Sunday, May 3rd: the end of our day.
It seemed I had hardly spent any time at all poking around the Despicable Me gift shop when I saw Steve walking in the store. Unless time really got away from me, there was no way he could have gone through the queue, rode the coaster, and met me in the store this soon. Perhaps the stand-by time had increased dramatically, and he was opting to wait until after 4 pm (when he could ride with his Express)?
Nope. He wouldn’t fit
.
Now, this was a huge disappointment after he had lost so much weight since the beginning of the calendar year. And even more disappointing? It was his chest and shoulders that were too broad for the restraints, not a weight issue…..and there’s precious little he can do about having shoulders as wide as a football player. Even if he loses more weight before our next trip, his bone structure will still be the same. I knew he was disappointed…..he had waited three years since our first Universal trip to finally give it a go…..but alas, what can you do?
Since we were in the general vicinity, we opted to ride Shrek again. Nothing like a little bit of Donkey’s antics to lift a person’s spirits
.
Then, after the ride, we got to meet Shrek and Donkey at the character spot outside the ride. Donkey was quite a naughty mule…..let’s just say he was gassy and leave it at that
…..and it was well worth the short wait in line. Unfortunately, Fiona wasn’t there, nor did we get a chance to meet her over the course of the entire week, though we did see her coming and going via a backstage access point on at least three separate occasions. Just bad timing on our part.
By the time we finished up with our Shrek meet and greet, we were starting to grow weary. It had been a long, busy day and we were starting to feel the effects. Perhaps a good dinner was just what the doctor ordered. So we made the short walk over to New York again, and checked in at the podium at Finnegan’s Irish Pub.
There was no wait for a table (in fact, it wasn’t really that busy at all) so we were seated immediately. We had the most incredible server, Marian, who promptly arrived to secure our beverage order and leave us with menus to decide on our entrees. A few minutes later, our soft drinks appeared (all deliciously cold and refreshing....I was desperately in need for some rehydration!) and she took the balance of our order. Within a few minutes, she was back with a smile with a complimentary loaf of Irish soda bread.
Along with the bread was regular butter and their house-made apple butter, the latter which Steve absolutely adored. The soda bread was really great, and made for a nice snack as we enjoyed the atmosphere. There was a singer/guitarist on the opposite side of the restaurant from where we were sitting (nearer to the bar), and he was really, really good. It was just a very welcoming, relaxing, enjoyable atmosphere all the way around. We felt very comfortable, if that makes sense. I will note that Steve was not exactly over-eager about my choice of dinner locations (he wasn’t opposed, of course….but it was not one of his must-do’s) and he was quick to remark about the excellent first impressions being cast by the establishment and service as a whole.
It wasn’t long at all before Marian whisked our entrees out from the kitchen. I had the “Newcastle Chicken”: a grilled chicken breast topped with peppercorn butter and served with homemade garlic mashed potatoes and root cellar vegetables (minus the root cellar veggies on my request).
(lol, you can even see the tiredness in my eyes here….I was really feeling rather droopy by this point in the day)
Steve opted for the “Misty Isle Mixed Grill”: country sausage and breast of chicken grilled with apple-smoked bacon served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and root cellar vegetables. He substituted a side salad, though, for the mashed potatoes (probably knowing he would get the chance to help me finish mine!!).
I have to say….we
LOVED this meal
! The food was super fresh, wonderfully flavourful and completely delicious. The service was
spectacular (a big shout out to Marian, she was one of the best servers of our entire trip…..we enjoyed some wonderful conversation with her throughout our meal and she shared some interesting tidbits on the park that were really quite captivating to hear about), and as I’ve already said, we loved the “feel” of the place. The portions were perfect…..nicely satisfying enough for Steve (who has a healthy appetite), and just a tad too much for me (with enough left over for Steve to polish off) without copious amounts of waste. The peppercorn butter on the chicken was sinful……and the perfect touch to a very nicely marinated piece of meat.
I would have loved to have indulged in some dessert, but while the mind was willing, the stomach was not. Sufficiently satisfied (and a modicum of energy restored) we paid the bill ($26 tax included and our AP discount applied, tip additional....a STEAL, considering the quality of the meal. It was virtually the same price as our quick service lunch at Simpson’s Fast Food Boulevard!) and rolled ourselves out the door.
Steve’s first comments:
“We’re coming back here on our next trip. That was freaking awesome”.
We toyed with our options as to what to do from there. Our desire to keep touring was waning....even after a robust meal, we were pooped. We headed around toward Hollywood:
...and caught another ride on ET. Then that was it. We were done in.
Well, almost.
As we strolled through Hollywood to the park entrance, a TM was inviting folks in for a magic show that would be starting within a few minutes. We figured we’d squeeze one final thing in before we left, since we were right here anyway. And as a general rule, we do enjoy a good magic performance.
It was a tiny seating area inside that didn’t hold many guests, but it made for a quaint an intimate performance by the young magician. He performed a little mini show about 10-15 minutes long where he quite capably kept our rapt attention, talking non-stop the entire time he worked his magic. At the end of his performance, the DVD and accessory kits used during his show were promoted for sale (I guess when there’s no official gift shop next to an attraction, this is the next best option) and a surprising number of people approached him to purchase them. We took our leave and headed out to the park entrance, through Citywalk, and then on to the car. As we stood wearily on the moving walkway, I seriously thought my legs might disintegrate out from under me. The hot tubs were going to feel mighty good later that evening!
Back at the resort, before heading to the pool, I pulled the SD card out of the dysfunctional camera to see if the pics I had taken earlier in the day were viewable on the small camera (since they take the same size card). I could see them in the review setting, but couldn’t seem to add any additional new photos when a picture was snapped with the camera. I knew the 32 GB card was nowhere near full, so I popped it into the laptop to see if I could download the photos to the computer.
Nothin’. My card was corrupt
.
A small bout of panic ensued....there were photos on that card (character meets, Clogger burger, etc.) that would be hard to duplicate again this trip. I settled in for a quick google search on what I could do next, and found multiple recommendations for a downloadable software designed exactly for situations like mine. The problem? It was $49.95 US (so add another 25% for conversion and exchange). And I had no guarantee it would actually work. I discussed it with Steve, who without hesitation said give it a try. His philosophy was that the only thing we had to lose was fifty bucks or so, and if it worked, we’d think it was a genius move. If it didn’t, at least we tried. So....I purchased and installed the software, restarted the computer, followed the directions and......in less than 10 minutes, I had over 110 recovered files of our favourite moments at Universal Studios.
So relieved.
Pool and hot tub time rounded out our night. We had chatted earlier with Jake and my mom via phone (she had taken him out for lunch, he took her shopping all afternoon, then he treated them to dinner .... and they were enjoying a rambunctious evening of laughter together when we called them upon our return to the villa) so the rest of the night was ours to enjoy.
A good soak in the hot tub did wonders for our aching legs, and by the time we hit the sack, we slept like babies.
A full day of Islands of Adventure was on deck for Monday!
I went to hit next for the next page and there wasn't any!
I am so excited for our upcoming trip! 
The last time we were there was in 2012 and the Minion's hadn't opened, I went on Rip Ride Rocket and swore I would never go on it again! I love coasters and one of my all time favourites is Shekra at BG but I really thought I might die on RRR! LOL being a more Pooh sized individual there isn't a lot to hold you in.
Happy Dancing!
. We have enjoyed three amazing August trips though, despite the stifling summer temps. I am almost kind of sad that we're not planning a late August trip this year......it seems weird to be thinking forward to autumn!!
) I am glad it brings other visitors so much joy. Steve dashed off to the queue like a little boy heading downstairs on December 25th to see what Santa left him under the Christmas tree. I happily held his hat, wallet, and keys while I enjoyed the view of the riders from a nearby bench.
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