Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Universal Edition. Pictures Galore! COMPLETE

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

After explored the whole park it was now time to return to the Wizarding World. There were still a few things that we wanted to do their before leaving the park.

The crowds had really died down since the morning. Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff both had 20 minute waits posted. Hogsmeade was not nearly as crowded, you no longer felt as though you were going to be crushed by the crowds.

The first thing that we wanted to do was ride Dueling Dragons. We arranged to meet Mom and Erich and The Hog's Head in a few minutes.

Dueling Dragons only had a 5 minute wait posted, that 5 minutes was spent walking through the extremely long queue. The queue and ride and themed after the first challenge in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire".

There were signs up all through the queue to represent the four Triwizard Champions.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

View of Hogwarts from the queue.

The Weasley's Ford Anglia

Hagrid's Hut

You then enter the Champions' tent which houses the Goblet of Fire and Triwizard cup.

The egg clues for the second challenge

Dueling Dragons is a duel "racing" coaster, each coaster is named after one of the dragons from the challenge in the book/movie. You can ride the red Hungarian Horntail or the blue Chinese Fireball. I'm pretty sure that we choose the Hungarian Horntail.

Both coasters take off at the same time and "race", there are several points during the ride where it looks like they are going to crash.

I have heard that they have changed this now and they no longer take off at the same time.

It was a fun ride but The Hulk is definitely the more thrilling coaster of the two/three.

The exit takes you behind Flourish and Blott's.

 

[Cinderpamela]

Sounds like a great trip, excited to learn more about IoA!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sounds like a great trip, excited to learn more about IoA!

It was a fantastic trip, we really developed an appreciation for Universal.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

After riding Dragon Challenge we made our way over to The Hog's Head to meet up with Mom and Erich. I, of course, had to stop and buy another butterbeer, regular version since that is what we preferred.

It was just as delicious as it had been in the morning. I could go for a butterbeer right now! Yum!

Next we decided to make our way back to Hogwarts. We weren't going back on the ride, instead we were going to go on the Castle Tour so that Mom could see the castle and so that we could get some pictures without feeling rushed by the line of people behind us. The castle takes you through most of the same areas as the regular ride queue with a few exceptions.

To get to the castle tour head over to the lockers and the castle tour entrance is right next to them. If you get confused about where to go just ask a ride attendant as there should be several in the area.

Dumbledore's Office

Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom

Stairwell with Talking Portraits

Erich took two short clips in this area

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtX5Z82xFrg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqQxcGjBvwU

The Daily Prophet

Another brief video clip of the moving picture in the newspaper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ZDqRgfQBo

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The castle tour was enjoyable but not necessary if you had plenty of time to explore the castle while in the regular queue.

The others all made their way out of the castle and I spent a few minutes shopping in Filch's. Let's just say my credit card cried from the big dent I put into it while shopping in the Wizarding World. I bought myself a few things and I also got Caroline a few presents to send by regular mail, I mailed the package so that it would arrive a few days after her Hogwarts letter arrived by Owl Post.

Next up were the two other shops in the Wizarding World that we had not yet explored: Honeydukes and Zonko's Joke Shop both located back in Hogsmeade. So once I joined back up with the family we walked through the village to get to our destination.

Herminone's Yule Ball gown.

The mail box where you can deposit your letters to be sent by Owl Post, also where you get them stamped with the Owl Post stamp.

The Three Broomsticks

Honeyduke's

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Zonko's Joke Shop(it is attached to Honeyduke's, open concept shop)

Back to Honeydukes

Looking over at Zonko's

Looking over at Honeydukes

If you are a Harry Potter fan you should be able to recognize most of the merchandise I posted pictures of. I went a little bit crazy in here as well.... I bought it all to share with the family, not like I was going to eat it all myself! If I remember correctly we ended up with a Rock Cake, Treacle Fudge and a Cauldron Cake from the bakery counter. We also bought two chocolate frogs, Ton-Tongue Toffee, and Fizzing Whizbees. I think that was everything from that store. The Rock Cake was decent, guess Hagrid didn't make that batch as none of us ended up with a chipped tooth. The Treacle Fudge was just white chocolate fudge with a few raisins, nothing special. The cauldron cake would probably have been better if we had eaten it that day but we didn't get around to it until two days later and by the then it tasted kinda stale. The chocolate frogs are solid chocolate, definitely not high quality but not too terrible. Each frog comes with a card of a famous witch or wizard just like in the books. We had rotten luck and got Godric Gryffindor in both boxes. The Fizzing Whizzbees were fun as are all fizzing chocolate candies.

With our shopping done it was time to bid adieu to the Wizarding World. We will be back!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

Having seen and done everything that we wanted to do that day we started to make our way out of the park.

We did make a stop in Seuss Landing at the bakery. I know, I know, more sweets!

Alek and I both got the Peanut Butter Cup cookie.

Erich got an M&M's rice krispie square.

Alek and Erich had decided earlier in the day that they wanted to get Green Eggs and Ham for dinner and the shop that sold them was right next to the carousel so while they went to get their dinner, I took pictures.

Have you ever seen a more unique carousel?!

Unfortunately for Alek and Erich the store that sold the Green Eggs and Ham was closed, guess it only serves lunch! They did take a picture of what it is supposed to look like.

We arrived back at the nicely themed Port of Entry.

Alek was going for a picture of his getting mauled, instead it looks like he is hugging his pet tiger.

Right before you exit the park, on the right there is a little merchandise stall that sells merchandise on sale. Alek and Erich both managed to get stuff they liked from here for really cheap so make sure to check it out, you might find something you like!

Farewell Islands of Adventure, you were a gem!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

It was right around 6:30 when we left the park and we were hungry for dinner!

We decided to stop at a Steak N' Shake as we had been bombarded with commercials on tv every day of the vacation while watching tv in the morning and at night. I had also heard good things about it here on the Dis. We of course ordered burgers and shakes!

The shakes were enormous!

The food was decent and was cheap!

Our bellies full it was back to Coronado Springs!

We (I) went through all the stuff I had bought that day.

Gryffindor scarf

All the candy, pastries, pins, etc.

Erich also chowed down on the giant rice krispie square he had bought in Seuss Landing.

Guess what was on tv that night?! Harry Potter! ABC Family was having a Harry Potter week and they were airing all the movies pretty much nonstop for the next week so for the rest of the vacation when we had down time in the room we nearly always had Harry Potter on.

We went to sleep fairly early that night as we were pretty tired from our late night the day before and our early wake up that morning. We were also off to Universal Studios in the morning.

 

[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.

[post=43372630]Click here to continue[/post]

 

[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.

 

[macraven]

i love seeing the pictures you posted about shrek!


all the signs you posted really made me smile.

sometimes i go thru that line so fast, i don't have time to read all of them.


thank you so much for sharing them!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

i love seeing the pictures you posted about shrek!


all the signs you posted really made me smile.

sometimes i go thru that line so fast, i don't have time to read all of them.


thank you so much for sharing them!

You are welcome. I thought the signs were all so funny, a great way to pass time in line.

 

[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.

 

[GoldenAfternoon]

I'm really enjoying your trip report! It's very well written and your pictures are gorgeous. I also have two younger brothers and I know how fun (and at times exasperating) they can be! I'm happy your trip seems to have gone so well. Looking forward to your next update

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm really enjoying your trip report! It's very well written and your pictures are gorgeous. I also have two younger brothers and I know how fun (and at times exasperating) they can be! I'm happy your trip seems to have gone so well. Looking forward to your next update

Thank you for the compliment!

You are absolutely correct about younger brothers being fun and exasperating!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 18th continued

After Disaster! we backtracked a bit as Alek and Erich had seen that there was going to be a Blues Brothers show in the New York area.

We found the area for the show and caught what looked like a pre-show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdWZyPW6rgk

The guy in front of us was really getting into it as you can see in the video! He was a real fashionista as well!

We ended up not staying for the show, not sure why, I think it was because we were all hungry.

We made our way back to the San Francisco and Amity area to find some grub.

We decided to try Lombard's

Sadly it was not open yet so we continued on in search of food.

Before we found food we came upon Jaws so we got in line for that and put off the search for lunch.

The ride was fun although a bit dated. I actually read recently that Universal is shutting it down. I wonder what they will replace it with?

There were not many food options in the surrounding area, just ice cream, funnel cakes and hot dogs. We decided to split a funnel cake to tide us over. We decided that we would just power through the rest of the park and eat at one of the restaurants out in City Walk once we were done.

There were a bunch of tables near the Jaws exit so we grabbed one and chowed down on the funnel cake.

We then had to take the traditional (not so traditional?) Jaws pictures.

Some kids saw Alek and Erich doing this and wanted to climb inside/on Jaws too. Their parents were not impressed.

 

[SharonK0527]

Another great update! Sadly we were not able to get the traditional Jaws picture when we went a few months ago because the line of people waiting was pretty long and we didn't feel like waiting. Even though the ride is dated, I'm glad we got to go on it once since it will be closed by the next time we go back. It was such a classic ride, I would hate for it to have closed for good and I never got to experience it.

Can't wait for more updates!