Now I have to give the US their due - these people know how to cue, and they do it patiently. This is not my forte, and I have struggled with standing in line sans phone for upwards of an hour in some situations. Rather, I don’t mind waiting but it’s watching people holding spaces for their ten friends, watching the people who can afford express passes skipping the queues and the people who just insinuate themselves into a line where everyone has been patiently waiting and expecting no one to arc up! My inner Sheldon Cooper just begs to pop up and correct them, and may have done so a couple of times!
The lines here are pretty good though. Every ride has a time to wait indicator out front and for every ride it has either been spot on or slightly faster than they have indicated. Longest time we have spent on a line was 1 hour for the Hulk Coaster and that was worth every second of waiting. We have seen times exceeding 120 minutes but they’ve been for rides we had already done.
We spent most of our day park hopping (we had a park to park pass which gave us access to all three parks). Needless to say, we weren’t going to use the Volcano Bay pass - it’s a water park and given how cool it has been, no way are we venturing into the water.
It was a big retail day today, with each of us spending a bit of cash at the gift shops, me for a Slytherin beanie and some swag for my girl for Christmas, Hayden for his very own wand (Albus Dumbledore’s no less) and Brendon for a souvenir tee. I’m sure we bought other stuff too but I’m a bit brain dead at the moment and can’t remember!
We also watched a few more shows and both of the parades today. I also managed to snag a pic with Dr Emmet Brown, much to Hayden’s disgust (because he missed him!)
We had breakfast at the Three Broomsticks today - again, the attention to detail is pretty spot on, and lunch was at the Hot Dog Hall of Fame - where we each had a different dog - Brendon had a Arizona, Hayden had a Detroit and I had a Milwaukee. I introduced the boys to chilli cheese fries and I think they were suitably impressed!
Food has really been a killer at Universal. Because we are staying at the resort, we are paying inflated prices for everything, and are pretty locked into their options. I am already over burgers and fries and can’t wait to get to our little apartment in New York so we can have some good home cooked meals that include fresh veges and fruits. You can only eat so much junk before you crave the good stuff!
So even with two full days in the park, we still haven’t seen or done it all. If I make my way back here in October with our Magnet conference, there will still be plenty to make it shiny and new still - oh and the fact they are building a new HP ride might help too! There are so many other parks here (as well as a swamp boat ride), that Orlando still has a lot to offer.
I wouldn’t stay at the Universal Resorts again though - I much prefer being in Orlando itself, without being locked into the resort - we couldn’t easily walk to the other side as the main arterial road makes it difficult to connect to the main drag (International Drive) - and that’s where the fun is!
After checking out of Aventura today, we began our trek to NYC - two hour flight, followed by Airtrain to Jamaica Station, subway to World Trade Centre, Path train to Newport and a 3 minute walk to our home for the next ten days in Jersey City in a little pocket called Newport.
We have a cute one bedroom apartment- with Hayden on a sofa bed in the lounge room, although after pulling it out he has decided to just sleep on the lounge!
After a spot of grocery shopping, we have had a dinner of Spaghetti Bolognaise followed by my favourite Talenti gelato and have settled in to watch a Harry Potter marathon - because you can never have too much Harry Potter!
Oh and have I mentioned the view? We have the most delightful vistas over Manhattan from across the river and some beautiful Christmas displays just downstairs.
Tomorrow we are off to the NFL - Jets v Packers. Wish us luck on the public transport!
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