Somehow, our discussion turned to the phone in the bathroom. Krista didn’t know why they needed a phone in the bathroom, and I gave her a few reasons why people might use it. The obvious is sometimes the phone just rings when you are on the toilet, and you need to answer. I then came up with a few other examples of why you might want a phone in the bathroom. For example, a man may want to call his mistress when he’s on a family vacation. Or perhaps a business traveler may need it to call the phone sex line. Needless to say, neither of us had any desire to touch that phone by the time we changed subjects, but we sure got some laughs out of it.
We finally got up and ready to start our day. We were planning on going on the water rides at Islands of Adventure this morning, so we decided to just throw on clothes and go, and then return to the resort later in the day to shower and get dressed. The water rides at Universal get you so bone drenchingly soaked that this is the best plan of action if you want to ride the water rides and you are staying at a Universal resort.
We were ready a bit early, so we decided to explore the resort. We stopped at Sal’s market, and where I grabbed a ham and cheese croissant for breakfast (since the muffin I got at Walgreens was NASTY). The sandwich was very tasty and piping hot. We then wandered around the resort looking at some of the beautiful piazzas and the main swimming pool. The harbor area is stunningly beautiful as well.
We then headed towards the dock to catch the boat to City Walk. We just missed a boat, so we decided to take a pedicab to Islands of Adventure. Our driver was very friendly, and told us that he had been driving a pedicab at Universal for about five years. He dropped us off at the Hard Rock Café, and we walked the rest of the way to Islands of Adventure.
The gates to Islands of Adventure opened about 7:50 for early entry into the Wizard World of Harry Potter. I picked a short line, and of course, per my usual luck, the people in front of us were having ticket issues. If you ever see me in a line to get into a park, choose a different line, even if it’s a lot shorter than the other lines. There could be two people in line in front of me, and they will have issues with tickets, or not know how to put their finger in the reader. On this morning, we watched at least 10-20 people go through the other turnstiles by the time we were able to get in.
Once through the gates, we followed the mob to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, taking the short cut beside the Green Eggs and Ham restaurant. Our first stop was Ollivanders. There were only about 15 people in line when we got there, so we got into the next available show. Mr. Ollivander picked an adult to have the experience of having a wand choose her. This show is really cute, but I wish there was a way to have more people have the experience, and also a higher capacity for the show.
We then made our way over to the Forbidden Journey. I really love walking through the line to get on this ride. There is so much to see, and every time I walk through the castle, I notice something new. They really did a fantastic job on the castle.
The ride, of course, is amazing. It is very intense, and just keeps you flying throughout the entire experience. There are times when you feel like they are going to tip you upside down. I don’t want to go into details about the ride--I don’t want to spoil it for those who have not ridden yet. But if you are a Harry Potter fan, you must ride the Forbidden Journey.
After the Forbidden Journey, we took a ride on Flight of the Hippogriff. This is a cute mini roller coaster. You get a nice view of Hagrid’s Hut. We also took another ride on the Forbidden Journey.
Krista went to browse around the shops while rode on both sides of the Dragon Challenge. I was able to ride in the front row on both coasters, which was fantastic. I took a second ride on the blue coaster as well, since I got through the first two rides so quickly. They weren’t timing the coasters to run at the same time, which took away part of the fun of the coaster. Part of the fun of this ride is coming close to the coaster on the other track, and hearing the screams of the other passengers.
After having our fill of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Krista and I made our way over to Jurassic Park for our first water ride of the day. Since we were dressed to get wet, we wound up riding in the front row. This ride is entertaining, and I love the big drop at the end. Of course, we got pretty wet on the ride, but I did find a dry spot on my shirt to wipe my glasses off on.
We then headed over to Dudley Do Right Ripshaw Falls. I really love this flume ride, though not as much as I love Splash Mountain. It’s not much of a storyline to follow, but the drops and turns are really exciting. At the end of the ride, we got hit with the water guns run by the evil people on the bridge. It’s nice to know that there are people out there who are willing to spend a quarter to douse complete strangers with water just in case they aren’t wet enough already.
We then headed over to Bluto’s Bilge-Ray Barges to complete the water ride cycle only to discover that it was closed for refurbishment. Since I was already soaked, and had been planning a third water ride, I decided to take another ride on Dudley Do Right Ripshaw Falls. Krista decided to skip the second ride, and sit on a bench in hopes of drying off a bit. This time, there were several people at the end waiting to hit me with the water guns. I guess I’m really popular.
Now that I was completely drenched from head to toe, Krista and I headed to the boat dock at City Walk to catch a boat back to the Portofino Bay. Of course, a boat was leaving just as we were approaching the dock, so we had to wait about 20 minutes for the next boat. I was wringing water out of my clothes while we waited, and I think I could have filled a kiddie pool with that water.
When we arrived back at the resort, of course the housekeeper was working on our room, so we headed outside to wait 20 minutes for her to finish cleaning the room. We then went back up to the room to get ready to have more fun at Universal Studios in the afternoon.
When we were ready, we started to walk towards City Walk to have lunch at Emeril’s Orlando. The boat was there, so we hopped on the boat. We were seated at a table by the window at Emeril’s, so we were able to people watch while we dined. Our server brought us some delicious warm dinner rolls while we reviewed the menu.
Krista and I wound up sharing a slice of banana cream pie for dessert. Emeril’s banana cream pie is one of the best desserts in the world, and one slice is perfect to share. It’s about five inches of banana slices and rich whipped cream filling in an amazing homemade graham cracker crust. It’s worth the trip to Emeril’s Orlando (or Tchoup Chop) just to get a slice of delicious banana cream pie.
After lunch, we walked over to Universal Studios. Our first stop was the I Love Lucy Tribute. I’ve probably visited Universal 15 times, and this was the first time that I went to the I Love Lucy tribute. There were some neat Lucille Ball artifacts, including dresses, costumes, jewelry, and personal letters. If you have ever watched “I Love Lucy” and you appreciate the comic greatness of Lucille Ball, this exhibit is definitely worth checking out.
Krista headed over to see the Animal Actors On Location. I’m not an animal person, so I decided to get an extra ride on the Simpsons and Men In Black. Even with the Express Pass, I wound up waiting about 20 minutes to get on the Simpsons. They just weren’t loading the ride correctly this afternoon for some reason. I was sent up to the top level of the ride, and wound up in a car on the far end of the theatre. I was sitting in the back row right next to the walls of the car. This seat was horrible. It blocked my vision of a good part of the screen.
After the ride on the Simpsons, I took a quick ride on Men In Black and then went to meet Krista. We decided to take a ride on ET. We decided to give fake names instead of our real names. At my suggestion, Krista used Penelope, and I wound up using Gretchen. It reminded me of the time I rode with my friend Diane, and got to the team member who takes names first, and told them my name was Diane so she had to use a different name.
After the ride on ET, Krista went to see ET, and I went to Rip Ride Rockit. The standby line had a 25 minute wait, but since I was alone, I opted to get in the single rider line. There were about 25 people in line ahead of me. I have to say that I was a bit annoyed by the single rider line because most of the people in line in front of me were parties of two, three, or four. While I understand small groups jumping in the single rider line when the lines are long, it makes absolutely no sense if the line is only 25 minutes long. It just makes the single riders line unreasonably long, and winds up causing everyone in the single riders line wait longer, including those groups.
After waiting in the single rides line for 10 minutes, I wound up switching over to the regular line. The ride broke down for a short time, and they ran a few cars through empty. As I got to the point where I was less than 20 people from the end of the line, they actually pulled six people from the single rider line onto the ride. When they loaded me onto the car, about five people who were in front of me in the single rider line were still waiting to board that line. So, I proved my point that groups in the single riders line when the line is just 25 minutes is a dumbass decision.
I then headed to meet Krista. Along the way, I ran into Shrek and Donkey. This is one of the best character interactions in any theme park. Since there was only one group in line, I decided to get in line to talk to Donkey. Donkey noticed my gray shirt, and asked me if I wore it to match him. He asked me my name and where I was from, and he when he heard I was from Boston, he told me that I should have brought him some Boston baked beans. He told me he’d come to Boston so we could have a cookout, and I joked that we wouldn’t serve donkey meat. He asked me if that’s what we eat in Boston, and he said he would have to stay away if we did. Donkey was really funny, and I enjoyed interacting with him.
When I met Krista, we headed back to see Disaster again. I wound up volunteering to be one of the cast members in the show. I was cast as one of the evil oil company employees, a role I’m quite good at and have portrayed three times. Unfortunately, something must have happened to the tape, because they didn’t use any of us in the group. I guess they didn’t realize that they had a two-time Academy Award winner in their cast that day.
After Disaster, I took a quick ride on the Mummy, and Krista and I headed over to City Walk. We went into a couple of shops, and then went walked back to the Portofino Bay. We stopped at Sal’s Market to have some pizza. We split a half cheese/half sausage pizza. I also got a Caesar salad. The pizza was good, especially when I added parmesan cheese and crushed hot pepper.
After dinner, we went to the room to change into our bathing suits for some pool time. Before our swim, we headed back down to the harbor to watch the singers that perform there each night at sunset. They perform from a balcony off the lobby, and there is plenty of space to watch them. We grabbed a couple of chairs, and relaxed while they sang. They sang about six songs. Some were Italian songs that I recognized, but can’t remember the names of. They also sang “Come Fly with Me” and “Fly Me to the Moon.” It’s definitely worth checking them out if you are at the hotel.
Krista and I then went for a swim in the pool. The pool was very beautiful with a nice slide. We chatted with a nice couple from Atlanta who were there for a Royal Caribbean event introducing cruise and Universal Studios packages.
After our swim, I wandered around the resort for a bit to enjoy the resort at night. It looks really beautiful all lit up at night.
I then headed back to the room so I could get some sleep so I could head over to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for early entry.
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