8:00 saw us arriving at Universal Studios, in preparation of riding Escape from Gringotts Bank. Already the queue was near to Fear Factor stage and it zig-zagged out of sight. Fortunately, movement was continuous and we were soon entering Diagon Alley and into the entrance to the bank. Great, I thought, however my optimism was short lived as we passed thro the bank into another holding area, with even more zig-zag lines. We had a party of fanatical, hyper excited girls a few yards behind us. "OH MY GOD.....I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!" was the cry, we must have heard this cry, 20 times in the next 90 minutes. As we re-entered the bank, we were faced with another WOW! moment. The animatronics, together with the decor has to be seen to be believed.
The chandeliers are a sight on their own. Soon we were on the ride.....I'm stuck for words of how to explain the occasion. Universal have hit this bang on the button, and I forsee this being a BIG money spinner for many years to come. All in all, from entering the park, via Hotel room key, to exiting the ride, was exactly 2 hours.
Moving on, we headed towards The Simpsons ride. With our Express Pass, we were able to bypass the long lines, but unfortunately, we were placed on the third level and in the back row of the car. This was a complete waste of time since most of the screen was obscured.
We decided to have a bite to eat in Mels Diner..
Time to hit the rides, and Transformers, was followed by the brilliant Despicable Me. Those Minions are funny little creatures! Mummy was the next ride we use Express on and we also managed to catch the final 5 minutes of The Blues Brothers show.
Men in Black was our next port of call, followed by a photograph with The Simpsons. The Horror Make-Up Show was about to start and so we made use of the comfy seats and air con. Our final ride of the day was Shrek 4D, before making our way out of the park via BMG entrance, and then we got a few t-shirts from the Hard Rock shop.
Who swapped the car for a guitar??????
Emma wanted a few thinks from the Marvel gift shop, and so we popped into IOA. It was very hot as we exited the park, so we slowed our pace down as we strolled back to RPR.
For our meal tonight, we had arranged to meet up with our friends Margaret, Geoff and family, who had arrived in Orlando today. It was a new venue for us all, at Bubba Gump in City Walk. As we entered the hotel lobby, we noticed our friends were only just checking in. We all met up in the lobby at 18:30 and short walk back to City Walk. Bubba Gump was extremely busy, which resulted in over 1 hour wait, however the food was very good. Here they have an amusing way of calling a server to the table, by means of a couple of Forrest Gump plates
I had the Captains bucket of boat trash, which was .a mixture of various sea foods. Sue had a Cajun Chicken Sandwich and Emma has All American Cheeseburger.
By the end of the meal we we all very tired, and so headed back for our final night at RPR, before calling it day.
Tomorrow, we are checking out of RPR into OKW, however we would make one more return to the World of Harry Potter.