August 2018 Wishing on a Star: Day 4 IOA / US

[Niki T]

Once again, we were up with the alarm. We had left an extra tip for housekeeping on day 1 and 2 with a note asking for extra coffee - this was granted. We forgot yesterday and left the standard tip; regretting that this morning as one cup of coffee was all we got .

By 7:30 we were off. We shared a lift with a family with matching lanyards (Hogwarts house ties). I complimented them and they returned with a compliment on my dress. I had bought the same lanyard for school (Ravenclaw tie to remind the children to be smart ) and the dad of the family told me he'd bought Slytherin as he was Head of Discipline - excellent choice ! We walked to the business centre to pick up my parcel - you'll see my purchases later in the trip report . It cost $5.50 to have it shipped and stored there. We had to do it in the morning as we didn't really want to call back to the room in the day and it would be shut by the time we got in this evening.

We nipped back to the room swapping my parcel for our theme park bags and headed out. We weren't doing the extra hour this morning as we wanted to got straight to IOA. We get distracted at US and then there are bigger queues at IOA, even the Kong express line was at an hour one day . The other lines didn't get as bad, but as John really wanted to ride Kong, we decided skipping the extra hour was best. As a result we had time for a Starbucks breakfast. John had the ultra mocha and I had the ultra caramel frap with a shot of coffee to make up for my missing caffeine this morning. We each had a breakfast sandwich, mine was the one I actually wanted on the first day a gourmet ham and Swiss croissant and John had the chorizo one again. Both were lovely and worth the $25 we parted with to get them.

Once in IOA, we walked on Kong then Spidey. As we came off Spidey I noticed there was no queue to meet the man himself. I thought it'd make a great extreme reading photo, so we hopped in there to meet him and get a photo. Unfortunately, when we checked the app some of our pics were missing. They offered to retake them, but we weren't that fussed as the reading pic was there. Luckily, they appeared later.

I'd brought "one wand to rule them all" back today so we messed about casting spells. The jinx had been lifted from the spell and we were able to do that one too. It was great fun and I'm not sure why we haven't done it before? I think we've spent too many years thinking next time we'll be with our child and we'll save this for then, but it's never happened. Although there's more certainty with the path we are on now to complete our family, I think we've learnt never to take anything as definite - our hopes have been shattered too many times to be certain of a "family ever after".

We headed onto FJ where the locker room was chaos as whole families picked up one bag! I completely understand single parents taking children with them, but does mum, dad, children, Nan, grandad, aunt and uncle ALL need to pick up the one back pack? Probably not. Hey ho, I'm sure we've annoyed others.

Off the ride and we charged our cups. We'd paid, but mine had been charged yesterday, so they refunded us $8.51 - another free day. As it wasn't too hot yet we got some fire eater' s chicken for $12.56. I love spicy chicken and this did not disappoint. Usually, when we fancy this, it's unbearably hot and there's no cool spots to eat, so we find somewhere else with air con. I'm glad we managed to eat here today though.

After brunch we did the sky trolley with the Mulberry Street story. It's a cute ride. Then it was back to HE (hopefully without an annoying commentary this time) for more fun at US.

We cast some spells around Diagon Alley. One woman had abandoned her scooter in front of one of the magic windows and a wizard moved it for us. While we did this, John got himself a soft serve butterbeer ice cream and I had a salted caramel Blondie and chocolate raspberry. The chocolate raspberry was the definite winner for me. I didn't write the cost down...sorry.

We rode Gringotts and then headed out to MIB, which we rode 3 times.

We were on a bit of a roll and achieved our highest scores. On one ride we got chatting to a father and son. The little boy was super confident; he was so cute. He kept telling us we couldn't beat him and his dad was laughing. He was amazed when we got suits at the end as that'd never happened tor them before; he asked us our scores to which we told him he'd beaten us hands down .

John fancied a whopper so we headed there. I had a mushroom and Swiss and John had an angry whopper. She lied to me saying I got angry onions on mine, which I didn't and the mushrooms were the reason some people hate mushrooms. Personally I love them, but these were awful. I couldn't finish my burger and wished I'd gone somewhere else in the food court like Moe's or Panda Express. It was definite food low for me.

We headed back to IOA and dumped the bags in a locker which we paid $10 for. We headed round the park doing all the rides bagless. Spidey, Forbidden Journey, Hulk, Dr Doom, Sky Trolley, Jurassic Park. We also rode Flight of the Hippogriff as its a bit tight for 2 adults with bags. We were in a very chatty queue for this, which we really enjoyed.

We also had a Frozen butterbeer from the Hogshead which had no queue so no standing in the hot sun like the cart outside. We sat around the back with 3 other families in a quiet haven compared to the rest of the park.

We collected our bags and headed back to the Hogwarts Express to Universal stopping for a couple of refills on the way. I wanted to watch Tales of the Beadle Bard so we headed straight there upon arrival. I staked a good spot and set up the go pro to film it. Unfortunately both John and I set it to record, so the last of us ultimately stopped it from recording ! It was the story of the Fountain of Fair Fortune, and 3 Brothers is my fave, so it wasn't too bad as we'd be watching that. Besides, there was a little girl with a set of lungs on her which defied all reason and she screamed all the way through the show. Poor mum was trying to calm her, it's hard for little ones.

After the show we nipped to Simpson's to get nachos for me. This was a highlight. At $22 It was the cheapest CS we had and one of the best. I had nachos and John had tacos. This place closes early though, we were one of the last customers. Bumblebee's will be a must next visit.

Feeling better as I'd actually had something edible, we headed back to watch Beadle Bard and 3 Brothers. This time there was no child in meltdown mode and the we managed to capture the whole thing. There was some drunk woman shouting things she thought was funny to the one of the actors though - that was a bit weird, but didn't really spoil it too much.

With another day almost over we headed to watch the water show again. En route we took some pics of the park like this...

This time we took some pics of the show, too...

Once again we debated a cocktail, but sleep won out and we headed back to the room for our last sleep at RPR.

And, finally, some random pics of the day...

And my Extreme Reading pics re-shoot

[mick]

Good day

Joan

[Unexpectedpenny]

A lovely day (shame about the dodgy burger though!) and I love your dress.

[Floridaagogo]

Jam packed day and those nachos look lush x

[i love jack]

That’s a jam packed day! Shame about your burger

[MinnieMrsA]

Beautiful dress! Hope going back to school has been ok xx

[Niki T]

Originally Posted by mick

Good day

Joan

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Thanks Joan

Originally Posted by Unexpectedpenny

A lovely day (shame about the dodgy burger though!) and I love your dress.

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My dress was a hot topic one. I love it too; it's really light quick drying material. They did a Daily Prophet one, wish I'd bought that one was well. Still moaning about the burger
Thanks for reading

Originally Posted by Floridaagogo

Jam packed day and those nachos look lush x

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They were, and an absolute bargain. Definitely recommend. I had the pulled beef - yum.
Thanks for reading

Originally Posted by i love jack

That’s a jam packed day! Shame about your burger

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I know, John's still getting earache about the burger - Whopper bar is usually on his list. It'll be weird including rest time next time we go.
Thanks for reading

Originally Posted by MinnieMrsA

Beautiful dress! Hope going back to school has been ok xx

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Thanks - another hot topic gem Busy at school at the mo, hence the Sunday uploads, don't get much time in the week.
Thanks for reading

[summersun]

great day and pics, love the dress x

[collybird]

Forbidden Journey ride pictures are the worst thing in the world, I think mine have been destroyed.

[Niki T]

Originally Posted by summersun

great day and pics, love the dress x

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Thanks, love hot topic clothes

Originally Posted by collybird

Forbidden Journey ride pictures are the worst thing in the world, I think mine have been destroyed.

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I'd destroy my RRR ones, but they're too funny

Thanks for reading