This day started off great! I knew that they were doing pics with Disney characters in the theater, so we had to make sure the twins wore their Mickey and Minnie outfits for the pics. This was to be our first Universal Studios day, so we would just let them change into their SpongeBob outfits before we left. When we walked around the trees to the theater, we saw Belle, Pluto, and Goofy outside!
There was a little line with Belle, so Shay Lynne said she thought it'd be OK to go on in and see Mickey and Minnie.
That was fun!! This was one of the mornings we had ice cream for breakfast. Nothing else--just ice cream. I felt like a kid again because I loved it as much as they did! I really do love ice cream.
Then, after pigging out, we went back and let the twins change their clothes, then it was off to Universal to meet up with SpongeBob again, this time dressed appropriately!! Everyone was excited about Universal because the kids had heard they have scary rides.
We were immediately impressed with the treatment we received on our first ride at Universal, Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast. It was such a fun ride, and the kids loved it! Even Ty and Madison loved it because it had ALL the Nickelodeon characters that they've watched over the years. The ride ended and we were led into the Nickelodeon store, and we noticed the line to meet SpongeBob. He wasn't out yet, though, so the kids and Lance looked around in the store while I held our spot in line. Then a couple of minutes later, out he came!! The kids ran over to meet him, and they just loved him! Like I was saying before, SpongeBob sticks his little arms straight out, and that's the way he hugs. It's pretty funny!
Don't they look cute in their outfits? Isn't that a cute background behind them all? I just love the picture! We were entitled to one free picture at Universal, and of course it had to be the pic with SpongeBob!
Next, we went across the street and did the Shrek ride. It was fun, too! There were a couple of crude comments in Shrek that I would prefer my kids not to have heard, but it was nothing vulgar. We aren't goody-goody or anything, but I did notice. We thought the attraction was great, but we are huge Shrek fans. I just love the way the movies allude to so many fairytales and folklore--I guess it appeals to the librarian in me. On the way out of the Shrek store, there was a worker dressed in a medieval costume. He said to Shay Lynne, "I see you have a SpongeBob outfit on...I think you need to go across the street and sop up the puddle Donkey made." Lance and I agreed that it was an inappropriate thing to say to a kid, but it went right over the twins' heads anyway. This was the last thing we heard during both days at Universal that we would consider inappropriate for younger kids. Anyway, we looked across and saw Shrek and Donkey, but there was a line. It also looked like it was about to storm--the temperature had dropped considerably, and the sky was dark gray. Right when we got in line, they announced that if it stormed, the characters would have to go inside. Then right after, they said that Shrek and Donkey had to take a five minute break. We were irritated because we had already stood there for a few minutes, but I thought back to what I'd read on DIS, and that characters need breaks, too, don't be irritated, etc. Meanwhile, the worker saw Clay's GAP and GKTW button and told us that we didn't need to wait for any character at Universal. She moved us to the front and told us Fiona would be coming out with Shrek and Donkey! The other people in line didn't get all three characters at once, the way we did. We were so excited, especially Ty because he thought Fiona was so pretty! He was bummed he didn't get his pic made with just her. She
was a beautiful Fiona.
After Shrek, we ate lunch at the Monster Cafe while a huge rainstorm blew through. The food was pretty fair--we mostly had pizza and salad and pasta. After lunch, the rain had pretty much stopped, so we walked on down the road and saw Twister. We could not talk Shay Lynne into going on it. She hates tornadoes! I offered for everyone else to go and I would stay with her, but Lance said we'd just go do something else. Then we saw The Mummy, and Shay Lynne was scared of that, too. We walked on and saw Men in Black, and we definitely did that one since Lance loves MIB. We had so much fun on that one that we rode it twice! It was awesome!!! Unfortunately, they make you put all your things in a locker, so I didn't have my camera to steal a pic off their computer screens, but they were hilarious! The pics were really expensive at US, so we had to keep our picture-buying to a minimum.
After MIB, we decided we would ride the Simpsons. Lance and I have never been into The Simpsons, and I have never let my kids watch it, either (although it's probably not any worse than some other things they watch). In fact, the only episode I've ever watched all the way through was when I taught high school English and one of my colleagues had the one taped about Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven". It was awesome--I showed it to my classes around Halloween. In fact, it's my understanding that all The Simpsons' Halloween episodes are great, but I wouldn't know since we aren't in the habit of watching. Anyway, that's the extent of my Simpsons knowledge, but we decided to ride the ride anyway because it was new and we had seen signs all over about it, even in the
Walmart near GKTW. I cannot say how awesome it was!!! We LOVED it!!! You have to ride it if you ever go!!! I took a pic of the kids outside "Krustyland"...
We were still very impressed so far with how we were being treated at US. We were escorted back for every ride, everyone was so very nice to us, and they never made us feel as though we were putting them out. Lance even noticed this, and I consider him to have had a totally objective opinion since he never gets on the DISboards and hadn't read of other wishtrippers' experiences.
By this time, we decided to move on the Islands of Adventure even though there had been a great deal of US we hadn't seen yet. I had wanted to do E.T. and see Fievel's Playground and Curious George, but I wanted to see both parks just in case we decided we didn't want to come back for our second day (although by now that was not seeming very likely to happen). So at IOA, the first thing we did was head toward Marvel Superhero Island for the Incredible Hulk rollercoaster. It just looked awesome! But sadly, the twins weren't tall enough to ride it. They were so upset!! I offered to sit with them while the other three went on, and they were back in no time. Lance told me that when we came back on Day 5, I definitely needed to ride it because it was really, really a great coaster. Next, we headed to Dr. Doom's Fearfall and Spiderman. The twins weren't tall enough for Dr. Doom, either, and by this time they were really mad that Ty and Madison were getting to ride a second ride that they weren't tall enough for. Lance waited with us, then when they got back, we went on Spiderman. It was another amazing ride! WOW!! It was this really cool 3-D thrill ride that made you feel like you were climbing buildings like Spidey does. Everyone loved it, and afterwards I noticed a sign pointing across the street that said "Meet Spiderman", but Clay was a little grumpy and didn't want to go. We moved on and skipped the island of Toon Lagoon because it looked like mostly water rides, and besides, we had to get back to GKTW for Christmas.
We went on to Jurassic Park, and everyone wanted to do the River Adventure there. I sat out on it because I didn't feel like getting wet. They all said it was fun, but Madison was mad because she lost her hat on that ride. It was a cute hat, but she had to tell it goodbye. At least we have a few pics of it--LOL! Then we went on to the Pteranodoon Flyers. That was fun, too, but short. It really was neat, though, although I'm not sure I would think it was worth it to wait in a long line for. Here is a random pic of the twins sitting in their stroller...
Next, we bypassed the Lost Continent, although I really, really wanted Lance and the kids to get to ride the Dueling Dragons coasters, Fire and Ice. But we decided they could ride those when we came back (which by this time we had already decided to do). We went on to Seuss Landing, which I was really looking forward to since we are all Dr. Seuss freaks (even Lance!). It is so cool over there! I knew we didn't have a whole lot of time to spend there, but we did make time to ride the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride because Lance and I both agreed that we would probably have a great view of the entire island from up there. It wasn't all that thrilling, but it was sure cute! And the workers there, again, were so, so sweet to us. We truly felt as though we'd been treated like royalty all day long. Here's a pic of the kids on the Seuss train...
While we were there, we ran into One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and we decided the kids had time to hop on. It was fun for them to try and dodge the water coming out of the fish! Poor Madison--no more hat for her. Lance had told her he would buy her another one, so as you can see, she was over it by now.
We'd had a terrific day, and now it was time to head back to GKTW for Christmas dinner and to see Santa! On the way out of US, Clay wanted a stuffed SpongeBob, and how could I deny him? Here he is acting silly on the ride back...
Silly kid.
Hang on for Part 2!
I think I am going to make a journal for myself just like I made for the kids. Just to try to remember every magical moment 
