Universal Studios Islands of Adventure & Walt Disney World

What I learned from Disney. What I learned from November 6th-November 19th. Work to Disney to Work. It's been a hell of a year. I decided to start the year by making up for the last few year of not putting money into my 401k by doing it for four years into one. That resulted in about $200 less a month. That is not helpful when you're saving money for a local comic convention, a big city convention and my first trip to Florida for Universal Islands of Adventure and Disney -World. Day one, Wednesday. Work. Let's start with work shall be. This happens to be my five year anniversary. This was also timed perfectly, I do enjoy my job for the most part, it's changed my life for the better, a lot better (As I drink a Duvel Strong). The Wednesday before I left was a milestone dinner. Holy Crap, the casino puts on an amazing dinner and gave us $75. But the common trend for vacation is not wanting to go back, but like I said, I do enjoy my job. But to add onto that, I'm reminded almost on a regular basis how much I'm appreciated, sometimes in person and sometimes word of mouth. Even received a bottle opener (I collect them) from someone that doesn't get gifts for anyone (I assume outside his family I assume) for anyone because "Keith, is a great barback". So, I go from a great dinner, to being reminded I'll be missed in my two weeks off to vacation. Day two, Thursday. Airport. Not much special here. Left TC to Chicago, as a Packer fan, I do respect the rivalry with the Bears. Then we arrived to Orlando at night and went to bed. Day three, Friday. Meet up. That simple, we relaxed at the pool for a bit, checked out and met up with my sister Laura (Lily), with Brother in Law and Niece, Russell (Robert), along with my step Sister and Niece and my step Aunt. Then I'm pretty sure we did virtually nothing that day. Day Four, Saturday. Universal Studios island of Adventure. Holy Shit. If you want to see pictures. Add me as a friend on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/KeithFRobinson ) , I accept everyone due to my goal of being a pro comic writer, unless you're clearly spam. This was without a doubt my favorite place. And it's where Russ hacked my facebook. I'm smart enough to lock my phone, but when you start taking photos as soon as you enter, that lock gets annoying. But, it was amazing and my only goal was to visit Jurassic Park. I won't bore you with most of the details and I'll have bullet points at the end. The Dr. Suess area was fun, as a non Harry Potter fan, that land was amazing, the one ride I went on was terrifying and the picture we didn't purchase was proof showing me cling to the barrier for dear life and I have my eyes shut in...terror. Jurassic Park though, that was amazing. Every last detail, the signs, the ducks, the squirrel, seeing the Velocirapot hatch and of course the ride. The river adventure ride. it started out tame, but the JP fan in me didn't care, it wasn't until the area that something had happened that things got interesting. I had read about the ride and knew what was about to happen. I was about to escape the jaws of a T-Rex and plunge 80? feet. And I did....with a smile. I'll talk about smile vs terror later. The night ended pretty well, enjoyed a few beers throughout the day, texted a friend that was going through some rough emotions and ended with someone telling me I had an awesome shirt. Turns out, we had both backed Veronica Mars. Day Five, Sunday. Rest. Another day full of the pool, drinking new beer and hitting downtown Disney....and a Packers loss. Hunter was not able to find a trash can. Day Six, Monday, Epcot. Thankfully, this was part of the wine and food tour, that means there was beer and beers I had never tried. Beyond that, nothing too major, not something that I was the target demographic. The fireworks show at the end was cool, but the rides I went on were more educational than entertaining and even by my standards were just not exciting. Day seven, Tuesday. Magic Kingdom. This was the day I went through the baggage check. What a joke, if you want to smuggle in alcohol, it's easy, unzip the bags and you're good, just put a flask in your pocket. You are also allowed snacks and nonalcoholic drinks for sure. But once you get into the park, there is really nothing stopping you from taking a zip of something out of a coke bottle or adding something to it in the bathroom or something out of a clear Dasani bottle. No metal detectors or scans either. Magic Kingdom was better, it was much more Disney feeling rather than educational, but the rides sucked that day, all but two rides I was on stalled, no exaggeration either, thank God they weren't roller coasters. Thunder Mountain was fun and terrifying, Little Mermaid Stalled, Pirates Stalled, Splash Mountain Stalled, Buzz Light Year stalled, Haunted Mansion was just boring. No booze. Fireworks at the end were fun also. And seeing some of the things from the movies (the castle) and the little details (peanuts in the cement around Dumbo's ride) were pretty cool. Day Eight, Wednesday, Hollywood Studios. Magic Kingdom was probably the peak, I don't remember too much from Hollywood Studios that I really cared for. Star Tours was amazing, the first time it was myself with my Sister, Brother in Law and Niece, second time most of the family joined, but the second time, the video during the ride was completely different. Turns out, they have, 54 (52) combinations. The rest of the day started with my hung over, having a barely warm hot cocoa, giant ice cream sandwich and eating at Pizza Planet. But Morgan got her Mickey Chewie trading pic and Gator Bait got her Smee trading pin and it got windy with a low of 65, the wind sucked, and I didn't care I had my mom’s Minnie hoodie my sister had got for her. Day Nine, Thursday, Animal Kingdom. Wasn't a bad day by any means. There was a short but fun (if you were drenched) river ride we went on, more like a very tame splash mountain. After than I got a HOT cocoa, God, that was amazing, wish it was hot the previous day. This was also the day it was cemented that 3D sucks and 4D is where it's at thanks to A Bugs Life. And I remember the adults saying the kids needed to find Pocahontas. That confused the shit out of me. Animal Kingdom was focused on Asia, Africa and Dinosaur Land, what the hell does she have to do with any of those? Still not a bad day, but it was still the final day, because of that it kind of sucked, but that'd go for any park we hit on the last day. Fun two weeks. Amazing two weeks. Next time, maybe I'll hit Universal Studios also.