Universal Studios: Day 3
Today was a whirlwind of a day. Since checking out of our hotel in the morning will require packing up, today was our last full day at the parks. We had a lot of fun despite the rain and intense heat.
We started out at Islands of Adventure because as I stated in my last post, water rides and the Incredible Hulk was the extent of our time in this park previously. After reactivating our refillable mugs for $7.99 a piece, we headed straight to Seuss Landing which made me VERY happy. After stopping for some Insta pics, we rode the Caro-seuss-sel. The details in each character were breathtaking and so creative. Each animal had different moving parts. When I moved my handle forwards and back, the head went forwards and back, too. The details in the carousel was what made it so impressive. Our next stop was One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. I can honestly say that the amount of excitement I had for this ride made me seem so childish, but I don't care. I was more excited than my 6-year-old brother. Anyway, Jake and I rode in a blue fish and avoided the water by staying up the whole time. This ride is very similar to Dumbo, except it has fish all around it that randomly squirt water. We wanted to stay dry after getting soaked yesterday.
After our time in Seuss Landing came to an end, we continued on to the next island - The Lost Continent. This was a super cool place with awesome details and architecture. The main attraction in this island was Poseidon's Fury which was a "tour" gone bad. The technology and graphics inside the building were amazing. I loved the spinning water tunnel that actually had real water rushing around us! It was a bit scary at some points, but it was fun!
We continued on to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter where we rode the two rides there again and tried Butter Beer. It was AWESOME! It tasted so creamy and sweet. I had no idea what to expect, but it is definitely something I need to indulge in again.
To beat the storm, we headed to the indoor Kong ride which was in Jurassic Park. The ride was yet again another simulator, but it kept us dry from the rain and was super advanced in the graphics and 3D elements. It was worth the wait, especially for the covered queue during the storm.
Continuing on through the islands, we went to Marvel Super Hero Island where we decided it was time for something to eat. Even through it was lunch time, we didn't want to stop for a full meal. My dad paid $10.50 for a foot long corn dog and chips. This was another let down of the meal system at Universal. All my dad wanted was a corndog, but they made him pay the full price for the combo instead of getting the corndog a la carte. Yes, it makes them more money, but it also makes for an annoyed Doug. My brothers, mom, and I all decided on Auntie Anne's pretzel nuggets. I was surprised at the prevalence of Auntie Anne's throughout the parks and at the normal pricing. You would think that they would amp up the prices for the sake of being a theme park, but we paid $5.99 for great cinnamon and sugar pretzel nuggets!
While in Marvel Super Hero Island, we rode the Spiderman ride for the first time. Lincoln, who had ridden it yesterday warned us of the twists and turns. If I had went on it before the other hundred simulator rides, it would have been really neat. But, it was just too similar to the others. Not overly impressed. We also rode Doctor Doom's Fear Fall a few times because with our passes, we were able to walk right on. Lincoln even saw us from the ground one time!
Because the Harry Potter kiddie coaster was closed due to storms when we were on that island earlier today, we went back to ride it for Lincoln's sake. We rode it two times and stood in line for the third until thunder and lightning was spotted and the ride was shut down. Because of our proximity to the Hogwarts Express station, we hurried over to hop a ride to the other park before the downpour. It actually started pouring when we were about to board the train, and the wind made it hit off the top of the train and spray on all of us preparing to board.
The rain forced us to stay inside, but that wasn't a bad thing. After stalling time in the station while waiting for the rain to let up, we gave in to our ponchos and ran to the Horror Make Up show on the other end of the park. Quick tip - bring your own ponchos!!! Don't get stuck buying the cheap, easily-ripped ones for $10 at the park. The show ended up being a great way to stay dry and enjoy our afternoon. It was really funny and interactive. We got to see how Universal uses special effects and makeup in their movies. I have to admit - when the presenter started sawing away at the arm of an audience volunteer, I did get a bit squeamish.
By the time the show was over, it was about 5:00. We were all tired and hungry, so we decided to try the NBC Grill and Brew on the city walk. For less than we spent at Monster Cafe, we all got great (HUGE) meals and a fun game of shuffleboard. The tables were all glass and had games underneath them which was super cool. I got the smoked pork sandwich for $12 and got fries with it, and it was AMAZING!! I was only able to eat half of it because it was THAT BIG! Jacob and Andrew both got smokehouse burgers which were HUGE as well. My mom got a chicken sandwich, and my dad enjoyed his favorite - fish tacos. Lincoln got a kid's flatbread pizza that he didn't eat. It looked good, but he was too distracted to enjoy it.
Of course with our luck, the boats were all shut down, and my parents didn't want to mess with finding the buses. So, alas we were faced with the walking path in the pouring rain. Again - the poncho came in handy. We decided to stay in for the night after we got back around 7. We are now watching JAWS in our hotel room and are preparing to pack up for our last day tomorrow. Tomorrow night we will head to an Embassy Suites in Orlando to sleep before going to Aquatica water park on Monday.