The Magnificent Seven - April 2018 - Day 11 - Sister Day at Universal!

[Redrach1903]

Day 10 is here

Tuesday, 17th April

SISTER DAY! WOOO! I was up at 6.40am and very excited! I text Emma to see if she was awake yet and she was too!

I remembered that I hadn’t plugged in my camera to charge last night, so jumped up in a panic to do that! Except I couldn’t find it! GULP! I searched everywhere, even went out to the car as I thought maybe I'd left it in there. I honestly thought I had maybe lost it at DHS and was getting in a right fluster. I then checked my bag one more time….. and there it was. Haha! Doh. Panic now over, I got showered and ready!

Chris was up and was refilling the Jacuzzi as for some reason the water level kept dropping!



Emma - I was super excited about today. Was looking forward to spending the whole day with Rach and going on some nostalgic rides and some new rides as well! Couldn’t wait to do Harry Potter and was looking forward to Jurassic Park – I am a huge fan! Lol! Abi was still sleeping when we left the house.

I requested an Uber and it arrived at 8am! Woohoo! First of many sister selfies….



Our driver was Stephanie from Chicago and she was lovely and chatty. She did give us both mild heart failure though when she nearly ran a stop sign! She hadn’t noticed it and nearly went straight over a 4 way crossing. My heart was in my mouth! Luckily she slammed on her brakes just in time! That would not have been an ideal start to our day!

She was mortified and kept apologising over and over again for pretty much the rest of the journey! She got chatting about Disney and her fave rides and informed us that she loves Space Mountain at Epcot. You can imagine the looks Emma and I exchanged! Anyway, she took us a really odd way via World Drive and for a minute I thought she had gotten Universal mixed up with Hollywood Studios. Thankfully not though and we arrived at 8.47am!

We got through security and then made our way on to City Walk for some breakfast Photo bomber alert…..









We only had one place in mind and it had been decided months in advance!





I had a Minibon and Emma had 5 Count Sticks with dipping frosting! $11.58.



Emma - Cinnabon was so yummy! Could go one right now!

With happy tummies we made our way towards Universal Studios. We passed the new Voodoo Donuts and made a mental note to try and go on our way out later.



We obviously stopped at the globe for photos.



However, the sun was in Emma's eyes and she literally couldn’t keep them open. She refuses to wear sunglasses for some bizarre reason

Emma - I just don’t like wearing sunglasses! I have no idea why! I much prefer the squinty look!










So we went round to the other side of the globe instead!



And then to the entrance!



We had to collect our tickets and express passes from will call, so headed there. There were self-service machines, but we hit a block when it asked for a credit card. Eeek. Neither of us had brought one. Thankfully there was a helpful chap there who sorted everything for us and we soon had our tickets in our grubby wee paws and were making our way into the park! Nice of them to roll out the red carpet for our arrival





We stopped to buy lanyards for our passes. Wonder if they will ever bring out an equivalent to the Magic Band? Such a pain having proper tickets! Anyway, Emma got a Jurassic Park one (you'll see as the day goes on how much Emma loves JP) and I got a Universal Studios one as they didn’t have any others that I fancied!

First ride of the day was to be Minion Mayhem!







This ride is so fun! We giggled (and jiggled) all the way through it! There was a fair queue to meet the minion afterwards, so I just snapped a photo from afar.



Nice hat Emma!



After that we started making our way towards Diagon Alley, but were side tracked when we saw Megatron was out doing a meet and greet with no queue!





He didn’t say anything for what felt like ages and then shouted at us and I about pooped my pants Bad Megatron! We then ran away……







We passed the new Fast and the Furious Ride. I had been hearing rumours of soft openings, so I popped over and asked. They were very non-committal, but basically were saying come back later and check. Nudge nudge wink wink!





Obligatory Jaws photos…







Diagon Alley time! Emma didn’t get much time at Universal the year of our wedding, so she was excited to see more of it and to ride the rides!



Leaky Cauldron!





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I always love walking into Diagon Alley! They really did a great job with it, just wish it was bigger as it gets so crowded!







Digaon Alley selfie, which doesn’t represent Diagon Alley at all. Oh well



Now it was time to see if we could escape from Gringotts! After the usual locker faff of course. Yes, I'm still moaning about it!



Bloody love the theming of this ride!











#usanumberone



It didn’t take long to get on the ride, but we did watch a guy get stuck in the automatic barriers before it was our turn! For some reason he was completely confused by the whole process and ended up trying to walk through them as they were closing. It looked ouchy, but he was ok! Haha!

I love this ride and Emma really enjoyed it too! I've said before that I like it better than Forbidden Journey, so I was interested to see what Emma's fave was! Stay tuned to find out! Anyway, I managed to sneakily take photos of the souvenir photos that they insist on doing for this ride….







My good friend Helen had put in her last TR about the Gringotts Money Exchange and that you can ask a goblin questions, so we were super keen to go and check that out. We weren’t quite sure what we would ask like, but in we went….



Scary looking dude, right?



Anyway, it didn’t turn out to be the interactive experience we were expecting as he just spoke away himself. I seem to remember me saying hello or something equally lame to see if there was a reaction, but alas no! Oh well, we got some photos and then scooted out!





Emma - I love love love the theming in Diagon Alley. It was fab and I really enjoyed Gringotts. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it but I really liked it. The theming is amazing. I could have spent all day here but I was keen to get on the Hogwarts Express and to see the journey to Hogsmeade and get on the Forbidden Journey. It is busy in here and I would like the place to myself but hey, you can’t always get what you want! Lol!

We wanted to get on the Hogwarts Express next so Emma could ride Forbidden Journey, so we left Diagon Alley with every intention of coming back later in the day, but (spoiler) that didn’t materialize!







Clever theming. Prams, not strollers….



A little bit of home…..



I got a wee video of Emma going through to Platform 9 ľs



Poor Hedwig has been sitting there for years


Hogwarts Express









Off to Hogsmeade we go!









Hello Hogsmeade!



Always so busy here!





We noticed some building work going on where Dragons Challenge used to be!



We made our way round to Hogwarts.



It's so beautiful!











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[Redrach1903]

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I can't remember how, but Emma was left with my phone and when I came back I found these!







As per usual, the lockers for Forbidden Journey were a total ball ache. I hate them with a passion!

Anyway, it's great that you can now use the Express Passes on both Harry Potter rides! It used to really grate me that you couldn’t previously!











We were on in no time and Emma absolutely LOVED it. She giggled all the way round like a loon I really enjoyed it too and I had totally forgotten about the fire breathing dragon! Haha! I asked Emma what she preferred with Gringotts and FJ and I am sure she said FJ! Bah!

The lockers on the way out were even worse, so crammed and hectic. Emma wanted a look around the shop, so I said I'd wait for her outside, but when I tried to leave a team member said "are you trying to exit sweetie? You have to go through the gift shop". No doubt!

Once Emma found me we went back to Hogsmeade as Emma was after a frozen butterbeer! Emma said she got into trouble to trying to take a photo of our ride photo haha!



I left her queuing for that and popped into Honeydukes for a treat of my own!







I went for a witches hat cupcake ($5.81) and then went back to sit with Emma



Could she look more chuffed with life? Haha!





After that we had a walk through The Lost Continent and stopped to watch the talking fountain for a bit! Love this!



He said cheese for me



We then headed back to Hogsmeade Station to get the Hogwarts Express back the way. I had never done it in this direction, so was exciting!





I liked that when loading the carriages the conductor was saying "Coach F for fluffy, coach E for Elixir" etc. Very good job Mr. Conductor!

Emma - I Loved the Forbidden Journey – I think it is better than Gringotts – sorry folks! Just a wee bit though! Different types of rides but FJ wins it by a little bit! Frozen butter beer is so good – I enjoyed sitting in the sun sipping on my butter beer! Could life get better? It was great how the Hogwarts express was different on the way back and doing something that Rach hasn’t done before either – she spends far too much time in Orlando!

Once back in the studios, I had a quick look at the app and saw there was a 20 minute wait time for Fast and the Furious so we hot footed it there!





This was very exciting, an actual soft opening!



The queue area is vast with lots of cars and trucks to look at!







There were two pre-show bits with live actors which were quite good, though I can't remember specific details! I liked how they had a wee tribute to Paul Walker. RIP



We were going on some sort of mission which had something to do with an underground party scene and stopping the FBI from finding us, I think? Sketchy deets, sorry!





Anyway, the queue took way longer than 20 minutes, it was probably nearer 45 which was irritating, but hey! There was also a little brat in front of us who kept climbing and clambering all over the railings. When it was their turn to move, his Dad simply dragged him along the top of the railings rather than tell him to get down and walk. Emma and I exchanged raised eyebrows!

Finally it was our turn to load on to the "party bus" which looked suspiciously like the Earthquake / Disaster trains, with a lick of a paint



Look at us, so full of excitement for what was to come! Quite fitting that we look blue….



Man this ride is pants. We were so disappointed. It is essentially just the "party bus" whizzing along a track with screens on either side. It's not even 3D, despite claims that it is "glasses free 3D technology". I think not. It was over so quickly as well. We were both like "is that it?". I'd rather get Earthquake back to be honest! HOWEVER, this was a soft opening and there is every chance that aspects of the ride weren’t working correctly. Who knows? Anyone been on since its official opening? What did you think?

Emma - Big Thumbs down for this ride – wasn’t worth the wait at all! We were excited for a soft opening but it was a disappointment! I haven’t read of anyone liking it but please correct me if I am wrong!

More cars at the exit…





We started to make our way round to Men in Black, stopping en route for some photos by the Knight Bus











And at 12 Grimmauld Place.









God we get side tracked a lot, don’t we? Hahaha!



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We dumped our stuff in the lockers outside MiB (I'll say it again – WHY?) and then walked through the express line and we were literally the only people walking through that bit



Pew Pew!



Let's try that again with "real" guns! Haha!



This is a fun wee ride, I like it when you spin! Emma totally whooped my butt though!



We wanted to share a big pink donut, but the queue was moving really slowly for some reason, so we binned that idea and just grabbed some Lays and water from another cart!



And then walked back round to do Transformers. This was another one that Emma hadn't done yet!



Shockingly, there was no selfie taken here! The express queue took way longer than it should have, I think about 25/30 mins, but once we did get on we enjoyed it! It's very manic though!

After that we did our fave rollercoaster in Universal – The Mummy!





No selfie here either, cos everything was stowed in the stupid lockers! Anyway, this is SUCH a good ride! We got the back row and we both loved it! We literally giggled all the way round! Sneaky ride photo snap on the way out………



Emma - I liked Transformers – was a good ride! Bumble Bee is my favourite! The Mummy is such a good ride – has such good memories from previous trips! It is so much fun and one I could ride over and over all day long!

Next on the agenda was Rip Ride Rockit, but we couldn’t get to it cos of their stupid parade. It really is terrible!





We tried to go round another way, but got caught out by it AGAIN! Ahhhhh!



So close, yet so far! Screw you, Spongebob.



Finally, after a few more minutes of parade torture, we made it!



We did the locker thing and then pretty much walked on! I chose Stronger by Kanye West and Emma chose Rollin' by Limp Bizkit. I love the climb of this ride, but the rest makes my head hurt! Haha! It was Emma's first time on it and she loved it. We had massive LOLs watching the video at the end. It was just a mess of hair

Emma - This was a fab ride – I screamed the whole way round! Kept thinking we were going to go upside down even though I knew it didn’t! Rach’s hair on the video was immense – I was almost tempted to get it! Hahahaha! It was great doing rides I hadn’t managed to get on before. Sometimes days are so busy in Orlando you don’t get the chance to do everything you would like.

It was nearly 2pm by now and we had ticked everything off our must do list at Universal. It was frustrating that we got held up a couple of times (Fast and Furious queue, Transformers queue and that bloody parade), but not much we could have done about it!

It was definitely time for lunch now, so we walked back to City Walk via the HRC path.





We had decided months ago that we would be lunching here! Emma has been to the one in Vegas and said it was really good!



It was deader than a dead thing, so we got seated straight away.



We started out with a cocktail each. A Bahama Mama for me and a Mango Daiquiri for Emma!











We also got some water as we were feeling a bit dehydrated and a diet coke / sprite also! To eat I went for a beach club sandwich (no cheese) and Emma had a crab cake sandwich with sweet potato fries! My sandwich was so big I could hardly fit it in my mouth and I have a big mouth!









Emma - The food here was really good and so was the cocktail! The crab sandwich was slightly spicy which was nice! Was tempting to have another cocktail but there was a whole Islands of Adventure to be explored!

Total was $80 including tip.



On with the rest of the day! It was Islands of Adventure time!











First stop was Marvel Super Hero Island and Dr Doom's Fearfall!





We walked straight round to the elevator door things! This ride never seems busy anymore?! Here we are, looking terrified.



Such a fun ride, love that launch and the way you fly up out of your seat After that we did Spider-Man which was another walk on! This is still one of my faves and its really nostalgic for Emma and I!



We then walked round to Toon Lagoon, stopping to play in the water thing!













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We carried on, heading for Skull Island!













This was only my second time on Kong and Emma's first. Chris and I didn’t think it was all that great last time, but it was actually way better than I remembered! I love the giant animatronic at the end!

Emma - I really enjoyed Kong – I thought it was a million times better than Fast and Furious! Would do it again no bother. We had bought the unlimited express pass but we hadn’t done anything twice but we had the option if we wanted to!

Then it was on to Emma's fave – Jurassic Park! She was most distraught that the JP arch was gone, but I assured her there was one at the other side beside Hogsmeade! Haha!

We walked straight onto River Journey!





Such a classic ride, but it does need a little revamp! It’s seen better days!

Emma - I really hope they revamp this and update it because as Rach says – it’s my favourite! I LOVE the movies and was most annoyed they have removed the main arch – just as well for universal they kept one!













Love that drop, but we seemed to miss the worst of the water!



We had a look in the gift shop where Emma was specifically after a JP hoody. She bought one in 2015 that was now a bit scabby, so was desperate for a new one. You can imagine how distraught she was when they didn’t have any in her size! She settled for a fleecy blanket instead! I bought Abi a light up ball and a tank top for myself.

Emma - I am sitting under my Jurassic Park fleecy as I type………………..

Now it was time for some Jurassic Park posing! Emma was in her mint!











See? I told her there was still an arch at this entrance!



Oh look, another JP jeep!





Right, now it was time to actually get wet! Bilge Rat Barges always delivers!



Before…..



After





As ever, this ride was hilarious. If you don’t laugh on this ride, you are dead inside! Even though we were totally saturated, the family next to us got it even worse! The Dad was cursing his kids for dragging him on! Hahahahaha!

We then walked all the way round to Seuss Landing, passing The Hulk on the way and deciding not to bother with it. I reallllllly hate it, but said I would ride with Emma if she wanted. Thankfully she wasn’t fussed haha!





Behold the land of things I don’t get, but it's so colourful





First stop was obviously One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish



Demonstrated so well by us….



Such a fun wee ride. We kept fighting over who was controlling the fish

Emma - I have never done this ride before as I thought it was a kids only ride but I was proved wrong! Hahahaha! Was a fun little ride and Rach kept on singing the song!

Unbelievably it was now 6pm already! The day had just whizzed by! We had originally planned to be back in time to eat with the others but we now knew that wasn’t gonna happen, so we had text them to let them know! Before we called it a day we went into Snookers & Snookers for some treats!





So. Many. E numbers. Hahaha!



We picked up Marshmallow sticks for Jake, Abi and I and Emma got an M&M 'smores square. $20.03. We then made our way to the exit.

We realised we had not yet had a brookie, so we went into Croissant Moon Bakery to rectify the situation!



We got 2 brookies and a raspberry crumble thing to take home for later. Our server, Mick, was really nice and chatted away. He guessed that we were from Glasgow. Close enough lol. Anyway, it was $10.20 for our goodies!

And that brings our sister day at Universal Resort to an end! What a fab day we had! We got on all the rides we wanted and just had such fun, loved it!



We did try to stop in past Voodoo Donuts, but it had a queue snaking round the building that would rival Toy Story Mania!



So, we just continued walking to guest pick up and requested an Uber. It didn’t take long to come, but it was fun and games trying to find each other! We got there in the end though! Our driver was David from London and jeeezo he liked the sound of his own voice! Haha! He had LOTS of stories. Nice guy though!

We got back to the villa at 7.35pm. Chris and Jake were home and told us about their day. They had been to Typhoon Lagoon, WonderWorks and Hooters (!). Honestly, I leave Chris unsupervised for one day and he has his son off to ogle waitresses in hot pants

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Here are some photos from their day. Think this is the most photos Chris has ever taken on any holiday





















WonderWorks. Jake loved the aerial assault course thing!







LOLOLOLOLOL. They look like those 4D baby scans





And Hooters...





I'm more annoyed that he had sliders without me than I am about him eyeing up the bird



Even though he doesn’t look it in this photo, Chris said Jake was mortified about getting this photo taken hahahahaha!



Dad, Paul and Abi got home just 5 minutes behind us after having been out to Outback Steakhouse for tea which Emma will tell you about in a sec!

Emma, Chris, Jake and I were hungry, so we ordered pizza from Dominos while Paul and Dad told us about their day. I know that Dad told us she said Abi for the first time!

Emma - So, Paul, Abi & Dad decided to have a chill our morning in the villa and had toast/cereal for breakfast and then played in the pool. Paul did send me across a few pictures of their day but they were few and far between.







Modelling Grandad's hat!





They then decided to head out to Denny’s for lunch. Paul and Dad both had steak and fries which was shared with Abi.







They all declared it delicious and got back in the car to head for some golf shop along I Drive. As I mentioned earlier, I have been doing all the driving so as soon as they had to go somewhere that wasn’t remotely familiar they got lost! :p I had left the sat nav in the car but since neither of them actually knew what shop they wanted it was next to useless. It would have got them to I Drive but they decided to follow the signs and got off the I4 at south I Drive! LOL! So they had a great big detour and eventually ended up where they wanted to be. Dad used to have a good sense of direction but doesn’t now – short attention span me thinks! Paul doesn’t pay any attention either so not a good combo! Anyhoo, they made it and had a look about the shop but didn’t buy anything! After all that! They then headed back to the villa where naps were had – for them all I would think! Hahaha!



Abi was put in a bonny yellow frock for her tea



Outback was their restaurant of choice since we weren’t all going to make tea together since Rach & I were having far too much fun at universal! After having huge steaks for lunch they thought they better not have more steak for tea so they went for chicken tenders and Abi had salmon. Abi attracted a fair bit of attention here and Paul & Dad said people kept on coming over to speak to her and she as lapping it up. One guy came and sat down with them and she was a bit wary as she can be a bit shy around strangers, especially men but she soon warmed up to him!



The meal was good and they all enjoyed and they took their left overs home to nibble on later. We were home when they got in from their tea and we enjoyed playing around until bedtime. Notice how 1 day for us girls takes thousands of words and lots of photos? 1 day with the boys has been summed up in half a page! Lack of detail going on! Lol!

Back to the present and Abi enjoyed playing with the ball I got her



She then had a bath and was having a whale of a time trying to eat the bubbles! As you do! Hahahaha!



I think the pizza arrived around 8.30pm and we gobbled it up!





I also enjoyed my marshmallow stick and Emma had her brookie!





Dad, Abi and Jake were all bedded by 9pm, but the rest of us stayed up with a drink and sat outside yapping until 10.45pm. I love that you have that option in a villa, no having to creep around a hotel room being quiet

Emma - I really enjoyed my day today – was great to spend the day with my sister and run around the theme parks like kids! Was a nice chill out day for Dad, Paul & Abi as well and it was so good we were all getting to do different things when we wanted to during our holiday!

Villa chill out time at night was fab – we didn’t have to worry about waking the kids by staying up later! Another fab day and looking forward to our adventures tomorrow!

What a fab day indeed!

Steps today – 21,419 (9.34 miles)

Thanks for reading

Day 13 is here

[summersun]

a wicked day and fab pics x

[mick]

A brilliant sister day out

Joan

[Cutiepie]

Fab day girls I would love to do this with my sister.

[Jimsdadhalifax]

Fab report !