UNIVERSAL STUDIOS: Time for More Fun!

On Sunday, February 2nd, we made our way to Universal Studios! We decided to do the Islands of Adventure Park as both of us have done the Universal Studios Park. It was a blessing to be able to sleep in a little bit as the park didn’t open unti9am and after our 15.5 hour day at Disney the day prior, it felt great to not get up at 5 o’clock in the morning! It was so cold out in the morning that I actually wore two shirts underneath my jean jacket and wished I had even more layers than that. Luckily, it was really sunny and the sunshine really helped keep you warm!

We started the day by going on Kurt’s favourite ride: the Hulk Roller Coaster! This is a super high speed and twisty, upside down roller coaster that is so much fun! We even thought about going on it again at the end of the day but we’re feeling too tuckered out.

We worked our way clockwise around the park and were able to go on so many rides! The lineups were significantly shorter than they were at Disney World on the Saturday. I wasn’t able to get as many pictures because you actually lock up your phone and belongings in lockers for most of the rides but here were a few fun shots from within the park.

One of our funniest memories was going on the Jurassic park ride that afternoon. Since it was so cold out, the water rides were not very busy at all so you could basically just walk right on. We decided that since we had our ponchos with us, we could take on this ride without getting too wet. So we put on our ponchos and hopped aboard to experience it. Kurt snuck this photo (you actually aren't allowed to take photos of the photo-viewing screens so we got lucky) and this is the hilarious shot of us going down the Jurassic ride! I look incredibly similar to ET - hahaha! This is definitely the way to go about water rides if you don’t want to actually get wet!

We also went on the King Kong ride which was great... until it glitched out and wasn't so great. Regardless, I did enjoy the parts of the ride that worked. Finally, we took a little break and went to a restaurant for lunch. The day before, when we were at Disney, there was absolutely no stopping for lunch of any kind so having a sit down meal was a treat! We shared a buffalo wrap and french fries.

After lunch, we made our way to the Harry Potter World! I was here about four years ago and it is still just as magical coming back! Just like Disney, they take every little detail into consideration and it really feels like you are walking down the streets of Hogsmeade. Of course, we had to stop and get some butter beer! We ended up getting it twice because it was just so yummy.

We went into the candy store and had to look around, they have the nearest things that all relate to the books and movies! Pro tip: next go into the candy stores when you are hungry. It doesn't end well!

We went on a couple rides there before making our way into the Poseidon area of the park and through the Dr Seuss part as well. We didn’t go on anything through there because they were either for younger kiddos or were water rides but enjoyed looking at everything anyway! I was able to get a photo with Puss in Boots & Kitty Softpaws which was probably one of the biggest highlights of the day!

From there, we made our way back to Jacksonville! We timed it just right that we were able to make it home to watch the Super Bowl! Kurt was thrilled because his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, one for the first time in 50 years! I personally was just excited for the halftime show and the commercials that play since we don’t get to see the American commercials in Canada!

I ended up sleeping for nearly 11 hours that night which I needed! We walked about 50,000 steps within the two days so we were both sore and tuckered our from the two days filled with magic!

I cannot wait to go back already! Who’s in?!

- T