Universal Parks, Day 3

We started our day with pancakes and scrambled eggs at 7:00am. It was 36 degrees when we left the hotel around 8am and went to Epic Universe. Here is an actual photo of me leaving the hotel.

While we did have early admission, and we lined up for the ride we wanted right away, we still had a 40 minute wait for Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. The ride was really fun though and used augmented reality glasses and had a competitive element (Nole likes the rides that have a game component).

We rode Yoshi’s Adventure next, which has about a 30 minute wait. It’s a slower “people mover” style ride but it had nice views of the Mario Land and also had a little game element to it.

We left Mario Land then. It was after 10 which meant the park was open to everyone. Many rides had long waits already including over 2 hours for both the Mine Cart ride and the Harry Potter ride here.

We decided to ride the carousel which had no wait.

We rode the Frankenstein ride again (a repeat from Sunday). Esme sat this one out due to stress between her and Nova (sometimes they just need breaks from each other). Then we decided it was time for lunch so we went to Pizza Moon. Nole and I shared a delicious mushroom pizza (and the girls made us thank Toad from Mario for his sacrifice — he’s a mushroom for those that don’t know). The girls shared a cheese pizza. Nova demonstrated a perfect cheese pull.

Then we weren’t really sure what to do next. The only ride in the Harry Potter area had a 210 minute wait and the last ride we wanted to ride in Mario Land had a 180 minute wait. We couldn’t imagine standing in line that long for a 90 second experience so instead we went to Circus Arcanus which I thought was a sort of Cirque du Soleil experience but it was actually more about the Fantastic Beasts. It featured some cool puppets/animal costumes and I found the story really entertaining.

With the wait times only getting worse, we decided to go home for a break. Nole and Nova rode the shuttle back but Esme and I did one more ride of the carousel before leaving. Esme and I were having a discussion about how she and Nova are pushing each other’s buttons and how too much time together can sometimes be a bad thing when another mom with two kids in line with us chimed in and said they were going through the same thing, on day 6 of their vacation. We’re on day 8 and even though we have been on longer trips before, they are not usually this “intense” and we don’t have repeated 30-60 minute blocks of time standing together without much to do but annoy each other (i.e. waiting in line).

Nole and I napped and the girls rested back at the room. I made grilled cheese and pudgie pies for dinner and then took the shuttle to Islands of Adventure. I bought this wearable blanket and a winter hat because it was just too cold today!

We only went on Spider-Man there which I think was my favorite ride of the trip! I just really enjoyed the story and the ride and I’m really glad we stopped back at Islands to check it off the list.

The girls were getting along again, phew.

We didn’t make it back to the park in time to do the Hogwarts Express (a train that goes from Universal Studios to Islands of Adventure and back — it closes at 6) so we walked over to Universal Studios. We rode the Transformers ride then went to the Horror Make-up Show again. The Simpsons ride had a low wait so we did that one again (it’s still a favorite!).

Esme and I went to get a spot for the spectacular here at Universal, CineSational. Nova and Nole rode Men in Black again. Then Nova and I decided to ditch part way through CineSational to ride Gringotts one more time. The show looked cool and included drones but we couldn’t pass up no wait at this popular ride!