Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure (Tuesday)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Today we went to Universal Studios-Islands of Adventure! It is a theme park with several rides and other things to see, do, and eat! We opened the gates at 9am and closed them again at 10pm. It was fun for us all, I believe...though Jesse had difficulty enjoying some of the scarier rides and instead went to Seuss Landing where the rides were a bit more welcoming!

Our first ride of the day: the moving walkways!

The day started out at Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which I think was the newest ride. Even though it was the first ride we did, it was still a 60 minute wait. By the time we were out of there, it had turned to 90, so we were glad we got there when we did! That ride was pretty impressive. From there we did a roller coaster that made Dad sick and caused him to start being Jesse's guide in Mom's place. We also did a walk-through "tour" of an enchanted building (something a Harry Potter fan may know about).

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

We got very good at waiting in line today!

Jesse gets ready for a ride!

Us and the Hogwarts Express Conductor from Harry Potter

Waiting...resting...and a little more waiting...

After Harry Potter, we made our way to Jurassic Park, where the dinosaurs were roaming. Before getting started, we ate the sandwiches Mom had packed for lunch. After enjoying that ride and getting pretty wet, we went to another place and did two more really wet rides. We were completely soaked and spent the rest of the afternoon drying off! Then we did the 3-D Spiderman ride. (At this point, Mom and Jesse were gone to Seuss Landing again.) The wait was 90 minutes long, but I thought it was almost worth the wait! It was a really neat ride!

Eating Lunch in Jurassic Park

Finally, we did the Incredible Hulk roller coaster, which I thought was the most thrilling of them all. Although I liked Spiderman better, this one had a much shorter wait so it was more rewarding! As we were waiting in line, it started to rain and it rained for about 15 minutes. They shut down the ride for that time, but we were glad for a dry place from the rain! 

You can see the Hulk ride on the far right side of this picture, along with some other attractions. This was the last picture taken before the camera stopped working for the day. We were all pretty wet here!

Then we went on to a stunt show, and this was really neat to see! It was like a play, but the actors did a lot of stunts. And pyrotechnics were even used!

After this, we went back to our favorite rides until closing time-riding Spiderman, Jurassic Park, a few others, and even the Incredible Hulk two more times until we got sick! Then we went to the gift shop before heading out. We were all VERY tired at the end of the day! I'm not sure about the rest of them, but I could hardly function when we got home. Somehow Mom and Dad still had the energy to grill and make up hamburgers before we all went to bed. (Hence, the reason I hadn't the opportunity to write about our day yesterday!)