My daughter has finally stopped spewing uncontrollably from both ends (she’s down to one end only, and not nearly so frequent), so I have a chance at last to think about something other than, “What do I need to clean next?” We now return to our regularly scheduled blog, already in progress…
Day 4 in Florida: Universal Studios
We picked a great day to go to this theme park in Orlando – it was sunny and warm, with temperatures in the low 70’s. Great weather for standing in line, which as you all should know, you tend to do a lot of when you go to a theme park. We got there around 10am, parked, and made our way through City Walk, an assortment of stores, restaurants, and clubs outside the two theme parks, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Megan even took a little time to ride a wave…
I chose Universal Studios for 2 reasons. First, my daughter is not a big fan of ‘rides,’ more specifically, she does not like thrill rides. Rollercoasters, anything that flings you upside-down and sideways – basically all of the fun stuff – she wants absolutely nothing to do with. That meant Busch Gardens in Tampa was out. We’ve been to Disney and Sea World before, so there was no point going there again. The rides at Universal are more about special effects, and not so much about speed, so I thought Megan would enjoy them. The second reason I chose Universal Studios was because of Fear Factor Live.
Megan is a *huge* fan of the show Fear Factor. She loves to watch the stunts, the challenges, the disgusting things they eat – the whole, mealy, wriggling, worm-filled enchilada. When I first asked Megan if she wanted to spend her Spring Break in Florida, her response was an emphatic, “No!” When I pointed out that Universal Studios is in Florida, and one of the attractions at Universal Studios is called “Fear Factor Live,” well, then she was singing a whole different tune.
So needless to say, that was one of the first things we did at Universal Studios. While the stunts weren’t quite as exciting as the ones on tv, they put on a good show, using actual park visitors as contestants. Megan enjoyed it immensely.
Over the course of the day we rode Shrek 4-D, Twister, Earthquake, Jaws, ET, Men in Black Alien Attack, and saw the shows “Fear Factor Live” and “Animal Actors”. Everything had a wait, of course, but nothing was too terribly long.
Unfortunately, the Back to the Future ride closed down permanently about a week or so before we got to Florida. The train from the third movie and the delorean from all three movies were still there, but we were unable to see the full exhibit.
The best wait we had was while in line for the Earthquake ride. Someone pulled out a beach ball and started the biggest volleyball game I’ve ever seen. Everyone standing in that section of the line was playing, and it really made the wait fly by. At one point I was trying to take a picture of the action with my phone, and I missed the ball as it landed at my feet! Oops!
After a full day of riding, we made our way back to the front of the park, taking pictures along the way. I finally convinced Megan to take the camera for a moment, just so I could prove I really was on the trip with her. It’s a little blurry, but it’s me!
This next picture is really neat (at least I think it is!). It looks like its a replica of the New York Public Library, when in fact, it (along with the buildings behind it) is a painting on a flat wall.
As the sun set, we made our way back to the car, and began our hour-long ride back to Cape Canaveral. It was a long, but fun day!
