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Old 19 Aug 15, 10:30 PM  
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axxxl
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We're Doing a Sequel! [May 2015] Day 9 *Universal/Islands of Adventure*

We're Doing a Sequel! Day 9 *Universal & Islands of Adventure*

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Today we were leaving the Disney bubble and entering the world of Universal. I'm not sure on what time we got up, but I do know that we slept in a bit before getting ready and heading over to the lobby to request and wait for our Uber taxi.

We had a bit of an issue with our driver that morning. He picked us up swiftly and we set off at 9:50am. He didn't seem to understand when we told him we were going to Universal Studios, and proceeded to follow the directions for Hollywood Studios. After reminding him on, he then thought we were off to Epcot and started to take us there. We clarified once again that we were going to Universal Studios and he eventually got the message We were in the car for 50 minutes, and the fare came to $19.73. Longer and pricier than we thought, but as he'd taken us on a loop around LBV we understood why. It was still miles cheaper than our taxi fare last year!





We hadn't had any breakfast, so we headed straight to Starbucks at CityWalk. I think we opted for a panini or something to share, I grabbed a smoothie and Lewis went for a frappucino.



We decided to start out with Universal Studios first, before switching to Islands of Adventure later on. As we were approaching the gates, we noticed a man lying on the floor with a defribillator on his chest. It was pretty scary to see (wouldn't think I'm the first aider at work, would you ) and I hoped he would be okay. The paramedics were talking to him so I assume that was a positive sign.

This year we headed straight through the gates as we didn't have a voucher to change, having purchased our tickets through Floridatix. We thought we'd keep in line with what we did on our first visit and head straight over to Shrek 4D as our first attraction.

There wasn't a huge wait for this, but it was definitely longer than the other times we'd seen it. It was good fun though



We caught a showing of Animal Actors on Location next. I'm a huge animal lover so I'm in my element here - I was so excited to pet the dogs at the end and I'm still upset that they always choose a child volunteer to assist with the dogs during the show





I think we snuck in a quick ride on E.T. next before heading into Springfield.



A man spotted us trying to take a photo of the two of us with the Chief Wiggum statue and offered to take one for me, but when I got my camera back he hadn't pressed the button hard enough and it never took It's the thought that counts though, right?



We rode the Twirl 'n' Hurl and one of our favourites, Men in Black, next. After sitting in the back row of one of the vehicles last year I've made sure to swiftly request a seat in the front. My legs don't touch the floor in the back row and it's not a pleasant feeling with all of the spinning! I thoroughly enjoy it in the front though haha.





This would have been such a nice picture if it was in focus! We have this one though, I guess.



We paid our first visit to Diagon Alley afterwards. The theming here (and in Hogsmeade) is so impressive that it makes up for the distinct lack of theming everywhere else in the Universal parks.



I had to play about with a few of the brightness settings on my camera at this point as I had totally forgotten to charge it the night before and it was quickly draining! Thankfully I managed to get it to last for a nice amount of photos







We had a wander through all of the shops and headed into the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. It was hot and we needed a frozen butterbeer, pronto!















I ordered the toad in the hole, Lewis opted for fish and chips and we both went for sticky toffee pudding and a frozen butterbeer. I remember this being quite expensive, over $40!



I can't say I was wowed by the food. My Yorkshire pudding was a bit too soft for my liking and I was confused by the tomato. It was nice, but nothing spectacular, and the sticky toffee pudding was more like bread and butter pudding. But I still ate it because I have a sickening sweet tooth. Frozen butterbeer was A++ as per though.











Lewis enjoyed his fish and chips but the portion was slightly on the small side. Maybe to fully immerse guests into a British environment? Who knows!
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Old 19 Aug 15, 10:31 PM  
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We had a further mooch around Diagon Alley, and Lewis joined the single rider queue for Gringotts. I think he was gone for around 20 minutes, which I didn't think was too bad bearing in mind the standby queue was two hours long.



We had a little look around Knockturn Alley, which I found exceptionally creepy, and wandered back out to catch the Hogwarts Express over to Islands of Adventure.



















I was super impressed with the train, even though it's only a short ride. After disembarking, Lewis joined the single rider queue for Dragon Challenge and I went into Honeydukes for a browse. Looking back at my photos I wish I had bought a bar of Pink Coconut Ice, it looks so tasty



After Lewis returned from Dragon Challenge, we started down towards Seuss Landing, as we wanted to leave Bluto's Barges until tomorrow when we were feeling more up to getting soaked.



We rode the Trolley in the Sky thing and the Cat in the Hat, buying some water afterwards. I wasn't expecting the water at Universal to be any more expensive than Disney, but it was at $2.75 a bottle.



Heading into the Marvel area, I suggested that Lewis ride Spiderman, while I chickened out. I'd probably be fine on this, but I don't actually know what the ride is (does it drop at all? Is it fast?!) so it was more of a fear of the unknown thing.

He then continued on to ride the Hulk, while I watched and made myself sick at the thought of ever riding that thing

We wanted to catch the Hogwarts Express back over to Universal Studios before the park closed for the day, so we headed back up to Hogsmeade. Just as we were entering the queue area it started to rain. Our first rain of the holiday! We experienced Florida rain for the first time on our Universal day last year, too. Weird coincidence. It wasn't until we were in the sheltered area that it started to pour.

I'm not sure why but the queue on this side of the station was huge in comparison to Diagon Alley. And it wasn't half as well air conditioned. We waited around 25-30 minutes (although it felt like longer) and we finally got onto the train.

Again, it was impressive. I love how they have different clips for both directions! It was still raining but we ploughed on and made a beeline for another ride on Men in Black.

In the queue area Lewis managed to scrape his watch (an LG G watch R) on the wall. He was gutted as he'd only gotten it a few weeks beforehand but it wasn't anything too drastic, and he's learned to live with it.

We had plans of Wolfgang Puck Express for dinner so we made a beeline for the exit afterwards. Lewis had wanted to ride Rip Ride Rockit but it hadn't yet reopened after the rain, so he decided he'd do it tomorrow instead.

We tried to request an Uber taxi at the bus/taxi area, but the data and Wi-Fi coverage in Universal was so much worse than in Disney. In the end we had to head back up the escalators to try and get enough signal to request one.

I think we had a 15 minute wait before our driver was due to arrive, so we took a seat under one of the bus shelters. The heavy rain had started again, and we even got to witness some thunder and (slightly scary) lightning. We appeared to leave the park at the right time as it was directly over Universal/IOA and I imagine most of the outdoor rides would have closed.

Our driver, Hugo, eventually found us and we made our way to Downtown Disney. He was really nice and kept sweets in the back for his passengers (I can confirm there was no dodginess here). It only took half an hour to get from Universal to Downtown Disney, which I found impressive after reading complaints of traffic to get in due to the ongoing works.

We were charged a ridiculously tiny $12.17 in total for the journey. I was astounded that we'd paid nearly $80 for a round trip to Universal last year and it was this cheap with Uber. No wonder the likes of Mears are trying to boot them out of Orlando - they're a rip off in comparison!



It was still drizzling when we arrived at Downtown Disney, but it was starting to clear up and the grey skies were distancing themselves from the Disney bubble.

We made our way to Wolfgang Puck Express, stopping at a few of the new shops on the way. We made a note to come back another time to pick up some shopping, and to find something for my sister's birthday from the Superhero Headquarters store.

We were served fairly quickly at WPE. I ordered the half rotisserie chicken and Lewis opted for the bacon wrapped meatloaf, which we had last year and enjoyed. It was great once again, and Lewis was glad I had convinced him to get the meatloaf as he was going to get something else instead.





For dessert I had the creme brulee and Lewis had the chocolate and vanilla frozen yoghurt with brownie pieces. Both were good.





I can't stress enough how great a place Wolfgang Puck Express is while on the dining plan. We both love it and have eaten there five times in two trips!

We were feeling fairly knackered after food, so we walked over to the boat dock to get back to French Quarter for the night. Once back we made our way down to the food court to get our refills of iced water and returned, quickly heading to the land of nod afterwards.

Tomorrow: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure (again!)
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Old 19 Aug 15, 11:19 PM  
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Great day and those uber prices were a bargain
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Old 20 Aug 15, 12:58 AM  
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Great day
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Old 20 Aug 15, 09:51 AM  
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Great day again and lovely photos! What a fab price for Uber taxi
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Old 20 Aug 15, 10:12 AM  
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God Diagon Alley looks so bloody amazing! Can’t wait to have a good old mooch around!

You would have been fine on Spiderman although there is one bit where it’s like you are dropping, but you could just close your eyes

Uber really is cheap, wow!

WPE looks really good and I like the sound of that meatloaf!

Fab read again xx
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Old 20 Aug 15, 03:17 PM  
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Originally Posted by dixonsontour View Post
Great day and those uber prices were a bargain
Originally Posted by Jockey View Post
Great day
Originally Posted by lovedisney89 View Post
Great day again and lovely photos! What a fab price for Uber taxi
We couldn't believe the prices from Uber, it was fab! Will definitely be using them again next year

Originally Posted by Redrach1903 View Post
God Diagon Alley looks so bloody amazing! Can’t wait to have a good old mooch around!

You would have been fine on Spiderman although there is one bit where it’s like you are dropping, but you could just close your eyes

Uber really is cheap, wow!

WPE looks really good and I like the sound of that meatloaf!

Fab read again xx
I really wish I'd bought some stuff from Universal - I didn't last year either because there's just so much merch! I don't have a problem buying all the Disney stuff though xx
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Old 20 Aug 15, 04:32 PM  
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Lovely day, UBER sure do seem reasonable!

Im another that loves petting the dogs at the end of the Animal shows, so funny but you just have to have a fuss don't you!?

WGP looks great, hubby is looking for healthier options this year so the rotisserie chicken followed by frozen yogurt sounds perfect
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Old 20 Aug 15, 07:49 PM  
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Great pictures
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Old 20 Aug 15, 11:03 PM  
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Quick, dumb question - you order your uber from the lobby and they find you fine? Reason I ask is that we're at POR in four weeks and I fancy saving a quid or two on my journeys to Universal.
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