~ Hi and Welcome to Day Five ~ Wednesday August 20th ~
Well, after an all day walking tour at Sea World yesterday ~ I needed a day to recover from my sore feet. We awoke to gorgeous blue skies and sunshine and after breakfast in the lounge we headed straight for the pool.
Todays Cabana was #10 and it's theme is the "Musiquarium" with tropical fish and Stevie Wonder ceiling murals and borders. This cabana also had different furniture from the other cabanas, large muskoka chairs, black with large tropical fish painted on them. I loved location of this cabana, close to the hot tub, slide, bar and pool.. and also a perfect view of the Hard Rock Hotel from inside.
We were in the pool swimming by 9:30am and Noel convinced me to go down the slide... wow it was fast and fun, and longer than it looks from the water, I went a couple of times as at this hour of the morning there was no lines of kids waiting.
Very soon Noel had met a bunch of girls and was off having a good time and I retreated to the Cabana for a rest. It was 11:00am - Die Hard II was coming on.. so I ordered a pina colada and watched Bruce Willis kill bad guys during a snow storm at an Airport... cool!
Occasonally I had a look out to see what Noel was doing - she has just recently learned to swim so I like to check that she is not drowning - however the life guards are very diligent and keep a good eye on the kids... she was having the time of her life.
I forgot to tell you all I have been indulging in some nice frozen drinks from the pool bar. At least 1 a day so far - but as today was my R & R day - why not have a few more
While I was watching the movie - I noticed it was getting dark out again *sigh*, the pool staff started to batten down the hatches so to speak - by closing and tying the umbrellas down and picking up all the towels. The waitress said a storm was coming in but just rain not lightning... I guess they have doppler radar behind the bar.
Anyway it was now 1pm and Noel returned with news that she was starving and it was starting to rain. We closed the side panels of our little cabana and ordered lunch of pizza and chicken wings, chocolate milkshake & margarita It started pouring as lunch arrived, we were so cozy in there watching the WB channel, daffy duck and bugs bunny cartoons as a storm raged outside our little Stevie Wonder hide-away.
By the time we finished eating the storm had passed and people were returning to the pool deck. It was a little cool with the wind so we went in the hot tub - very hot, as in you can only go in a bit at a time and it takes about 10 minutes to finally get all the way in!
We both headed back to the pool and swam until 430pm - it was a gorgeous afternoon, a little overcast but not humid, just perfect.
I tempted Noel away from the pool with promises of riding JAWS and she agreed. We went to the room to change and caught a water taxi to Universal. We were there by 5:15pm and our first stop was Shrek... 90 minute wait - NOT. FOTL is the only way to go. This time we sat at the front in the theatre and I did not like it, the effects are much better from the back rows - so remember that if you are in SHREK.
Next we went to Jimmy Neutron and again - we somehow ended up at the front - you definately want to be at the back for this attraction too.
Next was Terminator II - I like this show, Cyberdyne Industries and Sky NET taking over the planet. the show was odd though, there was no motorcycle like there usually is. So you hear the motorcycle but Arnold just walks on stage and says 'Come with me if you want to live" then you hear the motorcycle screech away but they run off stage.. weird. Anyway, the rest was good - one of my favourite 3D attractions.
Day 5 is entitled ~Message in a Bottle~ and you are probably wondering - "What can Cass mean by that?" Well, in the preshow for Terminator II there was a little boy who kept telling his parents he had to go potty. They kept telling him - to wait and the show would be over soon, and he kept saying "Gotta go potty" and they were getting more and more annoyed with him, finally he started screaming "Potty - gotta pee, gotta pee " he was getting louder and more insistant and everyone was looking at them.
The Mom asked if anyone had an empty water bottle and there was a collective "Ewww" from the crowd. To my amazement someone actually chugged their water down to provide this woman with an empty evian bottle. Well you can guess what happened next... the little kid pee'd in the bottle while his mom held it for him on her knees... the crowds parted like the red sea for this... everyone wanted to be away from these people. The Mom capped the bottle and put it in her purse - I was starting to think she could have just let him pee in there to begin with.
As the doors were opening the kid started saying he had to go "number 2" I don't think there is a water bottle designed for that.
After Terminator it was 7:00pm and we still wanted to do MIB and JAWS before the park closed at 8:00pm. On the way over to MIB Noel saw the E.T. sign and decided to skip MIB to see her favourite extra-terrestrial. We have a funny little thing we do here at E.T. we always give fake names when we get our intergalactic passport (like Ariel and Aurora) and then laugh like crazy when .E.T. thanks us for helping save his planet.
Yesterday E.T. did not have a voice when we went through using the names Serina and Sigourney but today we had a huge laugh when E.T. thanked Melody and Fiona at the end of the ride Noel is funny when she tells the passport giver her "fake" name, she sort of stammers it out and you can tell she is lying - it is funny to me but the Universal person just thinks we are weird, Noel is always afraid they are going to ask her to spell it - she would be like a dear in the headlights if that happend
After E.T we had time to do Jaws twice - we love this ride, yes it is corny, yes the acting is lame, yes the gas flame throwers singe the hairs on my arms... but still there is nothing like a big shark attacking your boat. So after doing Jaws twice we we content and walked to City Walk where I promised Noel she could do a game. She won a yellow tropical plush fish and was happy.
We were still not hungry enough for a big dinner after our pizza and wings this afternoon - we decided to just get some chips from the gift shop and right now noel is crunching on the bed and watching a DVD.
You are probably tired of hearing about this portable DVD player but I can't tell you enough about how great it is. Noel has not even turned on the big TV in the room, she loves to get in bed, pick a dvd and watch her her little player, the sound and the picture is excellent.
I stopped by the club lounge tonight to get a bottle of water and it was pretty quiet. Again they had chocolate and vanilla puddings, oreos, chips ahoy and rice krispie treats.
Tomorrow is our last full day here at Universal - it is scary how quickly the time is passing. We shall be attempting to sneak Noel past the height requirement police at the Hulk again and I know Noel will be begging for Jurassic Park River Adventure too.
I still have 4 dinner vouchers left (2 adult, 2 child) and only one day left to use them. It has just been so convenient to eat at the pool cabana instead of going to a restaurant. I shall try to plan a little better tomorrow and maybe have an early lunch and a late dinner at 2 of Universal's fine establishments.
Until then... good night from the Hard Rock
Well, after an all day walking tour at Sea World yesterday ~ I needed a day to recover from my sore feet. We awoke to gorgeous blue skies and sunshine and after breakfast in the lounge we headed straight for the pool.
Todays Cabana was #10 and it's theme is the "Musiquarium" with tropical fish and Stevie Wonder ceiling murals and borders. This cabana also had different furniture from the other cabanas, large muskoka chairs, black with large tropical fish painted on them. I loved location of this cabana, close to the hot tub, slide, bar and pool.. and also a perfect view of the Hard Rock Hotel from inside.
We were in the pool swimming by 9:30am and Noel convinced me to go down the slide... wow it was fast and fun, and longer than it looks from the water, I went a couple of times as at this hour of the morning there was no lines of kids waiting.
Very soon Noel had met a bunch of girls and was off having a good time and I retreated to the Cabana for a rest. It was 11:00am - Die Hard II was coming on.. so I ordered a pina colada and watched Bruce Willis kill bad guys during a snow storm at an Airport... cool!
Occasonally I had a look out to see what Noel was doing - she has just recently learned to swim so I like to check that she is not drowning - however the life guards are very diligent and keep a good eye on the kids... she was having the time of her life.
I forgot to tell you all I have been indulging in some nice frozen drinks from the pool bar. At least 1 a day so far - but as today was my R & R day - why not have a few more
While I was watching the movie - I noticed it was getting dark out again *sigh*, the pool staff started to batten down the hatches so to speak - by closing and tying the umbrellas down and picking up all the towels. The waitress said a storm was coming in but just rain not lightning... I guess they have doppler radar behind the bar.
Anyway it was now 1pm and Noel returned with news that she was starving and it was starting to rain. We closed the side panels of our little cabana and ordered lunch of pizza and chicken wings, chocolate milkshake & margarita
It started pouring as lunch arrived, we were so cozy in there watching the WB channel, daffy duck and bugs bunny cartoons as a storm raged outside our little Stevie Wonder hide-away.By the time we finished eating the storm had passed and people were returning to the pool deck. It was a little cool with the wind so we went in the hot tub - very hot, as in you can only go in a bit at a time and it takes about 10 minutes to finally get all the way in!
We both headed back to the pool and swam until 430pm - it was a gorgeous afternoon, a little overcast but not humid, just perfect.
I tempted Noel away from the pool with promises of riding JAWS and she agreed. We went to the room to change and caught a water taxi to Universal. We were there by 5:15pm and our first stop was Shrek... 90 minute wait - NOT. FOTL is the only way to go. This time we sat at the front in the theatre and I did not like it, the effects are much better from the back rows - so remember that if you are in SHREK.
Next we went to Jimmy Neutron and again - we somehow ended up at the front - you definately want to be at the back for this attraction too.
Next was Terminator II - I like this show, Cyberdyne Industries and Sky NET taking over the planet. the show was odd though, there was no motorcycle like there usually is. So you hear the motorcycle but Arnold just walks on stage and says 'Come with me if you want to live" then you hear the motorcycle screech away but they run off stage.. weird. Anyway, the rest was good - one of my favourite 3D attractions.
Day 5 is entitled ~Message in a Bottle~ and you are probably wondering - "What can Cass mean by that?" Well, in the preshow for Terminator II there was a little boy who kept telling his parents he had to go potty. They kept telling him - to wait and the show would be over soon, and he kept saying "Gotta go potty" and they were getting more and more annoyed with him, finally he started screaming "Potty - gotta pee, gotta pee " he was getting louder and more insistant and everyone was looking at them.
The Mom asked if anyone had an empty water bottle and there was a collective "Ewww" from the crowd. To my amazement someone actually chugged their water down to provide this woman with an empty evian bottle. Well you can guess what happened next... the little kid pee'd in the bottle while his mom held it for him on her knees... the crowds parted like the red sea for this... everyone wanted to be away from these people. The Mom capped the bottle and put it in her purse - I was starting to think she could have just let him pee in there to begin with.
As the doors were opening the kid started saying he had to go "number 2" I don't think there is a water bottle designed for that.After Terminator it was 7:00pm and we still wanted to do MIB and JAWS before the park closed at 8:00pm. On the way over to MIB Noel saw the E.T. sign and decided to skip MIB to see her favourite extra-terrestrial. We have a funny little thing we do here at E.T. we always give fake names when we get our intergalactic passport (like Ariel and Aurora) and then laugh like crazy when .E.T. thanks us for helping save his planet.
Yesterday E.T. did not have a voice when we went through using the names Serina and Sigourney but today we had a huge laugh when E.T. thanked Melody and Fiona at the end of the ride
Noel is funny when she tells the passport giver her "fake" name, she sort of stammers it out and you can tell she is lying - it is funny to me but the Universal person just thinks we are weird, Noel is always afraid they are going to ask her to spell it - she would be like a dear in the headlights if that happend After E.T we had time to do Jaws twice - we love this ride, yes it is corny, yes the acting is lame, yes the gas flame throwers singe the hairs on my arms... but still there is nothing like a big shark attacking your boat. So after doing Jaws twice we we content and walked to City Walk where I promised Noel she could do a game. She won a yellow tropical plush fish and was happy.
We were still not hungry enough for a big dinner after our pizza and wings this afternoon - we decided to just get some chips from the gift shop and right now noel is crunching on the bed and watching a DVD.
You are probably tired of hearing about this portable DVD player but I can't tell you enough about how great it is. Noel has not even turned on the big TV in the room, she loves to get in bed, pick a dvd and watch her her little player, the sound and the picture is excellent.
I stopped by the club lounge tonight to get a bottle of water and it was pretty quiet. Again they had chocolate and vanilla puddings, oreos, chips ahoy and rice krispie treats.
Tomorrow is our last full day here at Universal - it is scary how quickly the time is passing. We shall be attempting to sneak Noel past the height requirement police at the Hulk again
and I know Noel will be begging for Jurassic Park River Adventure too.I still have 4 dinner vouchers left (2 adult, 2 child) and only one day left to use them. It has just been so convenient to eat at the pool cabana instead of going to a restaurant. I shall try to plan a little better tomorrow and maybe have an early lunch and a late dinner at 2 of Universal's fine establishments.
Until then... good night from the Hard Rock
And to put the bottle in her purse???.........
Theme park behavior never ceases to amaze me.
