Mmmm Toothsome. I am in love with their berries & cream waffle. It has lemon curd and whipped cream and is more or less a lemon pie on a waffle. I fantasize about it at home. I don't want the berries, so I ask for it without - I think this confuses the servers. The first time, it came out glorious and delicious. The next 2 times, they just gave me a waffle with lemon curd & no whipped cream, and I have to then ask for the whipped cream - which they do, but that's more work for everyone and it then comes on the side & not all pretty on top. I think I have to ask for "berries on the side" next time.
Anyways, Alysia had a burger of some sort, then we split a birthday cake sundae. We split a shake last time, and while it was tasty, all the goodness along the edges was very hard to eat without sucking on the glass (which I will admit that I did). The sundae was in fact better, larger, and cheaper (thanks Disboards for that knowledge!). It also had 2 slices of cake with it and a lovely strawberry puree topping.
I believe we did a pretty good job on this.
My only problem with Toothsome is that everything is delicious and I want so many of their things, but I don't have room. Their chocolate almond bread and their brussels sprouts are also fantastic. But I didn't get them instead of the sundae, and in addition to it is just a crazy amount of food.
Our main goal for today was actually the water rides, and so it was the only day we brought actual bags (with changes of clothes). Although it was supposed to be 80 today, it didn't feel quite that warm, so we had held off on wetness in the morning and were waiting for late afternoon.
After Toothsome we headed into Studios to hit the highlights. We were able to ride pretty much everything, I think about 15-20min for Simpsons was our longest line.
Wandered back to Islands for some rafting and wetness!
On the way past, I did Hulk & Fearfall due to the exactly 0min wait for either. I literally walked on both (Hulk via sinle rider). I usually skip Fearfall and had never been through the regular line to see these guys:
Not that I dislike Fearfall, but it's a pretty standard ride and not something I'm willing to spend a lot of time waiting for. Really, the same with Hulk & Rip Ride Rocket - but I'll hop on them while walking past if the line is short (which is pretty much all the time for Hulk due to the single rider line). For the short wait, I don't feel so bad that Alysia is waiting in the arcade or gift shops around. Of course, she does have the option to join me too
. Also helps that Hulk is my favorite of the three.
Rode Spiderman on the way past - walked right onto the Scoop.
Dudley Doright log flume is on Alysia's no-go list due to the drop - but she'll do Jurassic Park river adventure... go figure. I rode Dudley Doright twice in a row - why oh why do they blast that indoor portion of the queue with AC? They have to know that wet people are coming through the line. The first time, the seat was easier to get in and out of than I remembered. Then I ended up in the front seat the second time, and I'm sure it was not pretty for anyone watching me struggle out. Tip - if you think you'll have a hard time getting out, request not the front seat.
(older photo of Dudley in the dark)
Next: Popeyes. There are pay lockers next to the water rides - $4 for small & $5 for large. Alysia had won stuffed Chucky and stuffed Curious George while I rode stuff. We figured they were squishable, so we opted for the small locker. Ok, technically they did fit but there was a LOT of squishing to get our 2 bags plus 2 stuffies in there. We were committed and made it work. Squished the locker door shut. Headed towards Popeye - when Alysia discovered her phone in her pocket. We were not getting another locker just for that, so we asked for a bag at the little gift kiosk and they obliged.
Phone thusly protected and ready for a drenching, we got on the raft. It was as fun and wet as we remembered. I estimate you have a 80% chance of being fully soaked and a 95% chance of being very wet leaving this ride.
We were chilly (it never really warmed up all that much) but we swung back through the line for a 2nd ride, and the team member let us know that when there was no line we could just request to stay on the raft.
After the 2nd ride, I convinced Alysia we needed to stay on, and they let us - about half the people on the raft decided to stay also. Coerced her for a 4th ride, which was just the 2 of us - it's less fun that way, since a good chunk of the fun is watching people try to avoid the inevitable soaking, and then coming to an acceptance of their fate.
Figured they'd have somewhere to change afterwards - they do not, or else we didn't find it. We did find a very small bathroom (3 stalls). Changed in there awkwardly anyways, and came out much warmer.
We decided to ride Kong & Forbidden Journey again on our way out of the park.
Ended the evening with dinner at Cowfish. Also checked into our Southwest return flight while we were waiting on our meals (kudos to Alysia for the reminder!).
The brussels sprouts here are very good too! Had them and the High Class Hillbilly - aka pulled pork made into sushi roll form. Alysia had another tasty burger - the Big Squeal. They have big portions here. Along with Toothsome, this is one of our must-dos. The High Class Hillbilly has a fried potato web situation on top - nice and crispy. Hillbilly photo from previous visit (note the sushi in the background - friend said it was very good).
Universal with minimal lines and beautiful weather. That describes my perfect day!
