theDIBB - Bankrupt again?! Day Seven - Universal, Five Guys and REST

We were up at seven today, a little more civilised, we planned to go back to Royal Pacific Resort to meet George and Bethany, and head over to Universal Studios for it opening at 9am, to do Escape from Gringotts, and then more of Universal Studios.

As we left the Marriott, we had to turn left, onto S John Young Parkway. The lights were green, but there was a sign saying something like 'Green but Yield to traffic' Terry didnt see that, and started heading left across the oncoming traffic to my horror, (and theirs probably!). I started yelling 'Yield! Yield! YIEEEEEEELLLLDDDD! ' :omg::omg::omg::omg:
The oncoming car honked his horn, my life flashed before me and Terry finally got it and gave way.
Some rather filthy looks passed between us for the next mile or so. Harry found all of this very amusing and recounted it to George and Bethany later.

It was raining a bit when we arrived at the park, but we steadfastly marched over to Diagon Alley, and joined the short queue for Escape from Gringotts. The Diagon Alley theming is amazing, and the ride was even more so, we all think Universal have really upped their game with the new rides, Gringotts was incredible, the Goblins were so lifelike and stare right at you! The ride was even better than Forbidden Journey, and got 10/10 from all of us.

After the ride, we went to the nearest Starbucks for breakfast, today we had sausage, egg and cheese muffins, mmmm they were good, and coffee. It was much better than yesterdays breakfast from Croissant Moon, and less money too at 'only' $50 in total for five of us. They were a bit like McDonalds breakfast muffins, but better. I saw the Starbucks mugs that I thought i wanted, but they are a little on the large side, so didnt buy one. No mug today.
Next we rode The Mummy, Bethany assured me it was not too bad, no massive drops or anything, I still found it waaaay too fast and hurly for my liking! Am such a ride wimp. Sorry everyone! :(
The kids really loved it though. Then the boys wanted to do Rip Ride Rockit again, so Bethany and I went into the Universal Holiday Store (Christmas Shop) we had great fun looking at all the baubles, hats etc. Here is Bethany looking fly in a Christmas Tree Hat. See, she really can wear anything.

We had to wait what felt like forever for the boys, but there were a lot of High School Marching Bands in the park today, so we had some entertainment- we commented at how incredible it is that the schools have so many kids who are musically talented, I dont think we are half as musical or sporty in the UK.
We decided to take the Hogwarts Express in the opposite direction, over to Islands of Adventure. We spotted Hedwig while waiting in the queue!

The ride was good, we were hoping the part with the Dementors would be a bit more scary, but it was still good, the music is lovely, amd you get a nice sit down, its right up my street. :D Here are a couple of sketchy photos I took whilst on the train. Sorry for the poor quality.

We rode Jurassic Park again, with George saying he hoped he didnt get too wet, he wasnt in the mood, He got SOAKED! Sorry George! :d: He soon dried off. Then the boys ran off to do HULK while Bethany and I did Spiderman. We all said we enjoyed Universal Studios more than Islands of Adventure.

HULK is everything I hate in a roller coaster, loads of loops, upside downs, round and rounds, eeewww.
It was now just 12:30, but we had done enough, and decided to head back home. We took the boat across to Royal Pacific Resort where we had parked the car. Booking one night here really worked for us, the express passes and early access were excellent, and its such a lovely hotel, we prefer the Marriott as it feels quieter and more homely but it was really nice for an overnight at the park.

The palm trees on the beach really look like the Pacific Islands. Bye Bye Universal! :wavey:
On the way home we stopped for lunch at our new favourite burger place - Five Guys. They do these really nice monkey nuts that you can chow down on while you wait for your burgers. George very kindly bought us all lunch, thank you George! 💜💜💜

Look at these happy faces.

God only knows how many calories are in this food but...

:D
A quick stop off in Walmart, for some essentials (wine) as tonight we are staying in, and having a healthy dinner, baked potatoes, salad, corn on the cob and wine. And cheesecake. And Krispy Kreme Donuts. And so back to our lovely Marriott home.

A little nap by the pool, a swim round the lazy river, and we were ready for dinner. I baked the potatoes in the oven for a couple of hours, made a salad, and some corn on the cob, which was really delicious. Our wine is $10 a bottle from Walmart, and is excellent. We actually got the last two bottles in the shelf today so think its popular. Its called 'Phantom Bay' from New Zealand.

It was a lovely balmy evening and we ate on the balcony. Nice for Terry and the older children to have a glass of wine too. Its weird that they cant join me in a glass at dinner when we eat out, as usually they do at home.

All in all a really lovely day, and we can have a much needed lie in tomorrow. Step count 14,000.