Family Travel Times

Family Travel Times: April 2013

Sunday 28 April 2013

Ripley's Believe It or Not (By Jessica)



Ripley's Believe It or Not is one of the coolest places to visit in London. It is full of amazing artwork, vile videos, exciting exhibits and fun facts. I have been there twice and loved it both times.

One reason that I love Ripley's it that unlike a normal museum, not all of the exhibits are behind glass. This made my visits so much more exciting. The place is also full of really enjoyable activities and facts that you would never find in a normal museum, such as water the temperature as it would have been outside the Titanic and a shrunken heads room. This room was full of people who had two pupils in each eye and so on - definitely too disgusting for me!

There is also a part of Ripley's full of torture instruments and machines that is gross but very interesting. My friends and I had fun pressing a button that sent 2000 volts of electricity through a pretend man and grimaced at the bed of nails. We also marvelled at the spectacular hologram of Ripley near the beginning. It looked so realistic.


Ripley's is also full of amazing art, such as pictures of the queen made up of 1p coins. My favourite was one made of coloured gobstoppers. All of this was amazing, but there was still so much more!
The mirror maze was brilliant and really difficult. It is massive and in a really dim light. When we had completed it, we ran right in and did it all over again! However, it costs a lot of money and is not as brilliant as everything else so it can be skipped. It was my third favourite part of the day though.

We also really enjoyed the Laser Quest. It also was an optional extra but it was totally awesome and I really recommend paying that little bit more to do it. You had to get around a room without touching any lasers to steal the money. My go only took three minutes but I had so much fun!

The best bit of the day was the Black Hole. You do not have to pay extra as it is part of the museum and you have to get through it to go to the next bit. It is basically a very short tunnel where you walk through on a platform. It sounds really boring, but the outside is spinning around so it feels like you are being turned upside down. Some people just close their eyes and walk right through, but my friends and I sat down and chatted on it for five minutes. It was EPIC!


Overall, I recommend Ripley's 100% to everyone aged 7+ who like fun facts and aren't afraid of seeing squeamish things. Enjoy!

Labels: , ,

Ripley's Believe It or Not (By Jessica)


Ripley's Believe It or Not is one of the coolest places to visit in London. It is full of amazing artwork, vile videos, exciting exhibits and fun facts. I have been there twice and loved it both times. 
One reason that I love Ripley's it that unlike a normal museum, not all of the exhibits are behind glass. This made my visits so much more exciting. The place is also full of really enjoyable activities and facts that you would never find in a normal museum, such as water the temperature as it would have been outside the Titanic and a shrunken heads room. This room was full of people who had two pupils in each eye and so on - definitely too disgusting for me! 
There is also a part of Ripley's full of torture instruments and machines that is gross but very interesting. My friends and I had fun pressing a button that sent 2000 volts of electricity through a pretend man and grimaced at the bed of nails. We also marvelled at the spectacular hologram of Ripley near the beginning. It looked so realistic.

Read more »

Labels:

Wednesday 17 April 2013

My Three Top Rides At Universal, Orlando (By Jessica)

My family was lucky enough to spend ten days in Orlando, Florida. Two of these were spent at Universal Studios and Islands Of Adventure. Here are my favourite rides...



1. The Simpsons Ride (Universal Studios)        


[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360"]Outside the Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios, Florida Outside the Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios, Florida[/caption]

In this amazing motion simulator, you sit in cars and watch a hilarious Simpsons film.  In it, you are riding a roller coaster in Krustyland (a terrible theme park) with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. However, a man named Sideshow Bob seeks revenge on the Simpsons for foiling one of his evil schemes and plans to demolish the roller-coaster - with you on it!

This was my favourite ride EVER because everything looked so real and Homer made some really funny jokes. The best bit was when Maggie tried to eat us (her mouth smelled of talcum powder!) This ride also has a hilarious pre-show.


 
2. Harry Potter And The Forbidden Journey (Universal Islands of Adventure)
I loved this ride. Although we had to wait for some time, the queuing area looked very cool and it was amazing to see the characters talk to us in hologram form. The actual ride was incredible; it was a mixture of a ride and a motion simulator. You are being sneaked out of class to watch a Quidditch match with Harry, Ron and Hermonie when suddenly, dementors take over the pitch and you are whisked off on an incredible adventure. The technology was so good that I actually felt that I was there! The best bit was when we got up close to a fire-breathing dragon and got our faces sucked out by dementors.



    3.  The Amazing Adventures Of Spider Man in 3D (Universal Islands of Adventure)













[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="260"]Robert and Green Goblin after the Amazing Spiderman ride in the Universal Islands of Adventure. Robert and Green Goblin after the Amazing Spiderman ride in the Universal Islands of Adventure.[/caption]

This was the ride that we queued the most for at Universal and it was awesome! I never knew much about Spider Man before, but now I really like it. In this ride, the members of the Sinister Syndicate have stolen the Statue of Liberty and it is up to Spider Man to save the day. This is also a motion simulator/ride but in this one you go around in cars and see real fire, plus you go on a simulated 400 foot free-fall that felt so real. The graphics were amazing and the best bit was when Spider Man jumped onto our car!



I also really enjoyed Men In Black Alien Attack (Universal Studios), Pteranodon Flyers, The Cat in The Hat and Poseidon's Fury (all at Universal's Islands of Adventure).

Labels: , , , , ,

My Three Top Rides At Universal, Orlando (By Jessica)

My family was lucky enough to spend ten days in Orlando, Florida. Two of these were spent at Universal Studios and Islands Of Adventure. Here are my favourite rides...


1. The Simpsons Ride (Universal Studios)                                                             

In this amazing motion simulator, you sit in cars and watch a hilarious Simpsons film.  In it, you are riding a roller coaster in Krustyland (a terrible theme park) with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. However, a man named Sideshow Bob seeks revenge on the Simpsons for foiling one of his evil schemes and plans to demolish the roller-coaster - with you on it!
This was my favourite ride EVER because everything looked so real and Homer made some really funny jokes. The best bit was when Maggie tried to eat us (her mouth smelled of talcum powder!) This ride also has a hilarious pre-show.
Read more »

Labels: , , ,