The perks of Universal started quickly this morning, with bus service directly to the parks which are right next door to one another. Universal Studios opens up 1 hour early for resort guests so we were on the bus at the park at opening which was 8AM. Each morning we arrived at almost the exact time, because we always were walking up to that Universal Studios gate when then microphone would announce it is time to open the park. That is when we got in whatever line could be the slowest. Even if we changed line it would then become the slowest. This is probably a mental thing that everyone may sense, but one morning we had "lady decided front of line was her opportunity to clean out her purse" and another morning we had "our scanner does not seem to be working for you guy, so let me quiz you about the 6 prior rides you had been on yesterday, so we can let you in". Dear me, there is road rage, but I can not believe there is not more line rage.
In the parks, Universal Studios was the one place I did not have a plan for what to do, which is frustrating as the other 5 people in many of the pictures below look to me for making those important decisions as to what is next. The first decision was easiest as our early morning visit only got us into either Despicable Me or Harry Potter, so I knew we must first go ride the Gringotts ride in Harry Potter world. This was a Saturday, so the parks were pretty crowded, but we got our first experience of Universal in that this was crowded, but we walked right onto the Harry Potter ride. Universal does not allow backpacks, so this did end up being another way to pull cash from us as we had to rent a locker each time the whole family wanted to ride certain rides...but $2/locker was not too bad.
After our visit to the Harry Potter world, we started making our way back to the front of the park, with intentions of making it back to Harry Potter world at the end of the day. Belle knew before we even left the house, that her first souvenir would be a wand from Olivanders. And she knew exactly which one she wanted...Luna Lovegood...whose wand had a little tulip end. I told her that this was a birthday present, and she did not have to spend any of her trip money on it, so she was ready to go. And thus she became the Junkin wizard number 1 quickly showing us her spells she could cast using the wizarding worlds magic portals. It was pretty neat, and fun to watch.
We then made our way to the Fast and Furious ride, then the Mummy (which became a favorite for all of us). Universal had another perk in that their child swap allowed the parent to wait right at the front of the line in a nice childswap room that had a tv with cartoons playing for Ruby. It was really nice and allowed us to hit that ride twice within a few minutes for the riders. And our next ride was with Jimmy Fallon taking us thru New York, and this was a much better waiting area than ride...and super fun to watch Magan's favorite "ewww" episodes before the ride. Then came the rip rocket, which was very fast and very long, and super efficient loading system that still amazes me (another plus for Universal). Haha...little Belle I think didn't know what she got herself into, but by the end, I think she ended up liking it. Only Davis wouldn't try it out.
We met Beetlejuice before our lunch at the Monster Café...which I had seen on line, and thought this would be very good for our crew...it had BBQ ribs and brisket and sausage...but it turns out that it all tasted like cold garbage. I even got three orders of peach cobbler here to treat the fam, but it turns out it was only a treat for Sam who is currently the garbage disposal machine. Did we even have to mention that mom got BBQ sauce all over her shirt? Or is that just part of every dinner we have with Mom?
Universal also has characters everywhere, and they basically walk up to you for pictures instead of the other way around, which was great for Ruby, that wanted to hug each one. Doc Brown was interested in the boys cell phones. And Ruby jumped in my picture with Marilyn...Marilyn looked up at me and said "Hey Daddy". Ummm...Just capturing the memories here...ok, where were we...
We made it to Simpsons land, and had to get a picture with these guys even tho we are not fans...these guys are a pop culture icon, and while I am not a fan, this ride cracked me up. The preshow moments shared were HILARIOUS. We also sat and watched the Horror make-up show, which was a funny break in the day. We saw one lady get her arm cut into...haha...it looked real, and the volunteer (Donna...Oh Donna Oh Donna) also thought it looked real, and was just sitting there screaming as her hand was cut into...but it was a really neat fake knife...probably not the best image for Ruby to see, but it was pretty cool.
Ok, so let me finish this blog with a few notes of memory...Yes, we made it all the way back around to Harry Potter world, where we enjoyed some butterbeer, and Davis decided he needed a wand as well (The Elderwand of Albus Dumbledore), Wizard Number 2...Favorite ride for day 1 (Rip Rocket - Belle, Mummy - Davis, Sam, Mom, Gringotts for Dad and Ruby)...yes, I had my Gryffindor underwear on for the day...Sam made the family luggage tag shown below with his 3D printer we kept on the backpack the whole trip...
And lastly this was a great first day, and worked out perfectly. We had church the next day, so time to get home and get some rest. And it was only 6PM, so plenty of time to get a good supper...then we walked by Transformers, and decided to ride one more ride...and thus a super bad decision which kept us in the park till after 7PM, and with all the other crazy people at City Walk for supper on a Saturday...and then a 20 minute wait for a bus...to finally get home...so a great day, that was pushed to the limits by a wrong decision to ride one more ride. Note to self: Go home early and pace yourself next time. And...Transformers is not that good a ride, it was only a 10 minute wait the next day. UGHHHH!!!
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