Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Feeling 10 years younger..

Hiiiiiiiiiii All,

My "Hiiiiiiii" says it all! The abundant joy and overflowing enthusiasm still falls short of what I would have wanted it to be.. Orlando and the parks had my heart 'soaring' all the way through the vacation and still when I am back home. So pardon my gushing! Its difficult to contain the words powered by the experience I have just felt! :)

5 days, 80 F and all the energy was what we had. Bright skies, warm weather and not a speck of rain. Our Agenda read Universal, Walt Disney World (WDW) and Sea World: an ambitious itinerary, but youthful nonetheless.

First day was Universal studios. "Shrek 4D" was awesome, followed by the coaster "Revenge of the Mummy" and the real effects - "Twister". They actually had the set of Twister in there, with a mind 'blowing' display of how tornadoes can rip a place apart! There was "MIB", "Back to the future", "T2" and the like. "Earthquake" and "Jaws" had some swell special effects. We even tried out "Jimmy Neutron" in Nickelodeon :) And this was just day 1.

Day 2 saw us get into Disney Epcot. We had it all planned out, and all the others had cheated! :( Everyone had the same sequence of rides. No wonder even when we made a dash for Test Track, we still had some 10 mins to wait. But it was worth it! The track cars reach up to 64.7 mph (almost 100 kmph) in some 5 seconds! Simply tooooooo good! Next was "Mission: Space" and experiencing G5 was nothing like imagining it! The tug that you get in your stomach HAS to be felt! The weightlessness like in space added to the whole show. "Soaring" was something else that had us captivated! The feeling you get by riding the wind was one of its kind! Others were "chunnu munnu" rides as compared to these 3! World showcase was classy too, with about 10 countries having their dominion there. A miniature version of the Eiffel Tower peaked over the skyline. However, the whole glitter was stolen by "Illuminations" - a light and fireworks show over the enclosed lagoon. Named "Reflections of the earth", they had a huge globe in the center with flashing pictures and images of various segments of life on it. Was indeed spectacular.

Day 3 was Disney's Magic Kingdom, and wasnt it magical? The whole world was much younger, much simpler and soo much more cuter! (if there is a word like that) :) The magnificent castle, the toon characters, the disney princesses, the gleeming rail road ride, the kiddo coasters, the glamorous parades, the opulent shows: all had us in a trance all day long. Right from "Cindrellabation" to "Mickey's Philarmagic", to "Mickey's house" and the parades, we were in awe with the style Disney brought life to "Magic".

Day 4 was Disney's MGM studios. A world of movies comparative to Universal studios, it was still a class apart. From "Tower of Terror" and "Rock n Roller", to shows like "Beauty and the Beast" and "Fantasmic", the day was worth the fatigue that had already crept in from this tiring trip.

Day 5 was Sea World, and we thought we would never be able to muster enough strength to live the day, but we 'sailed' through it :) Nothing to do with the sea though! ;) There was Kraken, with some world record of the highest drop, and we rode it 4 times, each time, with higher rising adrenaline levels! :D That kicked off the day beautifully. "Journey to Atlantis" soaked us, thanks to me, who insisted on doing that the first thing. Alas, we lived with the dampness all day! ("Yikes" I hear people say :( ) Then was the sea otter and seal show. One beauty it was! :) The show with human acrobats and dolphins (called "Blue Horizons") was splendid. You wouldnt want to take your eyes of it, for the full 30 minutes, that you had them peeled to the arena. But nothing beats the killer whale show. Though its more known for "Shamu - the killer whale", the other 12000 pounds killer whale, left people gaping at its sheer size and gasping for breath from the giant splash! :) The first 14 rows didnt stand a chance! :) There was dolphin feeding too, in which people petted dolphins up really close! Their cherubic faces and mellow puttering were such a delight! :)) Penguins and Puffins, sharks and seals, walruses and manatees all added to this beautiful aquatic world.

And it was time for us to resume life where we had left it back home. But this figment of memory would forever be a joyful trip to childhood.

Next trip.....umm.... Canada?

Till the next note. Au revoir.

Yours,
Neha