No telling how far I'll go solo - Day 5 - Universal

[arisser]

Today's trip report will probably be nowhere near as detailed as the previous ones because I had zero clue what I was doing for 90% of the day 😂 My notes are all over the place but we'll give it a go!

I woke up so early this morning and tossed and turned, napping on and off from about 4am. I guess that's what I get for going to bed at half eight the night before. When my alarm went off, I jumped (crawled) out of bed to get ready. Today was a day for Universal!

I'd bought two day park-to-park tickets from Orlando Attractions, but that was about as far as I'd planned. I knew nothing about Universal and I was well and truly winging it.

I still had the 50% off promo with Lyft so I booked a trip with them and was at the gates for just after park opening. I started off at Universal Studios and went onto the first ride I saw - Despicable Me. I thought this was a fun ride and we were off to a great start.

I had decided ahead of time that I would buy a refill mug at Universal so I stopped and grabbed one at the first stand I saw. It was probably an unnecessary purchase since I had my water bottle but I made sure I got my money's worth with the refills and was (probably for the first time this trip) super hydrated.

I made my way into Diagon Alley - this is what I'd really come to Universal for. As a teenager I was fully OBSESSED with Harry Potter and I knew I couldn't miss the chance to see this. I was pretty blown away and overwhelmed and wanted to run straight on to the rides but my lack of prior research meant I had no idea if they were going to be scary or not. I posted a thread here on the Dibb asking for advice and of course you all delivered!

Whilst waiting for some responses, I popped some dramamine and ran over to the Simpsons ride, as I knew this was just a simulator and would therefore be okay for me. I found this more intense than the Minions ride but still fun (even if I was scared for a good while that there was going to be a real drop at the end!) I did the Men in Black ride too, which I loved! I could shoot aliens all day!

After reading some of your replies about what a wimp like me could enjoy at Universal, I headed back to Diagon Alley to brave Escape from Gringotts. I used the single rider line which turned out to be a walk on. I was super scared even despite literally every reply I got saying that it was fine. Guess what? It was fine. I started fully crying midway through, partly relief that the ride wasn't scary and partly awe at being in Gringotts and in the Wizarding World.

I was on a high when I got off and immediately went to catch the Hogwarts Express over to Islands of Adventure. This was magical and something I'm so glad I got to experience. Once again I got really overwhelmed in Hogsmeade and cried a little bit at the castle.

Now, what did I do at Islands of Adventure, you ask?

I have no idea.

I spent at least 2 to 3 hours over there, but looking at the list of rides I only actually did one of the Dr Seuss ones. I know I went to check out Bilge Rat Barges but it was closed, which I was a little bummed about. I love rapids rides, plus it was really hot, and I already knew I wasn't going to get to ride Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom as that was closed too.

I also went to Cinnabon and had an amazing cinnamon roll - literally the only thing I wrote in my notes 😂

At least I know that on my next day at Universal I can start at Islands of Adventure! I went back to Universal Studios on the Hogwarts Express and was pleasantly surprised to see the return journey was different to the outbound.

Back in the Studios, I was disappointed to find that basically all of the single rider lines except for Gringotts were shut. I enquired about this at Fast and Furious and was told to just join the standby queue. This was listed at 40 minutes and I was reluctant, but in actual fact it took less than ten. Not sure where they were getting their figures from, because I found the Transformers ride queue had a massively overstated wait time too.

Speaking of these two rides - I was definitely starting to get tired of screen based rides. They were all starting to feel very same-y and whilst I had been impressed with them at the start of the day, there wasn't really anything that set them apart from each other. I also found Transformers to be unnecessarily rough and I had a sore neck by the end of it. Jimmy Fallon's Race Through New York was slightly better as it at least had humour on its side. Out of the three mentioned here, that is possibly the only one I'd repeat.

Lunch/dinner was a disappointing hot dog from Krusty Burger. It was very standard theme park food and feel that they could've tried a bit harder with it.

After a run of disappointments I decided to ride Gringotts again to cheer myself up. This time the single rider line took a lot longer. My phone was in the locker so I couldn't say for sure how long I was waiting but I think it was probably around 30 mins. I loved it again the second time.

There wasn't really time for anything else so I went and staked out a spot for the mardi gras parade. I didn't know what to expect from this but it had a fun atmosphere and I basically just got whacked in the face a hundred times by flying beads.

I thought I'd have plenty of time after the parade to get the Hogwarts Express one last time but the queue was at 60 minutes! Instead, I did Single Rider on Men in Black one last time. The queue was so empty that the staff member gave me a car all to myself! I had loads of fun this time round and beat the car opposite by about 200,000 points! I usually suck at these games so I was super thrilled when I found out I was a Galaxy Defender!

As I exited the ride, staff were ushering guests to the park exit very quickly. It was only 6pm and I was sure it was open longer than that, but then I saw a load of signs saying private event. Apparently some large business had hired the whole of Universal as a corporate event and flown in a few thousand of its staff for an all you can ride, all you can eat party! I clearly have the wrong boss 😂

I was debating between eating at CityWalk or going to Disney Springs where I could use a dining credit. In the end, I decided I was too hungry to wait and decided to give Panda Express a go. I had chow mein with black pepper chicken and broccoli beef. It was nice but nothing special, although it was very cheap which I appreciated!

Because of everyone arriving for the aforementioned private event, the Uber/Lyft pick up area was chaos as the same area is used for drop offs too. The first time I tried to book a Lyft, it timed out before the driver could get from the entrance to the pick up zone and I was charged a $5 no show fee! Fortunately this was quickly refunded when I used the in-app help.

I booked a second one and for a moment it looked like a similar thing would happen. This time I'd spotted my driver across the road and waved her down so she could manually override the no-show timer. At the first opportunity, I ran across to her. She was such a lovely driver and I felt awful for her that she'd come to fetch me and was now in standstill traffic backed right up. It took over an hour for her to get me back to All Star Sports but she didn't complain and chatted away to me about my trip the whole way. I made sure to add a very generous tip in the app since Lyft fares are fixed but it had taken her twice as long as expected.

Back at the hotel, it was another night where I was asleep seconds after sitting down on my bed. I woke up around midnight, still fully dressed and with the TV on!

So...there's my muddled day at Universal. I have a list of what I want to get done on my next day there so hopefully it will be a lot more structured!

[stupet11]

Universal Islands of Adventure - love Forbidden Journey! Spiderman is good too, and looking forward to trying Kong in the summer.

Lovely report.

[Just_Pete]

I’ve lost track of how up to date you are but if you go back and the Weather is like yesterday (Tuesday) or today. I would not suggest Popeyes Bilge Rats. I don’t think I’ve ever been as wet on a ride as this gets you. And I wouldn’t want that whilst it’s cold like this!

But I think it’s just two days of this colder stuff!

[arisser]

Originally Posted by Just_Pete

I’ve lost track of how up to date you are but if you go back and the Esther is like yesterday (Tuesday) or today. I would not suggest Popeyes Bilge Rats. I don’t think I’ve ever been as wet on a ride as this gets you. And I wouldn’t want that whilst it’s cold like this!

But I think it’s just two days of this colder stuff!

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Yeah I'm going back today (Wednesday) and will be steering clear of any and all water rides, brrrr.

[mick]

A good day glad you enjoyed some of the rides you were unsure about

I’m not surprised you soon fell asleep, Universal is a big place!

Joan

[Mrs Valentine]

Good tip for getting the Cab ride home is go to one of the Univ hotels and get the Uber?lyft etc. from there. Its very chaotic at the cab/bus pick up point at univ otherwise.
Sounds like you had a very relaxing day with plenty to see.

[Just_Pete]

Originally Posted by Mrs Valentine

Good tip for getting the Cab ride home is go to one of the Univ hotels and get the Uber?lyft etc. from there. Its very chaotic at the cab/bus pick up point at univ otherwise.
Sounds like you had a very relaxing day with plenty to see.

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Yes deffo do this!

[arisser]

Thanks, I'm here again today so will try this!

[taylaboo]

Another great trippie.

[Cinderella]

Great day 👍