What do you
do on a coolish, cloudy, rainy day in Florida?
Why go to a fun place to hang out with 50,000 other strangers having a
fun time in a fantasy world. It sure
worked for George and me.
Universal
Studios in Orlando is NO Disney World but it fills a spot in the tourist world
of lots of roller coasters, cartoon characters and movie memorabilia. The park is separated into two separate
parks. First one we entered was
Universal’s Island of Adventure. While
walking through we saw Doctor Seuss Land, The Lost Continent, Jurassic Park, Doctor, Marvel Super Hero Island, Lucille Ball memorabilia museum, Despicable Me parade,
Sponge Bob parade and miles and miles of gift shops, restaurants and photo
opportunities.
My main goal was to get
to Wizarding World of Harry Potter
before all the crazy tourists got there first.
The most popular ride is Harry
Potter and the Forbidden Journey.
After loading onto little seats we were whisked off to see Harry Potter
and friends in the castle while flying through the air, speeding after Harry
and friends on broomsticks via modern 3D imagery. Waiting 60 minutes for a four minute ride….will
you question my sanity?
We passed
this Butter Beer wagon and had to have some, of course. Do you want to know what butter beer tastes
like? Of course you do, it actually is cream soda with
whipped cream on the top…now you know.
We also passed up going on the Jurassic Park River
Adventure. Can you figure out why? The high for the day was only 67 degrees and
the sign at the entrance said “YOU WILL GET WET”….no brainer in that quick
decision after looking at the boat being totally drenched.
Then we were
off to Universal Studios Florida side
of the park. If you like roller
coasters, this is the place to throw up.
Everywhere we turned there was another one with lines of crazy people
waiting to be tossed and turned upside down and sideways. In my younger years I would have been one of
those crazy people for sure…but my stomach just can’t take it anymore…darn.
Next it was
off to the ride about how disaster movies are made with volunteers from the
audience helping in the fun and then on to Transformers
saving the day 3D adventure; we were experiencing all they could throw at
us. My favorite attraction on this side
of the park was the Horror Make-up Show. We sat watching old horror film clips
of what horror was like starting in the 30’s to the present day. Then they had performers come out and show us
how they can cut a person’s arm off, including blood, without hurting her
(volunteer out of the audience). The
performers were also comedians which made the show quite enjoyable and turned
out to be my favorite in the whole park.
We ended the
day with pouring rain (we had brought our raincoats and umbrellas, so we were
doing great) so we decided to go to the Despicable
Me Ride.
 |
| I am sure our children and grandchildren are totally embarrassed! |
Stick a fork in me though….I was done for the
day and it was getting dark. Both of our spirits may be young but our bodies didn't get that memo.
Will we go
back again…probably not. It really is a
place you want to experience with children or grandchildren but it was great to
spend a day being a kid at heart. What a great place for us old folks to experience living
one day without a care in the world except trying to decide what souvenir we wanted to buy, what rides to be thrilled on or how to stop the evil villains from destroying the world.
Happy
travels,
Peggy (and
George and Coco)
