I went to Universal Orlando in March to attend their Mardi Gras celebration which was wonderful. I got to see many friends that I had not in quite some time. When that weekend was over, I basically started planning the next trip for the summer. We decided to go back the weekend of June 19-21, 2004. I went with a group of people including my mother and my best friends Amanda, Bill, Chris, and Jonathan. Because of my disability, I cannot drive, so I rely on my mother to take me there. We live near West Palm Beach, Florida, so it is approximately a two and a half to three hour drive.
Day 1:
As I was planning to organize hotel reservations and other things, I remembered that I had the contact information for one of the managers at the Hard Rock Hotel. They had been very generous in the past because I was terribly ill in 2001 and when I got better my friends wanted to take me there and they were very nice in making my visit there absolutely wonderful. So I wanted to get back in touch with them to let them know that we were returning. One thing I will say about Hard Rock Hotel is that they are very good at taking care of their guests, especially those with disabilities. I use a full-size van with a lift, so as we pulled into the parking lot of HRH, it was amazingly crowded, however they made sure we had plenty of room to unload my wheelchair from the van. However, I was more irritated with the people that were checking in and unloading their luggage from their vehicles, because they were acting like I was not getting out of my van. One family in particular decided to stop to take pictures just as I was unloading, right in the area where I had to depart. Oh well... I guess when you're on vacation, you leave your brain at home!
Once inside, my mother took care of checking us in. I had to wait with Amanda for my friends, Bill and Chris because they were coming in from Tampa and Kissimmee. After about 15 minutes, we were all checked in and Chris made his arrival. We still had to purchase tickets so we went over to the ticket counter to purchase several 2-day passes for everyone. As we were totaling the price, an EXTREMELY generous woman and her teenage son came over to us at the counter and told us not to buy so many tickets. Not knowing the reason why, we figured maybe something happened... not true. The woman told us that she and her son had to leave earlier than they expected so she gave us TWO 5-day passes that still had three days left!! We were absolutely astonished that someone would be this generous. She left before we ever had a chance to get her name. After purchasing the remaining tickets (which really saved us a lot of money), my other friends finally arrived and we headed over to Universal Studios.
We decided to walk (or in my case roll) because of the close proximity of the hotel. After going through the gate and the security check, we stopped to take a souvenir picture with a street photographer, which came out really wonderful. We then made our way over to Revenge of the Mummy. Knowing that there are roller coaster elements, I knew that I was not going to be able to ride the attraction, however I wanted to go through the line to check out the interactive elements. However, upon arriving at the line, it said that a regular wait time was approximately 45 minutes, however express pass was only 20. Because we were staying at the hotel, we had express pass for every attraction. My friends decided to go that way, which was fine. My friend Jonathan, who lives in Orlando and has an annual pass decided not to go on so I would have company. Because it was the middle of July in Florida and roughly 95 degrees, we decided to wait in the souvenir shop at the end of the ride. It was amazing. So many things that were beautiful. They really did a good job in theming. Eventually my friends returned from the ride telling me how wonderful it is. Their souvenir picture was really cool so I decided to purchase one for my scrapbook.
We headed over next to Shrek. I had done this attraction in March when I was there for Mardi Gras, and I absolutely loved it. It is very creative and very funny. After that, Jonathan had to leave to go to work, so the rest of us made our way over to Back to the Future. This is another attraction that I cannot do, so my friend Bill decided to wait with me while the others went on that. This time, we decided to wait in the souvenir shop for the Men in Black ride because we would be going there next. When everyone came over, I went through most of the line for MIB, and then waited for my friends to come off. The employees that were working there were very helpful in helping me go where I had to wait. Once again, I purchased another souvenir picture for my scrapbook. Because we did not get started until about roughly 1:00, time was starting to get late. We headed over to our final attraction, Terminator. This is still an incredible attraction to me. I loved the way that it combines live-action and 3-D effects. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to change because we were meeting other friends for dinner at Margaritaville in CityWalk.
I really love Margaritaville. The only complaint that I have is that they do not take reservations, which I think it's a little silly, especially during the summer months when crowds are much bigger. Other than that, the service was wonderful. Originally, we had planned to have dinner in the new restaurant at HRH, the Kitchen, however we were unaware that you had to make reservations early. After dinner we walked around CityWalk for a while listening to music and just enjoying the atmosphere. My friend Chris had to leave to go back to Tampa, because Father's Day was the next day. At around 1:00 AM, we went back to the hotel and went to bed, completely exhausted!
Day 2:
After a wonderful night sleep, we wanted to get an early start at Islands of Adventure. We headed over around 10 AM. My mother decided to stay at the hotel and make reservations for that evening in The Kitchen. Once again, after going through the gate and security check, we took another souvenir picture with a street photographer. I would say, approximately 95% of the attractions at IOA are not accessible to electric wheelchairs, or they are just too extreme for someone in my situation. However I still think that this is one of my favorite theme parks. Because I cannot enjoy the physical excitement of the attractions themselves, I really enjoy observing the theming and the design of the entire place.
We first headed over to Marvel Superhero Island, and headed for the Hulk. I told my friends I would wait for them because obviously this is something I cannot do. However, as unusual as it sounds, at least for me, when I wait for them, I wait on the bridge that the roller coaster goes underneath at one point. As they are about to go underneath, as long as I focus on the vehicle, it gives me the sensation of rolling in a strange way upside-down because I do not move my head, only my eyes. I know, it's probably something you have to "be there in person" to understand. In any case, your equilibrium gets thrown off and it is an incredible feeling. Once again, I purchased yet another souvenir photo for my scrapbook. The next thing was Dr. Doom... even if I could physically handle this ride, I'm not sure I would. Although it is very fun to watch from the street! Finally, we went over to Spiderman. While they were doing that, I went souvenir shopping, only to find out that the attraction had broken down. My friends were already on the attraction, so I had no idea how long I was going to be waiting. Luckily however, it was only about 10 minutes and they got everything running again. Once again, the employees at this attraction were very accommodating in allowing me to wait at the unload dock for my friends. The only bad thing about that is that the music can make a person crazy! I cannot imagine having to work there every day. We then started making our way over to Toon Lagoon. As we were walking over that way, they had their superhero parade, which was really interesting. The costumes are fantastic!
As we came around to TL, everyone headed over to Dudley Do Right. I love this attraction, even though I cannot do it because of the extreme drop at the end. The only thing that bothers me about this attraction is that there is no souvenir photo opportunity during that last drop. It is annoying because it is basically the same way that Splash Mountain finishes at Disney World and they have a photo opportunity. They should put one in and they could have the viewing area at the end of the ramp at the exit. We then headed over to Popeye & Bluto. I like this ride because I like watching my friends get completely soaked! The attendant for this attraction was very helpful, telling me locations where I could watch my friends go by. When they came off, they were incredibly wet, but considering it was so hot, it probably felt really good. We then made our way over to Jurassic Park.
We decided to stop and get some lunch. We went over to Burger Digs. I love this restaurant because of its authenticity to the movie. The service is always nice also. After lunch, and a little investigating in the "laboratory" part of the restaurant, we headed over to the JP River Adventure. Using the express pass from the hotel, they were able to get on very quickly. I decided to wait at the photo area to look for their souvenir picture. The first time, somebody had their arms in the faces of my friends, so my friends decided to go again. The second time was a classic. My friends started making these goofy faces which made them look much too scared to be on that attraction. It was very funny, so of course I had to buy that one! As we headed over to The Lost Continent, it started getting a little cloudy so we were concerned about the weather.
Because the weather was looking like it could get nasty very soon, we automatically went over to Dueling Dragons. They went on ice first and then decided to immediately do fire, only this time to sit in the front row. Because of the extended wait for that section of the roller coaster, the weather continued to start looking bad. We headed over to Poseidon's Fury. I must admit, I like the changes that they made. The story is a little better now. Once again, the attendants were very helpful in making sure I had the best location for seeing everything. During the attraction, it must have rained because everything was very wet outside. I really wanted to show my friends the Sinbad show, so we headed over there and finally found some seats in the back. As the show was about to begin, the announcer came over the loudspeaker and told everyone that because of the bad weather and lightning, there would be no show at that time. However, the actors would come out for pictures and autographs and would even do a little demonstration. We decided to skip that and we started making our way over to Seuss Landing.
By this time, the weather was starting to look a little bad again, so we decided to skip everything in SL and take some photo opportunities. Most of the attractions were closed anyway. Time was moving on and we had to be back to the hotel for dinner, so we started back toward the hotel, but decided to take the water taxi instead of walking (rolling). The skies were cloudy and there was a little rain, but very little lightning. After waiting approximately 15 minutes, as the boat was pulling in to the dock, the captain announces that because of the weather they are canceling further boat trips until further notice, so we had to end of walking back anyway. Thank goodness I had my umbrella because it started to rain on us as soon as we were heading back.
Back at the hotel, that morning, my mother had made reservations for The Kitchen for that evening. Because it was Father's Day, one of my friends’ father who lives in Orlando was going to be joining us for dinner along with my friend's sister and one of her friends. Around 7:00, we went downstairs to meet everyone at The Kitchen. The hostess then tells us that they have no reservation on record (even though my mother made reservations personally). Finally they said we will try to "fit you in" which was really frustrating. Eventually everyone arrived, and they were able to find a table for 8. The service was a little slow at first, but our waiter was actually entertaining. Overall, on a scale of 1-10, I would have to say The Kitchen should get around 7. I realize it is a new restaurant, so maybe as time passes things will improve and run smoother.
After dinner, my friend decided to go back with his father to his house to spend Father's Day with them. Everyone else just browsed around the hotel and went souvenir shopping before going to bed. We had an early start to come home the next day, leaving around 10:00. Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience and I am planning to go back in October for HHN.
I know a few wheelchair-bound people, yet none are in a motorized wheelchair. I know rides like Popeye allow regular wheelchairs, so does your disability preclude you from switching over to a non-motorized chair for the day? It probably wouldn't allow you on many more rides, at least at UO. But I know it could get you on more WDW rides, like Kilimanjaro Safaris and Kali River Rapids at AK.
Also, have you done other parks in the area? I agree that the Universal parks are fun to just hang around in, but have you done SeaWorld? There's two whole attractions there you couldn't do.
