TRIP REPORT!!!Cast:
Me - mom, 40 - first trip to Orlando last year for two weeks. LOVED it. Really enjoyed Disney, especially MK and Epcot. Also enjoyed break from cold Canada in February. 
DH, 43 - Went to Disneyland as a child, so especially likes the sentimental feeling of being at WDW. Also enjoyed Kennedy Space Centre last year and we drove to the Everglades which was his favourite part of the trip.
DD, 10, - Wants to ride every ride and then some. Thrill seeker! DS, 8 - Loves to plan trips but is cautious about "scary rides"
DS, 4 - Last year rode anything and everything. This year.... 
We were very excited about our first trip to Universal. We arrived in Florida on Wed, Feb 23. We stayed off site at a timeshare near Disney, so Wed we hit the pool. It was warm/hot and great. Thursday we spent at the pool at the timeshare and waited for my parents to arrive and join us. The plan was to go to IOA with my parents on Friday, but the forecast was calling for showers, so we decided not to go. Instead we went to Universal on our own and let them rest at the timeshare. It took us about 25 minutes to arrive at the parking garage, from which it was a short walk to UO. The music as you walk on the moving sidewalks immediately puts you into a fun groove and you know this is going to be a fun day.
You walk through Citywalk and it is almost overwhelming with large buildings looming on either side. There is also a huge theatre, but nothing was showing that the kids would have been interested in.
We procedeed to Universal Studios and were impressed with the huge arch and the beautiful trees full of blossoms. Although the day was promising rain, it was not raining yet. We were prepared with our rainjackets though and DH had a backpack with stuff in it. The kids and I all had a fanny pack too. I had ordered our tickets online so we went to the E-ticket pickup and that was great. No hassle and the tickets printed out.
When we walked in it looked like a big city street sort of. We went to Shrek 4-D first and it was about a 20 minute wait. The show was great, but when we went into the theatre, DS, 8 and I sat on one row and DH, DS 4, DD,10 sat in front of us. It turns out our seats were stationary seats, which I did not realize until I saw other people steering away from them. So, we didn't get the "full" effect but I still really enjoyed the show. The kids really liked it. We went outside and they all got to meet Shrek and begin the autograph?picture saga (again). They really love getting their picture taken with the "stars" although I would prefer to just go on the rides, but this is about the kids having fun, so we stood in line to wait.
Then we walked down toward the Mummy and I saw the "Express Pass" machines so we decided to get the passes for the Mummy. There was a whole crowd of people around these machines trying to get them to work and one employee trying to help people. Those machines are not great. WDW really beats the pants off Universal in this category. The Universal machines try to read the bar code and half the time they just don't read it. So, we got our passes. Then we decided to go to Twister, since it was right there. The wait was about 15 minutes. DS, 4 was showing his true colours then by starting to say: "I don't want to go on this ride. No." This theme would repeat itself throughout the day! We convinced him to go on it and we all marched in. DSs were terrified. I was dissapointed waiting for the "real show" to begin. I just found it very fake and not too exciting. A lot of anticipation for nothing basically. 
After this scary ride we were off to the Mummy with our passes and DSs were both proclaiming they would not go on the Mummy. They were terrified as we walked through the maze to get to the ride to do the baby swap. DH and DD went on the ride while I sat in a baby swap room with other small kids/parents. They had a cartoon about the mummy playing which wasn't too unscary either. DH and DD got off the Mummy and I had to chase them down the exit to get them to come back to the baby swap room. They did not see me there and it turns out both of them wanted OUT anyway. DH did not like the jerkyness of the ride and DD did not like the bugs. DH warned me it was very fast... too fast for him. So DD would not go on the ride with me.... so I went alone. I was scared going in, but it was great. The story line is good and then you go speeding around in the dark on the ride. I liked it. 
Then it was off to Men in Black since that is what DS 8 really wanted to do. The wait was longer there, about 30 minutes and after trying to get the express pass machines to work again we just waited in line. The pre-ride theming was great and this was a fun ride! I had really enjoyed Buzz at MK last year and this was like 50 times better. We all really loved this ride. 
Then - BIG MISTAKE - we went to Back to the Future. At Universal they have all these warnings about motion sickness at each ride - so we just marched on this ride (maybe 15 minute wait) and then the horror began. It all went downhill when the cast member (do you call them that at Universal) said : "NO one is clausterphobic, right?" as he prepared to shut the hatch... WELL... I began to feel sick right then. Last year on Mission Space I thought I was going to die and it was part clausterphobia, part motion sickness! So, this made the right start off bad. DH is 6'5" so he was crunched in the back of the Delorean and it was just a lousy ride. If you are SLIGHTLY prone to motion sickness this ride will make you sick. I promise. It was terrible. So, we all crawled off the ride and then sat down outside to have some lunch - can't remember the name of the place, but it is like a cafeteria. I had the chicken and it was good. DH had the pizza it was ok he said. It was nice to be outside in the fresh air though. It then began to drizzle and people began to buy the ponchos. I was amazed so many people had not listened to the weather report that a.m. and brought their own rainjackets.
Off to ET in the drizzle. UO is actually not a bad place to go when it rains because of all the covered places. We stood in line about 10 minutes and the doors opened for ET and we watched the movie and DS 4 once again said he did not want to go on the ride NO! Well, we got our passports for the ride and walked through the forest all the time trying to explain that ET was for kids and it was great and on and on. We got on the ride and he sat in the seat and we took off and he loved it. And I loved it. It is the most "Disney" ride at UO. The story is great and I just thought it was a "do not miss ride"
Went outside. The drizzle had let up so we walked over to Jaws. Once again... DSs refused to go on the ride! This time we did the baby swap. DH and DD went on Jaws while I impatiently waited to go on the ride! DH and DD came off the ride and both said the boys could go on it, so we convinced them to go and I went on with the three kids. Well, I enjoyed Jaws, but both boys barely survived the event. "I will not go on Jaws again. No" said DS 4. We went back to Men in Black again this time with an express pass. Then did ET again, this time with no complaints from DS 4
Then the kids discovered the Curious George area and that was it! They played there until the park closed with the water games and then in the ball area.
Great park. We went back again another day to re-do the highlights and went on ET, Jaws, Shrek, Men in Black and I went on the Mummy.
There were several things we did not do at Universal, including Terminator, but the kids refused to go on it and DH didn't want to go alone or do baby swap, so we skipped it. I also wanted to do Earthquake, but no one else did, so we skipped it.
We also ate some snacks at the ice cream shop near Lucys and the bakery.
The kids met a lot of characters there... including Scooby, the Flinstones, Popeye and of course, Shrek, so they liked that. Great park.
The only thing we did not like was the express pass system and Back to the Future!!!
I'll do another trip report about IOA, which we loved!
