Happy Cinco de Mayo!

On day seven, we decided to attack Universal’s Islands of Adventure. One of the perks of Tawnya’s annual pass is 2 free hours of valet parking, which was sweet. On the way, I saw either Jimmy Buffett’s real plane, or a good replica of it. I also noticed that they’re going to open a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant on CityWalk. Once in the park, Roger and Tawnya paid for Express Passes, which gets us to the front of the line. (Thanks guys!!!) [Author’s editorial – I think that it’s crappy for Universal to be charging for a service that Disney provides for free…for now. At least give the annual passholders free Express passes! ‘Nuff said!] We started in IoA (short for ‘Islands of Adventure’) at Seuss Landing, where we went on a carousel, a flying fish ride (complete with squirts of water), the Cat in the Hat ride, and we met Guy. We then travelled to the ‘Lost Continent’, where Kiara and Elijah conquered the ‘Flying Unicorn’, a cute (but easy) roller coaster. From there, we went to ‘Jurassic Park’, where we went on the ‘Jurassic Park River Adventure’, which got us a little wet. I have to admit it was a bit overwhelming a ride, but Kiara hung in there like a trooper. We then hit the ‘Toon Lagoon’. This is where we started to get REALLY wet. With a little ‘creative hairdressing’ by Tawnya and Jennifer, Kiara was able to get on ‘Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls’, which got us wet, then we got on ‘Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges’, which got us SOAKED! Following that, we had to stop for something to eat in order to dry off a bit. Then it was off to Marvel Super Hero Island, where we got on ‘The Amazing Adventures of Spider-man’, which Kiara swore off (figuratively) after getting off the ride. Following that, we headed back to the resort to change clothes and rest a bit. Jennifer, Kiara and I decided to try to get to EPCOT so that Kiara could get a passport and get it signed at all the different world pavilions. I also play a little game called ‘Drunk around the World’, where I have a drink at every country (11 in all). Well, I stopped a bit early when I started to feel it (about 6 or 7 countries in), but we made it thru 10 of the 11 countries. At each country, besides getting the passport signed, Kiara also got to make a mask that had a symbol hanging from it from the starting country that you’re in. Then you get a different symbol at each country. Kiara loved that. Jennifer and I usually get a bottle of German wine (a Disney tradition of ours) and we usually stop to have a sample of Coca-cola products in their gift area (now called Club Cool), but due to the time, all we got to do is watch the fireworks, so we’ll have to try it again at a later date. By the end of the day, Kiara was wiped out.

As usual, the day seven pictures are up on Flickr.