So this was our earliest morning of the entire vacation. With IOA opening at 8AM for resort guests, the goal was to be in line for park opening by 7:20AM, and we were, leaving our hotel on the bus at 7AM...which placed that first alarm at 5:45AM. Yuck! But it did pay off, we were in front of the ticket area, which was in the shade, next to the restrooms, and very close to the first ones in the park. We would find out later in the week that 7:35AM puts you on the bridge without a shot at the first ones in the park. But today, we made it in the park and quickly over to the Hagrids line, where Universal has like some mad skills at forming this line starting in the previous land...but it was very well planned, and we made it through the line and back out of the ride by 8:20AM.
Next we tried to get over to the Velocicoaster, which had a large line, but I think would have not been bad at all. But the line scared me, so we detoured and rode the other 2 Harry Potter rides, then with park opening to normal guests at 9, we walked over to get in line first for Kong. Kong opened at 9:30AM, and the plan was to ride Kong, then head back over to Harry Potter for one of our free breakfasts. We bought the Harry Potter package, which came with 2 breakfasts for the family, 1 large order of ice cream, and a session of pictures at Shutterbuttons. And the breakfasts were a little hard to fit in because we typically skip bfast as that is prime ride time. But on this day, it would be a much needed break. The Kong line opened up and we immediately went to the very last room when we heard the dreaded announcement of the ride being down for technical difficulties. Which was terrible, as our breakfast was only good till 10:30AM and my internal breakdown was starting to bubble. So we waited, and when they announced that they had to bring in a new car, it was a blessing in disguise, because a large group behind us left, and we left right behind them.
Breakfast was just in time, and we all enjoyed plenty of food and rest for this early morning. I think Davis and Magan tried the English breakfast that has some weird sausage, some beans, and some pudding?? We later made our way back over to Kong where we made it all the way into the queue for the very next bus...and it broke down. NO!!!! Fortunately, they fixed it rather quickly and we finally were able to enjoy this ride. One of my favorites at this park, I like the set up...wish they still took the vehicles outside because that was also pretty neat, but Universal apparently pioneered this visual technology, and to me this is pretty impressive scenes moving from one side of the bus to the other. I think we also rode the Jurassic Park water ride again, then finally made our way back into the Velocicoaster ride...it was a LONG LONG 70 minutes, but a pretty fun coaster at the end of that line.
The heat was out at this point, and there are NO shows in IOA, but we did find two kinda shows...we first tried Olivanders, where Magan was selected to try out wands. The pictures are horrible, because when she got picked I immediately asked the kids..."Where is mom's phone?" ..."It's in her pocket". So we had to use my phone where there are some very poor videos out there, and luckily maybe one good picture when lights lit up when the wand selected her! And another moment for mainly Magan was the visit to the Raptor area for a picture with Blue...and of course she gets completely freaked out with this stuff, and of course blue saw this and targeted her. Oh well, our mom was the star of both of these "shows" on this day.
Afterwards we split up...Magan and the older ones to try Hagrids one more time, while me and Ruby went back towards Suessland. One 70 minute line is enough for me in a day, so I loved skipping this one to be with Ruby. We treated ourselves to an Icee, then when we got all the way to the top of the Train in the Sky ride, we were told we could not take it on the ride. So we went all the way down, finished it, and all the way back up. We were having fun tho, so we rode that one, then cat in the hat again, then moved back over to the Hulk area. Ruby wanted to ride Hulk, so we did that together, then found a perfect spot along the river to wait for the others. We did all of that in Suessland and rode Hulk, and they were just then entering the building for Hagrids (Yuck!). But it was fun to watch on Life 360 when they got on the ride...we could tell right away because the app thought Magan was running, then on a bike, then put her in a car as she bounced all around on our screen while riding. I think Ruby and I had as much fun watching them on the app. :)
As we waited for them to get back to us near Hulk, me and Ruby got to visit with some super heroes, and even got to visit with Spiderman. He quickly noticed that I was the sidekick, so he talked to Ruby more. Ruby is funny with these characters. She told them about her grade and that she was from Chelsea, but forgot the state. When we all got back together, we rode Spiderman together before leaving. Spiderman is one of the first rides like this I ever remember. Magan and I were blown away in 2002 when we rode this for the first time, but I will say 22 years later, it is still very impressive.
I have a note about Mom wishing she had a back fan, then Davis pointing out a lady with a completely open shirt in the back, and said she had one. The boys got some alone time and were being the goofballs they are together. Davis, Belle, and Ruby visited the lazy river pool when we got back to the hotel, and I am pretty sure Sam went to join them, but he came down later. And there are a few pictures of how the day typically ended every night...everyone crowded together watching an episode of SpongeBob...or a silly movie. But just perfect moments of us all together. I love you guys, and glad we had these fun times...but even more happy because of so many fun moments back at the hotel...just being together.
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