We made a plan yesterday for me to go to the parks early today to ride some things only I was interested in while the others got a little more down time. 

I woke up at 6:30, was on the bus out of the resort at 6:50, arriving at the hub at 7:05 and first in line for Islands of Adventure.

They opened the gates at 7:45 and I was one of the first to ride Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.  This ride had wait times of 120-150 minutes yesterday so I saved a lot of time by getting there early.  It was a super fun ride and I would totally do it again.  Maybe I’ll convince Nova to join me next time. 

I rode Jurassic World VelociCoaster next (with no wait) which was just okay.  Then I was done riding what I wanted to ride that was open, and it was only 8:15!  The last ride I wanted to go on was Hulk which was not open until 9.  It rained right before I arrived this morning and my shoes were soaked from all of the puddles.  Then it rained again right before the rest of the park opened at 9.  I was soaked, even with a raincoat and umbrella (it was raining sideways and the puddles were impossible to avoid).

Hulk was delayed due to the weather but it opened around 9:15.  I liked Hulk better than VelociCoaster but it also was just okay.  I might be getting too old to enjoy the G forces! 

I left for the other park (walking distance) to meet Nole and the girls and stopped to get myself a donut at Voodoo on the way.  I chose “Mango Tango” which was a mango jelly filled donut with vanilla frosting and Tang drink mix powder.  Very interesting. 

Meanwhile, Nole and the girls had breakfast at the hotel and were making their way over to meet me at Universal Studios.  First, it took a while for the bus to come, then the bus broke down and they had to wait for another bus to rescue them.  All was well though and we met up at Universal Studios and rode Simpsons, a ride Nova loved the last time we were here (see adorable throwback pics from 2021). 

We did the two Minion rides they have and rode the Jimmy Fallon ride.

Esme was a bit weak today.  I think she’s getting worn out and home sick.  We took our cues from her and stopped for several breaks including a long lunch at Mel’s Drive-in.  After that we kept the pace slow with the Horror Make-up show which she really liked and then she felt ready to power through a bit more. 

First stop: ET.  Then went to the Dreamworks area where we rode the TrollerCoaster and went to Poe Live!, where a cartoon Poe from Kung Fu Panda interacts with the audience. 

We did Men in Black, an interactive alien shooting game/ride and then we toughed out the 70 minute wait for Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.  This last ride pushed the limits of what Esme enjoys riding with a drop and some quick rollercoaster turns (not a super fast ride but the special effects make it feel kind of intense). 

She wasn’t upset but said she felt tired and like she had enough theme park for the day so we all decided to grab dinner and head home.  There was a food court that had both Moe’s Southwest Grill and Burger King so we ate there before catching the shuttle back to the hotel.  It sure felt great to lay down when we got back.  I didn’t realize how tired I was until I kicked my wet shoes off and laid down.  So tired in fact that I was thinking, why do I have to write this stupid blog!  But I’m always glad I did after the fact.  I look back on these and read them fairly often and I can almost never tell how tired or annoyed I was when I was writing them!