Moving onto the Hollywood area you will find The Gory Gruesome & Grotesque Horror Make-Up show where you can watch the art of horror make-up and all. Next onto one of the 'must' rides - Earthquake The Big One. Not surprisingly this is in the San Francisco area. You will find yourself in an 8.3 on the Richter scale with trucks rolling onto you as well as fire and water. Also in the S.F. area is The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show. Here you will experience dynamite blasts and high falls performed by Hollywood's top stunt men. Moving now onto the Production Area you will find Alfred Hitchcock: The Art Of Making Movies. First off you are given background info on Alf then placed in a scene from Psycho and finally a good 3D version of the birds which I didn't find quite as good a EPCOT's Captain EO. Next board your spaceship and join Hanna-Barbera favourites such as Yogi Bear and the Flintstones in The Funtastic World Of HannaBarbera where you travel through Bedrock and a haunted castle. You can also create your own special effects in the DIY area. Another area with good rides is the big apple, New York area. First off is the Ghostbusters show that concludes with a realistic confrontation with the marshmallow man and has lifelike 3D ghosts. One of the best rides is next as you confront banana breath himself in Kongfrontation. In your cable car you will come across Kong on a couple of occasions swatting helicopters in his way. If you have Sky TV you will no doubt have now come across Nickelodeon. The Nick studios are actually at Universal Studios, Orlando. You can take a guided tour or watch actual shows (depending on day and time). If you want some monster rock then you have to visit Beetlejuices Graveyard Revue. Starring 'juice as well as Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein and others in this performance they claim will 'rouse the dead and raise the roof'.
All of the theme parks have great finales at the end of the day and Universal is no exception with its Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular. Held in the lagoon based on a Miami Vice theme you will see boats blow and explosive (literally) stunts. Not to be missed!
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Apparently the Jaws ride IS now open at Universal. On my first visit to Orlando it had just been shut down and the last time I went I heard nothing about it.
Price - $35, children $27.56. 2 day $56.18, children $44.52
Open - Open from 9AM. Closing time varies according to season.
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Also located at Universal Studios is the guitar shaped Hard Rock Cafe. The 300 feet of the neck of the guitar is the walkway while the restaurant is within the base. You can get to the Hard Rock from outside as well as inside Universal Studios. As with most Hard Rock's expect a wait.
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OK so you have done the parks and the shopping in 100 degrees. What next? The answer to this one really is quite easy....
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'A furious storm once roared across the sea catching ships in its path, helpless to flee. Instead of a certain and watery doom the winds swept them here to Typhoon Lagoon'
Well so says the Disney garb anyway. It may however explain how the boat Miss Tilly manages to be perched on Mount Mayday that overlooks this fabulous waterpark. Your first sight as you enter the park will be Typhoon Lagoon itself that dwarfs the wave pools of Wet 'n' Wild and WaterMania. The Lagoon can produce the largest artificial waves in the world and pro surfing tournaments have been held there. The big waves are normally let loose every couple of hours in-between this time smaller waves are used which you can happily laze on with your tube. Apart from the lagoon there are numerous water slides and attractions. For the kids there is Ketchakiddie Creek with a small pool and small slides. For the older and more adventurous there are the storm slides for bare back riders, the mayday and keelhaul falls for use with tubes and the humunga kowabunga straight drop slides that are a bit time compared to Wet 'n' Wilds stukas but good fun all the same. The tube rides can have long queues of people waiting but you can jump the queue if you have hired a tube so its a good idea to do this if you intend to go on the lagoon or use these slides. Free tubes are available to go through the rain forest on castaway creek that encircles the park. Theres certainly nothing more relaxing in Orlando than laying on your tube and casually drifting down the creek. Finally there is shark reef where you can either snorkel in a salt water pool or merely admire the colourful fish from an observatory in the shape of the bottom of a ships port holes. New snorkellers need not worry as tuition and body flotation is provided. Expert snorkellers may be peeved to find that they also have to wear them and are not allowed to dive below the surface. Souvenirs can be bought at Singapore Sal's and food and drink is available at four outlets, low tide Lou's, leaning palms, typhoon Tilly's and slurp's up.
Price guide - One day ticket $21.73
Entrance to Typhoon Lagoon is included in the Disney 5 day ticket.
Open - Until about 5 o'clock every night as time varies.
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Located in the Kissimmee area this will be your choice over Wet 'n' Wild if you are in this area. Not based on a Typhoon Lagoon where every thing is laid out to perfection this is just pure fun with water slides and the like. There is also a 8100 square foot maze, crazy golf and the Anaconda slide where you twist and turn down a 400 feet tube.
Price guide - One day ticket $18, children $16 Open - From March to November 9AM - 5PM (9PM in June - August)
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Located on International Drive Wet 'n' Wild makes up what it looses in character compared to Typhoon Lagoon with a host of slides and rides. Newest is the bomb bay that has been added to one of the original stukas. The stuka slide is basically a straight drop. Add a little compartment that the bottom suddenly falls out dropping you down the stuka and you have the bomb bay. For a less scary slide there is the five flume mach 5 that has slides that you can go down on either a tube or mats. For groups there is the bubba tub that allows a number of people into a large tube on this six storey high slide. Possibly the best slide is the 500 foot long black hole that shutes you down in complete darkness. WNW also has a wave pool although you may find this a little tame compared to Typhoon Lagoon.
Price $20, children $18
Open 9AM - 11PM depending on time of year.
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River Country & Discovery Island
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Located in Disney's Fort Wilderness this is there original attempt at a water park. While it may not have the hi-tech slides and pools of Typhoon, WNW and Watermania it does have a water hole with swinging ropes as well as slides, a tube ride as well as a freshwater pool with drop down slides. For a little extra you can also take an enjoyable boat trip to Discovery Island a tropical paradise with trails that feature wildlife and flowers. You also get a good view of the Disney resorts and parks from here.
Price - $14.05 or $10.50 + tax for a child. Little extra for Discovery Island. DI on its own is $8.50 + tax or $4.75 + tax for kids. You can also use your 4/5 day super duper pass.
Open - Depends on time of year. Eg. May was 10AM-5PM, June until 7PM
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A new waterpark is now apparently under construction called Blizzard Beach. Disney are building it and it will be open early 1995. It is, I believe, based on an alpine ski resort that melts. If its better than Typhoon Lagoon expect something rather special.
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Although not in Orlando by any means (85 miles away) a lot of people with the use of a hire car may well fancy a trip here. Owned by Anheuser-Busch of Sea World and Budweiser fame this is Floridas third most popular theme park. The 200 acres of the park are home to some 3,000 + animals that include elephants and tigers. There are rides here too including the Python and Scorpion roller coaster rides and a river ride called the Congo River Rapids. As well as other things (if you are aren't driving) there is a Budweiser brewery tour.
Cost - $29.75
If you are visiting Busch as well as Sea World tickets can be bought that combine the two.
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The 223 acres of Cypress Gardens are located about 45 minutes drive time away from Orlando. This was really Floridas first theme park opened in the 1930's and is famous mainly for its water ski shows the current show being 'ski! ski! ski! everybodys skiin' carribbean'. The show includes stunt jumps, barefooting and slalom exhibitions. To prove that Old South still beckons Southern Belles stroll through the gardens and are more than pleased to have there photo taken. If you are a model railway fan you will enjoy the Cypress Function that incorporates 1100 feet of track, 400 buildings and 4800 figures. There are more than 8,000 varieties of flowers and plants in the parks gardens from 75 countries which makes up more than half the parks area. Finally for a great view over the park there is the 153ft Kodak tower.
Open : Daily 9:00 - 18:00 with extended hours in peak season
Price : Adults $22.20, Children $15. |
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