The Houghs' Return to Florida: Day III

(contd.)

Day III

Universal Studios

My roommates, enjoying breakfast and a glorious, not-yet-hot Florida sunrise over the lake.

(I'm getting pretty good at these sunrise pics, if I do say so myself. . .)

Day III of the Hough Family's Florida Vacation saw us returning to Universal Orlando Resort for a second day in a row.  As previously mentioned, we once again donned our Hogwarts House apparel for another round of Harry Potter-ness - the main reason for this vacation in the first place.

A rare moment of sisterly peace and affection, heading down to the pedestrian bridge that spans the road connecting the parking complex with Universal Citywalk.

After walking through Citywalk, we reached Universal Studios.

Kris had some random guy take this obligatory picture of us in front of this giant globe thing.

Abby double-checks her height to make sure she's good to go for the day.

Kris, once again, busts out her phone to show off her tickets.  Every time we entered the parks, and every time we got in line to board the Hogwarts Express, we had to do this.

Universal Studios.  Most of the park hasn't changed much since the early 90s.

Our top priority in the morning was two-fold.  First, head directly for the Simpsons area, so Yours Truly - being an avid Simpsons fan - could have his picture taken in various Simpsons locations before tourists started crowding the place up (this was, like, the top thing I wanted to do on this vacation.)  Secondly, once through the Simpsons, to reach Escape from Gringott's and get that ride out of the way before the wait time got too long.

The DeLorean from Back to the Future, right outside the Simpsons area of the park. 

Welcome to Springfield. . .

Prepare for a bunch of pictures of me in front of a bunch of Simpsons stuff, folks. . .

This has seriously been my favorite TV show of all time since I was in 4th grade. . .  I was soooo pumped to be here.

I took a ridiculous amount of pictures of this part of the park.  Not gonna lie.

As Jebediah Springfield once said, "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man."

I may have bought a few souvenirs from Duff Brewing Co.  That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, honestly.

Inside Moe's Tavern was an actual bar.  I made it a top priority of mine to order and drink a Duff Beer at the bar at some point in time later on in the day.

(Not open yet.)

Remember this pic, folks - later on in the day, while the girls and Kris were riding a ride, I would return here and pick up a couple souvenirs.

Duff Man - spokesperson for Duff Beer.

Apu's Kwik-E-Mart was a gift shop.  Bought a couple things in there, too.

Hangin' out with Milhouse.

(We didn't eat at this place.)

(. . . or this one.)

There were a lot of carnival and arcade games throughout this section of the park, but we didn't stop and play anything.

Kris and Abby at the entrance of the Simpsons Ride.

Like I said before, our initial plan was, after Yours Truly had his picture taken in front of a crap-load of Simpsons stuff, for us to continue on through to Diagon Alley in order to get in line at Escape from Gringott's.  However, as we were walking out of the Simpsons area, we saw that there was only a 5-minute wait time for the Simpsons Ride (which usually hovers between 30 - 40 minutes, later in the day.)  Abby didn't really care for simulator rides that much - having been absolutely terrified on Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey - so Kris waited outside with her while Alayna and I went on the ride.

We more or less walked right on to the ride.

This simulator was nowhere near as smooth and pleasant as some of the other ones we did previously, nor that we'd do later in the week.  The visuals were out-dated, and the whole ride left one feeling nauseous.  It was hilarious, obviously, being The Simpsons and everything, but I'm really glad Abby didn't go on it.

Coming back out from the ride. . .

Leaving the Simpsons area. . .

The lake around which Universal Studios is built.

Approaching Diagon Alley. . .

The Knight Bus (a triple-decker bus from the third movie/book in the Harry Potter series. . .)

Back in Diagon Alley. . .

Abby didn't want to do this ride, either, as it was a combination of a roller coaster (like Disney's Space Mountain), and a simulator (which she hates), so we decided to do a Child Swap.  There was a 25-minute wait, which we got to hang out together in line for. . .

These animatronic goblins are the Gringott's bank tellers - and the main part of this ride's queue was in the main hall in the bank, as seen in the movies. . .

Right before we got on the ride, Abby and I were led to the designated parent/child swap area, which was designed to look like a dungeon cell.  A TV was mounted in the wall, where they played scenes from the part of one of the movies where the main characters escape from Gringott's Bank (I forget which movie that was - maybe the sixth or seventh, I'm not really a Harry Potter fan.)  About ten minutes later, Kris and Alayna returned, and we switched places.  The attendant who oversaw this exchange was cool enough to let Alayna go a second time, which she thoroughly appreciated.

Officially escaped.

Back in the shops, acquiring more souvenirs. . .

The girls hadn't really tried out their wands in Diagon Alley all that much the day before, so now that the big ride for the day was out of the way, we decided to let the girls try out their wands some more before the area got too crowded with asshole tourists.

They had issues with this location, for sure.

Down this sinister back alley, one came to Knockturn Alley - where all the bad wizards congregate. . .

There were quite a few wand locations down this dark, hidden section of Diagon Alley, which the girls tried out (and I apologize in advance for the pic/video quality here - I did the best I could.)

Borgin and Burkes - the Dark Arts store.

Trying out some wand stuff. . .

Heading back towards Diagon Alley. . .

The Cannonball checks out her map for other wand locations.

Making the caged bird sing. . .

Took a bit, but she got it.

Both girls had difficulty with getting water to rain down from this umbrella.

Looks easy enough, right?

A park employee tries to help Abby out getting the magic to work, while Alayna not-so-patiently waits to get wet.

The wand tech (or whatever his title is) realized that Abby's wand had a hairline crack in the sensor, which was causing all her issues with not having certain locations work.  He led us into the backroom of Ollivander's wand shop where some wand repair dudes - they had some special Harry Potter name, but I wasn't paying attention - replaced the wand free of charge.  From that point on, she was good to go.

Waiting for Abby's wand to be 'fixed.'

Homeboy burps up some more fire.

One last posed picture in Diagon Alley, on our way out.  By this point in the late morning on our second day at Universals, we had thoroughly done everything Harry Potter in the entire Resort, and were ready to check out the rest of the park.

Back outside in Universal Studios. . .

One of these ladies is throwing a tantrum because she's hungry and doesn't want to eat one of the protein bars we brought along with us.  Guess which one.

On the way back from Diagon Alley, the girls requested to stop off and do this quick ride (akin to the Dumbo ride in Magic Kingdom.)  There was no wait time to speak of, so we said 'what the hell.'

Kris, havin' a blast.

As we continued on through the Simpsons, I asked that we stop off in Moe's so I could check it out.  It looked EXACTLY like the show.

I made a promise to myself that I would have a Duff at the bar before the day was out, but now was not the time. . .

Chillin' with Barney Gumble.

Sorry, bro.

We looped around the Simpsons area and headed South, ended up in some random cartoon character area that featured Barney, Woody the Woodpecker, ET and a hodgepodge of other washed-up childhood favorites.  At least they had some splash areas to help the kids cool down, I'll give 'em that.

We consulted our Universals app while Alayna finally got around to eating her protein bar (grudgingly.)  The Woody Woodpecker coaster posted a five-minute wait time, but we walked right on without waiting and were the only people in the entire coaster.  No complaints there.

Man, if you thought the Hippogriff coaster was short, this thing was even shorter. . .

We did the Woody coaster twice, and then Kris checked her phone and saw that the Revenge of the Mummy ride only had a twenty minute wait time.  We left the cartoony area and crossed the park, where Kris and the girls hopped in line and I once again held their backpacks (we were faced once again with paying $20 in order to grab a locker for a sixty-second ride - no thanks.)  It ended up being a good thing I stayed back, though - Abby ended up chickening out shortly before getting on the ride.

While Kris and the girls waited in line, I walked around the theme park and scouted/knocked out a lot of the souvenir shops we had wanted to check out, if only to cross them off the list so we didn't have to do them later.  While this was going on, Abby's confidence in her ability to handle the ride was crumbling, so Kris began texting me to return and pick her up.  I had walked over the majority of the park during this back-and-forth with Kris, and unfortunately all of the pictures I took during this time came out super over-exposed (the picture I took above outside the ride was seriously the best one of the lot.)  Upon returning to the attraction, I spoke with the line attendants, who let me enter the ride exit from the gift shop (see above), and eventually a ride attendant sent Abby over to me once Kris and Alayna boarded the ride.

This is the best quality video I could find of this ride, which absolutely terrified Alayna - she was definitely not ready for a ride of this magnitude.

While Alayna and Kris were on the ride, Abby and I scoped out the gift shop, which obviously featured lots of stereotypical Egyptian decor. . . like this dude, here.

Flavored crickets.  No f***ing thank you, I've had them once before in Ghana (alive and raw) and wasn't a fan.

Alayna and Kris finally came off the ride, Alayna shaken and visibly upset.  She found an Egyptian plush cat that soon cheered her up, though, and carried that around with her the rest of the day.

Back into the park. . .

An Irish store?  Damn straight we're making a stop. . .

Not sure what the hell Abby's doing here. 

The usual Irish fare to be found here, we didn't get anything.

The old Jaws ride used to be around here, but they sadly took it out over a decade ago.  Like a bunch of assholes.  Thank God Universals had the foresight to install a Jimmy Fallon ride and a Minions ride instead.  Pffft. . . .

R.I.P. Jaws. . .

Soldiering ever on.

We walked through the park, Kris checking her Universals app to find a decent place to get the girls some lunch and a break. . .

We decided to hit up Krusty Burger, back in the Simpsons area, which was a bit of a hike, but the kids were up for it.

These misting stations were a God-send.

This would've been good, too, but we all wanted A/C at this point.

Oddly enough, this was the only picture that was taken inside Krusty Burger - I guess if you were really curious as to the layout and decor of the place, you could Google it yourself.  The girls and I waited at a table (shown here) - the place was packed, but one opened up just as we walked in - as Kris ordered food for her and the girls on her app, which saved her a ridiculous amount of time since she didn't have to wait a half an hour or forty-five minutes in the food line with all the idiot tourists.  Alayna took this picture of her new cat friend while we waited, and Yours Truly scrolled through the hundreds of pics I had taken on my SLR, deleting here and there.

After lunch, in which we all cooled off, rehydrated, and put the girls' hunger pangs to rest, we reapplied sunscreen and checked the app to see what the wait times were for rides.  ET had a 25-minute wait time, but the queue was scenic enough that it wasn't so bad.  And it was inside with air conditioning, so who the f*** cares. . .

Courtesy of Youtube, for your viewing pleasure. . .

The girls both loved the ride, especially Abby, for whom we'd repeatedly reference this ride when comparing other rides to it ("you'll like it, it's a lot like the ET ride," etc.)  Exiting through the gift shop, we came across this photo op from the movie.

The Cannonball buys a galaxy-themed scarf.

More misting for the Hough ladies.

It was early in the afternoon, and I was putting my foot down.  I was going to have a Duff at Moe's before time got away from us, and so I led the family back into the Simpsons area.  Again.

Finally.  At long last.  I sent this picture to so many fellow Simpsons-fan friends. . .

Duff Lite?  How tacky.

I told Kris to check the wait times on other rides, not wanting her and the girls to have to stand around while I drank my Duff, and she saw that there was only a 20-minute wait for the Men In Black ride (which is a lot like the Buzz Lightyear shooting ride at Magic Kingdom.)  So she took the two girls and went off for that ride - which was sort of nearby - and I stayed back with all the backpacks and enjoyed my time at Moe's.

Didn't get around to trying this.

Kris texted me this pic of her and the girls in line.  What was supposed to be a quick 20-minute wait ended up being closer to 45 minutes, unfortunately - the only time we ever had a longer wait time than expected throughout the entirety of our Florida trip.

While her and the girls continued to wait in line, I did some souvenir shopping through Springfield.  I purchased a 'Bort' shot glass from the Kwik-E-Mart (it's a reference to a Season 6 episode), along with a Duff beer can koozie that resembles Duff Man's torso (including a red cape), and a brown, zip-up Duff bottle koozie.

Having acquired some mandatory Simpsons souvenirs, I strolled around the park more, checking in once and awhile to see where Kris and the girls were.  As crappy as it was sometimes, this divide-and-conquer strategy of ours cut down on a lot of wait times, and we were able to see more of the parks in the process.

The Men in Black ride. . .

As Kris and the girls shot at aliens, Yours Truly grabbed a beer at a kiosk and sat at a picnic table in front of this familiar face, who I was happy to see was still a part of the theme park, even if he had lost his ride.

Kris texted me once she got off the ride and we agreed to meet at King's Cross Station in order to catch a train over to Islands of Adventure.  By this point in time during the day, we had knocked out all the stuff we had wanted to do at Universal Studios, which is easily the weaker of the two parks.  We had no interest in a Shrek ride, a Minions ride, a Jimmy Fallon ride, or a Transformer ride - they're all frickin' simulators, and Abby hates those.  You definitely find yourself missing the variety of Disney at a park like this, that's for sure (with the exception being the Harry Potter stuff, that is.) 

Ummm. . . what the hell?

Having used our digital tickets once again, we hopped in a 40-minute line for the Hogwarts Express (which was closer to a half-an-hour, thank God.)

Entering Platform 9 3/4.

All aboard.

Loaded up.

Back to Islands of Adventure, and Hogsmeade. . .

Another photo op in front of the train. . .

We skipped Hogsmeade entirely, having completely done everything in that area the day before, and instead headed south in order to check out the Lost Continent and the Dr. Seuss areas of Islands of Adventure - the two areas we had previously skipped over.

Catching shade wherever she can find it.

Kris agreed to get the girls some Dippin' Dots to help them cool off.  As if coldness and sugar could be possibly turned down at this point.

Ice cream break outside of a Heraldic shop. 

Middle school-aged Brian would've lost his damn mind in this store.

I know exactly where they picked up these cuirasses and swords - here, at Design Toscano.  I know this because I've had my eye on the exact set for my Study, much to my wife's dismay.

Probably the most bitchin' shirt I've seen on this trip so far.

Pretty awesome bathroom signs around these parts.

There was this souvenir store called Treasures of Poseidon in the Lost Continent, which specialized in beach/summer wear, jewelry, and other such stuff. . . we spent quite awhile in this one.

The remains of Merman from the Masters of the Universe.

Corinthian.

Pickin' out bling

A creepy bedazzled skull.  I'm gonna request that mine gets the same treatment upon my death.

Poseidon.

Checkin' out pearls.

Why does this guy look so chill with a frickin' skeleton just loungin' on him like that?  That would terrify the shit out of me.

Poseidon's Fury.  We paused so Alayna could get her photo out in front of it - she's our resident Greek Mythology expert - but opted not do the ride itself.

Setting off, once again.

A pretty cool-looking ATM machine, if I do say so myself.

Entering Dr. Seuss land.  Prepare thyself for total lameness. . .

Sure thing, Universal - "Bliss Street."

We decided to hop in line to the High in the Sky Train Trolley, as the wait time was posted as being only ten minutes.  Guess which one of the two kids in the picture is going into middle school next year?

Finally ready to board what was bound to be an edge-of-your-seat experience.

Seriously.  That was it.

Various parts of the park were visible from our high vantage point - Jurassic Park, Hogwarts Castle, and whatever the hell that mountain thing is in the Lost Continent.

Starting to get hungry. . .

Don't worry, we didn't buy these.  I don't have the guns to pull off a tank top.

As it approached dinner time, I told Kris I wanted to eat at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, which was located within Universal Citywalk.  While I called to make reservations for a table, the girls jumped on this Dumbo-ish ride that sprayed water on them from time to time.  Any excuse to get wet in this sort of weather, guys.

(I think Alayna took the full brunt of these barrages.)

On our way out of Dr. Seuss land, the girls kept asking to go on more and more kiddie rides.  None of these rides - including the one I just showed in the previous two pictures - had wait times longer than 5 minutes, so we really didn't really care.  As you can clearly see, I REALLY love riding on carousels.

Of course.

Leaving Dr. Seuss land.  Or whatever the damn hell it's called.

???

Exiting through the gigantic gift shop at the front of the park. . .

Another crazy photo op.  Why not.

After a short walk, we reached Margaritaville - a joint Kris and I used to frequent regularly when we first moved down to Florida, before we became saddled with children and regular jobs.  The good ol' days.

They wouldn't take a reservation after 6pm, but fortunately we were able to walk right in and nab a table.  While we waited for our food, the girls took turns adding their names to the wall.

 

Sadly, no one ordered a Margarita. . .

Eating some kind of macaroni and cheese.  Along with chicken fingers, this is her go-to.

For Alayna, it's always a classic cheeseburger and fries.  Hold the pickle.

Enjoying the sunset after buying a few things in the souvenir store attached to the restaurant.  I bought a Landshark hat (Jimmy Buffet's personal line of beers, very popular down here in Florida), along with a thank you set of coffee mugs for Dad and Cindy for watching our dog for the week.

Making wishes in a nearby fountain.  By this point in time, we were forced with a tough decision.  We could begin heading back to the car, which would put us home around 8:30pm, with enough time to give the kids baths and wind them down before they absolutely lost their minds.  OR. . . we could go back into Islands of Adventure and walk to the faaaar back of the park - which would take about a half an hour - to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, in order to watch the Night Display over Hogwarts Castle.  Then we'd have to fight our way out of the park, alongside hordes of tourists moving like herded cattle through the bottlenecked thoroughfare, to our car. . . and probably getting back to the condo around 10:30pm.  Showers be damned.  The kids would be absolute assholes, everyone would be sweaty and tired, and it'd be total chaos the whole way, all for a measly fifteen-minute light show.

As you can imagine, I was a fan of the former plan, and my roommates were in favor of the latter. . . so that's what we did.  Kids wanted to see a f***ing light show, we were going to show them a light show, come Hell or high water.  On the way back into Islands of Adventure, Kris stopped again at this Christmas store in order to pick up a customized ornament that featured Hogwarts Castle and a space for some personalization.

Abby, already shutting down.

As it got darker outside, the lamps started lighting through the park. . .

Back in the Lost Continent. . .

. . . .and then Hogsmeade.

The Great Forced March to Hogwarts, 2019.

Still took the opportunity to snap a few pictures along the way.  'Cause one simply doesn't NOT take pictures when adventuring.  Also, check out the super nerd at the left - who the hell dresses up as a wizard over the age of 12?

 
 

We nabbed some seats directly in front of a wand and souvenir kiosk, and the girls immediately collapsed on the spot.  We had a good vantage for the light show, and weren't about to move again.  We still had about a half an hour to kill before the show started, so we just dug in and prepared ourselves for the chaos to ensue.

Selfie in front of Hogwarts.

. . . aaaand one with the other kid, too.

Here's what the actual light show looked like.  There was a young couple - early/mid-20s, thereabouts - standing right next to us, and when the Gryffindor lights took over the outside of the castle, the guy dropped to his knees and pulled out an engagement ring.  I had to start elbowing Kris so she could see what was happening - I was the only one paying any attention at first - and then, of course after the girl said 'yes,' every woman within a ten foot radius proceeded to lose their shit.

I didn't take any video of the walk out - it wouldn't have turned out anyway - but rest assured it was like being forced along in a herd of cattle on the verge of going into a stampede.  Kris each and I grabbed a kid tightly by the wrist and fought our way out of that park as quickly as possible, and fortunately we made it back up to our car without incident and in pretty good time.  Both kids fell asleep on the car ride back to the condo, and Kris and I said 'screw it' with regards to evening showers:  they could bath tomorrow morning in the pool, as we planned on taking a break from theme parks for a couple of days.

To be continued. . .

- Brian