Christmas, Disney, Universal and Romika!

Since my travel companion Romika is so eagerly awaiting this post, I’ll rather not delay it any further. More so because I still can’t get the trip out of my mind!

That we spent our Christmas weekend at Orlando’s gorgeous theme parks is common knowledge now, thanks to, in Romika’s words, her “big mouth” and my “big Facebook account”.  We came back yesterday, having spent one of the most fun and memorable Christmas weekends in a long time!

So the surprise bit first. While we were geared for a splurge of splendidly designed, controlled experiences, we were in for a bit of what can be termed as a “real adventure”. For on the second day of our trip, right in the midst of a dark, confined and stormy water ride through the Norwegian seas, our boat, right after taking a massive plunge, just ceased to move. The voices of the “Spirits of Norway” that accompanied us on this voyage were suddenly replaced by an announcement saying “We are experiencing unexpected technical difficulties. Please remain seated and wait for assistance.”

Well there was no assistance for the next ten or so seemingly never ending minutes. We discussed if it was safe where we were and how long we could go on and if there was a way out of the tunnel that we could possibly take without falling into the water beneath. And how “different” the whole experience would be if the boat got stuck just a couple of seconds back in the middle of the steep forward plunge, in a near vertical position!

The only form of assistance that ultimately came our way was of course, an instruction to evacuate the boat and leave. We just had to figure out a way out of the water to the emergency exit door of the tunnel. All this while guess what Romika was saying! “This HAS to go into your blog! This is not something everyone gets to experience!”  I was a bit disappointed at having missed the backward plunge, a trademark attraction towards the end of this ride – Maelstrom at the Norway pavilion of Epcot  - that our boat couldn’t make. But well, the Dudley Do Right’s Ripsaw Falls at the Islands of Adventure the next day more than made up for the loss.

That apart, the three days were so unforgettably delightful that we had to spend most of our time on the way back planning or rather making wishlists for our next Orlando trip. There’s just so much we couldn’t do this time!

Our first day was spent at Disney’s Hollywood Studios where the popular Disney characters come to life! It was all vibrant and jubilant except that my knowledge of Disney movies is very poor. We loved the very colorful and musical enactment of the Beauty and the Beast, a childhood favorite.  We also rode the much hyped Rock and Roller coaster and the Tower of Terror, the former being my first roller real roller coaster experience ever. The Tower of Terror is all about anticipation not quite as “terrorizing” as claimed.

This park and the Universal Islands constantly made me wonder if we have any similar themed experiences for fiction and cinema back in India. For instance I would totally love a theme park based on R.K. Narayan’s Malgudi on the same lines as Harry Potter World, having grown up enjoying the vivid portrayal of this imaginary town closer home in so many stories and novels! Not sure if it would resonate with the children of today.

Our first day’s account would not be complete without a mention of the moment of surprise! We went straight from the airport to Disney in order to save time and in the process were told by several people that  we would have no place to keep Romika’s suitcase at the park; that the lockers do not hold anything that size. We had made up our mind to take a shot anyway and if it didn’t work, we would simply drag it along and skip the rides! It seemed a better option than wasting three hours going to the hotel to keep the stuff.
Our scream of delight when the thing actually went into the locker startled people around into wondering what was so exciting about the park locker room! So yes, Disney parks do have fairly large lockers that many people don’t know about!

The next day we went to Epcot, the park we were looking forward to the most.  It’s marked by beautiful, immersive experiences, ranging from glimpses of eleven countries in the World Showcase section and a vision for tomorrow in the Future world section. It is not an adventure place, with all very gentle “experiential” rides and very creative showcases of technology. I loved Soarin’ , a ride simulating the experience of gliding through Californian skies, with all its lushness beneath in full glory! Very immersive and realistic! Almost felt like touching the waves that weren’t really there!

However, I have to admit that I liked Universal’s Islands of Adventure which we visited on the last day more than either of the Disney parks. Featuring five themed islands and a myriad adventure rides this park is addictive and transports you into a different world! The theming of Harry Potter World and Dr. Seuss islands were very awe-inspiring even to the uninitiated like me and the rides were splendid. The water rides at the Toon Lagoon were so hilariously addictive that we wanted to go back to them even with the short time we had. The Jurassic Park river adventure and the Spider Man adventure were engrossing and immersive experiences, Spiderman being a very creative use of virtual reality. I do regret missing the Forbidden Journey in the Harry Potter World though, due to sheer lack of information. We just didn’t know how awesome it is

Now for the roller coasters! Romika sort of pulled me into one of the most formidable rides there, the Dragon Challenge (Fire).  It was a huge leap given that I haven’t even been on many tamer coasters and the experience was well, like a first time. But somehow I do feel like trying more of them in the future and think I might like them some day!  In fact more than the ride itself it was seeing the Incredible Hulk Coaster and its sister (yes, that’s what we call The Rip Ride Rockit at the Universal studios, which we didn’t have access to) towering so formidably above everything else at Universal and so conspicuously attention grabbing everywhere in the park that intrigued me into getting to know more about them. Though we didn’t try the Hulk this time, it’s on our agenda for whenever we get there next! But what enticed me even more from a distance was its sister (well, who can remember its tongue twister like real name?) and its magnificent tall vertical lift! Looks pretty innovative; something other than just crazy movements, inversions and speed! Since then I have been reading about coasters voraciously, something I never thought I would be interested in!

Both of us came back from Orlando wanting to go there again, pretty soon! Glad I live so close to this exhilarating fun city! And yes, contrary to what I had heard from several people, Orlando does have a fairly good bus service covering all the important places!

However, Romika’s “moment of the trip” had nothing to do with Disney or Universal. It was when we entered into our hotel room!! Our hotel had run out of King Sized rooms and gave us a free upgrade to a Suite instead! Great! But really this exciting? From the moment we entered into the suite for about twenty minutes Romika was so exhilarated that all her screaming and my laughing got us an instant noise complaint. No, nothing in the parks could match that level of jubilation and thrill!
Now what exactly was THAT exciting about the suite? Putting it in Romika’s words, the “marvels” were:

a)      Two large screen TVs, one in the bed room and the other in the living area – She went gaga over them as though a room with a TV is the ultimate purpose of going on a trip!

b)      A shower cabinet

c)      And this is the most important – a dishwasher!! She went on and on about how she has never seen a hotel room with a dishwasher and how marvelous it is to have one (notwithstanding the fact that there was no utensil anywhere in the vicinity to make the dishwasher useful nor was cooking on our agenda for this super condensed trip)!!

Romika, when your friends and colleagues back in Madison ask you about your trip, please don’t go on and on ranting about our hotel room and its many wonders. In all likelihood that’s NOT what they are asking about!

 

Disney Hollywood Studio

The Incredible Hulk

Disney Hollywood Studios on Christmas Eve!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

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