We actually made it out the door at 6:40 am. My mom got us to the guest drop off area by 7:10 am and then headed on to her work meeting. We headed toward Universal Studios to pick up our tickets from the kiosk.
Sister, Jack and Dad on our first of many moving walkways!
Just a side note, there were about a thousand people wearing minion t-shirts like Jack’s and they obviously sold them in parks as well. I got Jack’s on clearance at Target for $2.40, and he really got a kick out of seeing so many other people wearing shirts like his!
We wandered over through City Walk…
This was REALLY handy as we weren’t sure how Jack would measure up with shoes on
We made our way to the kiosks and got our tickets. Then I decided to check with the guy at the gate to verify what time the park opened. He asked to see my tickets and then said that the park opened at 9 but we could get in at 8!! He said the only things that would be open were Despicable Me and Shrek! We were pretty thrilled with this info. We were also hungry so we headed over to Burger King to see about getting some breakfast, but they didn’t open till 8. We went back and got in line at Universal at 7:45 and there were maybe 30 people in line already. They opened the gate and we walked right in and right onto Despicable Me!
I was really excited about this ride. Jack LOVED the movie, and I knew there was a possibility we wouldn’t be able to ride this since it was still in “technical rehearsal” so the fact that we got to ride AND didn’t have to wait to do so was AWESOME!
The preshow is very cute and soon we were being whisked inside! I really enjoyed the ride, it was very entertaining and cute, but Jack was not a fan. Afterwards we asked him if he wanted to ride again and he said no. He said it was too loud. I was bummed he didn’t like it, but he goes through weird phases sometimes like this so we moved on. We were all hungry so we headed to the Boulangerie that was right nearby for some breakfast. We also went ahead and bought the refillable mugs which were buy 2 get 1 free. They were $7.99 each and then $.95 for refills, except water which you can get for free. The woman made sure to tell us they were good for both parks and for as long as we had them, not just that day. My dad and sister got breakfast sandwiches and I got a cheese Danish. That and the 3 mugs came to about $30.
When we were done with breakfast we headed over to see Shrek. We had just recently watched Shrek at home so Jack would be familiar with the characters. At first he was scared and didn’t want to do it, but then he said he would go. He ended up liking it a lot!
Once we were done it was 9 am so we headed to RRR. We decided my dad and sister would ride first while I held the bags rather than get a locker.
For anyone not familiar with the system, basically Universal doesn’t let you take bags/purses on their big attractions. They provide lockers for free for the duration of the ride. You go to the screen, scan your finger and they assign you a locker. You can only get into it once, and if you go over the time limit (which is automatically determined using the current wait time) you get charged.
And FYI, the refillable mugs WILL fit in the lockers.
Jack had to go potty so we walked across to the restrooms by Twister. When we came back my dad called saying the ride was down, did I want to wait or did I want them to come down. I told them to wait a bit longer. Jack was getting bored so I decided to head over to the Fievel playground with him. Of course I couldn’t put the stuff in the locker because then they wouldn’t be able to get it out before meeting me since they would need my fingerprint. So now I was wearing my purse, my sister’s purse and carrying 3 refillable mugs. On our way to Fievel’s we saw a face painting spot. Jack really wanted to get his face painted like Spiderman so I figured why not! It was $12 but it didn’t take long and she was very patient with Jack’s twitching!
Once Jack was done getting painted we headed to Fievel’s but it wasn’t quite open yet so we went on ET. With my arms full of refillable mugs it was quite a trick but we managed. Man that queue is long! It was mildly entertaining but Jack didn’t love it.
Finally Fievel’s was open so I let Jack go play.
After a little while I FINALLY heard from my dad close to 10:30. They had just gotten off the ride and were headed my way. Once they met up with us we each took a turn riding the Woody Woodpecker coaster with Jack.
Just as my sister was coming back my mom called to say she had parked and was on her way in. Jack and I went to meet her up front (we had her tickets) while my dad and sister rode ET.
We all met at Men In Black and put our stuff in a locker. The posted wait was 15 minutes. Jack had a lot of fun with this, but still didn’t want to ride again. I tried to take a picture of our scores, but I couldn’t’ get it to come out right. I know I won though!
After we retrieved our items we went over to ride the Simpsons. The wait was 10 minutes.
Time for a disclaimer! I didn’t watch the Simpson’s growing up. I watched it as an adult when I was living with my ex, but not very often. So while the ride was pretty technologically amazing and fun, I wasn’t familiar with most people so I didn’t connect with it. Definitely worth doing, but it might be helpful to watch a few episodes first! My mom and sister were NOT feeling well after this ride. They said it was too hot, not enough air circulating. Both occasionally get motion sick and the next day they took meclizine just in case.
By now it was time for lunch. As you may have noticed Jack’s makeup was starting to wipe off. It was also itching him and I think he was pretty much over it. I wasn’t surprised, but I wasn’t ready to try and get it all off yet. Then tragedy struck! As we were walking towards the bathrooms, Jack walked full on INTO A CHAIR. It was hard to tell if he was bleeding since he had paint all over his face. We went into the bathroom and wiped off what we could, and he was fine. It wasn’t until later that I remembered I had wet wipes in my purse.
We headed to the International Film and Food Festival for lunch. I had the orange chicken, Jack and my parents all had pizza and my sister had penne. We got 2 water refills and 1 diet coke and the total came to about $43. Really not bad for 5 people.
My parents and sister decided to head to Disaster. It was almost 1 pm and Jack wanted to see the Despicable Me street party so we chilled out for a while and watched that. The person working at the souvenir stand near us let Jack play with the bubble gun she had.
The Disaster wait ended up being really long so they headed to Twister instead and Jack and I did some window shopping and made some more pressed pennies.
When they were done with Twister we headed over to the Mummy and did the child swap. The wait was about 30 minutes. My dad and sister rode first, then my mom and I rode. It was pretty fun.
Next it was our turn to ride RRR. We waited for probably 20 minutes in the single rider line. It was a pretty intense coaster and lots of fun!
Jack and headed back to Fievel’s while the others tried to ride Disaster again. It was a 30 minute posted wait, plus the ride/show itself is pretty long. This time I let Jack ride on the water slide in Fievel’s.
Then I decided to go ahead and let him play in the Curious George water play area. He loved every second of it. Naturally I hadn’t brought swim trunks. I thought about buying some but they were over $20. I decided I would let him have fun and deal with it later, after all, this was his vacation too!
We had a dinner reservation at 5 so about 10 till 4 when the others were done at Disaster I popped Jack into the people dryer… which worked, but not well enough. It was $5
I started looking for a pair of shorts to buy for Jack but only found one option. I ended up taking him into the bathroom and using the Dyson hand dryer to dry his shorts some more.
We all met at Men In Black and put our stuff in a locker. The posted wait was 15 minutes. Jack had a lot of fun with this, but still didn’t want to ride again. I tried to take a picture of our scores, but I couldn’t’ get it to come out right. I know I won though!
After we retrieved our items we went over to ride the Simpsons. The wait was 10 minutes.
Time for a disclaimer! I didn’t watch the Simpson’s growing up. I watched it as an adult when I was living with my ex, but not very often. So while the ride was pretty technologically amazing and fun, I wasn’t familiar with most people so I didn’t connect with it. Definitely worth doing, but it might be helpful to watch a few episodes first! My mom and sister were NOT feeling well after this ride. They said it was too hot, not enough air circulating. Both occasionally get motion sick and the next day they took meclizine just in case.
By now it was time for lunch. As you may have noticed Jack’s makeup was starting to wipe off. It was also itching him and I think he was pretty much over it. I wasn’t surprised, but I wasn’t ready to try and get it all off yet. Then tragedy struck! As we were walking towards the bathrooms, Jack walked full on INTO A CHAIR. It was hard to tell if he was bleeding since he had paint all over his face. We went into the bathroom and wiped off what we could, and he was fine. It wasn’t until later that I remembered I had wet wipes in my purse.
We headed to the International Film and Food Festival for lunch. I had the orange chicken, Jack and my parents all had pizza and my sister had penne. We got 2 water refills and 1 diet coke and the total came to about $43. Really not bad for 5 people.
My parents and sister decided to head to Disaster. It was almost 1 pm and Jack wanted to see the Despicable Me street party so we chilled out for a while and watched that. The person working at the souvenir stand near us let Jack play with the bubble gun she had.
The Disaster wait ended up being really long so they headed to Twister instead and Jack and I did some window shopping and made some more pressed pennies.
When they were done with Twister we headed over to the Mummy and did the child swap. The wait was about 30 minutes. My dad and sister rode first, then my mom and I rode. It was pretty fun.
Next it was our turn to ride RRR. We waited for probably 20 minutes in the single rider line. It was a pretty intense coaster and lots of fun!
Jack and headed back to Fievel’s while the others tried to ride Disaster again. It was a 30 minute posted wait, plus the ride/show itself is pretty long. This time I let Jack ride on the water slide in Fievel’s.
Then I decided to go ahead and let him play in the Curious George water play area. He loved every second of it. Naturally I hadn’t brought swim trunks. I thought about buying some but they were over $20. I decided I would let him have fun and deal with it later, after all, this was his vacation too!
We had a dinner reservation at 5 so about 10 till 4 when the others were done at Disaster I popped Jack into the people dryer… which worked, but not well enough. It was $5
I started looking for a pair of shorts to buy for Jack but only found one option. I ended up taking him into the bathroom and using the Dyson hand dryer to dry his shorts some more.
Once I had gotten Jack’s shorts reasonably dry using the Dyson Air Blade in the restroom, we headed over to Margaritaville for dinner!
We were all pretty hungry, and very thirsty… so naturally we did exactly what we had said we wouldn’t do and ordered drinks in souvenir cups… or should I say souvenir blenders!
I can’t remember how much they were but I know it was cheaper than ordering two smaller drinks. Once we were done eating our waitress poured the rest in a to go cup so she could rinse out the “blenders” for us.
We love the food here. We ate at the Margaritaville in Grand Turk on our cruise last May, and my mom has been buying their salsa at home ever since. We got chips and salsa and nachos for appetizers. Sorry the pictures aren’t great, I almost forgot to take any!
Jack and I split the Cheeseburger in Paradise and fries…
My dad got shrimp
My sister got the pulled pork sandwich
My mom shared with my dad and sister. We were all stuffed when we were done.
Jack wanted to get up and steer the table!
After we were done with our drinks and lounging in the chairs outside the restaurant, we headed into Islands!!!
Aha! So here were the crowds we were missing at Universal!
We made a beeline for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and made it there about five minutes after 6.
We headed onto Dragon Challenge first which only had a 10 minute wait! My sister and dad and I rode first, and then my dad rode again with my mom after we swapped. We headed to Flight of the Hippogriff next so Jack could ride something. The wait was 30 minutes, and Jack and I got to ride in the front!
We were all pretty hungry, and very thirsty… so naturally we did exactly what we had said we wouldn’t do and ordered drinks in souvenir cups… or should I say souvenir blenders!
I can’t remember how much they were but I know it was cheaper than ordering two smaller drinks. Once we were done eating our waitress poured the rest in a to go cup so she could rinse out the “blenders” for us.
We love the food here. We ate at the Margaritaville in Grand Turk on our cruise last May, and my mom has been buying their salsa at home ever since. We got chips and salsa and nachos for appetizers. Sorry the pictures aren’t great, I almost forgot to take any!
Jack and I split the Cheeseburger in Paradise and fries…
My dad got shrimp
My sister got the pulled pork sandwich
My mom shared with my dad and sister. We were all stuffed when we were done.
Jack wanted to get up and steer the table!
After we were done with our drinks and lounging in the chairs outside the restaurant, we headed into Islands!!!
Aha! So here were the crowds we were missing at Universal!
We made a beeline for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and made it there about five minutes after 6.
We headed onto Dragon Challenge first which only had a 10 minute wait! My sister and dad and I rode first, and then my dad rode again with my mom after we swapped. We headed to Flight of the Hippogriff next so Jack could ride something. The wait was 30 minutes, and Jack and I got to ride in the front!
Then we headed over to the main attraction, Forbidden Journey! The posted wait was 60 minutes and between the wait and the ride, we were out in exactly 60. Please pardon my crappy pics of the queue!
This was my best attempt at getting a picture of the ride vehicles from the baby swap room
Again my dad and sister and I rode and then my dad rode with my mom. This ride made me a bit nauseous. I am not prone to motion sickness, but I wasn’t feeling fantastic after. The queue was amazing though, and the loading area especially, and of course the technology was awesome. I was freaking out about my flip flops falling off though, so that was distracting! My mom felt really sick after this ride. We decided to call it a day after that since we had gotten far more accomplished than we had hoped!
We began the looooooong hike back to the car and headed home. When we got home I let Jack swim for a bit while we all soaked our poor tired feet in the pool and then we headed to bed!
This was my best attempt at getting a picture of the ride vehicles from the baby swap room
Again my dad and sister and I rode and then my dad rode with my mom. This ride made me a bit nauseous. I am not prone to motion sickness, but I wasn’t feeling fantastic after. The queue was amazing though, and the loading area especially, and of course the technology was awesome. I was freaking out about my flip flops falling off though, so that was distracting! My mom felt really sick after this ride. We decided to call it a day after that since we had gotten far more accomplished than we had hoped!
We began the looooooong hike back to the car and headed home. When we got home I let Jack swim for a bit while we all soaked our poor tired feet in the pool and then we headed to bed!
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