Universal Studios: Day 2
Day two at the parks was a little more adventurous, yet laid back. We started our day kind of late due to our exhaustion from the night before. I do have to say, though, that the beds in the Loews Portofino Bay are FANTASTIC! We all slept like babies and woke up around 9:30. After eating Poptarts and bagels in our rooms, we headed to Universal Studios Florida park to hop on the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket. This high-speed coaster that you can see the steep incline of from the city walk was closed yesterday due to maintenance and the storm. That is why we made sure to start our day off with this one. It certainly did not disappoint. Like I said in the last post, I will go more into detail later on, but here are some pictures to give you an idea of what we are talking about.
When we all met back up after the ride, we decided to cave and buy two refillable mugs due to our constant thirst we experienced the day before. The cups were about $15 a piece, but very worth it in my opinion. You are able to refill them every 10 minutes, and you can even fill them with Icees. The only downside is that they only work the day of purchase unless you pay a small reactivation fee for additional days. It is safe to say that by the end of today, we got our moneys worth.
After the refilling our cups, we headed over to Islands of Adventure where we of course started our riding out with the Incredible Hulk. We basically walked right onto the ride but made the mistake of waiting in the "front seat" line. It took about 10 minutes longer than it would've if we weren't so picky, but the experience was worth the wait. Lincoln headed to Seuss Landing with my mom and road One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and surprisingly got fairly wet in doing so! He also road the Caro-suess-el, and loved it.
Because of the insane heat and blazing sun, we decided to try out the three water rides the park has to offer. We started out with the Popeye & Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges. This one seemed really similar to Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom on the surface with its similar rafts and rapids. But, it took rapids to a whole new level! There was no avoiding getting soaked, and the rapids were insanely fast. We then went to Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls (also in Toons Lagoon). It was supposed to resemble Splash Mountain, but besides the bigger and faster drop, I would have to say Splash Mountain won on this one. To round out our water rides at the park, we rode Jurassic Park. It was a super cool take on a tour through the land of the dinosaurs that took a turn for the worse. When you end up taking a wrong turn, it really looks a lot like Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom. It was really well executed, and we ended up getting right back on it because of how much we liked it. After refueling with our refillable cups, the boys went off to ride the rapids one last time before returning to the rooms to change into dry clothes.
When arriving at our rooms, we could tell the storms were about to roll in. We all freshened up and dried off and decided it was time to eat lunch/dinner at about 4:30. Because we spent nearly $100 on a mediocre meal in the park yesterday, we decided to go off property for a better meal that could hold us over for the rest of the evening. We ended up going to a nearby Carrabba's where we spent $5 more for way better food and service.
After getting back to the resort, we relaxed a little (and by we I mean I tried to relax while the boys beat each other with pillows). When the rain stopped, we went back to the parks to finish up the evening. We stayed in Universal Studios unit it closed at 9. The only new thing we did was the Race through New York with Jimmy Fallon. The queue was the best I have ever seen, and it was my favorite of the many simulation/3D rides. We finished the night at Islands of Adventure until it closed at 10. The only new thing we tried there was the Doctor Doom's Fear Fall. It made my heart race with anticipation, but I loved it. We even rode it twice in a row and walked on both times (thank you unlimited express). Since we left with the mass exit at 10 o'clock, we opted out of taking the boats back since only one runs to each hotel at a time. We took the mile and a half walking path to the resorts, and let's just say that will be the last tine I will be doing that after day of being on my feet. I don't care about "smelling the roses."
Tomorrow we plan on getting going a little earlier and trying new things at Island of Adventure since we have only been on a few attractions. We also want to see some shows to try and beat the heat and rain predicted for tomorrow.