2003 04-07

We finished our time at Universal today.  Yet another hot day with sunny skies and highs in the upper 80s.  We did make a quick stop at the Verizon store since Garry snapped the antenna off his phone yesterday. 

 The 30% chance of storms in the afternoon favored us with the 70% chance of no storms.  We started out by being greeted with a half-mile backup getting into the parking structure.  We figured our time with short lines was over.  After about 30 minutes just getting to our parking space, we trudged to Islands of Adventure and got the Express Pass for Hulk.  Alex & Garry rode the Acceleratron and we all rode Spiderman and the Fearfall.  Our time arrived for our Hulk pass so we zipped past the 20-minute line and rode it.  So far, our longest wait of the day was under 30 minutes.  It seemed strange given the long wait to park.  We moved back in the park and hit Popeye’s Bilge Rat River Raft ride.  We missed this ride the other day.  It is a fast-moving water ride in a circular raft seating about eight people.  Plan on getting wet.  There is a nice cover in the center where you can place your carry-on items without fear of them getting wet.  The same cannot be said for any part of your body, including your feet.  You are required to wear your footwear, so if you plan to ride this ride, wear flip-flops.  The real fun came after the ride, where you can climb on a neighboring ship and shoot water cannons at unsuspecting riders on the ride.  What fun!

 We moved back to Dueling Dragons and again got the Express Pass.  We chose to wait in line first, and then use our pass.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that there was no wait at all for the ride, so we waited for the front car on the Fire side.  Walking out after the ride, we were again pleasantly surprised to see that since the lines were nonexistent, we could shortcut right back to Ice.  We again waited for the front car and knocked off both sides in about 25 minutes.  We never used our Express Passes.

 We walked out of the park, stopping only at The Cat in The Hat ride. We left Islands of Adventure and headed for Universal Studios.  On the way, we stopped at the Hard Rock Café for lunch.  After a great lunch, it was on to the Studios. 

Jimmy Neutron was open today. 

It is a motion simulator, continuing the story line from the Jimmy Neutron movie.  The aliens return to earth and steal Jimmy’s new Mark IV rocket.  We are loaded into Jimmy’s Mark II and follow.  You sit four-across in the simulator, and the room contains several (10-15) of them.  There is a large screen, and the view is terrific everywhere.  You follow the Mark IV, initially through Nickelodeon’s town, seeing the characters form most of the Nick cartoons.  Then it is off into space and finally you save the day and turn.  Overall, it was a fun ride, although having it in 3D would have made it a big winner.

 As we walked back in the park, the street dance performance was starting, so we got a front-row view.  Garry even got “volunteered” and had to show off his dancing skills (read: none).  We went to the back of the park for the MIB ride.  No lines meant we got to go through twice, back-to-back with no waiting.  There was also no line at Back to the Future and E.T.  We even caught the final performance of the Horror Make-Up Show, where the demonstrate make-up techniques.  Since we still had a few minutes, we went back to Islands of Adventure and the kids caught the Hulk one last time.

 We went to the Disney Marketplace and did a little shopping and headed to the house for dinner and bed.

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This page last updated on Wednesday, April 30, 2003 09:23:37 PM