Associated parks:
None
Left Miami at 11:30 AM. Arrived in Orlando at around 3:15, and managed to get into the park by 4:30. First I skipped Incredible Hulk and hit Dr. Doom. No, it's not because I'm chicken, it's because I had been on 48 coasters and wanted my 50th to be Hulk. So I flashed my express pass and got on Dr. Doom in about 2 minutes (there was originally a 35 minute wait!).
Next I headed strolled around a little bit and made my way into Jurrasic Park. Tried to get on Pteradon Flyers as a 49th coaster but they wouldn't let me because I was too tall! So I went over and rode the Flying Unicorn. Not too bad for a kiddie ride, and only had to wait a couple minutes because of the express pass.
Then I went into the Lost Continent, and took a picture of the entrance to Dueling Dragons. I gotta admit, that's a nice entrance. I didn't go on it yet because I still wanted Hulk to be #50.
Ate dinner in the resturaunt right across from Dueling Dragons and then headed through the rest of the park.
At 6:30 I finally hit Incredible Hulk. They put me in the back row, and I'm glad they did, but would've preferred to be bumped to the front (but hey, beggers can't be choosers, can they?). I must say, what an awesome ride! Before I got on it, I thought that the train catepulted you straight out of the station. Oh my God, how surprised I was! I was sweating so much on that lift hill because I had no friggin idear when that thing was gonna take off. Can anyone say EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME? I sure can!
Once I got off I immediately went and bought the $17 picture. Pretty expensive, but SO worth it!
Now it's time for Spiderman. Used my express pass to get through the 75 minute line in 10 minutes. Now, I'll admit it, I don't do well with these rides. But this was the best one I've been on. One of the best rides in the park, if not one of the best I've ever been on. I had been on those simulator rides and I had been on 3D rides but never a 3D motion simulator ride. Can't say I didn't love it. It felt pretty real, but not in the scary way that some 3D rides make it seem, so it was great.
Next up was Toon Lagoon. First stop was Popeye's Bilges Rat Barges (or whatever it was called). Nice rapids ride, but a whole bunch of boats stalled halfway through, which was kinda funny.
After that I hit Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw falls. It reminded me of when I was a little kid and would watch Rocky and Bullwinkle, and they'd always have the little Dudley Do-Right clips and the bad guy (Snipe? Snidely?) would always tie the girl and the horse down to the train tracks and Dudley would save them right in time. I guess that's basically what the ride was themed around, and that's a nice drop at then end. I love the sign that says "Highly Kaboomable!"
River Adventure in Jurrassic Park was next up. Now that ride reminded me of when I was younger and I'd watch Jurrassic Park all the time. I liked the idea of the ride, how it starts out as a regular tour of Jurrassic Park and then the boats gets knocked off-course into the Raptor Containment area. That T-Rex at the end look pretty damn real. Not that I would know, seeing as I was not alive during the time of the dinosaurs, but the themeing of the ride was perfect.
Now I was ready for Dueling Dragons. Once again, used my express pass and got on in about 5 minutes. Sat somewhere towards the middle on Fire first. I thought that was stunning, but didn't notice any of the near-miss I kept hearing about, except on the camel hump (droooool) right over the corkscrew.
I immediately got off and went straight to Ice. Got in line with the same people who I rode Fire with, but because I was technically still a single rider they bumped me up to the front.
The problem was nighttime. I think it was a great ride, but at that point, I was indecisive over which I like better.
Then I walked back into Marvel Superhero Island and rode Hulk again twice in a row, sitting somewhere towards the middle.
Afterwards, I went and stood on the bridge and watched the fireworks.
After I left the park I walked around City Walk a little bit, then took the boat back to the Royal Pacific Hotel, and fell asleep around 12:45.
Day 2: 4/20/03
7:30 wake up. Got up, got dressed, and left by 7:40. I knew the park didn't open until 9, but I was told to get there at 8:30 because they "start letting people in early". So I walk around City Walk a little. It was just so...what's the word...not dead, but peaceful, calm, relaxing, etc. Once I reached the NASCAR CAFE I turned around and went back to see if maybe I could start getting in line. But wait! They were letting people in at 8! So I went in, and rode Hulk twice in the front row, and just as I was about to get on the third time...it broke down. Not too disappointed. Two rides in 5 minutes a'int half bad!
I hit Dr. Doom next, and I didn't need my express pass because, well, the park was, peaceful (ok, dead). It's a great eye-opener having rides beat you around like that so early in the morning.
Walked into Jurrassic Park, and they actually let me ride Pteradon Flyers, because there was no one there. I asked the ride attendant if it was scary (yeah, people do weird things when they're really tired) but she assured me that it wasn't (:(). Well, I got on it anyway, but only for the record (53rd roller coaster!). Just like Flying Unicorn, not too bad for a kiddy ride.
Now I went back to Dueling Dragons. Hit Fire, Ice, Fire again, Ice again, all in the front row. At this point my mind was made up. Ice is better. But the only bad thing about the ride in general is if you don't sit in the front row, you can't experience the near-miss with the other train. But hey, no complaints here.
Went back and hit River Adventure again, and decided that I like it better at night. Still a fun ride.
Hit Ripsaw Falls again.
Hit Spiderman at around 9:45, and now I had to use my express pass for the first time today, because all the other rides were walk-ons.
Rode Incredible Hulk 5 times in a row.
Went back and hit Dueling Dragons again. First Fire, then Ice, both in the front row. I met another Buzzer but he couldn't remember what his username was (lol).
Went back and rode Incredible Hulk 5 times in a row again.
Hit Dr. Doom 3 times in a row. When I came out, I saw the DDR machines. I had never played before, and I would've if I had some cash, but I was just charging everything to my room. It looked really fun though.
Hit Incredible Hulk 5 times in a row again. That made 17 times in one day so far.
At 3:00 I left IOA and went into Univeral. First I took a look at Nickelodeon Studios for a couple seconds. Then I went on Twister. That was pretty cool, especially watching the cow fly over us!
Next I rode Earthquake. I remember riding that ride when I was 4 in Universal Hollywood and getting so scared that I was sitting on the lap of the old lady next to me. This time was still pretty freaky, but still cool.
Then Jaws. That's a pretty short ride, but pretty cool. I snapped some nice pictures of Jaws.
Then I rode Men in Black: Alien Attack. That was pretty fun, shooting those ugly slimy aliens.
Back to the Future: The Ride. I remember riding that over 10 years ago when I was 5 and being so scared, especially with the T-Rex taking a bite out of us. This time it wasn't so bad.
Next I just ate dinner and went back into IOA around 6:45. The park was starting to die down because there was a Mardi Gras celebration going on in Universal, so I figured the lines wouldn't be too long. I was right. I managed to ride Hulk two more times, Ripsaw Falls, each Dueling Dragons coaster, River Adventure, and Spiderman. Then I hung around for the fireworks again and got some pretty good pictures, that well, just turned out okay.
Walked back through City Walk, got a virgin Pina Colada (how do you make the enye thing, anybody know?), then took the boat back to the hotel.
Day 3: 4/21/03
When Spiderman woke me up at 7:30, I knew there was no time to waste, because I had to be back at the hotel by noon so I could go back to Miami. I immediately got dressed, got organized, and got to the park at 7:45, but they wouldn't let me in until 8.
Once they did let me in I went straight to Hulk again, and rode it 3 times in a row, all in the front. Once again, great way to start the day.
After Hulk, I went straight to the Lost Continent through Suess Landing and rode Dueling Dragons. Fire first, then Ice.
Then I headed into Jurrassic Park and I rode River Adventure again. Then I hit Ripsaw again. Then at around 9:30 I rode Spiderman. Towards the end (the part where you're about to fall 40 stories, the ride sorta stalled for a little bit and we were left in the dark for a second, but it was still kinda moving. I didn't complain because they let us back on immediately.
After my second spin on Spiderman, I hit Dr. Doom. After Dr. Doom, I went and rode Dueling Dragons again, Ice then Fire.
Around now, it around 10:45, and I was getting a little hungry. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to buy any food because I was already checked out.
So I just went and rode Dr. Doom again and left the park at around 11:10. No complaints though, because 8 rides on each Dragon and 25 rides on Incredible Hulk a'int half bad.
And thus concludes a wonderful weekend.
EDIT: Pictures added.
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The Point of Cedars
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http://www.thepointofcedars.tk
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*** This post was edited by Top Thrill Dragster 4/29/2003 4:57:10 PM ***
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After almost four months, I finally reached my 50th post. Next post will be in this forum...opening day at Cedar Point!
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