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But then I got hungry, so I stopped. I usually take I-4 or Turkey Lake Road to get to Universal, but this morning I took International Drive. I-Drive is a pretty busy road running north and south, just to the east of Disney property. It's packed with shopping centers, water parks, hotels, restaurants, mini-golf courses, and all manner of other entertainment venues. It also has a lot of traffic signals, which is why I usually avoid it when driving to Universal, but I like driving it once in a while, just to see the sights.
This morning, I had forgone breakfast at the hotel (I can only take bagels and apple juice so many days in a row), so I stopped at a McDonalds along the way to grab something to eat. As I was pulling into the parking lot, I realized that I had forgotten something pretty important.
For this trip, I prepurchased my Universal Studios pass over the internet, selecting the 'electronic will-call' delivery method. This was a new method to me, but interesting enough that I was eager to try it; basically, I bought the ticket on line, but I would pick it up at an automated machine located at the Universal gates. These electronic will-call machines function something like an ATM, and all you need to get your ticket printed out for you is the confirmation number you get when you buy the pass on line.
I had, however, forgotten to double-check the confirmation number before leaving my hotel that morning.
When I put my rental car into a parking space, the first thing I did was to pull my trip notebook out and make sure I had the confirmation number written down in it. Since I did, I relaxed and had breakfast.
I arrived at Universal at about 10am. The electronic will-call machine worked like a charm, and in about 2 minutes I had my Universal pass. I like this new method of ticket pick-up; it's convenient, not terribly difficult to use (for those of us who are comfortable with computers and machines), and quick. Interestingly, the machine actually prints the pass on a type of blank pasteboard, unlike normal passes, which are pre-printed with their number of days.
The pass I bought was good for five consecutive days after it's first use, giving me park-hopping admission to both Universal theme parks and CityWalk. Not quite as good as a Disney park-hopper pass, where unused days don't expire, but at $90 I considered it a bargain. According to the instructions on screen when i picked up the pass, I would be required to sign the pass at the gates (NOT before!) when I first used it, and sure enough,the Universal employee manning the turnstiles made me sign the pass as soon as I put it through the slot. The whole thing only took a few seconds, but I can see where the process might cause a backup at the gates during busier times.
My first stop inside Universal Studios Florida, as it often is, was Terminator 2 3D: Battle Across Time. The crowds were pretty thin today, so I was able to get a seat in the front row with no difficulty; I soon realized the folly of this, however, because I had a lot of trouble focusing on the 3D video images. I don't know what it is about my eyes, but I seem to have trouble focusing properly when I sit too close to the screen. Still, sitting in the front row of T23D is a great experience, because of the proximity to the live actors who are an integral part of the show.
After T2, I made my way all the way to the back of the park to Men In Black: Alien Attack. I stopped outside to put my camera and water bottle into one of the cool electronic lockers located in an alcove at the front of the building (they are free for the first half-hour and unlock with a combination and a fingerprint scan), then I got into the single riders' line and was on the ride before I knew what was happening. The single riders' line is great; while everybody else had a reasonable 10-minute wait, I got on in less than two minutes. After riding, I got right back into line and rode a second time, and again I got on the ride in less than two minutes.
Once I finished saving the Earth from the scum of the universe, I sat down at a covered table outside and wrote out some trip notes. I also compared pedometer readings with some folks at the next table who were wearing better pedometers than mine.
My biggest complaint was that I got shoehorned into the back seat with two other people and felt like a sardine in a can during the entire ride. At 6'-4" tall, and 250 pounds, I'm no lightweight, and neither were the people who were shoved into the car with me. When are the Orlando theme parks going to wake up and realize that it's not a lot of fun to be crammed into a ride car that's built for people half my size, along with a bunch of strangers who are just as large, and then shaken about like a martini? Oh, well, at least it's a good ride.
After Back to the Future, I headed over to the ET Adventure, another of my favorite rides in Universal. I love this one mostly for the music; lifted directly from the soundtrack of the movie (I love movie soundtracks), the music during the ET Adventure, along with the detailed ride scenes, really put you into the movie in a way that very few rides or shows can match.
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Finally it was time for Shrek. After ET, I made my way back to the middle of the park and got into the line for the newest Universal Orlando attraction, Shrek 4D. Based on the wildly funny movie starring the voice talents of Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, Shrek 4D is a 3D movie (with effects like water spray, hence the 4th dimension) along the same lines as Honey I Shrunk the Audience and It's Tough to be a Bug. The first thing I noticed about Shrek were the street signs in front denoting "No Ogre-night parking," and "Stroller Parking: You are parked in Lancelot 17." Once inside the pre-show area, I was treated to a view of Lord Farquad's dungeon, complete with the Three Little Pigs and Pinochio hanging from the ceiling and talking to the audience. Between these characters, a live Uni employee, and a video of Farquad's ghost himself, the premise of the movie (Farquad's ghost wants to disrupt Shrek & Fiona's honeymoon by stealing her away) is explained.
The movie portion had me laughing harder than any other movie or ride in Orlando. If you like the movie Shrek, you will love this attraction.
Now I was getting a little hungry, so I decided to seek out some sort of a sweet treat. I wound up at a snack shop near the front of the park, where I bought a huge slab of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake and a bottle or Velda chocolate milk. Velda is an excellent brand of milk available in central Florida; Disney carries Velda milk but only has Nesquick chocolate milk, whereas Universal had the coveted Velda chocolate. I don't like Nesquick; it doesn't taste like milk. Velda is much better, as is another brand I sometimes find in Orlando, T.G. Lee.
I sat at a table inside to eat my cheesecake, watching a bunch of pigeons walking around inside the restaurant like they owned the place. Since I was the only customer in there at the moment, they pretty much did. One small pigeon, in particular, walked right up to me and looked me in the eye as if to demand some of my cheesecake in payment for letting me sit in his place to eat.
Sorry, Pidge, I don't give up my cheesecake for nobody!
By this time it was about 2:30. I headed back into the park for some more attractions. On a lark, I stopped off to try the fairly new Jimmy Neutron adventure; although I had never watched any of the Jimmy Neutron cartoon series or the movie, I enjoyed the ride, which is an indoor motion simulator, a lot. Guests are placed into one of 10 or 20 rockets spread out in front of a big screen. Jimmy Neutron and his friends, on screen, jump into another rocket, and together we all hurtle through the sky chasing some green, egg-shaped aliens who have stolen some of Jimmy's inventions. The ride is tame enough for small kids, but fun enough to be diverting for adults.
Next up I went through Twister: Ride It Out!, Earthquake, and Jaws. Then I went back to MIB for a third go-around and scored a personal high of 274,300.
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Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge is one of my favorite hotels anywhere. The lobby is an impressive 5-story open-air atrium, with the front desk to the left, a balcony overlooking the restaurants Boma and Jiko, and a bar, on the right, and at the far end is an enormous floor-to-ceiling glass wall, stretching the width of the lobby and looking out on the resort's main draw: the savanna. The glass wall was framed with free-form steel members fashioned to look like vinework, continuing the 'natural' look that pervades the entire resort.
When I arrived, I didn't bother wandering the lobby, but went instead right to the restaurants. I planned on coming back to the lobby for some pictures after dinner. My first stop was the menu board on the wall outside Jiko. I'd never been to Jiko and had planned on trying it out on this trip, but as I looked over the menu, I didn't find much that appealed to me, so I decided to go to Boma. I had eaten at Boma a couple of times and really enjoyed it.
The wait for Boma was only about 10 minutes. I spent it sitting on a bench just outside the restaurant, and when the pager I had gotten from the check-in podium started flashing, I was at the podium instantly and was seated in just about a minute. My table was near the large windows looking out at the pool area, but it was too dark outside to see through the windows.
Boma is a buffet, full of African-inspired dishes. I don't really recall the names of all the dishes, but I remember picking out a wide variety of stuff to try. Most of it was excellent, some of it was not to my taste. The spiced chicken stuck out particularly, and the prime rib was as good as I remember, making it the best on Disney property. For desert I had the famous Zebra Domes and something called a chocolate mousse crunch that was so good I went back for seconds.
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Once my dinner was done, and I was stuffed to the gills, I paid my tab and slowly walked back up the stairs to the main lobby. I wandered around the entire resort for about an hour, taking outdoor pictures of the savanna and indoor pictures of the lobby all dolled up for Christmas. AKLs lobby, while spectacular on a regular day, is even more so when the Christmas lights are in place. There are lights everywhere, dominated by a gigantic Christmas tree in the middle of the lobby. I enjoyed the decorations here far more than in the lobby of Grand Floridian.
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I took some time to get some terrific night shots of the savanna at night, including a CM holding a story-telling session with a group of Guests. I didn't catch the whole story, but it seemed to be an old Kenyan folk tale.
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Once I had taken a lot of pictures, I moseyed on out to my car and drove back to my hotel, arriving a bit early and watching some TV to finish the digestion of my meal. But I got a little restless after a while and decided to take a walk around the hotel's neighborhood.
When I finally tired myself out, I made my way back to my room and finished off the night with another viewing of the Appliance Direct infomercial before drifting off around 12.
I love appliances!