Days 1 and 2
Earlier this year, I got to take a trip to Universal Studios in Florida. I had wanted to go there since I was a kid, but never had the chance! Well, my chance finally came when I was able to find round trip airfare from Chicago O’Hare to Tampa, Florida, for less than $100.
When I was a kid, my parents hired a nanny before they chose to go the au pair route. My first and only nanny, Miss Tina, is one of my favorite people in the entire world! She came and visited us even after she was done being our nanny. We stayed close throughout the years, and a few years ago, she moved down to Florida. A town right in the middle of Tampa and Orlando. For years, I had said I would come and visit her, and just never actually did it.
When I saw that airfare, I knew it was finally time! I texted her, told her the dates, and the next thing you know, I’m planning a trip to Florida!
Miss Tina works as a teacher. Since I was going to be there basically five full days, Friday-Tuesday, she told me that she could only take 2 days off of work. Which I totally understood. She decided to take Monday and Tuesday off, but told me that she would have no issues getting me from the airport late on Thursday night! But, if she got me, then I would just be sitting around at her house on Friday doing nothing. So we tried to find an alternative option.
Then I realized, “Wait. I have family in the Tampa area!”. And I texted my Mame and Papa to see if they would be willing to get me from the airport on Thursday and spend the day with me on Friday. They were totally willing to do it!
So, I flew into Tampa on a Thursday night, and they greeted me at the airport to drive me to Sarasota with them. It was a late night for them, but I am so grateful that they were willing to have me and that I got to spend some time with them!
Friday
On Friday morning, I woke up, and my Mame decided that we should drive around and see Sarasota and the Keys, because I had never been. We also decided to meet my aunt for lunch. We left their house and drove to downtown Sarasota and checked it out. Then, we went to meet my aunt for lunch at a restaurant called Gecko’s Grill and Pub.
On the way to Gecko’s, we had driven past a shop that had a banner that caught my eye. It was a donut shop that had just opened! Of course Mame and I had to stop there on our way back. You can read my full review of The Farmhouse Donuts and Decor in my Donut Digest post!
After we ate our fill of donuts, we decided to drive around the Keys. Mame took me to Siesta Key Beach, which is her favorite spot. It really was a gorgeous beach! I would love to go back one day and spend some time there.
I always thought that the Keys were overrated. I’d never been there, but so many people went there and raved about it, I was sure they’d be lame and nothing special, and just totally overrated. From what I saw though, I’m very wrong! I would love to visit them for real sometime. From Siesta Key Beach, we drove to my aunt’s house to visit her and my cousin! It was a short visit, but I’m so glad I got to see them.
We went back home and grabbed my stuff. Then, Mame and Papa drove me up to Brandon to meet Miss Tina and hand me off. It was about halfway for them both, so it worked out well, and I’m glad they were all so willing to accommodate me. After dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, we headed to her house in Bartow. We played a round of Friends Trivia (which is actually incredibly difficult to win), and went to bed.
Saturday – Universal Day 1
We woke up early and hit the road to Orlando. I was so excited! We parked the car and headed to the parks. For Day 1, we wanted to go to Islands of Adventure. I did not get a park-hopper, because it cost a lot more money! We simply did 3 day passes.
Orlando in early September is HOT. It was at least 95 degrees Fahrenheit and humid every day that we hit the parks. But, the perk of going to the parks in September is that, every kid has just gone back to school. The parks were EMPTY. The only line we had to wait in was the line to ride the very newest ride in the park, which is understandable.
My excitement built the entire walk from the car and into the park. However, when we got into Islands of Adventure, it hit me. I hadn’t been to an amusement park in almost six years! I used to go to Six Flags relatively frequently, but hadn’t gone in more than five years. Which is crazy to even think about. Anyways, we got in line for Doctor Doom, a ride she loved. I was apprehensive because I absolutely HATE heights.
We’re standing in line and I’m getting more and more and more nervous. It had been so long since I’d been on any sort of roller coaster or theme park ride. As a kid, I got motion sickness very easily. I still struggle with it pretty often, even as an adult. I can’t do things like ride backwards on the L train. It doesn’t work for me, I get terribly sick. As I’m in line for Doctor Doom (the wait was less than 10 minutes), I’m starting to think, “Oh god. What did I get myself into? Did I just pay $300+ to not be able to enjoy the rides at any of these parks?”. I was majorly freaking out.
Finally, we made it up to the front of the line. I called dibs on chair number 4 because it’s my lucky number, and having that number reassured me a little bit. We put our stuff in the bins and strapped in. I held onto the restraints for dear life. And with that, we were off.
Holy COW. I didn’t know what I was missing out on! One ride on Doctor Doom, and I was ready for anything. I got the craziest rush of adrenaline, and all of a sudden, I wasn’t scared to try any of the rides! I wanted to do them all.
From Doctor Doom, we took our time meandering through the park. Because it was so empty, there was no rush to get to the rides. There was virtually no wait for anything! For that reason alone, I recommend going in September or another off-peak time.
The next ride we got onto was Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls. Miss Tina lives in Florida. Another girl that she used to nanny for went to Universal with her once on a visit. Since I’d met up with her, Miss Tina is going on and on about how when she and Kaycee went to Universal, they wanted to do a water ride because it was hot. And she said they got head-to-toe DRENCHED. I’m thinking, it can’t possibly be that bad. Just a splash! Oh no. I was so very very wrong.
I’m just grateful I purchased a water-resistant backpack. We climbed into the car on Ripsaw Falls, and I’m thinking it’s going to be like Logger’s Run at Six Flags. It is, in theory. In practice, not so much.
I sat with my backpack on my lap, wedged between me and the lap bar. I recommend this, if you’re bringing anything you don’t want to get soaked. I’ll explain why later. We go around the first couple mini drops, and I’m getting soaked, and starting to understand what she means. This ride is no joke.
Finally, we’re heading up to the big drop. Oh my GOD. You will end up drenched from head-to-toe. I seriously had thought she was completely pulling my leg and exaggerating. I walked off the ride, and I had worn Birkenstocks. They were soaked to the point that my feet were slipping and sliding around on the soles. My shirt had zero dry spots on it. It was insane. But man, that’s a fun ride! I would do it again (and I did!).
From Ripsaw Falls, we made our way over to the Jurassic Park River Adventure ride. We were already soaked, why not do another water ride right away? It was definitely hot out enough that neither of us were arguing against another water ride. This ride is so fun. I think it’s probably the ride that we rode the most!
After a quick river adventure, we FINALLY headed over to Hogwarts. Before I go into detail about my pure joy when I made it into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, first, can we appreciate the fact that I’m basically the only person in this picture? That’s how dead the parks were. I walked through, and no one was there. We did not have to wait to take this picture. Nope. It was dead.
Hogsmeade and Hogwarts
I nearly cried when we made it to the entrance to Hogsmeade. I had spent so many years imagining how awesome it would be, and I can safely say, it did not disappoint me.
When we walked into Hogsmeade, we got sidetracked because Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey had no wait, and it was right there. Now, I mentioned I get motion sick? On top of that, I get migraines. It’s great! Most of the rides at Universal are, unfortunately, virtual rides. I think it’s stupid and much prefer real rides, but I guess a lot of people do enjoy them.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was one such virtual ride. Miss Tina also doesn’t do well on rides like that, but we had agreed. We would try one ride. If it went well for me, then I’d do them solo while she sat and waited! Same went for her. Trying this ride was the one thing I regret from the trip. According to Wikipedia, the duration of the ride is 4:06. Let me tell you. It was the longest 4:06 of my LIFE.
Oh, it was bad. I do not recommend trying the virtual rides if you get motion sick or if you get migraines! I kept my eyes tightly closed almost the whole time (I chanced opening them a few times, and each time, it was a bad call), and was pretty woozy when I got off the ride. It was rough. The picture of us on the ride was hysterical. They managed to get a shot of me with my eyes wide open in terror. Miss Tina was next to me, and her eyes were squeezed shut. Neither of us looked like we wanted to be there. We grabbed our stuff back out of the lockers and made our way to Hogsmeade!
When we finally got into Hogsmeade, the first thing I wanted to do was try butterbeer! I had heard so many great things about it. Over the years, of course I’ve tried to make it at home. I actually have had some success. I’ve gotten some pretty good tasting butterbeers from Pinterest recipes. I was pretty excited to try the Butterbeer that Universal sells, because everyone raves about it! Unfortunately, this was my reaction…
Needless to say, it was not what I was expecting. But I paid $8 for it, so I did finish the whole thing!
We got into line for Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure. Now, this is the newest ride at Universal Orlando. I had done my research before getting to Florida. I read horror stories of people waiting 8 hours in line only to have the ride shut down just before they reached the front. People were perusing Reddit looking for advice on the best way to get to the ride before everyone else. Every time I had checked the app, the line was over 2 hours long.
We decided that we weren’t in a huge hurry to do anything, we might as well try the ride once! I had my Butterbeer to finish. We stowed our stuff in the lockers (you are not allowed to bring personal possessions with you), and got into line. The line looks pretty unassuming from the beginning. You spend a lot of time winding around outside, and then you reach the “entrance” to the inside. And you think you’ve made it and are close to the front! Nope, that’s not the case. The line is never ending. As girls, we did not have convenient pockets for our phones. So we had to leave them in the lockers. When we got into line, we got into line with nothing but a Butterbeer.
We waited almost two and a half hours to get onto this ride. It was rough. We got into line and we were in the blazing heat for the longest time. The line is so long, they literally sell concessions in the line for you to have while you’re waiting. It would be great, except you don’t bring your wallet or anything onto the ride with you, you leave them in the lockers! Multiple people gave up and left the line.
We finally made it to the indoor portion of the line. We had been waiting so long, people started sitting on the floor. The family behind us in line told us that they had waited 2 hours for the ride a week prior, and then been turned away right when they had reached the front. The ride had been shut down for some reason or another. We were getting really worried.
FINALLY, we made it inside to the shade. People were sitting on the floors and waiting. There was a period of probably a half an hour where the line simply didn’t move. It was brutal. But in the end? It was kind of worth it! The ride itself was AMAZING (we went back and did it 3 more times), and we did get to be in air conditioning for most of the hot Florida afternoon!
After the ride, we got our stuff back (it took some doing–I had locked the card we needed to use as a key inside the locker with our stuff). And then we headed to get some food. We also met Puss in Boots!
We then walked up through Seuss Landing and back around to Super Hero Island. I got to prove that I’m a child at heart by taking pictures with the truffula trees and the quirky quotes in Toon Lagoon!
We did a few rides on our way back around. We did Doctor Doom again (which might tie with Jurassic Park for the ride that we did the most), and also Jurassic Park! We made our way back into Hogsmeade where we explored a bit more and had our picture taken with the Hogwarts Express. If you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can take the Hogwarts Express from Universal Studios to Islands of Adventure.
We did not have park hoppers, so this was not an option for us. Luckily, they have another Hogwarts Express that you can have your picture taken with!
Then it was time to head home. We left Islands of Adventure and stopped in CityWalk for dinner. We were hoping it would be slightly less expensive than the food that is available inside the parks, and I think that it was. I got a delicious sandwich from Bread Box.
From there, we stopped at Cold Stone on our way out because I needed an ice cream fix after a hot Florida day. Then we hit the road to get back home to Bartow!
I’ll be writing another, separate blog post detailing my other three days in Florida! It was way too long to all be one blog post. Check back next week to read about the rest of my trip.
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