More Splitsville than Nashville - April 2017 - Day 14 - Universal/IoA and Disney Springs

[Redrach1903]

Day 13 is here

Wednesday 26th April

We were up at 6.30am today. Universal day! I made coffee/tea and chucked on a load of laundry before getting ready for the day. We left at 7.50am and it was only 16 degrees. Brrrr it felt chilly! However, by the time we had reached the I4 it was up to 20 degrees. We arrived at 8.15am and parked in King Kong 109.



We got through security quickly and made the mammoth journey to City Walk. Man, its long.





We turned right towards Universal. We always seem to start at US and then do IoA for some reason.



It was turning into a lovely warm morning. Those skies



Waiting for the globe to turn cos I wouldn’t take a picture until it had



There we go! Cos we don’t have approximately 700 of these photos already….



Can you see the difference between my photography skills and Chris's? Actually no. It's not that. It's a difference in patience! Haha!





We hadn't purchased tickets for this in advance as you don’t seem to get any good deals on one day tickets, so we thought we may as well just pay at the gate. $351.46 for us both for Universal/IoA day admission. Ouch. The woman serving us tried to up sell us some Unlimited Express Passes for $100 each. We declined!



We then went and waited to be let loose in the park as it wasn’t open yet. I could hear a couple behind me getting all excited about their day. They were talking about riding Back to the Future. Ummmmmmm. How old are their guide books?! Haha! I did think about forewarning them, but I decided I didn’t want to look like a nosey know-it-all, so I didn’t bother.

Once the park opened it took AGES to get through the barriers. A combination of stupid people and slow Team Members made it a painful experience. We are pros, let us through!





Quiet, quiet, quiet. Bliss.



We had a look at the Fast & Furious cars that were dotted about. Zoom zoom etc etc.







Our first stop was Diagon Alley!









A rare sight – a quiet Diagon Alley. This didn’t last of course.











Gringotts was showing a 10 minute wait. I have written down "lockers, ugh". This is a regular gripe of ours at Universal and I know I moan about it every year, but its bloody ridiculous for rides like this. Anyway, once that rigmarole was over we joined the short queue. Love the theming in here!









When we got to the part where they take your photo (SO annoying), I asked to skip it and go straight into the queue. The Team Member didn’t acknowledge that I'd even spoke, so we just kind of waited while she guided other groups into the photo booths. After a while Chris said "excuse me, we want to skip the photo" and she snapped back at him "I heard you!" WOW. Rude.

Blurry loading photo!



The ride was fun as always, I do like this one! We got a few more photos before returning to the Muggle world.













I spotted Stan Shunspike was all alone, so I went to get my photo with him before going to visit the Order of the Phoenix, but nobody was home except Kreacher





Don’t think he even realises the significance of this building….









I was hungry by now, so we stopped in by the bakery in San Francisco and much to my delight I spotted they sold Brookies! Totally acceptable breakfast item on holiday! It was a bargain breakfast too at just $2.98. We also grabbed 2 cups of ice water here.





Not sure how much longer old Jaws will last around these parts? The theming in this part doesn’t really make sense anymore, does it?



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[Redrach1903]

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As we headed through the park we noticed there was filming going on which involved a car crash!







The Mummy was next and it was a walk on We got the back row and it was super fun. We love this ride so much!



We wondered over to the new Jimmy Fallon: Race through New York to collect our return time which was an easy process.









I'm not sure why I felt the need to document that quite so thoroughly!

We had a little walk around until our slot opened up.





I stopped and asked a Team Member what was going on with the filming and it turns out they were filming an insurance commercial! We noticed there was a disclaimer about them being allowed to use footage of you! We could be on TV somewhere



Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!





We then did Transformers just cos it was a 5 minute wait. We probably wouldn’t have bothered otherwise.



By the time we were done with that our slot had opened up for Jimmy Fallon. Neither of us knew what to expect with this. All we knew was it was a simulator (shock).



As you enter its kinda like a Hall of Fame for all the presenters of The Tonight Show.







You are given a colour coded card and you then go upstairs. There are clips of the show, live entertainment and table top games to keep you amused up there.













The lights turned purple after about ten minutes and we were off! Jimmy and his band do a rap for the safety spiel which was pretty amusing! We then went through to the theatre. So my thoughts on this "ride" is that it's not really a ride as such. It's a 3D show. I don’t know if we were somehow in stationary seats or whether they just don’t move at all, but we definitely didn't feel any movement. The film itself was pretty cool (especially if you’ve been to NYC), but it was also a bit chaotic and choppy. Overall I think it’s a bit of a lazy attraction and we probably won't bother doing it again if I'm being honest I give it a 5/10 while Chris gives it a scathing 3/10! Universal really need to come up with some new ride concepts.

On the way out we saw this guy hanging out the window. He must feature quite heavily on the show as he appeared on the ride video a few times!



We were hungry by now, so we popped into Monsters Café for some grub.



It was only 11.25am, but who cares? Not us anyway I asked for a plain burger and Chris went for a slice of peperoni pizza. The pizza wasn’t ready yet, so we had a bit of a wait, but they brought it over to our table for us! We also had a Freestyle Coke. Everything was nice enough, filled a hole! Total was $22.98.





I wanted to go and see the Horror Make Up Show next as I loved it when I went on my own last year and I knew Chris would find it funny, but there wasn’t another show until 12.15. So we killed some time taking photos, looking in shops and meeting celebs









Beetlejuice kept sniffing me and said I smelt good! Haha!









At 12.10 we went to do the show.



As expected, Chris really enjoyed it. The actors were different to the ones I saw previously, but were just as funny. They do a good job of slipping in adult jokes that the kids won't get and I love how reactive it is depending on the audience participation and the poor "volunteer"









On the way out we saw Universal’s pathetic excuse for a parade go by. The only good part is the Minions. The rest is pants!





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[Redrach1903]

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We walked round to Men in Black which was a walk on. I am useless at this, but I still have a great time trying to shoot all the aliens!



We grabbed a water and a beer after that and then spotted Betty Boop looking all lonely, so I sent Chris over to her. Hehe. She was proper flirting with him! So funny!











We didn’t want to do anything else in US, so we made our way round to IoA.



There was something I really wanted to do first though! Get a milkshake from here! I'd been dreaming about this for months!



Coco beans everywhere!







I chose a Chocolate Banana Brain Freeze and my god it was HUGE! And yes, that is a whole chocolate coated banana on the top!



Chris helped me, but we still couldn’t finish it. It was lovely though. Yum! You get to keep the glass too and they kindly washed it out for me



We then continued onto IoA and it looked pretty busy, so we decided to stump up the cash for express passes so we could get everything done that we wanted to! They were $59.99 each! Daylight robbery, but hey ho!











It was nice to see The Hulk up and running again!





When I was first sorting through these photos I couldn’t figure out why I had taken a photo of this woman’s behind, but it was actually the hidden mickey Hehehe!



First stop was One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish! I love this ride, so funny! Chris of course took control of the lever and managed to get up both pretty soggy!





We then walked through the Lost Continent towards Hogsmeade!















We headed over the bridge towards Jurassic Park.





We saw this wee guy being carried around. Hehe.





We did River Adventure and had the misfortune of having the loudest, most obnoxious and stereotypical American behind us in the queue. I can't even remember what he was saying now, but he was getting on our nerves!





It was time for something else new – King Kong. We were hoping it wouldn’t be a let down!







So, it was quite good, but I wouldn’t say it was amazing. Again, it’s more screens, but at least you are moving in this one. The big animatronic at the end is pretty neat, but the original King Kong ride was way better

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[Redrach1903]

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After that we walked back to Hogsmeade and joined the single rider queue for Forbidden Journey! We of course had to go to the stupid lockers first! Grrr!









We were on within 10 minutes, but it broke down half way through! It soon started up again, but the screens didn’t come on for a few minutes so that was a bit strange! Haha! We left our stuff in the lockers and went to do Dragons Challenge. I was kind of dreading this as it makes me feel a bit queasy, but it was actually ok this time! I don’t remember the Tri Wizard tent and everything being there last time, the queue seemed different all round actually?



Next up was The Hulk! We were looking forward to this since it had been refurbished! We used to find it really rattly.





Unfortunately we hated it just as much as before It was HORRIBLE. Our brains were rattled and our ears were bashed within an inch of themselves! So disappointing! We definitely will not be going back on this in the future! The only good part is the launch.

Spider-Man was next and we both love this one so much!





There was only one more ride we wanted to do before we left and that was Bilge Rat Barges!





We absolutely love this ride, I think it’s the best water ride out there. You really can’t help but laugh all the way round and you cannot avoid the water at all



It was now 5pm and we made our way out of the park.







We were feeling peckish again! Chris wanted a hot dog (shocker), but I didn’t, so I left him to go find one and I went off to see what else was on offer. I went upstairs in City Walk. Somewhere I’d never been in all my visits!



I fancied something basic, like a sandwich, so Bread Box seemed like a good idea! I asked for a plain turkey sandwich. The woman serving me was miserable as sin, literally didn’t crack a smile the entire time I was in there!



Chris found me and helped me finish the fries that came with my sandwich and then we headed on out!





Chris went to buy a water on the way out, but they only had that ridiculous “smart water” at $4.50 a pop. He asked if they had any normal water and the girl replied “this is normal water”. He told her to forget it! Haha! Aberdonian through and through He got one from a vending machine for half the price.

We got home just after 6pm and I went straight in the shower while Chris fell sound asleep on a sun lounger. Once I was showered I decided to make a start on packing. Sob.

Once finished I sat outside with a cup of tea and enjoyed another beautiful sunset while Chris got showered.



Chris decided last minute that we should order an Uber and head to Disney Springs for a few drinks! I was sitting in my PJs with hair that was only half dry and no make up! Waaaaaa! I managed to make myself look semi presentable within 15 minutes! That has got to be some kind of record! I wore my Haunted Mansion top that I had bought last year and still not worn!



We had time for a quick selfie before our Uber arrived



Our driver arrived at 8.20. His name was Craig and he was telling us how much Uber drivers can make and it was a lot more than I thought! He said he once made $500 in one 7 hour shift! I’m in the wrong job! Haha! He was also making fun of some Disney CMs he knows that are waaaaaay too into Disney and was telling us that one of their life’s ambition was to work at The Haunted Mansion and how he found that pretty laughable. All the time this conversation is taking place I’m thanking god that it’s dark and he can’t see my HM top or my Disney tattoo! I did think it was strange for him to be mocking Disney lovers considering he was driving us to DISNEY Springs! Anyway, the Uber cost $13.95 and we left him a few dollars tip.

Disney Springs selfie!



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We walked from West Side round to Town Center.



Disney Springs is so pretty at night

















We then walked all the way back to House of Blues where there was a live band playing. I know I’ve said it before, but we just love this place at night. Warm air, cold drinks and live music = bliss!





We enjoyed a few drinks here! Michelob Ultras for Chris and Frozen Strawberry Daiquiris for me The band were good, but the lead guy had a very close to the bone sense of humour! I can’t remember anything he said now, but there were a few times we were like “oooof”







After the band finished we paid our tab ($35) and then walked back round to The Hangar to have one more for the road! We both had a glass of wine.





The view here was pretty decent!



The wine was nice, but not cheap! $23.43! We left there about 11pm and started walking back round to Cirque to get a cab. But first, one more photo of that pretty balloon!


We got a taxi easily and it was a Syrian guy that took us. He was telling us all sorts of stories from home including he had once been jailed for saying “freedom”. I’m sure there is more to the story than that, but that’s all I have in my notes! Haha! Chris was speaking to him in Arabic for a bit while I ate sweeties that he had for his passengers His car was like a disco on wheels too – Abba, Bee Gees, Whitney Houston (I wanna dance somebody) and the Grease Megamix. I was having a rare time boogying in the back seat

As entertaining as the journey was, it was also a total rip off - $43! Bit of a difference from our earlier Uber! Oh well! We were back at the villa at 11.40pm and went to bed!

Steps today – a whopping 24,881 (10.85 miles)

Tomorrow is our last full day I have a solo morning at AK while Chris golfs and we of course spend our last evening at MK! I promise to try and have it up within a week cos I really want to finish this before we go to Nashville! Thanks for keeping up with me xxx

[Floridaagogo]

Gutted its coming to an end.i have loved every minute ❤️😢

[Robin Sparkles]

Great day, you guys did a lot! I love Hashtag the panda 🐼!

[scottishnellie]

Brilliant day

Lots of fab photos and I so want one of those milkshakes 😁

[Redrach1903]

Originally Posted by Floridaagogo

Gutted its coming to an end.i have loved every minute ❤️😢

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Aw thank you v much xx

Originally Posted by Robin Sparkles

Great day, you guys did a lot! I love Hashtag the panda 🐼!

See more...

Thanks! Ah is that his name? Haha! Xx

Originally Posted by scottishnellie

Brilliant day

Lots of fab photos and I so want one of those milkshakes 😁

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Thank you

The milkshake was amazing! Xx

[Jake71]

A great day and loads done again.