The first trip of a lifetime trip report - day 4

[jothp]

Saturday 15th August - Day 4 IOA and universal studios - part 1
This morning followed our usual routine of getting to the club room for breakfast as soon as it opened at 7am. We were on our way a little earlier this morning and were queuing at the turnstiles to IOA for about 5 minutes before opening. Olie took Hattie and Robyn on forbidden journey as Evie wasn't quite tall enough. It took a little while getting all our bags into a locker, but they were soon on their way onto the ride. Whilst waiting Evie and I went on flight of the hippogriff. After the 6th ride I put my foot down and said no more. By now it was about 8.50 and I was wondering where the others had got to. We had a quick look around the shop to kill time but they soon rejoined us. It turns out that the ride hadn't been open first thing so they had to wait a bit longer than expected.

Once back together we decided that it was time for the younger two girls to try out the interactive wands they had bought on Thursday. As soon as they did their first spell, Robyn changed her mind and decided that she wanted a wand too. Olie took her off to choose one. She soon came back to join in the fun.

 

[Tony Bush]

So glad you enjoyed your time in US/IOA - They have always been probably our favourite parks,and with the addition of Hogsmead and Diagon Alley its impossible not to love them !!!! The girls look like they love their wands. Even my DS bought one and he's 24

Tony

 

[jothp]

Part 2
The next stop was to take the Hogwarts Express to the studios with a quick stop off for a photo opportunity first.



The train journey was again brilliant.




On arrival in diagon alley we headed straight out and over to minion mayhem as it was all Evie had asked for since our first ride on Thursday. We came out to find a couple of friends.



We spent a little time browsing the minion shop when we noticed a different friend had arrived.



Rip ride rockit was next on the big girls list so they went off into the express queue. Olie, Evie and I waited for them sat by the exit with a cold drink. When the girls returned we headed off to try transformers which we again liked. Next up Evie requested another go on men in black. We had planned for this to be our last day at universal so we decided we now needed to get on some rides we hadn't already ridden - all we managed was the simpsons before we decided it was time for some lunch. We returned to diagon alley to try the leaky cauldron. The queue was long but it moved quite quickly and the ordering and seating system was very efficient. The food was ok but it cost $75 - the same as the confisco grille the previous day and the confisco grille would win hands down for quality and environment. Seeing as we were in the area, we decided to cast a few more spells. By this point we were getting a bit tired so made the decision to get the Hogwarts express back to IOA so we could do the wet rides before returning to the hotel. When we arrived at kings cross the wait was going to be 45 minutes - we didn't want to wait that long so diverted to ET instead. The girls found the ride ok, I don't think they have ever actually seen the film. Olie and I made them pose for these photos though!







Next up we met spongebob before coming to the decision that we all needed a break at the hotel. We arrived back in our room about 4pm a little weary. At least we had got some use out of our photoconnect star card today as we had hardly used it in the previous 2 days.



Originally we had booked a mears transfer for 8.00 in the morning to take us to Disney. We were really enjoying universal - more than I thought we would so Olie phoned and changed our pick up time to 12.00 so we could have one more morning in the park. Just as we were leaving for the club lounge the torrential rain started up for the second evening in a row. We finished in the club lounge and then watched a film in the room, all the time hoping it would clear up so we could get an evening in the park but it never did.

 

[jothp]

So glad you enjoyed your time in US/IOA - They have always been probably our favourite parks,and with the addition of Hogsmead and Diagon Alley its impossible not to love them !!!! The girls look like they love their wands. Even my DS bought one and he's 24

Tony

We really did enjoy our time there - far more than I thought we would. I knew that Robyn would want a wand as soon as her sisters started using theirs but I couldn't convince her to just buy one in the first place! In fact if we didn't already have three for the children, I might have bought one. Watching the spells work was great fun. It was a shame that there were a few spell spots not working though.

 

[bex7583]

you are slowly making me feel better about our universal trip

 

[dixonsontour]

My DD loved the interactive wand. Love the photo of the girls in their minions t shirts and the ET photos. Made DD watch ET last week. She was underwhelmed. It was the first film I saw at the cinema.

 

[jothp]

I think if we were to go back we would watch more of the films linked to the universal rides before we went. The girls loved the wands too and they do love a minion t shirt - in fact they had three each for our trip but today is the only day I really took many photos for some reason.