 This is it, our last day and we fly back later this
evening. I was up and got all my final stuff packed before the
girls woke up. I decided to let them take their time getting
ready and headed out for Islands of Adventure around
8:30am. Kristen would give me a call when she arrived at
Universal so I was free to hit a few favorites until then.
They let us in about 8:40am, and I was first all the way to Hulk.
Well, until I had to get a dreaded locker. After tattooing the
locker number on my arm, I grudgingly left my stuff in the small metal
box. I think I checked my exact location 14 times, and then
headed back to the Hulk. I am NOT repeating the lost bag shuffle
again today!
 I
was still only 5
people back in line for the Hulk. They were not letting us in yet
though. Seems there was a bit of a maintenance issue to correct
first. I decided to wait since I was in no real hurry and we
headed in about 8:55am. It was a great ride as always, and I
exited quickly and moved on to Spiderman next. I checked the
tattooed locker number, and I wasn't sweating enough yet to wash it
away. So, I left my stuff safely locked up while I did Spiderman
followed by Doctor Doom's Fear Fall. I'd only done this once
before, but I was ready for the start this time so it was just a great
ride! Loved it and the view is awesome.
Headed back, and retrieved my stuff flawlessly! I think my
paranoia served me well. I think I'll remember locker number 202
for the rest of my life! ;-)
 After
I grabbed my
stuff I pulled out the cell phone and saw I had a message.
Kristen was on her way so I called and we decided to meet up at the
Universal entrance. I'll have to pass on any more rides on
Dueling Dragons this year. I headed out and over to
Universal. It was pretty empty this morning in city walk, and I
enjoyed the sites as I walked past Hard Rock Cafe and on to the
Universal Entrance. Kristen was just inside the gate and we all
headed on into the park.
Shrek was just letting people enter for a show, so we jumped in line
for that. It’s a great attraction, and we really enjoyed seeing
it again today. When we exited it was just after 10, and we saw
Shrek, Fiona and Donkey posing for pictures again today.
 Then
it was off to
watch Jimmy Neutron. We all enjoy this one! There were no
takers for Mummy today, so we passed on that and headed over to Men in
Black. This we did a couple times, and then on to Back to the
Future. Both these are favorites! ? I just love all
the theming here in Universal Studios. The ‘sets’ are so
detailed, and its hard to tell the ‘props’ from the
stores/attractions.
The girls had worn swim suits under their cover-ups so that they could
hit the Curious George water play area. This place does water
RIGHT! Of course, its important for parents that want to stay dry
to read all the signs! ;-) Its definitely a SOAKED
zone! I’ve included several pictures from just the front area… I
didn’t take my camera in any farther than this!
 After
getting well
cooled off and a quick ride on the Woody Woodpecker Roller Coaster we
headed back to the front of the park. Ran into the Flintstones
and Rubble’s on the way and stopped for a quick pic. They were a
fun group. Then it was back to the resort for one last swim
before heading home. It was another scorcher today, so we really
enjoyed the pool for a couple hours. We headed into the pool side
Beach Club full service restaurant (take notice Disney – THIS was
great!) and enjoyed a nice lunch. The kids ate free using those
coupons we were given at checkin, and that saved about $15.
Nice. It rained a bit while we were in there, but nice and
dry (it’s all covered). Just a bit more swimming after that
and then back to the room to change and get ready to head to the
airport. Finally got a picture of the front of the hotel as
we were leaving, and as we passed the Universal sign we said our
goodbyes. It was a great time here at Universal and a fun
way to end our fantastic trip!
 I
gassed up the rental car near Universal and headed to
the airport. Dropped off the car at the National return and had
the bags loaded with a porter before they even arrived to give me my
receipt. Off into the terminal, and soon we were all checked in
for our USAirways flight. Whew…. Everything is on time so no
problems there. It was Monday – the day Katrina did so much
damage to the Gulf Coast. ? We of course only knew that it
had hit that day but had few details. But it did not seem to be
affecting our flights that night. I think we were very
lucky.
After checking the bags the girls did a bit of last second shopping
while I sat with the bags and typed some of the report up.
We moved back to the gate around 60 minutes before flight takeoff, and
had no problems getting through bag check. Both our flights out
of Orlando and Philly went off without any delays, and we were back in
NY right on time.
Drove on home and crashed! It was a long and wonderful vacation,
but it was good to be home again!
Until next time! Thanks so much for sharing our vacation.
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