Saturday, June 9
Universal Studios/
Islands of Adventure
Day 3
We would have to clear out of the condo before heading back to Universal for our last day. Our flight left at 7:40, so it would be straight to the airport from the park. We gathered up all our stuff and texted Angel to let him know we had vacated.
The park was significantly more crowded today. Not surprising; it was Saturday. Jacqueline wanted to ride Minions. The wait was over 40 minutes, but she chose to wait it. Jordan rode it with us. It was a cute ride. Next, the girl wanted to ride Shrek 4D. Jordan isn't into Shrek anymore, so he and mom did some walking around and shopping. Shrek 4D was a bit of a disappointment. It was more of a theater show with moving seats than an actual ride. Six Flags used to have an attraction like this, and it changed shows every so often. Shrek 4D has some funny moments, but if you're not a big Shrek fan, you won't find much to enjoy about the ride. It was obviously dated as well; it featured none of the characters or events from the second movie forward.
Next, the time on Jordan's phone read some time after 11 am, and you know what that means. Julie mentioned the Monsters Cafe, and the kids decided that sounded good. As we approached it, I thought it was only a walk-up food stand, but there turned out to be an entire restaurant building adjacent to the stand. This counter service cafe was themed to the classic black & white horror movies of Universal's early years. Julie got a sandwich, I got a footlong chili dog, and the kids each got the Monster Pizza Slice, which was monstrously huge. The meal was decent.
Julie had wanted all of us to see the Horror Makeup Show, and there was one about to start, so we headed there after lunch. It was funny and of particular interest to horror fans. Julie said some of the same actors were playing different parts from yesterday's show. On our way out of the show, we passed the Mystery Machine and Shaggy and Velma, but no one was interested in meeting them. So we walked a bit further and were greeted by a man from the NBC Media center. He invited us to take some sort of survey while our kids watched a video. We would be awarded a couple of gift cards for our time. I decided why not? So we found the NBC Media Center. We were set up in front of PC monitors to watch clips of a sitcom on which we were to give our opinion, while the kids were seated with other kids watching Monsters vs. Aliens on a bigger screen. I was done first, so I sat with my kids watching the movie until mom finished.
Julie had also wanted to watch the 8th Voyage of Sinbad, but there were no shows that would fit with our schedule. Jacqueline wanted to ride Transformers. Again, Jordan and mom sat it out. When we first got in line, I could see the Blues Brothers show not far away. I got some of it on video. I would love to have seen the whole show, but I'm pretty sure I am the only one who cares anything about the Blues Brothers. After a long wait, they announced delays in the ride. A little later, they announced the ride was closed. We met Julie and Jordan at Mel's Diner. Jordan said he was ready to leave. We agreed we would do three more things before we left: ride Hogwarts Express over to IOA, ride Jurassic Park, and then go spend our gift cards in a candy shop.
After walking all the way to King's Cross Station, we discover there is a 40 minute wait just to ride the train. There would not be time to wait the wait, ride the train, and then wait another 40 minutes and then ride Jurassic Park. We figured it would save time if we just walked over to IOA and find JP. We went over there but couldn't find JP, not even using the map on the app. We finally figured out there was a huge wooden door or gate blocking the way to the Jurassic Park area. It must have been closed, even though the app showed it was open. Anyway, we went back to the Seuss Landing candy shop and spent our gift cards and then some. Then Jacqueline lost her sunglasses in the bathroom. By this time, everyone was at the end of their rope; it was time to go.
