Trip Report 2004 (Days 18 & 19)
[u]Sunday, 9th May 2004 (Day 18):</u> In my original itinerary, this was supposed to be a day of total rest and relaxation for everyone in our party. We had had three busy days already and still had to do Universal, IoA and Sea World in the days to follow. But the day turned out to be somewhat different that what I planned.
First off, my brother-in-law and I got up by 7am to watch the Spanish Grand Prix on the Speed channel. There had been some talk the previous day about a possible TV 'blackout' for the event, but that did not happen and happily, we saw the race in full. The noises we made as we cheered Michael Schumacher along woke the others and there was a lot of grumbling and moaning. But then, that's life.
After the race, we did not have anything particular to do apart from 'continuing to relax' as planned. But by then everyone was awake anyway and my wife suggested that we could 'relax' just as well in Typhoon Lagoon. With the glorious weather continuing, this seemed like a great idea and so, we got ready in a jiffy, had a good 'brunch', collected our stuff and set off, leaving the seniors at home to rest.
We arrived by around 10:30am and found the water park to be only moderately crowded, despite it being a Sunday. We changed, secured our stuff in the lockers and went to Castaway Creek to start off. This circular waterway that meanders around the park is similar to the one in Blizzard Beach, but TL is much better landscaped and offers great views; the 'relaxation factor' is also better at TL. We went around the full, 25-minute circuit to get us in the mood and then went to look at the slides.
This time, the two women and my niece wanted to join us, knowing that the slides at TL would be milder than those at BB. We went on the 'family raft' Gangplank Falls first; it is a relativey gentle ride with no big drops and good fun for the kids. We followed up with Keelhaul Falls, but by then the 'Wave machine' in the main pool has started and my niece insisted on being taken there right away. So, the women went while my bro-in-law and I stayed yo do Mayday Falls, which was probably just as well because I encountered an unplseant surprise in that ride.
On the surface, Mayday Falls appeared to be another twisty water slide on an inner tube ino a catchment area. Indeed, the other riders went smoothly, as did my brother-in-law just before me; but when I followed, there was an unexpected problem that might have resulted in an injury. Whether it was the way I was perched on the tube or some other reason, the tube turned at the end of the first drop so that I was facing backwards while sliding down, not being able to see where I was going! This did not seem right and I was sure that I had seen other sliders go down normally. I tried frantically to correct my position, but with my legs stretched out and getting in the way, I failed. For a split second I panicked, but then managed to tuck my legs up and turn the tube normally just as the bottom of the slide arrived. The 'landing' was pretty awkward and when I queried this with the steward, she looked blankly at me said 'we have never had a problem reported before'. I had to leave it at that.
By now the park was getting more crowded and we decided to do the 'big' rides. So we picked-up the others and went on 'Humunga Kowabunga'. This is a good, long slide that had my niece screaming in terror, but to us looked a bit tame after memories of the Summit Plummet at BB. Storm Slides followed, twice in fact to experience the different tunnels. It was all great fun.
We passed up Shark Reef because of the large crowd there and because we had not brought our own snorkelling equipment; as a matter of policy, we do not borrow outside snorkelling gear. We went back to the big pool just as the wave machine was about to start again. This 2-acre monster swimming pool with its own artificial 'beach' is a brilliant idea and really gives a 'seaside holiday' feel. The 6-ft
