Okay, so its been two weeks. I guess i can take the time to discuss the trip.
SATURDAY NIGHT: CityWalk
- My favorite store, the Universal Legacy Store, was in the process ofbeing converted into a preview ce ter for Epic Universe; Drinks at Fat Tuesday; late lunch at the BK Whopper Bar; a round at Hollywood Drive-In (The Haunting of Ghostly Greens); more drinks at Fat Tuesday; visited Rising Star at 8:30 – they opened at 7, so we figured by the time we finished eating and golfing the show would have started, but no they apparently didn’t start until 9:15; returned to Dockside and chilled by the pool
SUNDAY: IOA → USF
- took advantage of early entry to do everything in WW Hogsmeade before taking the Hogwarts Express to Kings Cross Station; unless you’re a devoted HP fan, theres really no point in eating up valuable time. All of Touring Plans listed showtimes were off from anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes, so thay screwed with my custom plan. Was still able to do everything i wanted throughout the day at least once, except The Simpsons Ride; just as i made my way over there, the ride went down, so i did HRRR a second time – i hate how they keep pinching pennies with narrowing down the songlist, but i did love belting out “Waterloo”! Met Betty Boop for the first time; it was a little off putting that shes wearing this hard plastic hair helmet instead of a wig. Wanted to say hi to Mystery Inc, but didnt know how to say “Im only interested in Velma” without sounding like a creep. BeetleJuice was, as always, the best face character. He took a break from his usual spot to troll diners at Mel’s; it was a laugh. Ate at Minion Cafe for the first time, and freaking loved it. I just wish i knew they only did mobile ordering; i had a $100 gift card i had been saving for this trip, and every time i tried to use it somewhere it wasn’t taken. The Bourne Stuntacular went down for about five minutes towards the end of the rooftop sequence, which kinda killed the immersion, but the host did a good job of keeping the audience engaged while they got up and running. Supercharged is normally an easy way to sit down in the AC and get off your feet, but as you can see it took much longer than normal; there was an Indian family who decided to use the singlerider line. The ride hosts were having difficulty directing them where to go, while still serving the families who took the standby line like they’re supposed to. The only hostilities i witnessed were on MIB when some Karen went off on the hosts for not letting her precious little angel on the ride – after they went through the queue, meaning they deliberately ignored the height requirment outside. From where i was standing, the boy appeared to be atleast two inches too short. About an hour before the park closee, we went to Margaritaville for a drink (the airplane bar) and headed back inside. After park close (7pm) my brother went home, and I went back to Dockside to lay down for about an hour, then returned to CityWalk. Got a drink at Pat O’Brien’s just in time to hear “Sweet Caroline” (feel bad for the players, they must get that several times a night). Performed at Rising Star, rocked the house.
MONDAY: IOA
- Did early entry again, but this time decided to postpone Hagrid’s until later in the day. Again had an issue with non-English speakers: there was a Russian couple that absolutely would not get off their phones on Reign of Kong – Siriusly, theoughout the queue, they were both taking a selfie every thirty seconds and blogging nonstop; once we got on the tram, we couldnt take off until they finally got the clue that they were the ones that the hosts were telling to put away their phones; then they pulled the, back on and just switched to night mode. As for the ride itself, i want it on record that without the 3D glasses, this is just as bad as Supercharged; i also still havent forgiven Skull Island for costing us the iconic Jurassic Park gate:
“What do they got in there? King Kong?”
–Dr. Ian Malcolm
You could’ve kept it and just changed the sign! Maybe give it a more primitive makeover…
Had another inconsiderate jackass(es) on JP River Adventure. We kept getting announcements to please stop putting your hands in the water and trying to grab things. As we approached the drop, we got interrupted again, this time telling them to take their hat off again or they were going to lose it. Really spoiled the illusion. As for the ride itself, the dinosaurs were pretty clunky. Hell, the parasaurolophus that supposedly headbutts your boat couldnt even been seen!
Hagrid’s went down for about 10 minutes, but i was in the underground tunnels, so everyone just sat down and relaxed. Over before you knew it. The great thing about this ride is that the queue never stops moving. Every time I’ve ridden it, the actual wait time was only about half of what was posted. The only flaw is that the unicorn honestly looks kinda shitty. Side note, I’m a millenial who doesnt keep up with Gen Z trends. Some cute girls were playing with this guessing game app, where you hold your phone up to your forehead and they feed you clues. The subject was Disney characters, so i was jumping in with hints when they got stuck. Does anyone know what this app is called?
My time for Bilge Rat Barges was thrown off because i was having some problems with my locker and started the timer too early. I’d say it was really about a third, maybe even a quarter of what i submitted.
Lot of guys lined up to get their picture taken with Rogue, while all the kids wanted to meet Wolverine or Spider-Man, so i got to meet Cyclops and Storm without a wait (met Cap, DD, and GG last time, so i thought i’d give them a break). I know the Marvel characters are supposed to be closer to the comic books than the movies, but couldn’t Universal up their costume budget by just a little so they look less like they came from Spirit Halloween? I swear, the “ears” on Wolverine’s mask were bent in opposite directions. Not the fault of the performers, they do their best with what theyre given to work with.
Having completed everything i wanted, i popped back in to USF to see if i could cram anything else in before i had to go. Minion Blast is fun (if you can get the stupid app to load, and it actually saves your progress) but i wish there was an actual goal or maybe a tutorial. Scarlett, Bratt, Macho, and Vector eventually go down in the final stage. But the Vicious “6” just absorb all your shots without any indication you’re making any progress. They dont even react to being shot, like the rest of their respective stages.
