 Up around 8am to get
ready and head to Universal. We got there around 8:45 and the
park was already open. It looked dead so far, and since we have
the Front of the Line pass (FOTL) we don't mind stopping for a bit to
each. There is a GREAT bakery run by The Cheesecake Factory, that
had excellent pastries.
 We finished up and
headed off to see Jimmy Neutron. the FOTL worked well, and had us
inside in no time. Cute and fun ride. Then we went
over to Shrek. Great show - lots of fun and
surprises. It was now 10am, so several characters were
coming out. We first saw Donkey, Shrek and Fiona. That was
fun - Donkey interacts very well with the crowd and it quite
funny. We also found Sponge Bob in the store at the end of Jimmy
Neutron. Next we were going to do Twister, but the preshows
freaked out the girls so we decided to pass on it. I'll try it
sometime first to see if they would hate it or not.
 So, onward. I wanted to do Mummy
again, but Maddy wanted NONE of that! Kristen said she didn't
mind skipping it again either, so I talked Brinn into doing it.
She was a bit reluctant, but would do it for ME! ;-)
We get to the entrance, and its down for awhile... It was time
for a bathroom break anyway, so after that Kristen told me Brinn was
disappointed about missing Mummy! Ha! Gotcha! I knew
she liked it! So, I look back and see they are letting people on
again! Woo Hoo Brinn, lets go! Of course, she is nervous
all over again, but still she went. We were through the line
quickly and ready to board. Have I mentioned I love FOTL
yet? Well I do! ;-) We were off, and Brinn did
fine. She says the scariest part is 'the drop'.
There were bigger drops on Big Thunder so I don't know what she is
talking about!
 We met Kristen and Maddy in the store at
the end and
then moved on. Jaws was next. I could certainly leave that
one next time. Nothing too exciting compared to the other
Universal Attractions. Brinn had been clamoring for Men in Black
(MIB) all day, and we were getting closer now. We continued on
through the excellent theming - we really enjoy all the
buildings/facades in Universal.  We zipped on Men in Black and ended up riding twice in a
row. It was great. Had to use one of the lockers to lock up
our stuff, but its free for the first hour or so. Just REMEMBER
you locker number. Write it down if you can! The importance
of this will become clearer as the day progresses! ;-)
 Loved MIB and did
OK score wise. Would need MUCH more practice to do better!
:-) Retrieved things fine from the locker and headed for Back to
the Future. The girls watched all three movies a few months
ago, so they were excited to do this one. It was fun, and while I
thought they might have been a bit scared, they both loved it.
 Next up was Animal Planet. We hit it
perfect, and
got there just as the show started. It was a fun show with lots
of beautiful and very talented animals. After this we went
on to ride ET (does anyone know WHY they ask your first name and give
you the card? I noticed nothing during the ride that its actually
used for...) Next was Woody's Rollercoaster. Fun but
typically short for a kids coaster. The girls spent a few
minutes getting REAL wet in Fivel's play area.
We
were getting hungry now, so we headed back toward the entrance and
grabbed a bite at a counter service restaurant. On the way we saw
some
characters from the movie Madagascar. We were just in time
because
they closed the line just after we got in it. Something
they do
different than Disney is typically have the employee helping the
characters, interact with the crowd a bit over a speaker. These
help
you both find the characters, and keep the kids entertained a bit while
waiting. |
|
Kristen and the girls decided to head back to the resort
and hit the
pool. I wanted to go to Islands of Adventure (IOA) and hit the
Hulk.
I had given the camera bag to Kristen, but still had my fanny pack
on.
As I approached the Hulk entrance they said it had to be in a locker,
so off I went. This is the point that remembering your locker
number
is VERY important. 
