So after a long day at Hollywood Studios, we were able to start the day little late and catch the 9:25 am shuttle to Universal Studios. Both Universal parks are just next to each other. We got to the park in half an hour at 10 am. Now, the thing to note is that it was a Friday and it was long weekend with Memorial Day on Monday. I thought maybe Friday might not be too crowded but I was so wrong. We got there an hour later than the park opened and the park was packed already! The first thing we saw was a ticket stand selling express pass. When we checked on Wednesday in Universal Studios, the express pass was $20/person, but in Islands of Adventure on Friday it was $40/person to skip the lines only once and $60/person to skip the lines unlimited times for all rides. $60 per person for an express pass, are you kidding me? Now that's some really money making marketing skills...haha.
Well, without any further delay we headed straight to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As imagined, it was magnificent. The park was amazing!! Just like taken right from the movie and made into a set on this park. They have done a great job at building this place and built it very impressively.
First we went to The Forbidden Journey of Harry Potter ride and guess what? The wait time for this ride was 90 minutes. Also we couldn't take any of our stuff on this ride, so we had to put it in locker which had another long line :(....after little talk, me and my brother decided to split up where he went in the single riders line first while I waited with the stuff. Well I thought it was going to take him at least 30-45 minutes anyway, so I decided to go to the Flight of Hippogriff ride which also had about 30 minutes wait. Within 15 minutes, I get a call from my brother that he was done with the ride. That was fast! Well, I told him I was still waiting for my turn in the Hippogriff ride so told him to join me. The Hippogriff ride is good 30 seconds to 1 minute roller coaster (not the upside-down one) ride but I realized it wasn't worth waiting 30 minutes for. So if you have time and the line is not too long, only then plan to go on this ride. After this ride, I gave the stuff to my brother and it was my turn for the Harry Potter journey. When I was going in the single riders line, I realized that the wait time had already gone up to 120 minutes...thankfully in single riders line it only took me 30 minutes. The ride was amazing and you actually feel like you are flying and part of the movie. It freaked me out at a point when the spider drops right from the top on the ride, but I don't want to spoil the fun for the rest of you by giving out more details.
We also took a taste of Butterbeer which was very good. For all those not knowing what butterbeer is, let me tell you that it's not BEER. It's mix of soda and butterscotch. Well, after the exciting adventure of Harry Potter, we moved on to the Jurassic Park River Adventure which is another one of the best rides. Unfortunately it had an hour wait in the line but I think we got used to it since all the rides in this park today had an hour long wait :(. About the ride, it's got an 85 feet drop at the end and this ride will get you wet for sure. But don't worry about that. It's always 90+ in Florida that you will be dry in no time and would def. want to go on it again.
Since we got wet, we thought we might as well do other rides that are going to get us wet. That brought us to go on the Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges ride which is super fun ride that will get you soaked in water. I was initially hesitant to go on this adventure because I heard from all the people that you will be drenched in water but finally decided to go and enjoyed so much. This was one of the best rides ever and I recommend everyone to go on it. This ride also had an hour long wait but it was so worth it! If you are worrying about getting wet, just bring second pair of clothes, or wear a raincoat that covers you from top to bottom...problem solved :). For this ride, you can take your belongings with you and keep them safe on the ride in the center which is covered by a thick plastic cover so no need to worry about getting your stuff wet.
Next, we headed to the Amazing Adventures of Spider Man 4D simulation ride. This simulation has fast ride with some turbulence but it was pretty good. It gives you a thrilling experience with the 4D effects. The park also had 2 shows playing and one of them was The Eighth Voyage of the Sinband stunt show. The show was alright with some action and comedy. Be sure to not sit on rows that has water marks on them because you will get wet and not just splash but seriously get wet. I was finally dry from the Popeye ride and without knowing, I sat on the water mark bench. At the end, they have a big explosion from all the corners, one of them being a water explosion and boom! I get wet...AGAIN!! I wasn't very happy about it because I had just gotten dry and the weather was getting little bit chillier in the evening so getting wet was the last thing I wanted. Well I guess I can't do anything now, can I? We headed next to the Poseidon's Fury show which was right next door. The place itself is built very beautifully and I love the way they have structured the sculptures. It is a very nice show, so don't miss it if you are ever in this park. There is no seating in the entire show, so you have to stand and don't stand in the front at the end because you will get wet with the water effects they use in the show. What is up with this park and water!!! Not just every ride, but also the shows get you wet!
I think we had pretty much covered everything that we wanted in this park, so my brother went back to the forbidden journey ride for second time. I had the things, so I kind of roamed around the Harry Potter park and it's just great walk right in the park with a very nice atmosphere. I also took a quick walk around Suess Landing which was fun as well. Once my brother got done in like 15 minutes, he asked me to go again on this ride. I guess he really loved this ride. This time, we put our stuff in the locker where there was no line, and headed for the ride. It was around 6:35 in the evening and we got through the line in like 10 min max. I guess the single riders line kind of calms down in the evening. After the ride, we went to Ollivanders shop where they had a short 5-6 minute show with audience participation of showing what a wand can do.
It was already past 7:30 pm and it was going to take us around 15 mins to get out of the park to get to shuttle. The shuttle came at 7:45 pm to pick us up so in order to catch it, we had to make a run for it. This is it! We are done cutting close to the shuttle times, I told my brother. Next time, when I say we are leaving, we are leaving straight to the shuttle w/o making any last minute stops. It was crazy. We could have missed the shuttle but thankfully didn't. Wow....felt like the longest day due to the huge crowd rush and waiting in lines forever to get to the attractions. But I am not complaining...it was great day :). I still got 3 more days to go, but little down on energy.
Next on the list is Epcot. This is one park where we have not planned anything, so it'll be fun to tell you how crazy this day went and ohh...the heat was just killing us on top of everything else. More on that in the next post. Until then, have fun :)
2 comments:
Thanks for all these travel tips, Sunshine. Sounds like you both had a lot of fun! Thanks also for cool pictures on Facebook - especially like the picture of the torri from Epcot.
That's funny about running to catch the shuttle and telling your brother no last-minute stops :-) I am forever running after buses.
People at work always say they prefer to bike to work because they get exercise, but see? Buses and shuttles give lots of exercise too! :-D
Hahaha...that run was probably the best 10 minute cardio workout :P. So who says biking is the only exercise...catching the buses gives you quick workout of the entire day :D.
Thank you for your comments. We had a lot of fun and I am still trying to sort through the pics to post the last 2 days worth of pictures and need to still write the posts for the last 3 days, Epcot, Sea World, and Animal Kingdom. It's just taking me long time because there is so much to write and the posts are becoming really long. Hope you are enjoying my never-ending posts :P..
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