Monday - 11/12/07 - Weather: 80 degrees.
The info I got from Universal's Website said that the park opens at 10:00 AM this morning. Craig & DeWayne had walked down the street to the Anaheim Plaza Hotel to pick up our van the day before so we were on our way to Hollywood by 8:30.
Traffic wasn't too bad since it was Veteran's Day and a lot of people had the day off. It took us about 40 minutes to get to Hollywood. We parked in the Preferred parking lot ($20 but worth it...the entrance is right there)
We pile out of the van and as we're walking to the gate Shelli and I are digging in our bags for our "Front of the Line" passes we had purchased and printed out before we left home. I have mine, but she can't find hers anywhere. Before we had left the hotel, I had given Kristyl their tickets and she had put them in their backpack. Unbeknownst to anyone, Shelli had switched packs and didn't see the tickets in a hidden compartment, so they had been left behind.
It was decided that DeWayne, Craig, Kristyl & Brandon would go back to Anaheim to get them. While we were waiting for them to return, Chris, Corey, Shelli and I explored City Walk.
It's always hotter in Hollywood than it is in Anaheim and we were beginning to feel the heat.
Around 10:30 the gang arrives with tickets in hand. After taking some photos in front of the Universal ball, we head for the gate where we find signs saying that the park had actually opened at 9:00 that morning. What a great start to our day...2 hours wasted already and the park closes at 6:00!
After entering the park we head down to a customer service building where we turn in our passes for our front of the line pass which is on a lanyard that goes around our neck.
Lunch time! We ate at Louis' Pizza & Pasta. The food was pretty good there. We had thought about purchasing the "all you can eat" deal for the guys, but since we had such a late start we figured it wouldn't be worth the money. The pass doesn't include drinks and that's what we mostly purchased the rest of the day.
After lunch it was time to head on down to Jurrasic Park & the Mummy. There are 4 sets of escalators that take you down to the bottom of the hill, but before we board them, we spend a few minutes taking in the sights.
Brandon couldn't ride Jurrasic Park or the Mummy, but this must have been one of his good days because he's extremely well behaved the entire 2 hours we're down in this area of the park. It helped that there was plenty for him to see and do.
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It was great having the front of the line passes that day. We rode Jurrasic Park and the Mummy several times in a row. By the way...the Mummy is much better in Florida than California. No fire on the roof and the ride is way shorter than Florida's.
Having our fill of Speilberg's Dinos, we headed back up to the escalators to take the tram tour.
Along the way, we ran into a couple of characters from the movies that Brandon recognized.
The Tram tour was interesting and all of us enjoyed different parts of it.
To Be Continued (tomorrow) on Day 4 (Pt. 2)
The info I got from Universal's Website said that the park opens at 10:00 AM this morning. Craig & DeWayne had walked down the street to the Anaheim Plaza Hotel to pick up our van the day before so we were on our way to Hollywood by 8:30.
Traffic wasn't too bad since it was Veteran's Day and a lot of people had the day off. It took us about 40 minutes to get to Hollywood. We parked in the Preferred parking lot ($20 but worth it...the entrance is right there)
We pile out of the van and as we're walking to the gate Shelli and I are digging in our bags for our "Front of the Line" passes we had purchased and printed out before we left home. I have mine, but she can't find hers anywhere. Before we had left the hotel, I had given Kristyl their tickets and she had put them in their backpack. Unbeknownst to anyone, Shelli had switched packs and didn't see the tickets in a hidden compartment, so they had been left behind.
It was decided that DeWayne, Craig, Kristyl & Brandon would go back to Anaheim to get them. While we were waiting for them to return, Chris, Corey, Shelli and I explored City Walk.
It's always hotter in Hollywood than it is in Anaheim and we were beginning to feel the heat.
Around 10:30 the gang arrives with tickets in hand. After taking some photos in front of the Universal ball, we head for the gate where we find signs saying that the park had actually opened at 9:00 that morning. What a great start to our day...2 hours wasted already and the park closes at 6:00!
After entering the park we head down to a customer service building where we turn in our passes for our front of the line pass which is on a lanyard that goes around our neck.
Lunch time! We ate at Louis' Pizza & Pasta. The food was pretty good there. We had thought about purchasing the "all you can eat" deal for the guys, but since we had such a late start we figured it wouldn't be worth the money. The pass doesn't include drinks and that's what we mostly purchased the rest of the day.
After lunch it was time to head on down to Jurrasic Park & the Mummy. There are 4 sets of escalators that take you down to the bottom of the hill, but before we board them, we spend a few minutes taking in the sights.
Brandon couldn't ride Jurrasic Park or the Mummy, but this must have been one of his good days because he's extremely well behaved the entire 2 hours we're down in this area of the park. It helped that there was plenty for him to see and do.
It was great having the front of the line passes that day. We rode Jurrasic Park and the Mummy several times in a row. By the way...the Mummy is much better in Florida than California. No fire on the roof and the ride is way shorter than Florida's.
Having our fill of Speilberg's Dinos, we headed back up to the escalators to take the tram tour.
Along the way, we ran into a couple of characters from the movies that Brandon recognized.
The Tram tour was interesting and all of us enjoyed different parts of it.
To Be Continued (tomorrow) on Day 4 (Pt. 2)
