Wednesday May 7th:
We'd gone to bed with a definite plan firmly fixed in our minds and hearts. Today was all about Universal Studios and we remained steadfast - despite being completely sucked in by a ridiculous film on the Lifetime Movie Channel called Deadly Relations. It starred a young Gwyneth Paltrow with Robert Urich as her murderous father! Basically he had been a war hero but found it hard to earn sufficient cash in civilian life. So he insured his daughters husbands for huge amounts then bumped them off - as you do! If I tell you that one of the hapless husbands included a pre-Friends Matthew Perry, you'll understand how riveting this drama was - maybe...? Anyway, back to reality. Despite such televisual temptations, we were ready in good time and out the door by ten. It was yet another beeootiful Orlando day and, as we stepped from the shade of the Villas into the sunlight, we all luxuriated in the warmth of the sun. It's definitely a feel-good factor I miss in lack-lustre London at the moment. So we piled into the Sienna, checked the map and drove off. It didn't take long down the I-4 and as this is my third time driving there in 8 months, I was pleased to feel the familiarity of the route. Sadly, this level of self-satisfaction didn't last as I managed to make a major fool of myself when parking the car. Oh well. It's not my forte...
We usually make for the Islands of Adventure first but decided to opt for the original park on this visit. But first I had a little paperwork to attend to. We all have 2 year Annual Passes which are due to expire in August of this year, however I'd managed to lose both mine and Samuel's following our visit in December! Fortunately, replacing them proved to be very straightforward as I had photo ID for both Samuel and myself. And joy of joys - the replacement didn't have to have my photo on it!!!
We pushed through the turnstile and made for the Mummy! Last year I'd pre-purchased Front of Line passes for less than £11 per person but hadn't bothered today. Well, all I'm gonna say is there's a lesson learnt - if you can get them cheaply enough, those bad boys really make a difference! So we queued with the other mortals and after twenty minutes or so were reminded that "Death is just the beginning!!!" Oh how I love that ride - it's got everything from backwards rollercoastering to Brendan Fraser and so much more...
Next we tried the re-vamped Earthquake experience which has become Disaster! - a spoof-take on the disaster movie genre, starring the wonderful Christopher Walken. It has some great special effects mixed in with audience participation and a hilarious denoument. We all really enjoyed this attraction and look forward to returning in the not too distant future. Next, we moved onto the reason we were here - The Simpsons Ride! We are huge fans of the Simpsons and were huge fans of the Back To The Future ride so Universal had a lotta work to do as far as we were concerned! I'm not going to divulge much - suffice to say the queuing area is highly entertaining and the ride is simply fantastic!
By now we were getting hungry so decided to exit park one and try one of the restaurants on City Walk. We ended up at everyone's favourite, Margaritaville and had a fabulous lunch/dinner (Lunner? Dinch??) Sophie and Richard ordered a cocktail each whilst I stuck with the designated driver's Diet Coketail... Eventually we waddled off to Islands of Adventure so DH could get his thrill ride fix. We started off with the Spiderman attraction (as good as ever) whilst DH and I did Jurassic Park on our own. I haven't been on for a while and confess to getting more than a little creeped out by those naughty raptors...
We met up with Sophie and walked around to Duelling Dragons. I hadn't braved this coaster before - and I still haven't. Fingers crossed for Easter 2009, then! Richard went on alone whilst a beery single dad attempted to chat me up in the adjacent store!!! Eeeeuw!!! Fortunately DH was on and off quickly and we were able to scuttle away without too much trouble. What can I say? I'm a beery single dad magnet...
Sophie and Richard decided they wanted to hit the Hulkcoaster so I took their bags and said I'd meet them in the Christmas shop. What a disappointment that store is after the wonderful DTD example! I struggled to amuse myself with the poor array of festive fancies but fortunately they were quick and we were soon quitting the park. We have had such good value out of those passes that every visit is a bonus so we are happy to pop in and out without having to ride everything. So we headed for the Sierra and, after carefully extracting the car from the space, I dutifully drove us all home again.
One of the (many) pluses about Wilderness Lodge is the vast amount of parking spaces at the resort. Last October, we stayed at the Yacht Club and I regularly struggled to find a space in the car park. No such worries here. I was even able to park the car in a shaded area before we pointed our tired feet in the direction of the lobby. Once inside, we picked up a room key for Richard and adjourned to the Territory Lounge for a post-park pick-me-up! I kept to my preferred raspberry champagne cocktail whilst the others drank I remember not what! We had a lovely evening chatting about the day plus topics as varied as US politics, house prices in London and the magic of the Glowtini ice cube - that's all I can remember anyway... Cocktail count = 11!!!