Mom Deployed: Day 7 - Orlando

Universal was a big hit for the whole family. We were up and out early and arrived a whole hour before the park opened. Universal is divided into three parts. The entrance, City Walk, does not require an admission. It is a collection of restaurants and shops. Two theme parks branch off from there, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We only planned to go to Islands of Adventure because it is the one with the new Harry Potter exhibit. There is an additional cost to go to both parks. In retrospect we should have scheduled more time at Universal and less at Disney.

A display in City Walk just inside Universal.

We made our way through City Walk to the entrance of Islands of Adventure. Chi-Chi’s head was popping out from the front pocket of my sweatshirt and caught the attention of one of the workers. We took advantage of his experience and advice while waiting for the gates to open. He said that the crowd at the gate would all be heading to the Harry Potter exhibit. That was our plan as well. He said that the attendance would peak midmorning at Harry Potter and we would be better off taking advantage of the short lines at the other attractions. We took his advice and were glad that we did.

We started at The Incredible Hulk Coaster. Sam wasn’t sure she was ready to go upside down seven times so she and Mike waited while Jason and I went to ride. We wandered through the line and right onto the ride with no wait. It was a smooth ride and more fun than I expected. Jason loved it and wanted to go again. I told Mike that I thought he would enjoy it to so I waited with Sam while Mike and Jason rode. Mike agreed it was a fun ride so Sam decided she was ready to give it a try too. Jason wanted to sit in the front row so he waited in that line while Sam, Mike and I got right on. As soon as we took off I was worried that we made a mistake encouraging Sam to ride. Two minutes and fifteen seconds later Sam was all smiles.

Tha's Jason in the front row, far right!

The Incredible Hulk Coaster is the one in the back.

From there we headed to Storm Force Acceleration, a spinning ride. Given my recently developed sensitivity to motion, I opted to just take photos from the sideline.

Next up was Doctor Dooms Fearfall, a tall tower that shoots riders straight up 150 feet then drops them down again. Jason ran right on while the rest of us watched. Since Jason lived through it, Sam was willing to give it a try. Jason, Sam and I waved to Dad from the top. Surprisingly, this was Sam’s pick for best ride of the day.

The final ride in the Marvel Super Hero section of the park was The Amazing Adventures of Spider-man. The 3D rides are impressive. The graphics and movement are like nothing I have ever experience before. Again, there wasn’t a wait to get onto the ride.

From there we headed to the Jurassic Park section of the park.

DISCLAIMER: No stuffed Chihuahua's were harmed
taking this photo. (See Chi-Chi in his teeth?)

In the Jurassic section of the park, Pteranodon Flyers is a ride designed specifically for younger kids and only adults can ride with a qualifying child. Samantha just barely made the height cut off but they let her ride and they let Jason be the adult with her while Mike and I enjoyed waiting for them in a bench taking in the relaxing environment.

We had been in the park about two hours and were on our way to the World of Harry Potter when Sam saw a hair wrapping booth. She decided on Orioles colors (her cheerleading team).

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is the new top attraction in Orlando and we were willing to wait in a long line to find out why. The estimated wait time was 45 minutes but it wasn’t as long as we had expected and it certainly didn’t feel long. After we made our way through the outside line, the inside line was through Hogworts. That didn’t feel like a line as much as a wonderful walk through the wizard school. By the time we did get to the ride, we really didn’t know what to expect.

The ride was four seats across attached to a robotic arm. The arm was attached to a roller coaster track. The arm lifted us up and whirled us around though a maze of visual effects. There were several IMAX screens and animatronics. It was an amazing experience but difficult to describe. Definitely worth the hype. This was Mike’s favorite ride of the day.

I found a photo online that was taken with the lights on to give you an idea of the contraption. Of course when we boarded, all we saw were the four seats and non of the mechanics.

The riders are facing away from the photographer.
You can see their legs dangling.

Universal was where Jason had planned to get his souvenir. We wandered around Hogsmeade Village which was beautiful. Jason purchased a Wand and both kids picked out postcards to send to their teachers and friends. They even had a place where the kids could get an “Owl Post” postmark on them. Jason rode on the Dragon Challenge roller coaster by himself twice while we enjoyed the ambiance of the Village. Dragon Challenge was Jason’s favorite ride of the day.

Too bad about the sun. There was an employee taking
the photos for free with our cameras. The Harry Potter
and the Forbidden Journey ride is behind us.

Standing on top of a wall looking to my left...

and right.

Chi-Chi and the Owl Post owl.

It was cool, but not $99 cool. Even Jason agreed.

Our days at the parks have gotten progressively shorted throughout the week. It was not even 2pm when we left the park. We stopped at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville to check out the plane (of course) and have a margarita.