UNIVERSAL STUDIOS DAY! ISLANDS OF ADVENTURES!
The alarm when off at 6:45am and Jonathan and I were up at 7am making coffee and smoothies and a batch of eggs to start the day off right. It was chilly at Bill Frederickson Park! Poor kiddos were cold again last night because some of their blankets fell off in the night (they are in the top bun above the cab, so when a blanket falls, it falls alllllllll the way to the floor 5ft below them. By 7:30am everyone was fed, mostly awake and almost ready to roll.
Drove 15min to the Island Of Adventure parking lot and got excellent RV parking in the "Jaws" section of the parking. All the parking is cleverly designated with a movie image, colour code (blue), and movie theme song playing (Dun-dun, Dun-dun....)
Walked through the City Walk... tons of shops and restaurants and drink places to get to the security at the gate entrance. It was a cooler morning (below 20c) and we were hoping it would warm up a bit! This is Florida!! what the heck. We only had light sweaters on, a small backpack with water and snacks.
To the left as we entered was the super hero/comics zone and we saw there was not much of a line up for the Spiderman ride, so we gave it a go. Super fun 4D (5D??) experience with villans coming at you with flamethrowers and water hoses and air blasters as you whirled around in a car with 3D glasses on. After, we walked by Skull Island where the king kong ride was, but it was closed for the moment.
Carried on through to the Jurassic Park area... some super cool stuff in there, as if you were really in Jurassic Park. We chased each other through the maze of playground nets before decided to go on the River Ride since there was zero line up. We got a boat to ourselves and had been given advice by a girl who was leaving the ride, that we should sit in row 3 to get the least wet! She was right!... the river ride was very very fun... at the end through the chaos of the security fencing breach and T-rex on the loose, it was a massive drop that felt like a free fall way down into the water below! The photo of our faces was priceless! absolute terror! Love it.
Next up was Harry Potter World with Hogsmeade... very neat! We like Harry Potter but our kids are not gaga about it. It was cool to wander around and check it out, but not as mesmerizing to them as it was to all the kids and adults dressed up in their house capes and HP gear. Our kids didn't get wands, but were happy to watch others try to use them to make magical things happen in the store front windows etc. Besides, they had their special magic wands they purchased in Salem Massachusetts at the amazing wand store there. We decided to try the Hippogryph coaster and looked for the line up. Not paying particular attention, and kind of dazzled by all the HP cool stuff, we saw what looked like an entrance to the ride based on location. The person at the gate said we'd have to use the free locker for our bag, so I went and navigated the lockers (very cool system) and came back. Off we went through the gate and into the tunnel. It was super cool inside, just like being inside Hogwarts. Still not processing correctly, and quite amazed the they would put this much effort into the small coaster ride. The pictures on the walls were talking as we wound through the hallways to the ride. Even when I saw a tv screen showing Harry and friends on the "enchanted bench" ride, I assumed it was showcasing the Forbidden Journey ride. It was only when we got to the very front of the line up where you step onto a moving platform to sit on the four seater "enchanted benches" that we clued in that we were on the wrong ride! omg we are so clueless!
We had mixed reviews on this ride only in the sense that some adults said it made them feel dizzy and nauseous with all the spinning around. Others said it was awesome and we'd love it. We had put it on a "do later" list so that if Jonathan got dizzy, it would at least be the end of the day. Our kids were quite scared to go on it and were not keen.
So here we were... suddenly at the front of the line for the most popular HP ride and mild panic set in! The kids voiced very clearly they did not want to go on it. Oh man. We had lined up for quite some time and here we were! Seeing the look on our faces and body language, a "wizard" immediately and deftly swooped in and handled us expertly. He pulled us aside and had another guide help the rest of the line keep moving. Our hero, he calmly asked us what was going on and how could he help? We explained our naïveté (stupidity?) and he calmed the kiddos (and us!) down immediately and explained about the ride in a very positive way. Not intending anything, I commented to Jonathan that we'd used our Express passes already to get in here, thinking we'd not be able to use it later if we wanted to go on this ride... bummer. The wizard said, "wait here, let me see what I can do for you"... and zipped off behind a door. He came back within seconds with four VIP one-time ride passes. He said, "What you could do, is since you are already here, you could ride this ride... I think you'll like it, and then use these two sets of passes to get you onto the HippoGryph, and onto Hagrid's Motorcycle ride which doesn't usually take express passes. How could we argue with that? haha. We convinced the kids to try the ride... gratefully thanked him and and dubiously stepped onto the moving platform and into the four seats on the incoming enchanted bench.
The ride turned out to be amazing and didn't make Jonathan's head spin as he feared it would. Ollie liked it but Amelia basically closed her eyes the minute we started. Poor kid. What a sport tho... she rode that ride with no tears (lots of crazy movement and scary creatures) and at the end she just pointed her little pointer finger in the air and said with a grin, "Well, I'm never doing THAT ride again!" . Our flub ended up being a huge positive in the end... we got to do the ride we were unsure of, and got VIP (better than Express) passes to any two rides we wanted. Jonathan and I had a crush on the the handsome wizard that helped us. What a rockstar.
On the Hippogryph coaster where we originally planned to be! We were in line but had to miss the first coaster because a kid had a bleeding nose all over the front car. oh dear.
On the way out to the rig, Oliver saw a stand that sold some scary Halloween Micheal Myers hoodies and mugs, etc. He was quite interested in getting one.
After a good little rest and refresh at the RV, we walked back into the park with new energy. We checked out the Jurassic Park centre while I food digested. Then we went back to Hagrid's ride with our VIP passes... a very nervous Oliver, and excited Amelia. When we did get on the ride.. Ollie was in the sidecar of Daddy's motorcycle, and Meems and I were behind them. What a ride! oh man. It started off fast and then accelerated even faster! The look on Amelia's face told me she was probably quite terrified. I couldn't even reach over and hold her hand because I had to hold on for dear life to the motorcycle handles, haha. We swooped and dived and only slowed briefly at times to view the magical creatures as Hagrid commentated our ride the whole way. Super thrilling! At the end, Oliver LOVED it, and Amelia vowed never to ride that one again either! again, with a grin.
After the thrilling Hagrid ride, we walked to Skull Island, and did the kid swap deal where we all lined up and then at the last minute, the kids could decide if they wanted to do the ride or not. Jonathan rode it and came back to the kid swap room where I waited with the kiddos watching King Kong on the TV. Jay tried to convince Ollie he'd like it, but it was a no thanks! I rode it while Jay waited with kids. Cool ride, but nothing like the others.
We rode the Pteryadon flyers, did the Hippogryph coaster again and wandered around the park. It was getting to the end of the day and we were getting tired. We tried to get the kids to go on the Jurassic Park River Ride again for that drop-thrill, but it was a no-go. So Amelia and Jonathan and I went on Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Barge ride as our grand finale (the other water ride was closed for maintenance). I heard you get soaked. Oliver was a hard no on that one. When we walked over, there was zero line up (it was a cooler day and not a bit hit for soaking wet rides haha). We gave Ollie our bags and outer layers as soon as they girl said, "you will get as wet as if you jumped in a swimming pool". He stood on the bridge above the ride to take photos as we climbed into the "barge" - which was soaking wet. What a crazy WET ride haha. Jonathan was the first to get doused by a huge pouring of water from a tube. Amelia laughed at him, but fearfully knowing we'd get drenched shortly after. So funny!
We emerged soaked to the skin and laughing. Not many people around by this point. Easy to duck aside and swap our wet shirts for dry long sleeves and we were on our way to the exit gates in soaking shorts and squelching shoes.
He bought himself a Michael Myers hoody with some advance Christmas money from Gma and was SO delighted. Made his day.
By 8pm or so we were back to our little home on wheels in the parking lot for dry clothes and hot chocolate. Jonathan changed the headlight lamp since we'd be driving to the KOA in the dark and the one headlight had gone out. It was when we were all inside and Jonathan was getting something from the back and I was sat in the passenger seat when I noticed we appeared to be moving. Yes, we were moving! rolling backwards! I said, "Jonathan! we're moving!! we're moving!!" staring at the vehicle next to us move past the window as we rolled backwards. He jumped up and pulled the e-brake. Oh boy! that would not have been a good end to the day, rolling backwards into the cars parked across the way! yikes!
Drove the 20min or so to the Orlando KOA in Kissimmee. O and J explored the grounds and the pool area before we all tucked into bed, tired from a great day at the theme park.
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