Universal Studios ~ All The Rest

There is so much to do at Universal Studios. We couldn't possibly do it all in three days (two of which weren't full days). However, we enjoyed everything that we did manage to do. I think the family's favorite non-Harry Potter ride was The Mummy. It was a dark coaster ride that had tons of pyrotechnics. At one point,  I opened my eyes to see the tracks in front of us on fire. I closed them again...lol! Tim and Elijah did this ride more than once. 

We also enjoyed the Men in Black ride, Race Through New York City ride and the Despicable Me ride, which were all more tame than The Mummy. 

David in front of the Back to the Future Delorean.

We loved the Mardi Gras parade which ran every night. They threw tons of necklaces into the crowd and the kids got several each. It was one of the best parades we have ever seen. 

We found staying at the parks until closing time was our favorite time. It was less crowded after dinner time and the heat was much more manageable. The lines for the rides were much shorter and we were able to do several. We didn't leave the park each night until 10 pm. One night we got in line for Voodoo donuts in the Universal shopping area right outside the parks. We stood in line for about an hour to get these famous donuts. They were good...but not so good that I would stand in line for them again. 

We really enjoyed our one fancy dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. The food was delicious and everyone was excited to finally eat in this iconic restaurant. 

Timothy especially loved the Jurassic Park section of The Universal Studios Islands Of Adventure. In the Discovery Center there were many great displays, including a really impressive animatronics display of a dinosaur hatching from an egg. Universal Studios really is impressive and cutting edge. 

We liked the Poseidon's Fury show. It was exciting and had some really cool water features. The air conditioning was pretty wonderful, too. Temperatures were in the 90's in early April. Florida is too hot for me. 

Skull Island was an exciting ride. King Kong was so realistic. One of the things that Universal does very well is making the lines for rides really entertaining. The attention to detail is truly impressive. 

Only Timothy, Rebekah and I had the energy to go back into the park on our last day. Elijah and Dad had really enjoyed themselves but preferred to sleep in at the hotel. We spent our time mostly in Seuss Landing, embracing our inner child....lol. Actually, the train ride around Seuss island was pretty fun and who can skip a carousel ride, not I.

We returned to the hotel and packed up. The guys were satisfied and didn't want to go back to Universal. We still had a few hours until it was time to catch our train. We checked our bags in the hotel storage and headed out onto the street across from our hotel. There was entertainment everywhere. We decided to have lunch at Red Lobster and then play mini golf. This was a different mini golf place, because there were live alligators behind fences at every turn. It made for an exciting match. 

We walked back to the hotel, picked up our bags, ordered an Uber and got some cold drinks from Starbucks. It was a wonderful trip. 

We traveled by train overnight in coach both ways, which was an experience of its own. We enjoyed the train, but we didn't get tons of sleep. We had a very noisy sorta weird person going to Florida and yet another such person on the return trip who kept everyone awake. Next time, we will try to get cabins. 

Blessings, Dawn