USO/IOA/Sea World

This is the last day of my trip, and I figured I would start this before we left. Expect lots of pictures in the next couple of days. In the meantime, I will rule the universe!




These will be a bit out of order, but that's due to my photos being split between the camera and my phone.




This turn is almost completely forceless. Incredible ride; a bit of an uneasy feeling with the restraints not having a physical belt like on Hulk/Dragons/Kraken. Overall an amazing feeling soaring through the air on ***y new B&M track.




My wife petting a sting ray in the petting pool. They have an odd feel to them - slimy and soft. Almost rubbery feeling and squishy. You would think they feel firm like a shark, but they're really soft when you put any sort of pressure down on them.




The castle from the front of the queue line of the forbidden journey ride. It really is quite massive in person.



The big drop on Journey to Atlantis. The story doesn't make any sense and the speakers are just about blown. It was a great way to cool off on a hot afternoon, though.



A cow nose sting ray in the Manta aquarium. Really memorizing to watch them swim around.



We also watched Clyde and Seamore take Pirate Island. The jokes are basically the same as they ever were. Still an entertaining show.


I still have more photos to upload from my phone from USO/IOA. To be honest, I didn't enjoy Sea World as much as I thought I would. They could use more rides, but that's not the point of Sea World. I did learn a bit about their conservation efforts and about some marine life. Here's the photos I uploaded so far http://imgur.com/a/5alni



On our way down I-77, we got a great view of the mountains.


After approximately 20 hours of driving from Syracuse, we FINALLY got into Florida.



These dolphins are hand made and painted. I guess there's a whole bunch of them all the way down through the state on what they call the "dolphin trail".



We stopped off at the track in Daytona.




On Tuesday, we ventured over to the other side of the lagoon, where I found a little path way and snapped this photo of Hulk. This is the background to my phone now.



After venturing around Jurassic Park for a while, and finding out the River Ride is closed for maintenance, we found our way to the Hogsmead bridge, and caught our first real glimpse of the castle.



Alas! We made it! The single reason my wife agreed to take the trip.



We headed into the Three Broomsticks for lunch, and stopped by the Hogs Head pub on our way out. I discovered that frozen butterbeer is the way to go on a hot afternoon.



Upon our exit of the pub, we realized how many people were in the village.



We figured there's no time like the present to jump in line for the Forbidden Journey ride. The theming in the queue is phenomenal.



In Dumbledore's office, you see the first example of the Musion Eyeliner technology. It's the same technology that was used last year at Coachella to "resurrect" Tupac. It works based on a thin, metallic foil that's facing the audience at a 45 degree angle. The video is then projected onto the foil from behind, creating the illusion of a hologram moving in free space.



After HP world, we headed for the Lost Continent. We did Poseidon's Fury, which was cool, but short. The water tunnel is really amazing. If you haven't checked out the magic behind that effect, I highly encourage you to do so.



I snapped this from the water taxi one day. I don't remember which day, specifically. We didn't eat there due to the high cost, but we checked out the gift shop.



Tuesday night after dinner at Lombard's while waiting for the Cinematic Spectacular. This was the best part of the trip; Jaws made a snack of my wife!



Getting ready for the show...



Fountain effects during the cinematic.



I found a monkey waiting for the bus to Sea World on Wednesday morning.



When we arrived at Sea World, we found some live flamingos. They stink!



A nice shot showing all the sting rays and fish inside the aquarium outside of Manta.



The giant guitar fish swimming with all the rays.



A real live stork. That's right, kids. This ugly SOB is where babies come from.



I thought this was cool. I plan on getting a piece done with them next year.



The piano guys at Pat O'Brien's in City Walk. They sounded a lot better after a few of their famous hurricanes.






Quick, somebody make a meme out of this.



Construction on Diagon Alley/Ministry of Magic/Train station is coming along nicely.



The big part is going in the back of the Universal side, near Fear Factor.



This is going on the other side of the lagoon near the Simpsons ride.




I knew Jimmy Buffett was a drunk, but not so much to crash his plane into City Walk.



I'm definitely going to visit next year, but I'm certainly not going to drive again.

Here's the rest of the album that I didn't post directly. http://imgur.com/a/LJRnR#0

[Mikey]

For your safety: Don't eat at that restaurant behind you, or anywhere for that matter that is a part of the meal deal.

Why not? What's wrong with the food? Also, don't eat at the Whopper Bar. Just as bad as any other Burger King I've ever been to.

[TheArchitect]

looking forward to all the pics. and you cant rule the universe coz apparently Allah does, therefor you will die in hell fire. Failing that you'll go to jesus hell for not believing and blasphemy, failing that you'll go to a multitude of other hells blah blah.

Did you go to Busch Gardens? If you didn't you better do that next year because it's got some great B&Ms and a nice park.

Originally posted by AJClarke0912

Did you go to Busch Gardens? If you didn't you better do that next year because it's got some great B&Ms and a nice park.

We were going to, but we slept in and missed the bus to the park. I really wanted to ride Kumba and SkeiKra. We're definitely doing it next year, because we're going to skip out on Sea World. I'll be bumming about not riding Manta and Kraken again, but Busch Gardens is worth it.

Kumba & SheiKra > Manta & Kraken

I like Manta a lot (my first/only flying coaster), but Kumba > Kraken and I love SheiKra. Plus BGT has other coasters like Scorpion (fun Schwarzkopf) and Montu (overrated but still good in the first half). And, of course, Cheetah Hunt which is really tame to be honest.

Oh yeah and Gwazi which everyone forgets about because it's bad. One of the worst coasters ever in terms of excitement or intensity. It's as if GCI had a hangover last night, took the blueprints for the ride plot, and vomited a wooden coaster. It's pretty boring.

Kraken was actually the most fun to ride of all the coasters. The roll is truly zero-g, as opposed to Hulk which pulls you into the track on the roll. But Montu, Kumba, SheiKra, and all others is worth not riding it again. I've heard that Cheetah Hunt is really tame for an Intamin, but it looks like so much fun, and it's supposed to ride super smooth.

Oh, and this. All of my this.

It's as if GCI had a hangover last night, took the blueprints for the ride plot, and vomited a wooden coaster.

Nobody rides a GCI for the airtime/intensity. They ride it for the architectural pornography.

Well the only thing modern GCI's have is pacing. They can actually be pretty fun if you ride the ones that are good. Ones like Gwazi, Wildcat, Roar, and Terminator are pretty low. Thunderhead seems to be a popular vote and I liked American Thunder.

Gwazi isn't even that pretty though. And the line doesn't go through it so you don't see any of it. If you haven't ridden it I would still say pass it unless you want to because you'll forget the experience 5 minutes afterward anyway.