Me-40: lover of theme parks and roller coasters
Dh-44: very understanding guy, would rather be sitting under a palm tree somewhere
ds-12- doesnt like anything with big hills but loves simulator rides
dd-7- will probably be riding hulk as soon as shes tall enough!
In general the wait times were very light. Of course, we went on the slowest days during one of the slowest times of year. Posted wait times of 5-10 min were common. If you re interested in where we ate please see my separate restaurant post.
We arrived shortly after opening and stopped to have breakfast at the Beverly Hills Boulangerie, nice nutritious muffins and pastries. Lucy and Desi were outside. Im a big fan so dh took my picture with them. Desi was an amazing likeness.
Et was our first ride. We took the short cut through Allahs garden. It opened at 9:30, before the rest of WW kidzone. There was no wait. Before you get on the ride you tell the attendant your name and she types it into a keyboard. At the end of the ride, ET says good bye using your name. I think this ride is so sweet, very gentle and calm. The kids love it, especially dd. I drag my poor husband on this ride every time, and hes never seen the movie.
Time for MIB. Yeah!! This wasnt open the last time the kids were here so they are very excited. We stashed our backpack in the free lockers. There was no wait and our guide was great in his part, very into it. Itd been so long since I went through the regular line Id forgotten about him. We had so much fun and our scores were so pitiful we had to ride again.
We head for Amityville to ride Jaws. First the kids and hubby have to pose in front of the giant shark. Personally, that thing grosses my out. The posted time for Jaws is 15 minutes so we use the express line and we get right on with our magic hotel keys. My 7 year old didnt really want to go on this ride but we convinced her shed be ok. She was petrified by the end and near tears, sigh. Our captain was great! I wish Id caught his name. All the seats were pretty wet so the lady next to us asked the captain if he had something to wipe the seat off with.
He said sure, just sit down. LOL! At one point a bunch of water came into the boat and my ds almost jumped into her lap. She was a good sport about it though. It was really funny. He was a little embarrassed. I think jaws got a little extra bounce in his splash because dhs rear was soaked, he he he! We were in the front seat; maybe thats a splash zone.
My daughters a little upset so we by pass earthquake for now. She was convinced it would scare her too. We wanted to cheer her up so we went to the Hanna Barberra ride. Its is a motion simulator ride. Its pretty zippy but there are stationary seats in the front. The story line is that Elroy from the jetsons has been kidnapped. You and Yogi follow in your space ship in an attempt to rescue him. This ride empties out into an indoor area with some oversized Flintstones displays. Mostly though, there are terminals where you can explore simple cartoon animation and sound. Many things were not working though. It was very disappointing.
DH had gone to see the Blues Bros show in the mean time. We located him via our FRS radios. Its almost time for the Wild West stunt show. Express line people were permitted in before the standby line. The kids had a ball, lots of slapstick humor.
We need to find food. Our first stop was the International Food Festival but the line was very long. When the stunt show let out most people headed towards that side of the park. Pat grabbed a turkey leg from a vendor and we figure well try Richters in the San Francisco. Of course, its on the other side of the Lagoon. While were trudging through Central Park we spot the Marx Bros playing golf. These guys are very funny! DH takes my picture with Zeppo (?- the one who doesnt talk).
Richters is mostly burgers, including a vegetarian one. The food was pretty good. The fruit cups were excellent. Its nice to relax and recharge on the outside patio. Hubby goes in search of a beer and returns with a drink called an Alcatraz. It was blue and all I could taste was rum, too strong.
We head back over to the other side of the park to the Woody Woodpecker Kid zone. This area has ET-the ride, Animal show, Fievels water slide and play area, Barney show and Barneys backyard (GREAT area, go during Barney show), Curious George play area, dry ball play area and Woody woodpecker roller coaster. DD is too old for Barney and ds too old for everything except dry ball area. If your kids are young enough you could spend an entire afternoon here!
First dd explores the Fievels play area. The water slide isnt running but there are great photo ops here. Everything is oversized. My daughter has been looking forward to getting wet in the Curious George play area. There must be 30 different ways to get wet here including 2 HUGE giant buckets that dump 100s of gallons of water to the ground below. My sons interests are in the dry ball area behind Curious George. Its a 2 level enclosed area with nerf type balls. You suck them up with vacuum hoses and shoot them at other people. Preferable a grownup who has just entered the area and isnt paying attention! 1 ½ hours later we decide to move on. We got as far as the Woody Woodpecker roller coaster. Its a very tame little kiddie coaster. There was no line so she rode twice. When she went by the second time she was in the front with her hands up!
Back to MIB for 2 more rides. We bought the picture. Boy does it look like were really concentrating!
We can just make the last T23D show, no wait. We walk into a very full preshow. The Emily Duncan character is very good (or very annoying!). This show has a not recommended for under age 13 rating. I had talked to my 7 year old about the show beforehand. I figured shed be ok with the 3-d effects (they are very intense) but warned her about how loud it is (VERY). She took off her glasses during a few parts but liked the 3d effects. I kept my eye on her during the show but she was fine.
After exiting the show, we run into a whole cast of characters on the street. There was Shaggy and Scooby do with their van, MIB, Laurel and hardy, a few others I cant remember. We end our day at the Boulongerie and have a snack to tide us over until dinner. This is a great place to people watch.
We took the water taxi back to the hotel. My daughter discovers her souvenir penny book is missing. Trying to find it was an exercise in futility. The Portofino desk sent me to Citywalk security, (CW is in charge of the water taxis) who sent me to Citywalk lost and found (a recording). Finally I tried Universal lost and found and a nice lady there contacted CW lost/found. It wasnt there. Apparently the book never left the boat but the next day the captain who saw it, couldnt find it. Duh, I never thought to ask the boat person the boat person. Oh well, we bought her another one.
For dinner we went to Mama Dellas. Its excellent! Great food, service and atmosphere. Try the marshmallow milkshake! Cost was about $75.
Dh-44: very understanding guy, would rather be sitting under a palm tree somewhere
ds-12- doesnt like anything with big hills but loves simulator rides
dd-7- will probably be riding hulk as soon as shes tall enough!
In general the wait times were very light. Of course, we went on the slowest days during one of the slowest times of year. Posted wait times of 5-10 min were common. If you re interested in where we ate please see my separate restaurant post.
We arrived shortly after opening and stopped to have breakfast at the Beverly Hills Boulangerie, nice nutritious muffins and pastries. Lucy and Desi were outside. Im a big fan so dh took my picture with them. Desi was an amazing likeness.
Et was our first ride. We took the short cut through Allahs garden. It opened at 9:30, before the rest of WW kidzone. There was no wait. Before you get on the ride you tell the attendant your name and she types it into a keyboard. At the end of the ride, ET says good bye using your name. I think this ride is so sweet, very gentle and calm. The kids love it, especially dd. I drag my poor husband on this ride every time, and hes never seen the movie.
Time for MIB. Yeah!! This wasnt open the last time the kids were here so they are very excited. We stashed our backpack in the free lockers. There was no wait and our guide was great in his part, very into it. Itd been so long since I went through the regular line Id forgotten about him. We had so much fun and our scores were so pitiful we had to ride again.
We head for Amityville to ride Jaws. First the kids and hubby have to pose in front of the giant shark. Personally, that thing grosses my out. The posted time for Jaws is 15 minutes so we use the express line and we get right on with our magic hotel keys. My 7 year old didnt really want to go on this ride but we convinced her shed be ok. She was petrified by the end and near tears, sigh. Our captain was great! I wish Id caught his name. All the seats were pretty wet so the lady next to us asked the captain if he had something to wipe the seat off with.
He said sure, just sit down. LOL! At one point a bunch of water came into the boat and my ds almost jumped into her lap. She was a good sport about it though. It was really funny. He was a little embarrassed. I think jaws got a little extra bounce in his splash because dhs rear was soaked, he he he! We were in the front seat; maybe thats a splash zone.My daughters a little upset so we by pass earthquake for now. She was convinced it would scare her too. We wanted to cheer her up so we went to the Hanna Barberra ride. Its is a motion simulator ride. Its pretty zippy but there are stationary seats in the front. The story line is that Elroy from the jetsons has been kidnapped. You and Yogi follow in your space ship in an attempt to rescue him. This ride empties out into an indoor area with some oversized Flintstones displays. Mostly though, there are terminals where you can explore simple cartoon animation and sound. Many things were not working though. It was very disappointing.
DH had gone to see the Blues Bros show in the mean time. We located him via our FRS radios. Its almost time for the Wild West stunt show. Express line people were permitted in before the standby line. The kids had a ball, lots of slapstick humor.
We need to find food. Our first stop was the International Food Festival but the line was very long. When the stunt show let out most people headed towards that side of the park. Pat grabbed a turkey leg from a vendor and we figure well try Richters in the San Francisco. Of course, its on the other side of the Lagoon. While were trudging through Central Park we spot the Marx Bros playing golf. These guys are very funny! DH takes my picture with Zeppo (?- the one who doesnt talk).
Richters is mostly burgers, including a vegetarian one. The food was pretty good. The fruit cups were excellent. Its nice to relax and recharge on the outside patio. Hubby goes in search of a beer and returns with a drink called an Alcatraz. It was blue and all I could taste was rum, too strong.
We head back over to the other side of the park to the Woody Woodpecker Kid zone. This area has ET-the ride, Animal show, Fievels water slide and play area, Barney show and Barneys backyard (GREAT area, go during Barney show), Curious George play area, dry ball play area and Woody woodpecker roller coaster. DD is too old for Barney and ds too old for everything except dry ball area. If your kids are young enough you could spend an entire afternoon here!
First dd explores the Fievels play area. The water slide isnt running but there are great photo ops here. Everything is oversized. My daughter has been looking forward to getting wet in the Curious George play area. There must be 30 different ways to get wet here including 2 HUGE giant buckets that dump 100s of gallons of water to the ground below. My sons interests are in the dry ball area behind Curious George. Its a 2 level enclosed area with nerf type balls. You suck them up with vacuum hoses and shoot them at other people. Preferable a grownup who has just entered the area and isnt paying attention! 1 ½ hours later we decide to move on. We got as far as the Woody Woodpecker roller coaster. Its a very tame little kiddie coaster. There was no line so she rode twice. When she went by the second time she was in the front with her hands up!
Back to MIB for 2 more rides. We bought the picture. Boy does it look like were really concentrating!
We can just make the last T23D show, no wait. We walk into a very full preshow. The Emily Duncan character is very good (or very annoying!). This show has a not recommended for under age 13 rating. I had talked to my 7 year old about the show beforehand. I figured shed be ok with the 3-d effects (they are very intense) but warned her about how loud it is (VERY). She took off her glasses during a few parts but liked the 3d effects. I kept my eye on her during the show but she was fine.
After exiting the show, we run into a whole cast of characters on the street. There was Shaggy and Scooby do with their van, MIB, Laurel and hardy, a few others I cant remember. We end our day at the Boulongerie and have a snack to tide us over until dinner. This is a great place to people watch.
We took the water taxi back to the hotel. My daughter discovers her souvenir penny book is missing. Trying to find it was an exercise in futility. The Portofino desk sent me to Citywalk security, (CW is in charge of the water taxis) who sent me to Citywalk lost and found (a recording). Finally I tried Universal lost and found and a nice lady there contacted CW lost/found. It wasnt there. Apparently the book never left the boat but the next day the captain who saw it, couldnt find it. Duh, I never thought to ask the boat person the boat person. Oh well, we bought her another one.
For dinner we went to Mama Dellas. Its excellent! Great food, service and atmosphere. Try the marshmallow milkshake! Cost was about $75.
) and I will go to Universal.
