No change in sleeping pattern, up at 5am, and as usual this is washed down with a can of sugar free Monster. Again Julie follows a couple of hours later and we dine on Walmart's finance fruit, yoghurt and toast.
Our ambitious plans of hitting theme parks early in the holiday is based around the fact that our annual passes run out part way through the holiday, and we are therefore trying to get best value by cramming in as much as possible.
This morning we are hitting Islands of Adventure, so it's into the car and a short ride up Turkey Lake Road to Universal. I knew that Universal had updated their security procedures following incidents on rides and the fatal stabbing of an employee, but I certainly wasn't expecting the banks of X Ray machines and metal detectors. Quite an intimidating site. But as we aren't armed to the teeth with an array of automatic weapons for our visit to the park we are soon through and on our way to the entrance.
Our ambitious plans of hitting theme parks early in the holiday is based around the fact that our annual passes run out part way through the holiday, and we are therefore trying to get best value by cramming in as much as possible.
This morning we are hitting Islands of Adventure, so it's into the car and a short ride up Turkey Lake Road to Universal. I knew that Universal had updated their security procedures following incidents on rides and the fatal stabbing of an employee, but I certainly wasn't expecting the banks of X Ray machines and metal detectors. Quite an intimidating site. But as we aren't armed to the teeth with an array of automatic weapons for our visit to the park we are soon through and on our way to the entrance.
We are at the park for opening and instead of heading right for the scrum towards Harry Potter and Hogwarts, we elect to go left to try and get Doctor Doom in before the rush. We walk onto both Doctor Doom and Spiderman, so 2 big rides done before 9.15.
The water rides are a no go, even though it's another sunny day and temperatures are set to soar to 80's. Jurassic Park is closed for rehab, so the next ride on our trail is actually Harry Potter. The ride breaks down and we end up waiting for 30 or so minutes instead of advertised 10 minutes.
Shortly after the ride I notice that my annual pass is no longer in my pocket, so a trip to Guest relations is needed. The girl is very efficient and I soon have a new pass back in my possession. One pain in Universal is the locker system and it's carnage at both Harry Potter and Dragon Challenge, with no clear system in place to deal with the volumes of people getting on and off the rides. Dragon Challenge also requires a further metal detector screening. It was slightly disturbing to see the back seat of the red dragon closed and the operators wiping blood from the seat but it doesn't deter us.
The water rides are a no go, even though it's another sunny day and temperatures are set to soar to 80's. Jurassic Park is closed for rehab, so the next ride on our trail is actually Harry Potter. The ride breaks down and we end up waiting for 30 or so minutes instead of advertised 10 minutes.
Shortly after the ride I notice that my annual pass is no longer in my pocket, so a trip to Guest relations is needed. The girl is very efficient and I soon have a new pass back in my possession. One pain in Universal is the locker system and it's carnage at both Harry Potter and Dragon Challenge, with no clear system in place to deal with the volumes of people getting on and off the rides. Dragon Challenge also requires a further metal detector screening. It was slightly disturbing to see the back seat of the red dragon closed and the operators wiping blood from the seat but it doesn't deter us.
It'n now lunch time, and we decide to leave Universal and head to Chilis near our hotel. We park up at the hotel and walk across the road. As is normal it's 2 for 1 on drinks and I nominate Julie as the designated driver. We trough out and have 3 courses, as I have a free birthday dessert to use -delicious triple berry crumble - mmmmmm.
After our light lunch we take a couple of hours in the room to relax before we head out for EPCOT with Julie at the wheel.
The park seems very quiet, it's 5 o'clock and nearly everything is walk on, with Test Track showing only a 40 minute wait. As with most of the parks there is a lot of ongoing maintenance/updates going on. In EPCOT the land is more or less down with Soarin being updated and the Lion King film down for good.
We take in a couple of rides and then head to Test Track for our fast pass, which will be the first time we have ridden in the dark. Unfortunately as soon as we step onto the ride it breaks down !! It's an on/off situation and we finally get to 10 people from the front when they close the ride for good. We are entertained by a huge group of flag waving brazillian teens who shout and scream their way through the queue. OH JOY !!
As the ride is down, despite it being 7.50 we decide to stake out a spot for Illuminations near Mexico. I grab a beer and we wait an wait for the 9pm show. From our vantage point we get a great view of the new Star Wars themed fireworks at Hollywood Studios which kills 10 or so minutes.
After our light lunch we take a couple of hours in the room to relax before we head out for EPCOT with Julie at the wheel.
The park seems very quiet, it's 5 o'clock and nearly everything is walk on, with Test Track showing only a 40 minute wait. As with most of the parks there is a lot of ongoing maintenance/updates going on. In EPCOT the land is more or less down with Soarin being updated and the Lion King film down for good.
We take in a couple of rides and then head to Test Track for our fast pass, which will be the first time we have ridden in the dark. Unfortunately as soon as we step onto the ride it breaks down !! It's an on/off situation and we finally get to 10 people from the front when they close the ride for good. We are entertained by a huge group of flag waving brazillian teens who shout and scream their way through the queue. OH JOY !!
As the ride is down, despite it being 7.50 we decide to stake out a spot for Illuminations near Mexico. I grab a beer and we wait an wait for the 9pm show. From our vantage point we get a great view of the new Star Wars themed fireworks at Hollywood Studios which kills 10 or so minutes.
It's a long wait but eventually Illuminations gets underway, and as usual it's well worth the wait. Once the show is over it's the usual scrum to the exit, a short drive back to the hotel and then after a bowl of Special K, it's time for bed.