Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Rain Curse is Broken! Two Weeks of Fun in the Sun! COMPLETE

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Ok, I like ham and eggs but the green eggs just do not look appetizing! LOL.

Yeah, the model did look rather gross. Wonder if it tastes good?

Your purple pygmy puff is so cute! You got a pretty nice haul there. I'm going to make my sisters get me something when they're at IOA next week since I'll be stuck at home.

Yep, I got a lot of Harry Potter stuff and that was not the end of it!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 18th

The first day of our second week of vacation arrived with a nice early wake-up call. We were off to Universal Studios this morning in order to complete our first ever Universal experience. We did not need to leave as early as the day before since there was no need to beat the crowds to Harry Potter.

Unfortunately, I woke up with a headache. It wasn't serious and I was hoping that it would go away if I chugged some water. I did not want it to ruin my day!

Upon arrival at Universal we once again got to park in the Jaws section and took the moving sidewalks from the parking garage over to City Walk.

To get to Universal Studios from City Walk you veer right when the path splits, to get to Islands of Adventure you just keep walking straight ahead.

The morning crowds were looking pretty light!

We arrived right around 9am and were able to walk right in, no lines at the turnstiles!

Now, all the advice I had read said to head directly to Rip Ride Rockit but seeing as how the park was deserted we just decided to do things as we came to them. The first attraction we came upon after entering the park was Shrek 4-D!

There are lots of entertaining and informative signs in the queue. They had just let the first group into the pre-show room so we had to wait for a few minutes.

Setting you up for the show

Amusing signs in the queue

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

They also had signs up giving the basic story from the first movie for the benefit of those who had never seen it or those who needed a refresher.

Three Little Pigs during the Pre-Show

The show was definitely amusing and had lots of laughs. It takes place between the first and second movies. Definitely a highlight and not to be missed, especially if you are a Shrek fan. Mom was afraid that she might get sick because in our reading we did while planning the trip it sounded like the seats really jerked you around, that was not the case at all and she made it through the show without a problem.

There was some cute merchandise in the dump shop but Mom loved the Puss in Boots

We never did get to meet the Noble Steed.

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[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 18th continued

Next up was Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit! I was looking forward to the coaster but I was also nervous about riding it at the same time. I always get nervous before going on a new coaster, I am weird, I know. What was scaring me the most was the ascent where you travel straight up at a 90 degree angle, eek!

You can see a ride car traveling up in this picture.

Down they go!

Alek and I traveled through the VERY long queue, there was no wait but it felt like it took 10 minutes to get to the ride platform! Apparently the lines for this ride are usually REALLY long but the park was dead so there was no wait.

I still had my headache but I decided to ride anyways, probably not the best idea but I didn't want to miss out on the coaster!

The neat thing about this coaster is that you get to pick your own soundtrack for the ride. You can select from all sorts of categories - Rock, Country, Pop, etc. and then there are song selections under each category. I felt really rushed in making my decision so I quickly chose "Bring Me To Life". Alek made the much better selection of "I Will Survive". The music is completely isolated so only you can hear it. Alek was sitting next to me and I could not hear his music and vice versa.

We began to climb up, up, up. Traveling up at a 90 degree angle was a really strange sensation! It ended up being really fun, unfortunately when I got off my headache was worse. I sucked it up and hoped that it would go away as we still had The Mummy to ride not to mention the rest of the park to explore.

We went searching for Mom and Erich, they were not where they said they would meet us. I went to look for them near the washroom and Alek went searching in the other direction. Turns out that they ran into some of Erich's favourite characters while we were on the ride.

We like to joke that Erich looks like Shaggy when he attempts to grow facial hair.

Alek and I, of course, had to get our pictures with them as well. We arrived just in time as they left soon after we got our picture.

Their arrival and departure is really fun as they arrive and depart in the Mystery Machine which Shaggy actually drives while blasting the Scooby Doo theme song. Shaggy drove it through the park, not sure where they exited as we lost sight of them eventually.

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[PopArtGal]

The movie sounds like a lot of fun. I don't think I'd ride the rip ride... or whatever it's called. I'm not a big enough fan of rides. And if it made your headache worse, it would probably give me a migraine

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The movie sounds like a lot of fun. I don't think I'd ride the rip ride... or whatever it's called. I'm not a big enough fan of rides. And if it made your headache worse, it would probably give me a migraine

Well it is a roller coaster so if you are not a fan of thrills then you probably shouldn't ride. I guess it is only to be expected that my headache was worse after riding. Most people don't think about it but you put your body through a lot when you ride coasters, that is why they have all those warnings!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Hahaha, I love Shrek! I find the movies to be completely amusing, so I love that attraction.

Rip Ride Rockit is the strangest sensation on the lift, isn't it? Feels like you're going to fall out of the car, but you don't. It's a great ride.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hahaha, I love Shrek! I find the movies to be completely amusing, so I love that attraction.

Rip Ride Rockit is the strangest sensation on the lift, isn't it? Feels like you're going to fall out of the car, but you don't. It's a great ride.

Yeah, it just feels wrong!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Awesome power updates.

the peanut butter cookie looked awesome.
I'm going on-line to look for a recipie for butter beer.
Too bad about the green eggs and ham.
that burger and shake joint looks like it would give beaches N cream a run for its money.
That coaster!
Headaches suck.

 

[Lidian]

Sorry to hear about your headache, and then the ride making it worse.

Glad you got to see Shaggy and Scooby. That's pretty cool that they drive the Mystery Machine around the park!

 

[kittylady1972]

Rip Ride Rocket was definitely one of our favorites for our trip! My in-laws also chose the same song: "I Will Survive" but I was too busy talking to the guy who got into the car next to me (I rode as a single so DH could ride with DS behind me) that I totally forgot to pick a song! Thankfully it does pick one for you...and I have no idea what mine was (it may have been Bring me Back to Life too) but I know it really went well with the ride!

Love the Scooby and Shaggy Photos!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Awesome power updates.

the peanut butter cookie looked awesome.
I'm going on-line to look for a recipie for butter beer.
Too bad about the green eggs and ham.
that burger and shake joint looks like it would give beaches N cream a run for its money.
That coaster!
Headaches suck.

The peanut butter cookie was good but I think my homemade cookies are better.

You are going to try and make butterbeer! Let me know how it turns out!

I would still go for Beaches and Cream over Steak N Shake.

Sorry to hear about your headache, and then the ride making it worse.

Glad you got to see Shaggy and Scooby. That's pretty cool that they drive the Mystery Machine around the park!

Yeah, the headache was no fun. I should have known better than to go on the ride but I didn't want to miss out!

Rip Ride Rocket was definitely one of our favorites for our trip! My in-laws also chose the same song: "I Will Survive" but I was too busy talking to the guy who got into the car next to me (I rode as a single so DH could ride with DS behind me) that I totally forgot to pick a song! Thankfully it does pick one for you...and I have no idea what mine was (it may have been Bring me Back to Life too) but I know it really went well with the ride!

Love the Scooby and Shaggy Photos!!

Well I guess it is good a song automatically starts playing for those who forget/are preoccupied.

 

[Lidian]

Yeah, the headache was no fun. I should have known better than to go on the ride but I didn't want to miss out!

I would have done the same thing, though.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I would have done the same thing, though.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 18th continued

We wandered down the street with no particular destination in mind. We had decided to just do things as we came upon them.

We came upon the Twister attraction so we made our way in.

It was SO cheesy, I used to love this movie (I love disaster movies), but it sure is dated which dates me because I remember it coming out when I was in my early teens! It was also a little strange seeing this attraction as I believe it was the next day or a couple days after that we woke up to news of those terrible tornadoes in Joplin, a real F5 tornado.

After a not so thrilling time at the Twister attraction we stopped for a moment and examined the map to see what was nearby. I took the opportunity to take some pictures as the others looked at the map and after we started walking again.

After examining the map to orient ourselves we started moving again. As much as I wanted to ride Revenge of The Mummy I just couldn't at that moment because of my headache. Alek and I planned to hit it on the way out of the park.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

As you can see the park was still pretty deserted, it stayed that way the whole time we were there. It was kinda strange how empty the park was, so different from WDW.

I thought the San Fransisco/New England area was very pretty.

Our next stop was the Disaster! Attraction. The idea behind this show is that you are being taken behind the scenes and shown how a Disaster movie is produced. There is audience participation as well.

I would totally see this

It is among us and it is scary! I am learning all about it and other nasty microorganisms in my Microbiology class, it has made me very paranoid!

Erich was feeling a little sleepy

You start off in a pre-show room where your Disaster Studio guide casts some people from the audience to participate in the show. Guess who got picked to play the villains?! If you guessed Alek and Erich you would be correct. Most of the attraction does not allow cameras but I did manage this short video of Alek and Erich displaying their nefarious laughs before the actual show got started.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XZ5Qu51qh4

We were all taken into the attraction at this point. You get to ride a subway car "during an earthquake" and you also watch as the audience volunteers act out various scenes. I won't tell you what happens here. Some was funny and some was not, I was just annoyed that I could not record my brothers taking part in the show.

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[IheartDDuck]

Hahahaha, why does that not surprise me that Alek and Erich were part of the show on Disaster! That stinks that you weren't able to film it. What's up with that? What, do they think that it's like a huge spoiler?

 

[KatMark]

I'm all caught up on your Universal updates. Boy has that changed since we were there in 2004. I think Shrek may have been there, but very crowded. But I don't remember the Disaster show or the Rip Tide as being there when we were there.

You were brave to ride Rip Tide (I'd have to pass) especially with a headache.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm all caught up on your Universal updates. Boy has that changed since we were there in 2004. I think Shrek may have been there, but very crowded. But I don't remember the Disaster show or the Rip Tide as being there when we were there.

You were brave to ride Rip Tide (I'd have to pass) especially with a headache.

I think Disaster used to be called something else, I think Earthquake?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hahahaha, why does that not surprise me that Alek and Erich were part of the show on Disaster! That stinks that you weren't able to film it. What's up with that? What, do they think that it's like a huge spoiler?

We think maybe because Christopher Walken is involved in the show but it really just holds with their no camera rule everywhere else in the parks.