E. Cosgrove
04-04-2005, 14:00
March 25th
Our, by now, customary early morning swim revealed the weather to be overcast but bright, however thunderstorms were forecast for this afternoon. Helen joined us on the pool deck fully dressed with the news that Stu was no better and would probably stay in bed today. Not being a driver she was hoping someone would take her to the pharmacy for supplies. I volunteered but David was quicker and was out of the pool and showered in no time.
There was a brief chat about a contingency plan or staying at home, but Stu really wanted peace and quiet and the kids were keen for us all to go with them.
We had planned Universal for today and decided to stick with the plan, as although MK was nearer Sophie really didn't want her dad to miss that one. This mean't 2 trips to Universal as although we had 2 drivers we were both insured to drive the same van.
David took the first party of Nick, Nic, Jonathon, Kitty, James and Nat whilst Helen, Sophie and I stayed behind. It was good to have a bit of breathing space and a leisurely cuppa. Sophie went for a swim whilst Helen and I tidied the villa and did a bit of ironing!![msneek]
it also gave me time to ring Julie (MC) and have a chat, I hadn't had the opportunity to thank her yet for getting everything looking so lovely for our arrival. Julie was concerned about the still missing dining room chair which reminded us that the furniture people had not got back to us yet.
It was getting on towards 10am when David got back, and after he had a quick cuppa and a slice of toast waive 2 were on their way. We could have had free parking with our annual passes but decided to throw caution to the wind and splurge $4 on preferred parking as we were quite late arriving. Being Good Friday we expected the park to be very busy but it didn't seem unusually so. Once inside we rang the kids on their mobile but there was no reply so we left a message. We could only have walked a few yards when they rang us back and we arranged to meet them as they were not far away.
They had only done "Twister" and The Horror makeup Show as they were waiting for us to visit the big attractions together. Helen and I had done "twister" when we visited the Halloween Horror Nights in Oct and David and I had done it again at New Year so none of us were bothered about repeating it.
As we were standing outside Terminator and the show was about to start we decided to go in. Nic was worried that she wouldn't understand what was going on as she had never seen any of the movies but I assured her that neither had I. Everyone enjoyed this, the 3 D effects are really amazing I think I enjoy it more every time I see it.
We wandered up "Rodeo Drive" towards Sunset Boulevard and on to the Kidszone, the plan was to get express passes for ET but the wait was only 15 mins so we decided to wait instead. As soon as they admitted the next group, we were in, giving our names to the man at the desk;) and straight through the trees and on to the ride, it was all a bit quick really and didn't give you time to appreciate all the detail in the static exhibits. With a party of 10 we had a bike to ourselves, this is a really lovely ride and I never tire of it, Kitty and Nic were thrilled when ET said their name at the end but wondered about the strange bunch of passengers travelling with them with names such as "honey Bun" and "spook";)
The characters were performing on a small stage when we left the ride so we stopped an took some photos for Kitty and Nic's 7 year old brother.
The queue for Back to the future was 30 mins but we decided we would rather do this before lunch so we got in line. This is one of my least favourite rides as I am not good with simulators and if I am in the back I find it a bit claustrophobic. I managed to get a front seat and although the ride is very clever I was certainly a bit green around the gills when I came off[sick]
Time for lunch at the International Food Bazaar where with so much choice we were able to find something for everyone. I shared a small pizza with Helen and we had some breadsticks
Our, by now, customary early morning swim revealed the weather to be overcast but bright, however thunderstorms were forecast for this afternoon. Helen joined us on the pool deck fully dressed with the news that Stu was no better and would probably stay in bed today. Not being a driver she was hoping someone would take her to the pharmacy for supplies. I volunteered but David was quicker and was out of the pool and showered in no time.
There was a brief chat about a contingency plan or staying at home, but Stu really wanted peace and quiet and the kids were keen for us all to go with them.
We had planned Universal for today and decided to stick with the plan, as although MK was nearer Sophie really didn't want her dad to miss that one. This mean't 2 trips to Universal as although we had 2 drivers we were both insured to drive the same van.
David took the first party of Nick, Nic, Jonathon, Kitty, James and Nat whilst Helen, Sophie and I stayed behind. It was good to have a bit of breathing space and a leisurely cuppa. Sophie went for a swim whilst Helen and I tidied the villa and did a bit of ironing!![msneek]
it also gave me time to ring Julie (MC) and have a chat, I hadn't had the opportunity to thank her yet for getting everything looking so lovely for our arrival. Julie was concerned about the still missing dining room chair which reminded us that the furniture people had not got back to us yet.
It was getting on towards 10am when David got back, and after he had a quick cuppa and a slice of toast waive 2 were on their way. We could have had free parking with our annual passes but decided to throw caution to the wind and splurge $4 on preferred parking as we were quite late arriving. Being Good Friday we expected the park to be very busy but it didn't seem unusually so. Once inside we rang the kids on their mobile but there was no reply so we left a message. We could only have walked a few yards when they rang us back and we arranged to meet them as they were not far away.
They had only done "Twister" and The Horror makeup Show as they were waiting for us to visit the big attractions together. Helen and I had done "twister" when we visited the Halloween Horror Nights in Oct and David and I had done it again at New Year so none of us were bothered about repeating it.
As we were standing outside Terminator and the show was about to start we decided to go in. Nic was worried that she wouldn't understand what was going on as she had never seen any of the movies but I assured her that neither had I. Everyone enjoyed this, the 3 D effects are really amazing I think I enjoy it more every time I see it.
We wandered up "Rodeo Drive" towards Sunset Boulevard and on to the Kidszone, the plan was to get express passes for ET but the wait was only 15 mins so we decided to wait instead. As soon as they admitted the next group, we were in, giving our names to the man at the desk;) and straight through the trees and on to the ride, it was all a bit quick really and didn't give you time to appreciate all the detail in the static exhibits. With a party of 10 we had a bike to ourselves, this is a really lovely ride and I never tire of it, Kitty and Nic were thrilled when ET said their name at the end but wondered about the strange bunch of passengers travelling with them with names such as "honey Bun" and "spook";)
The characters were performing on a small stage when we left the ride so we stopped an took some photos for Kitty and Nic's 7 year old brother.
The queue for Back to the future was 30 mins but we decided we would rather do this before lunch so we got in line. This is one of my least favourite rides as I am not good with simulators and if I am in the back I find it a bit claustrophobic. I managed to get a front seat and although the ride is very clever I was certainly a bit green around the gills when I came off[sick]
Time for lunch at the International Food Bazaar where with so much choice we were able to find something for everyone. I shared a small pizza with Helen and we had some breadsticks