Early start again this morning as we head out to USF.
We had to go to the ticket office this morning to pick up two flex tickets that wed ordered on the internet the company usually sends out real tickets but due to Hurricane Wilma theyd had to send us a voucher to exchange at the gate. The queue for tickets was about 10 deep so I headed to the will call line and they agreed to swap the voucher for me.
Once in the park we headed straight to the Mummy this was under construction last trip and Id been looking forward to it ever since DH not so much! He was worried about getting motion sick and had come prepared with his wrist bands.
We had to put all of our items in the locker which was a bit of an ordeal they work based on your thumb print and Emma just couldnt get one to recognise her thumb print! David had trouble putting his camera bag in and a member of staff ended up forcing it in the locker for him.
There was no line whatsoever so we just walked through the queue area I was becoming terrified and David was winding me up the whole way there. We all got in the car and to be honest from then on its a blank! I was terrified and had my eyes shut the whole way around that car moves very quickly and I felt quite sick with fear I was so glad when it was finally over! Everyone except DH and me LOVED it in fact they all ran round to get on again! DH was a mess it made him feel really sick and I was just unable to form a sentence!
We hung around the shop waiting for the others and then rescued our stuff from the lockers and headed to MIB.
I love this ride its great fun shooting all the aliens although when they spin your car at the end its a bit of a killer!
As there was no line we went out two to a car so I used two guns on the first go one to shoot properly and one that I just waved around
when we checked the photos after Id scored three times as many with my waving gun than mum did playing properly
We cheated and used the baby swap line to get back on the ride for a second go instead of exiting and coming back through the lift again.
At the end of the second go DH turned green the Mummy really messed with his motion sickness so he went and waited in the shop while the rest of us baby swapped again.
Then it was over to Back to the Future (DH sat this one out, he doesnt think its so great and was still feeling ill)
I used to love BTTF when I was a kid and we would ride it 3 or 4 times each trip now I can take it or leave it it just seems way too bumpy and jolty. We didnt have to line up for this we walked through the ramps and when we got to the room it was time to get on.
Then we headed over to Terminator this is just an amazing 3d show and I love it still after all of these years. The way they mix in the live action is fantastic. The newbies were all impressed with this too.
By now we were all getting hungry so we decided to split up and get back together in a few hours.
We headed to Mels drive in I had the kid cheeseburgers, which were bite size and served in a cardboard car very cute! DH had some chicken strips and Ian & Victoria had brought a packed lunch. The food in Universal is quite expensive, and DH and I decided we were getting a bit sick of counter service for lunch every day and decided wed go buy some packed lunch ingredients from Publix.
After lunch we headed to Shrek we wanted to get fast passes but the machine was closed
We had to stand in a 45 minute line in the hot sun. Now for all you peak season visitors this may not sound a lot but we are in off peak season, and used to TGM at Disney the longest lines wed stood in so far were for food! We were told by a staff member that because the lines are so short the FP machines had been closed for weeks! Im sorry but 45 minutes is not short I wanted to FP Shrek and go and see Jimmy Neutron and then come back and wait 5 minutes.
Anyway rant over Shrek is as good as ever its so clever for a 4d show and I love Shrek anyway its so funny how they take the mickey out of Disney {no pun intended
: }
Next we headed to Earthquake the first bit of the show is a bit dry but I love the actual ride part. Once again we tricked Victoria into sitting on the wet side
some things you never tire of
We were supposed to meet the others for Beetlejuice at this point but Ian & Victoria decided they didnt fancy it, Ive seen it a million times and DH isnt too fond so we decided to meet the others outside as planned but tell them we were heading to Jimmy. As it happened there were technical problems and the show was cancelled. Mum and Dad wanted to do Earthquake so we split up again agreeing to meet at the exit in an hour.
We rode Jimmy next the 50 minute queue from lunch time had now dropped to 5 minutes. I love Jimmy Neutron its so smooth, in fact if they brought over the film from BTTF and played it while I sat in these cars Id be a very happy bunny!
We were torn about going to see Twister afterwards but decided to give it a miss I know Ive been on it before but I couldnt remember what it was about!
Instead we wondered around the shops.
When the others joined us Mum and Dad said that they watched the Earthquake show and then the ride broke! Think theyre jinxing things around here today
Not sure what time it was by now maybe 5pm? We agreed to call it a day and head back to the villa to get changed for dinner; we stopped off at Publix on the way for more lunch and breakfast supplies.
We headed out to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner the burger specialist that place is great! Unfortunately I wasnt feeling very well by dinner so just had some fries for my tea. Everyone decided they fancied a drink this evening and started on happy hour at Rubys, then they wanted to go to DTD to the pub.
As I wasnt well we got Dad to drop us back to the villa so we could pick up the car, DH wanted to go to Virgin at DTD.
We ended up bumping into the others in Virgin and then again in the Christmas shop! I wanted to go home but DH kept saying, just one more shop
at home he hates shopping but in Florida he just goes mad!
Oh yeah DH and Ian both bought their PSPs tonight in Virgin they got a good deal with some games included. The price was a couple of dollars more than a shop we saw on the 192 but they felt safer buying something so expensive from Virgin.
We headed home for an early night at about 10 while the others enjoyed a drink and some music at the House of Blues.
Today was a bit of an odd day I used to love USF and I still enjoyed the rides here today, but there was no atmosphere. Its as if Universal just dont think its worth opening all the shops/stalls or sending out the characters when its quiet. And they closed the FPs which is really annoying. I love going to Disney first thing before the crowds get in and breathing in the magic USF just feels like a ghost town.
Tired feet all round today, what with the 6.5 miles we walked at USF, and the 2.8 at DTD we clocked up 9.3 miles!