6 replies to this topic

[CycloneMan]

1/25/12


Hollywood Drive In is coming along very nicely. These pictures are allready almost a month old. I can tell you by seeing it the other night. It looks fantastic and almost done.


Hollywood Drive is a new Mini golfcourse


The robot is my favorite


We went to Universal Studios first.


Oh how Despicable. Just like the Hollywood Drive photos, progress on Dispicable Me has also come a long way.


With the recent closure of Amity Island, Monsters Cafe whish was formally seasonal is now open full time.


This fun Mummy Team Member with Jackie.


They were only using one station on this day.


We had an excellent lunch at Finnegan's. Seriously, Universal has some of the best food out of any theme park out these.


The site formally known as Amity Island.


But wait, it's not on the map.


True story, Jaws was my favorite ride at Universal, so seeing it like this makes me really sad.


You can still get your picture with Bruce.


Oh looky there! I wonder what's in this building?


Oh! It's to see "The Universe and You"


I'm not really a Men In Black fan, but I must say the queue is really impressive.


Wait! What? I don't remember a thing. I think it was the Universe and You. But are we alone? Of course we are silly!


Once upon a time, Universal had a really cool ride called Back To The Futue. But now my room mate works HERE, so I am obligated to take a picture of the building. And the ride's not bad either


Oh no! ET needs our help!


"Earth people, are planet is dying..." Don't worry Botanicus, we are on it!


Work in progress for the new night show coming to Universal Studios Florida


Oh yea, there's Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. ...it's okay


See ya Studios! Where to next?


Jackie and I decided to hop on a boat and head over to the Portofino Bay Hotel


This is absolutely stunning.

[CycloneMan]

Inside the lobby


Some nice indoor shops.




These two photos were taken a week earlier.


We did some walking around inside.


We are just so awesome


Portofino gets a thumbs up. Now to head over to the next resort.



Royal Pacific Hotel








Time to head out and over to Island's of Adventure

[CycloneMan]

We decided to do Hulk first.


I've been riding Hulk for years and I must say, this is the worst B&M coaster out there. Now, I say this only because the ride is ridiculously rough. Universal does a poor job at maintaing the trains and its obvious that it's in bad shape.


It was a bit chilly out at this point. Who in the right mind would ride this?


Oh right! We would. And there's only one reason we are wearing ponchos....


Yup, that's right. We wore the ponchos for the picture. As a holiday special Jackie got a free onride photo, and we initially wanted a funny one on Jurrasic Park River Adventure, we went with Ripsaw Falls because it was actually open.


We will end the night with a picture of Hogwartz at night.



1/26/12

The next day I went back to the Resort for lunch with some friends, and we took some photos of Hollywood Drive under construction.










Seriously this is going to be the best Mini Golf ever!

2/18/12
MARDI GRAS!


We went to the park Saturday night to see the Mardi Gras parade. It was also the same night as the Kelly Clarkson concert, so it was packed!


HEY! Don't I know you from somewhere?


I only got a couple of photos from the parade.






The parade was a lot of fun. I would suggest going if your able.

The Adventure lives on...

-Dainan

[Ryan Shrout]

Nice having a set of eyes and ears on the ground in Orlando again. I kinda miss being down there myself. As for your comment about HULK being poorly maintained, a large reason for that is that they frequently need to run all three trains and there is no real offseason in Orlando where you can just take everything off the rails for a complete overhaul.

[The BeastFan]

Ah, I remember the Mardi Gras parade quite well from my first trip there. After taking in the enormity of USO, it was a real treat seeing all the different themed floats. Do they still run Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters in the parade?

I am dissapointed to see that they can't find the time to refurbish Hulk. I would think from say, January through March, would be a perfect time to tinker with it and keep it in good shape.

[CycloneMan]

I don't think they do anything with any of the Ghost Busters stuff anymore....besides using a few props for Horror Nights. And from what I understand, Hulk has NEVER closed for a refurbishment since it opened. Which is why B&M wont work with Universal.

[Tyler M]

I only ride Hulk in the first two rows and it's always smooth for me. I won't sit beyond the first 2 rows but it's overall my favorite roller coaster. I find Raptor and B&M stand ups much more rough than the Hulk. Great photos!