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- Aug 18, 1999
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Aug 8th Part 2
As we were walking, we spotted the new Mega Movie Parade that just started last month. I am not usually one for a parade, especially when I'm in the hot sun but we couldn't cross to get to where we were going so we decided to just stay and watch it. It was actually quite cool, the floats from BTTF and JP were obviously my faves!
We had seen them working on the T-Rex float the other day and I didn't know what it was, just saw a million team members standing around and I thought it looked amazing it so I took a photo of it and one TM asked me not to take photos. Not sure what the big deal was? Maybe he was broken down?
We were both hungry so we decided to split a piece of pizza at Louie's.
It was good, not great but pretty decent for theme park pizza.
Kira was asking for one last butter beer so off we went to Diagon Alley. On the way there, we spotted a familiar shape in the clouds.
He's looking down on us saying "Why are you at Universal????"
Happy girl with her final $10 butter beer.
When we were ordering, she asked me if she could get some fries too. They changed up their fries at the Wizarding World locations, by the way. They used to be wedge potato fries, now they are more like what the Brits call chips, which is a huge improvement, I think.
While she was eating her fries, I went and got some dessert for us, our last butter beer ice creams. YUM!!
Once we were done, we rode The Mummy and then we rode Rip Ride Rockit. Both were awesome!
I was actually still pretty hungry and really hot so we decided to hit up Today Cafe because it was close and had great AC.
They make pretty good sandwiches here, I've had it a few times and it never disappoints. After we ordered, we sat over to the right, in a corner but as we sat there, we realized that the three or four tables around us were all one big party and they were talking loudly over to each other and the kids were running around. This was soooo not our jam, so we headed over to the other side of the restaurant, where the half-booths were, which was much quieter and a lot more peaceful. Shortly after we left, the big party had noticed that we had moved over and were very loud and vocal about us moving, saying some not-so-nice things about us.
Before belittling strangers in a very public way, I wish people would think twice. We didn't do anything to them, we didn't ask them to be quiet, we didn't give them dirty looks, we simply realized that sitting there was outside of our comfort zone and we moved to a place that was little more chill and suited us better. You want to be loud and yell and have your kids run around a restaurant? Fine, you do you, but why make rude comments when someone just doesn't want to be around that chaos?
We both are really affected by loud noises and voices, which is why we always seek a quiet corner when possible. While I enjoyed my sandwich, I really didn't enjoy the harassment from these people.
Onto better things! Kira had wanted to do all three of the water rides over at IOA, so we walked over there once we were done.
First up was Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. Most people don't realize that Dudley is, in fact, a Canadian.
The ride is great, I have always loved Ripsaw Falls but getting in and out of that ride vehicle is crazy hard, especially as I get older and fatter.
She was making funny faces while I was taking my photos and videos.
We both got fairly wet, which was the whole point.
It's so pretty at night!
We made our way over to Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges to learn that it actually closes an hour before the rest of the park does.
Oh well, we have one ride left, The Jurassic River Adventure. We didn't get too too wet on it, despite us being in the second row. It was a very interesting ride. A boy, maybe 10 years old, riding alone in the front row turned around and struck up a conversation with us immediately and talked for the entire ride.
He was a super fan of the ride and told us all about it.
There was also a cute boy sitting next to Kira and so I struck up a conversation with him, since we were all chatting and we weren't going to be hearing any parts of this ride anyway.
I love being her wing woman.
I forgot to mention that when we had gone back to Sapphire Falls pool that one evening, there was a cute boy that Kira was crushing on. It was very evident that he was crushing on her too but both of them were way too shy to talk to each other. I was trying to be her wing woman then too but when you are young and have a crush, especially when you are crippled with social anxiety, it's tough.
Even with my social anxiety, I have no problem talking to people if it benefits my daughter and once that awkward silence was broken, she ended up chatting with the cute boy in between the super-fan chatting.
With Popeye's closed and us pretty wet from the two rides, we headed out. As we were walking through Toon Lagoon, Kira was enjoying the different water features. This one, in particular, was hilarious, she had stuck her head over it and was surprised as water spouted up from the bottom and splashed her in the face. . I got it on video, so stay tuned for those vacation videos.
And thus ends our Universal park time for this trip.
I will be back next week for a symposium but I won't be back with either Rob or Kira until 2026 probably.
We had some time for a swim and a soak as our hot tub was working!
Stay tuned for our last full day, spent with friends.
As we were walking, we spotted the new Mega Movie Parade that just started last month. I am not usually one for a parade, especially when I'm in the hot sun but we couldn't cross to get to where we were going so we decided to just stay and watch it. It was actually quite cool, the floats from BTTF and JP were obviously my faves!
We had seen them working on the T-Rex float the other day and I didn't know what it was, just saw a million team members standing around and I thought it looked amazing it so I took a photo of it and one TM asked me not to take photos. Not sure what the big deal was? Maybe he was broken down?
We were both hungry so we decided to split a piece of pizza at Louie's.
It was good, not great but pretty decent for theme park pizza.
Kira was asking for one last butter beer so off we went to Diagon Alley. On the way there, we spotted a familiar shape in the clouds.
He's looking down on us saying "Why are you at Universal????"
Happy girl with her final $10 butter beer.
When we were ordering, she asked me if she could get some fries too. They changed up their fries at the Wizarding World locations, by the way. They used to be wedge potato fries, now they are more like what the Brits call chips, which is a huge improvement, I think.
While she was eating her fries, I went and got some dessert for us, our last butter beer ice creams. YUM!!
Once we were done, we rode The Mummy and then we rode Rip Ride Rockit. Both were awesome!
I was actually still pretty hungry and really hot so we decided to hit up Today Cafe because it was close and had great AC.
They make pretty good sandwiches here, I've had it a few times and it never disappoints. After we ordered, we sat over to the right, in a corner but as we sat there, we realized that the three or four tables around us were all one big party and they were talking loudly over to each other and the kids were running around. This was soooo not our jam, so we headed over to the other side of the restaurant, where the half-booths were, which was much quieter and a lot more peaceful. Shortly after we left, the big party had noticed that we had moved over and were very loud and vocal about us moving, saying some not-so-nice things about us.
Before belittling strangers in a very public way, I wish people would think twice. We didn't do anything to them, we didn't ask them to be quiet, we didn't give them dirty looks, we simply realized that sitting there was outside of our comfort zone and we moved to a place that was little more chill and suited us better. You want to be loud and yell and have your kids run around a restaurant? Fine, you do you, but why make rude comments when someone just doesn't want to be around that chaos?
We both are really affected by loud noises and voices, which is why we always seek a quiet corner when possible. While I enjoyed my sandwich, I really didn't enjoy the harassment from these people.
Onto better things! Kira had wanted to do all three of the water rides over at IOA, so we walked over there once we were done.
First up was Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. Most people don't realize that Dudley is, in fact, a Canadian.
The ride is great, I have always loved Ripsaw Falls but getting in and out of that ride vehicle is crazy hard, especially as I get older and fatter.
She was making funny faces while I was taking my photos and videos.
We both got fairly wet, which was the whole point.
It's so pretty at night!
We made our way over to Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges to learn that it actually closes an hour before the rest of the park does.
Oh well, we have one ride left, The Jurassic River Adventure. We didn't get too too wet on it, despite us being in the second row. It was a very interesting ride. A boy, maybe 10 years old, riding alone in the front row turned around and struck up a conversation with us immediately and talked for the entire ride.
He was a super fan of the ride and told us all about it. There was also a cute boy sitting next to Kira and so I struck up a conversation with him, since we were all chatting and we weren't going to be hearing any parts of this ride anyway.
I love being her wing woman.
I forgot to mention that when we had gone back to Sapphire Falls pool that one evening, there was a cute boy that Kira was crushing on. It was very evident that he was crushing on her too but both of them were way too shy to talk to each other. I was trying to be her wing woman then too but when you are young and have a crush, especially when you are crippled with social anxiety, it's tough.
Even with my social anxiety, I have no problem talking to people if it benefits my daughter and once that awkward silence was broken, she ended up chatting with the cute boy in between the super-fan chatting.
With Popeye's closed and us pretty wet from the two rides, we headed out. As we were walking through Toon Lagoon, Kira was enjoying the different water features. This one, in particular, was hilarious, she had stuck her head over it and was surprised as water spouted up from the bottom and splashed her in the face. . I got it on video, so stay tuned for those vacation videos.
And thus ends our Universal park time for this trip.
I will be back next week for a symposium but I won't be back with either Rob or Kira until 2026 probably.
We had some time for a swim and a soak as our hot tub was working!
Stay tuned for our last full day, spent with friends.
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