Thursday, June 7
Universal Studios/
Islands of Adventure
Day 1
Julie wisely decided that Jordan should not leave the condo until he is sure he feels better. Today was our first day at Universal, as well as the day of our superhero dinner. She offered to take me and Jacqueline to the park and then go back and stay with Jordan. They would meet us there later if Jordan felt up to it. I gratefully accepted. Worst case scenario would be that we waste two tickets instead of all four. We got out at the guest drop-off point and made our way through the very well organized entry corridor to the Universal resort complex. When we got to the Studios gate, I headed for the will-call kiosks so that I could pick up my tickets for the Marvel dinner and our Coke Freestyle cups. The first machine I came to wasn't working correctly, so I moved to another. Then it was off to explore the Studios.
My plan had been to head straight to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, ride Escape from Gringott's, then ride the Hogwarts Express to the Hogsmeade area in Islands of Adventure. We were sticking with the plan; it was just two of us doing it now, though.
Once we found "muggle London," it didn't take us long to find Diagon Alley. There was so much stuff to look at, but I wanted to ride Escape from Gringott's before the wait time started exceeding an hour. I had my first experience with the ride locker system there, and while it was a bit crowded, it wasn't a big problem. The trick is not to start looking for a locker right by the entrance to the locker area. Move to the back if you can; there should be plenty of lockers and not as many bodies jamming the place up. Once I got my stuff stowed, we went back out and lined up for the ride.
I loved everything about this ride. The queue was excellent, especially the bank with all the animatronic goblins. I loved all the video screens along the way featuring beloved Harry Potter characters. If they weren't being portrayed by their original actors, they had sure found some good look-alikes. And the ride itself was amazing. If our wait had been twice as long, it still would have been worth it.
Next, we got ready to ride the Hogwart's Express. I dug out my tickets (park-to-park, of course,) and we followed the line on board.
The ride was really cool. Not only were we treated to the visuals out the "window" showing our journey to Hogsmeade, but we could see "shadows" outside the door that at one point lost control of their boxes of chocolate frogs. As we got out and entered Hogsmeade, Jacqueline's first observation was that it was at least 90 degrees and there was snow on the roofs. I briefly explained about "suspension of disbelief."
I wanted to ride Forbidden Journey next, but Jacqueline wanted to know what time it was. When I revealed it was after 11, she of course declared it to be lunch time. The Three Broomstick was nearby and not yet at all crowded. I glanced at the menu and was relieved to see mac & cheese on their kids' menu. At the register, I asked if we could get our Freestyle cups here. The team member (they are team members at Universal, not cast members) said that while they would refill the cups if we already had them, they did not supply them. He said the Lost Continent area would have a place to pick up the cups. I ordered fish & chips and a frozen butterbeer, and I ordered Jacqueline a lemonade to go with her mac & cheese. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they did not charge for the lemonade; I guess the ticket I showed him served as proof that we were entitled to the fill-up. The fish was almost as good as Yorkshire County at Epcot, but the butterbeer was better than I expected. It was like a butterscotch Slurpee. But I suppose it helps that I really love butterscotch. I sent a text to Julie asking how the boy was doing. She said he was acting like he felt better and had eaten a turkey sandwich for lunch. That was a good sign. She also told me Angel came and replaced the toilet seat.
When we finished, we looked for the queue to the Forbidden Journey ride. It was a bit more crowded now. There were team members announcing that no one was to enter the locker area unless they are renting or emptying their locker. Jacqueline found a spot to wait for me while I looked for a locker. I think these were smaller than the ones at Gringott's, because I had a tougher time getting everything in. But with stuff stowed, I returned and took the girl into the line for Forbidden Journey. The queue was truly amazing, recreating the interior of the Hogwarts School itself. The ride itself was wild! The car reminded me of that of the Texas Cliffhanger at Six Flags, but the resemblance ended there. The visuals were great, but I just felt like I was being thrown around, and it simply wasn't as much fun to me as Gringott's.
After the ride, Jacqueline spotted a vendor cart selling wands. She picked out one in Professor MacGonigall's style. I was expecting this, so I bought it. We then set about Hogsmeade, looking for the interactive stuff. A team member came along and pointed out the medallions on the ground that indicated where the wands could be used. That took a lot of the guesswork out of it. The last two on the list didn't seem to work. We were told this is because the sunlight was interfering with the optics in some way.
About this time, Julie texted me and told me they were on their way. So now all we needed to do was find the front gate of Islands of Adventure. This turned out to be easier said than done. IOA is set up very differently from the Studios, and it's easier to get turned around and lost. We ended up going through every section of this park (we stopped at a food counter in the Lost Continent to get our Freestyle cups) until we finally found the front gate.
We didn't have to wait long for them. When Julie and Jordan joined us, the first thing we did was get them their Freestyle cups. Then we all got drinks and did some walking around. We stopped and bought me a hat at Treasures of Poseidon, but Julie wanted to do some shopping in Hogsmeade. We passed through Seuss Landing on the way. At first, Jacqueline was acting all "too grown up" for Dr. Seuss, but as we passed the One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish ride, I started telling her what I had seen about it in a Tim Tracker video. You can move up and down (like Dumbo and countless other rides,) but you have to listen to a song that tells you when to go up or down. It also involves getting squirted with water, which is what convinced the girl to try it. Jordan and mom sat this one out. I have to say I really enjoyed it! The music, Suess theming, and water squirting add a new dimension to an otherwise tired concept. Next, we rode The Cat in the Hat, which I didn't enjoy nearly as much. After buying a couple of keychains and some sweets at the candy shop, we went to Hogsmeade. The kids and I found a spot to sit while mom tried to shop for souvenirs, which she said was quite difficult because of the crowds. The rest of the park wasn't nearly as crowded as the Harry Potter area. When it was getting near 4:00, we headed back toward Marvel Comics land. Jordan and Julie hung out in the arcade and played games while Jacqueline and I rode Spider-Man. Everything about this ride felt dated. The queue videos looked like an early 90's cartoon. There were times when the ride itself felt like it was designed to be a target-shooting ride but someone forgot to install any zap guns. It was okay, but not great. We later met the other two in the arcade and hung out there until about 4:45. Then it was time to go to Cafe 4. When we came to the door, they greeted us very politely, scanned our tickets, and told us to wait in this patio area with other guests until our name was called. The wait was short. They welcomed us inside the restaurant and explained how the photo tickets work. They then found us a table and showed us the buffet line. Shortly after we loaded our plates, here came Captain America, Cyclops, and Storm.
Cap asked me who my favorite superhero was. I assured him he was in my top five. I didn't get in the picture with Storm because I was up reloading my plate. I really enjoyed the food. It was more than just pizza. There were salads, all kinds of pasta, and even garlic shrimp. The team members even refilled our cups for us. As I was just starting to feel a little full, the other three heroes came into the room. Spidey was awesome. Wolverine was the least chatty of the bunch, but I think that's how he is in the comics too. And he called me "bub." My experience was complete.
We had some tokens left over from the arcade, so we went back there to finish spending them. Then we decided it was time to go. It was a fun day after all, and we would all be able to enjoy it together tomorrow.
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