell. This ride is Soooooo Fast! The loops and rolls and the sheer speed of it gives you an adrenaline rush that is well worth the wait! This is a ride that truly gives you wobbly legs when you get off!!

We left Peter's bag in the locker and legged it to Doctor Dooms Fearfall. Even the pre-show to this ride is scary, and I can remember that the queuing area was very dark. When we finally emerged onto the ride platform, the sun was blinding, after waiting for 20 minutes in the dark. After taking our seats and strapping in, I just had enough time to put my England cap behind my back, before we were shot up into the air for a great view of the entire park. This ride is not recommended for anybody who is scared of heights, but both Peter and I agreed that it was tame.

It was then time to meet up with San, so we liberated Peters bag and headed back to Seuss Landing. We found San sitting relaxing on a wall by One Fish, Two Fish. She said that they had now been the Cat in the Hat ride a total of five times and One Fish, Two Fish three times. Beth was back in the queue with Rachel so we just chilled out on the wall and told San about our exploits. As we waited for Beth we saw the One Fish, Two fish ride about four times. It is a bit like the Dumbo ride in Fantasyland and has one of the catchiest tunes of ever, (as memorable as It's a Small World but not half as annoying). It goes "One fish, two fish, up up up, Red fish, blue fish, down, down, down". Beth still sings it even now. If you follow the advice in the song you negotiate your fish past squirting fountains placed around the ride whilst staying dry. If you ignore the song, or go wrong, you get wet. Great fun!

Beth then insisted on taking me on the Caro-Seuss-el for her fifth or sixth time, just to show me that the creatures had moveable parts.

Whilst Peter and I had been doing our daredevil act, San, Beth and Rachel had rode on each ride in Seuss Landing, more than once, and even played in the 'If I ran the Zoo' playground. It was therefore time to continue around the park through the Lost Continent.

After waiting in a very boring, dark tunnel for over 40 minutes, we finally entered the pre-show for Poseidon's Fury. This attraction has been renamed in our household, (replacing the first O with an I). For some reason I was expecting a Rollercoaster ride, must have got my rides mixed up. The best part of this show is when you walk through the tunnel of water into the area where the final battle between Zeus and Poseidon takes place. All the fire and rushing waters had a profound effect on Beth because she peed herself, and since I was carrying her she also wet me. We were the first ones out when the door opened after the show, desperately looking for a toilet!!

After a quick change, we continued around the park and were very surprised when we got to Dueling Dragons to find the wait board saying '0-minutes'. Peter and I couldn't resist this, which meant another wait for San and the other 'chickens'. This ride has one of the longest queuing areas - I wouldn't fancy having to queue for a long time in there. As there was no queue, we ran through the torch-lit tunnels and I scraped my knees a couple of times on rocks sticking out. When we eventually found the boarding platform there was no queue at all, maybe because DD is at the very back of the park, which is a shame because it is another big thumbs up for IOA. Peter wanted to ride the red track as soon as we came off the blue one, but I had to say no because I didn't want to leave San waiting for too long as Beth would be getting bored by now. San said that she would ride Dueling Dragons next time we went, I think that is why we never went back. !

Next stop was the Jurassic Park River Adventure, a pleasant boat trip through Jurassic Park that goes horribly wrong when some of the dinosaurs escape from their cages. Beth thought this ride was for real and got quite frightened, but the dinosaurs looked too plasticy to be frightening. A great bit is near the end where, just as you are about to be eaten by a T-rex, (or a "terrify-orsourus, as called by Beth!), you drop without warning from between its jaws to a watery finale.

Peter then had his photo taken with the old grey bearded dude from the movie, and the one played by Jeff Goldblum, who didn't look anything like him!

It was Beth's turn to choose where to go next, so we headed for the playground at Camp Jurassic. The queue for the Pteranodon Flyers was 90-minutes and building, luckily Beth didn't like the look of them anyway. How can such a strange ride be so popular? After negotiating the climbing nets, slides and wooden bridges in the searing heat, I dispatched our professional child-minder Peter, and went for a rest with San, who was sitting by the water fountains in the middle of Camp Jurassic, (I think one or two of the kids thought she was part of the playground). (Yes, Ron - I have noticed that sneaky reference to my age - San!) We eventually persuaded Beth to come down from her hiding place at the top of the climbing nets with the promise of food, so we headed for Wimpy's in Toon Lagoon for the now predictable burger and fries.

It's a Small World, at Universal? How can that be? We bumped into a family who were staying in our hotel, so Peter, Rachel, James (Peters new best friend) and his brother all went on Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-rat Barges, whilst San, Beth and Me finished our meals. Great timing because just at that moment, the heavens opened and the rain danced down. We had to put paper napkins on top of the sunshade on Beth's pram to stop the rainwater dripping through onto Beth. (We didn't think we'd need to bring the plastic rain-covers to Florida).

Luckily, as we were still at Wimpy's, we were able to shelter under the big umbrella covering our table. When Peter and Rachel returned from their ride they were dripping wet, and it wasn't from being splashed on the ride, but the mercurial Floridian weather. Just as quickly as the rain had arrived, it stopped and the humidity levels began to build again.

Since the day we had arrived in Orlando, Beth had asked every morning "Are we going to see Barney the Dinosaur today?" as she is a huge fan of his. As there were huge puddles everywhere, we decided to make her day and head over to Universal Studios, to see the great purple one in person. On hearing our plans, Peter begged to be allowed to go with his friend's parents and remain in IOA, they agreed, much to his relief. He later informed us that he went back on Dueling Dragons and also went on The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, and of course the Hulk coaster. I personally think that he went back on the Cat in the Hat ride again.

On the way to Universal Studios, we took photos of the Universal globe and as soon as we entered the park we came across Scooby Doo, but there was a huge queue of people trying to get his autograph.

As we arrived for 'A Day in the Park with Barney', San insisted on posing for a photo in front of the Barney water fountain, whilst shoo-ing all the kids out of the shot with her best 'I am a Teacher' voice.

After arriving in time to catch the end of the pre-show, Beth and I managed to get a seat on the second row, while San chose to stand at the back to take photographs. Beth's prehistoric pal strutted his funky way through All the Raindrops, Down on Grandpa's Farm, You are Special, and other favourites of hers, with a little bit of help from his friends Baby Bop and B.J. After the show we were all invited to stand around the stage to receive a hug from Barney. We were asked to put our kids on our shoulders so Barney could reach them, then the big purple character visited each child in turn and gave them a big hug. Beth's hug was so big my glasses got squashed as my head was under his armpit - a first for me!

Beth said that the Barney Show was Superdeedooper and still has the streamers and plastic leaves that she collected during the show. Sadly the bubbles she collected have now burst! To continue the theme we played in Barney's interactive playground for about half an hour. This is not only a fun place but is also educational, with measuring cylinders, colour games and even a musical keyboard that you can play with your feet.

When we managed to prise Beth out of the playground, San took her to see the Animal Actors Stage, which they enjoyed. Beth has just told me about the orangutan that pretended to be shot and played dead. I bravely went to the Twister experience by myself. There was no queue at all, so I strolled through the props and exhibits in the queuing area and just caught the end of what must have been the pre-show. When we went through to the Twister Experience, the wind started, the rain fell, a cow flew past and the petrol station exploded. I actually thought that this was the pre-show. Twister is one of my favourite films, especially the soundtrack, so I was really disappointed when the doors opened and we entered Aftermath, the twister store. It then hit me that the ride was over and I hadn't been that great. I had planned to buy a Twister T-shirt, but was that disappointed, I bought a Fred Flintstone one instead!

When I returned to meet San, Beth was playing in Fievel's playland with Rachel, so we sat on a bench outside the ET ride with a nice cold drink. When Beth and Rachel finally appeared, we decided to make ET our last ride of the day. Rachel didn't want to go on the ride because there was an alien in it, (You don't say! More like in case she cried), so she decided to wait in ET's Toy Closet. I don't think she expected the 45-minute wait that we endured, (the board said 30 minutes). This is another ride with a huge queuing area but at least this one is interesting with the astronauts looking for ET with flashlights, and even ET's teacher Botanicus makes an appearance. The ride itself was cute and followed the storyline of ET's escape in the film and continued with his arrival on his 'Home Planet' and the resulting celebrations as he saves the day. Beth really thought that ET was real when at the end of the ride he said "Thank you, Beth".

We then spent a while in the shop and bought Beth some light up bangles and rings that caught Beth's eye. We also bought some ET keyrings that were $4.95 each or two for $5.00. I couldn't believe that some people were still only buying one at a time. We found Rachel outside and headed back to the van. We all made use of the moving walkway because we were all knackered after another long day. (So that's why the floor moves!)

We left for our hotel and a relaxing swim in the pool, after stopping at Goodings for the now customary Budweiser's and some food. If this is Disney's main rival (Universal, not Goodings!) then they had better watch out, as we were very impressed. (But then again Disney was great too.) We all agreed that we should return to Universal Studios the next day, especially Peter who had ended up returning to the hotel hours before we did.
To be continued...

Tomorrow:- Universal Studios