Girl's Week: Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure, Day 3

Late start again today. It's kind of nice to be on our own schedule.

So, today we had NO LIGHTNING!! It was hotter than hell but we were determined to catch up on all of the rides we missed on Tuesday due to the weather, and then get everything done that we'd planned in the first place. We ran all OVER those two Universal parks - if not for the VIP passes we'd probably be melted somewhere between City Walk and one of the park entrances. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait in line at all, for anything, so we ran straight through and were able to take in a whole bunch of rides in one day. Unfortunately, poor Sherry (who'd had back surgery just a couple of years ago) messed up her back on the Hulk on Tuesday so she wasn't up for any of the major coasters. It worked out ok though, now I can experience something fun and new with Trev when I get his happy ass up there. We did hit the Revenge of the Mummy though, which was amazing.

So, we went to Shrek 4-D, which was interesting. We hit MIB - a fun ride to shoot aliens and keep score. We went on the E.T. little ride, which I think Kiernan will absolutely love. We also went on Dudley Do-Right's Rip Saw Falls. OH MY GOD. That was so much fun. Splash Mountain, and even Journey to Atlantis at Sea World are completely lame compared to that ride. We got soaked, and it was such a steep and fast drop on the last leg that I almost had an accident right there in the little boat. Not that it would have mattered, I was soaked from head to toe anyway. Then we went on Jurassic Park. Now - I've been on the Jurassic Park River Ride at Universal Hollywood. It was pretty good there, but it was nothing like this one. This one had a few more dinosaurs, a few more places to soak you, and when we hit the soak zone, rather than the water plumes spreading OUT from the boat we got hit with a tsunami coming over the front. I don't know if it was the weight distribution or if the Orlando one is just that much of a better design but it was great.

After we got all soaked and cooled off a bit we went on the Harry Potter Hogwarts tour, rather than standing in line for the Forbidden Journey. The Hogwarts Castle was amazing. There were a couple of holographic images throughout that were unbelievable. It literally appeared as if Dumbledore was right there talking in the library and that Ron, Hermoine, and Harry were all talking to us on the balcony. It didn't look remotely fake. I loved that. Again, we didn't go on the coasters, so Dragon Challenge was out of the question. Next time though for sure - it looked like a blast. I had some more ButterBeer, and we strolled around Hogsmeade. So much fun!

We hit a few other things too, which I can't remember at this particular moment. I'll come back and edit when I do. I do know that it was a hectic day with a lot of running around from park to park.

After the parks we went back to the hotel to get into some dry clothes and relax for a few minutes before we went out for dinner. We decided to go back to Universal and stroll along City Walk and eat wherever we landed - which ended up being Hard Rock. One thing I love about Hard Rock is that it's a whole different experience at each individual restaurant. The one in Orlando is absolutely huge. The service was decent (which is more than I can say for the one in Key West), the food was "OK" (I think our nachos had been sitting out too long, but the fajita meat on them was delicious). The restaurant itself was amazing with the atmosphere, memorabilia, and architecture.

That was the final day of our trip...tomorrow it's breakfast, shopping, lunch, and airport. Then I drive back home, recuperating and singing like a crazy woman to the radio the whole way home!