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Christi's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 11/2/00 -------------------- 11/1/00 10/31/00 10/31/00 10/30/00 10/29/00 10/28/00 10/27/00 10/23/00 10/14/00 -------------------- Christi's Introduction

October 30, 2000

Monday, October 30

Today we were headed to Universal Studios! We called and listened to a recorded message that said the parks opened at 8. Wow, that was early, but OK. So, we left the condo around 7:15. Guess what? They were wrong, by an hour. So, there we sat. We decided to make the best of it and headed to Wal-Mart for last minute Halloween costume accessories.

Finally we arrived at Universal. We decided to tackle Universal Studios first. After we got into the park we decided to try out the E.T. Adventure ride. Not too bad of a ride, cheesy at times, but the kids enjoyed it. They really liked riding the bikes. We then proceeded to Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone and ended up riding Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster a total of four times in a row. After feeling like we could operate the ride, we went to A Day in the Park with Barney. The show wasn't scheduled to start for another 45 minutes. So, we let Caleb and Alexis play in the interactive playground that coincided with the Barney show. Both of the kids really enjoyed playing with all the gizmos and gadgets to see what surprises they had in store for them. Soon it was time for the show. This is when Caleb decided to throw a fit. He was having so much fun playing in the play area that he wasn't about ready to leave, not even to meet Barney! We finally got everyone together and composed and proceeded to the pre-show. Very cute and entertaining. Then the doors opened to an indoor-outdoor auditorium. It resembled theater-in-the-round. So, we sat down and the show started. We were so excited for Caleb (Christi almost in tears) to get to be able to meet the big purple icon. Apparently Caleb was unimpressed with the whole song and dance mumbo-jumbo. He was more content with his thumb and blanket. It was a greatest hits show of sorts. To tell you the truth, Christi and Alexis enjoyed the show better than Caleb did. In fact, when it was all said and done and Barney came out for a meet-n-greet, we had to take Caleb up to Barney to give him a hug. We could be at home and Barney's theme song pops on the TV, Caleb freaks out. But to actually get to see him in person, he could give a care less. Oh well, Christi enjoyed the show.

After we had our full of the great purple one for the day, we went on to try getting on the Back to the Future ride. Wrong idea! The sign said that there was a 10 minute wait, so Christi and I decided to try out the baby swap option. Basically, one adult will ride while the other parent waits with the kids. Then, when the other parent gets off the ride, the other parent jumps on. Well, we waited for about 15 minutes or until Caleb decided that he didn't want to wait any longer. Christi got frustrated with it all and we went back into the park. After walking around, we stumbled upon Kongfrontation. I wanted to ride it and Alexis was game so, off we went. It was set in a New York subway. It was all dark and grimy. In the distance you could hear police radios and thunderous footsteps. As you ride on the subway you find out who/what is causing all the ruckus. Alexis wasn't even fazed when King Kong roared and knocked our subway car down. It was just another day in the life of Lexi to her. She did enjoy it though.

Well, while we were on the ride, Christi came to the conclusion that the Kongfrontation she was encountering outside of the ride was due to hunger on Caleb's part. On we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Great food, great atmosphere, but it was a little pricey for lunch. Oh well, we're on vacation. After we ate, we were all in better moods.

With lunch being done and our whirlwind tour of Universal Studios, we went on to Islands of Adventure. Wow! What a great park! We started off in Seuss Landing. A fantastic send off to all Dr. Seuss had to offer. It was themed very well. You felt like you stepped right into a Dr. Seuss book. On The Cat in the Hat ride, you do exactly that. Then we hopped on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. You have to follow the directions in the song or you'll get sprayed with water. We rode the Caro-Seuss-el. All the would be horses are characters out of Dr. Seuss books. They even had a restaurant that actually served Green Eggs and Ham. We'd highly recommend Seuss Landing. It's very family friendly.

Then we ventured into The Lost Continent section of the park were Alexis rode a children's roller coaster (The Flying Unicorn). I was then lucky enough to ride the Dueling Dragons coasters. They are two inverted, dueling coasters that twist through one another throughout the ride. Both coasters are very smooth and different from one another. From there, we ventured into Jurassic Park. Caleb was napping at this point and Christi decided that a shaded bench was more appealing than waiting in line. As Caleb slept, we visited Triceratops Encounter. You basically help a vet care for a very realistic looking Triceratops. Alexis was asked if she would like to help care for it. She was way impressed. They just finished studying dinosaurs in school. After that Alexis and I rode the Jurassic Park River Adventure. The dinosaurs in the ride freaked Alexis out. I won't give anything away but, the last dinosaur (T-Rex), came pretty close to us and it wasn't too happy!

Having our full of dinos, we journeyed on to the Toon Lagoon section. This is were Alexis decided that getting absolutely soaked in your clothes was cool! Again, Alexis and I rode together. On we went to Dudly Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. An excellent log ride. It was like jumping right into a Dudley Do-Right cartoon. As you walk along the streets of Toon Lagoon, you find yourself in the middle of comic strips with comic strip balloons above your head. They even had a restaurant that served Dagwood sandwiches.

Off we went to the last section, Marvel Super Hero Island. As you walk along, all the Marvel super heroes are larger than life and looming over you. Alexis and I rode The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. The best 3-D ride I've ever ridden on. It was so realistic and well done. Alexis reached out several times toward Spidey and Octo. It ended up being one of our favorite rides. After that Alexis had her face painted and she was delighted with her new look. As we were leaving Christi and Alexis rode an X-Man version of the teacups based off of Storm. After that, we decided to call it a day and headed back to our van to make our way back to the condo for the night.