Day 77 - 9 Sept '23 - North to South Carolina. We awoke to thunder rumbling for about an hour, with not much rain. Louise had made pancakes and waffles for breakfast, with a fresh fruit salad and all the condiments we could wish for! So yummy!
We went for a walk at a nearby lake, to give both their dog Boston and all three children (Hugo didn't come) some exercise.
"One of these things is not like the others," commented Louise, as we watched loads of runners wearing numbers go past, while we just strolled.
I asked one of the people who had slowed to a walk, what was going on.
"It's a 40 mile trail run. Stupidest idea I've ever had!"
While we were back at their house having some fresh watermelon, Louise's elder daughter came home, so that was lovely to got to meet Freya before we left.
We were heading to Florida, and after an almost five hour drive, made it to our accommodation in a small town outside Savannah in Georgia. The drive started with us going through a thunderstorm, but fortunately the rest of the drive was pretty dry.
Day 78 - 10 Sept '23 - Georgia to Florida. Our first stop of the day was Savannah, which had lots of live oak trees covered in Spanish moss. Live oak is so-called because unlike other deciduous oaks, this species is evergreen, and thus looks 'alive' all year.
We began our quick sightseeing trip at an old cemetery, where we saw a duellist's grave, and the site of the Georgian signer of the Declaration of Independence, amongst others.
We carried on to Forsyth Park, to see more live oaks and a pretty fountain. We also saw our first statue of a general from the Confederate army; obviously, the losing side generally doesn't get memorialised.
Our next stop was Bonaventure Cemetery, a 100 acre cemetery with more live oaks and Spanish moss; this one you could drive through, which is exactly what we did - I didn't even take any photos.
The last place to visit was the Wormsloe historic site, with over 400 live oaks planted either side of a mile-long avenue, helpfully named the Avenue of the Oaks. The oaks were planted about 160 years ago, and looked absolutely majestic, gracefully arching over the road and dripping with Spanish moss.
When we got back in the car, the arguments started again, this time about water!
"That's MY bottle of water!" yelled Alex.
"We're supposed to share!" yelled Abi.
"Stop drinking it!" yelled Alex.
"Give me the water!" yelled Abi.
I guess, when the temperature is over 30°C, the argument subject changes, and the affected parties start with yelling and don't get any quieter. And, to be fair, Alex did have a tendency to chug more than his share. (Also, just in case you're wondering why we were making the kids share a bottle in this heat, we had nice cold bottles in the chilly bin, but when they get one each they just sit, unfinished, getting warm. There are currently six half-drunk bottles in the car. See?!).
We made it to our destination just before 6pm...a beautiful hotel resort at Universal Studios in Orlando! (This was one of our special activities for our round-the-world tour). Unbelievably, when you added up the price of accommodation plus general admission tickets plus fast pass tickets, the expensive resort ended up cheaper than a cheap motel because the resort included the fast pass tickets for free. Insane, huh?!
We weren't very impressed with their check-in though. It took us almost 40 minutes waiting in the queue and then being processed for our hotel room, plus a seperate 20 minutes at another desk getting our admission tickets, and then a further 30 minutes waiting for our bags to be brought up to our room...that we then had to tip for!
"It would have been quicker and cheaper for us to just bring our own bags up," I grumbled. "Shouldn't have given the guy anything, but he was standing there expectantly."
Stupid country and their hotel rules.
By this stage it was almost 8pm, and it was too late to go to any restaurant, so we went for a quick drive to Maccas - we sure are eating more there than we have EVER done in our lives. But, it's quick, and the chips are gluten free.
Day 79 - 11 Sept '23 - Universal Studios day one. Today was the first day in over two months, that our alarm was set for 6:45am. Dan had to go back to the ticket desk to get them changed from one-park-a-day to park-to-park tickets, as one of the rides was the Hogwarts Express, which took you between parks.
It was a pretty cool start to the day, as our transportation to the park was by boat! Much quicker and easier than walking.
The first ride was a Jurassic Park roller coaster called Veloci-coaster. I will say here what I couldn't say there:
"Sweet Mother of FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
The only thing I managed to get out while on the ride was a near continuous, hoarse-throated, oh-Jesus-I'm-actually-going-to-die-and-I'm-not-exaggerating, scream. I can't remember breathing, but I must have done, as I didn't stop screaming until the ride stopped. I have NEVER experienced terror as absolute as I did on that ride. (In fact, even just writing about it now makes me feel sick).
There were no shoulder braces; we were held in by speed and gravity, a small cushion over our laps that had handles, and (I can only assume) the grace of God. Abi was crying before the ride started, but then said she enjoyed it! Alex loved it, Dan said he was terrified, yet thought I was screaming so much just to put Abi at ease. In my opinion, the ride (which got FASTER in the middle of it, to what felt like near-supersonic speed) was created in hell by the devil himself. Incidentally, the speed went from 0-80kph in two seconds, and then the middle bit went from 64-113kph in 2.4 seconds.
Had either Dan or I known what the ride was going to be like, neither of us would have let that be the kids' first roller coaster experience!
We then went to Hogsmeade, and on a Harry Potter 3D/4D flying cupboard ride, where we were in static chairs that rotated and moved while we watched a video, so it felt like we were flying. Now THAT was cool! Enjoyed by the kids and I, but Dan felt sick.
I was convinced to go on the Hulk roller coaster; this time, Abi didn't want to go on it at all, and was sobbing in the queue. There was a handy 'child-swap' on this ride, so I waited off to the side with Abi while Dan went with Alex. When they came back, Dan gave me the thumbs up and said I would enjoy it, so he and I swapped places and Alex got to ride again. (It turned out Abi was too small for this ride anyway, so it was really lucky she was crying, as nobody had checked her height!).
It certainly wasn't as soul-evaporating as the last roller coaster, and I did enjoy it. It was more 'old school', with a couple of loop-de-loops and corkscrews. Not made by the devil this time, just one of his lesser demons.
More 3D/4D rides with Spider-Man and King Kong were heaps of fun. Dan and Alex went back to the hotel to get our credit card, while Abi and I went on little kiddy rides in Dr Seuss Land. Much, much more sedate! One of them we got a bit wet on, when the fish sprayed water on us as we controlled the up and down motion of the ride.
We went on three water-based rides, and those were really fun. Also, really wet. Like, REALLY wet. Like we had fallen in a river, absolutely soaking, puddles in our shoes, and wet undies kind of wet. It was quite nice as it was super hot, so it helped to cool us down, but the wet shoes and wet denim shorts that kept dripping for ages, were somewhat less than pleasant!
At the end of the day, we went back to Hogsmeade for some butterbeer, then hopped on the Hogwarts Express to the other park.
We walked through it to the exit, looking at all the rides we'd do tomorrow; one of them was a roller-coaster, with a 17-storey vertical (90° to the ground vertical) climb, immediately followed by a 75mph drop. Need to do that one first I think. Or not at all. Probably not at all.
Back at the hotel, we hopped in the pool for almost an hour. It was still 33°C at 5pm, and the pool was a lovely temperature. We looked at getting some poolside meals, but with a 25% tax (!!!) we went to a local Applebee's restaurant instead. When we left to go back to the hotel, we were treated to a fantastic thunder and lightning storm that lasted about two hours! Bring on tomorrow...
Day 80 - 12 Sept '23 - Universal Studios, day two. Up early again, to get to Hagrid's Motorcycle Ride (we decided to quickly do this ride before going to the other park, as it was peaking at 150 minute queue yesterday, and it didn't accept the fast passes). There were really long queues just to get into the park, but fortunately just a 35 minute wait at the actual ride.
It was a kind-of roller coaster, sitting on motorbikes with sidecars, flipping side-to-side, with sudden accelerations and decelerations, as well as a backwards section, and a sudden drop!
I was the motorcycle and Abi had the sidecar. She was a bit nervous about going on it, so I bet her a tub of candy floss that I wouldn't scream. Well...
I got off the ride with my legs shaking, tears in my eyes, and with marks on my palms from gripping the handlebars so tightly. Alex asked me why I was crying (which had never happened to me on a ride before), and I can only assume my adrenaline levels had peaked so furiously, that crying and shaking was my body telling me "NO MORE ROLLERCOASTERS, YOU UTTER MORON!"
So, with that in mind, I politely (and vociferously) declined the last Rip Rock-it roller coaster ride left to do. Judge (and laugh at) me all you want!!
We had another go on the Harry Potter flying cupboard ride before hopping on the Hogwarts Express to the other park.
I took Abi to get the promised candy floss, while Dan and Alex went on the Rock-it roller coaster. We got there just in time to see Dan and Alex come speeding down one of the ramps, in the front seat no less! Apparently it was fun.
The next rides on the agenda were a couple of Minions-themed ones. They were loads of fun! On one we stood on a conveyor belt and were given laser guns to shoot the evil geniuses, and the other we were turned into Minions!
After that we went on heaps more 3D/4D rides, and we loved them all (although Alex professed they were boring, despite the obvious grin plastered on his face - seems he's trying to be a 'big boy'). There was a Simspon's virtual reality roller-coaster, a Men In Black ride where we had to shoot aliens, an E.T. trip through a forest and then his home planet, a race with Jimmy Fallon through New York (and up to the moon!), a trip through Gringott's Bank at Diagon Alley, and then a Mummy rollercoaster.
At this ride, Abi packed it so much that an attendant asked her if she wanted to be on the ride. Abi and I then got off the ride and sat in the child-swap area, and waited for Dan and Alex to return.
"You won't like it Mummy, it's a rollercoaster," said Alex when he came back. I looked at Dan: "it's pretty scary!" he informed me.
Oh great. I drilled Alex:
"Is it scarier than Spider-Man?"
"Yes."
"Is it scarier than The Hulk?"
"Em, maybe?"
"Is it scarier than the Veloci-coaster?"
"No."
"So will I enjoy it?"
"It's fun, but you'll be scared!"
Full of confidence (ha ha ha), I took my seat with some nervousness. Alex helped:
"Don't scream at this part, Mummy!"
It was fun! I didn't scream!! And I'd do it again. Yes, it was a rollercoaster, and it was fast, but it was also dark so I couldn't see what was coming, and I was so tightly squashed in the seat that I felt perfectly safe.
We had one disappointing ride - the Fast and the Furious. It broke down the first time we queued up, so we left, and when we finally went back, we felt there was too much video (which was partially blocked by other riders) and not as much movement as other rides.
Alex had another ride on the Rip Rock-it rollercoaster, and then we went back to Diagon Alley and explored the area more.
It was such an awesome place; we went into a wand shop and a magical creature shop, and even took a wander down Knockturn Alley! There was an incredible amount of detail, and we can only wonder at what it cost to build.
We took the Hogwart's Express back to the original park, got on the boat taxi (much to Alex's annoyance), and chilled out at the pool until everyone got kicked out because of more thunder.
Day 81 - 13 Sept '23 - Universal Studios, day three. Today we had decided to make more relaxing. No alarm was set, and we got out of bed close to 9am; we planned just to do a few rides in the morning then head to the pool for the afternoon.
Somehow, I was convinced (read: peer pressured) into doing to Rip Rock-it rollercoaster with Alex. Dan was going to be doing it with him, but I said I'd go, so that way I'd have done all the rides.
In the queue to go up the stairs, my heart rate increased, I felt mildly nauseous, and my hands started to shake.
"It's okay, Mummy, you don't have to do it," said the boy who'd been going on and on and on about me doing it.
I stared at him incredulously.
"No, I'll do it, but I'm shutting my eyes."
I climbed into the seat and pulled the restraint around my waist. I panicked a bit when I couldn't get it closed more than I'd like, but an attendant checked it was okay. I'd just have to live with the inch of movement.
I gritted my teeth. I shut my eyes...
And I didn't open them again until Alex was tapping me on my arm, and telling me it was over.
"You've done it! And you didn't scream, Mummy!"
"I'd like you to notice my legs and how much they're shaking."
Amazingly, it was nowhere near as scary with my eyes shut! I'd thought about opening them a couple of times during the ride, when it almost stopped before ramping up again, but then the ride would keep going, so I just kept them shut. Seemed the much safer option to me!
When Dan and Abi had stopped laughing at the video that was recorded on the chair (me: deep breathing, eyes tightly closed, grimace and clenched teeth, Alex: big grin, arms in the air), I got a round of applause and congratulations.
And I never have to do it again!
We then spent the next couple of hours doing some sight-seeing in the park and going on a few more 'sedate' 3D/4D rides.
After some lunch, we went back to the pool, and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon either on a lounger or in the water, at times being pulled around by the kids while floating with a noodle - it was so wonderfully relaxing!
We went to the hotel sushi restaurant for dinner, and had the most delicious, freshly prepared sushi I've ever had. Coming home from a quick trip to a shop to get some milk, we looked over at the park.
"Oh no!" said Dan.
"Oh no," I said in my head...I knew what was coming, as I had seen what he'd seen.
"You won't be able to say you've done all the rides after all!"
"Hmm, I was thinking the same thing."
There was a 'drop' ride that Dan did with Alex, which I wanted to do even less than the rollercoaster.
"It's okay," said Dan, magnanimously, "you don't have to do it."
"Yes I do! Otherwise all I'd hear is 'you didn't do all the rides'!"
Day 82 - 14 Sept '23 - Universal Studios, day four. Today was our second last day there, so it was now down to doing the rides that we enjoyed the most. We set our alarms early again, to go to Hagrid's Mororcycle ride. Needn't have bothered.
It was delayed, with no known opening time. Alex wanted to do the Veloci-coaster again, but when Dan went to join him for a second run, it was delayed. Back to Hogsmeade again to do the flying cupboard ride, and it was also delayed! Seems they were having some major technical issues, and we should have slept in.
Alex and Abi had fun on the Hippogriff rollercoaster a couple of times, and we eventually got on the flying cupboard ride.
We waited for the Jurrasic Park section to open, and we all had a turn on the Pteranodon Flyers. We had to take turns with Abi, as the rest of us were all too tall to go without a child! It had a phenomenal view, and wasn't very long, but I didn't like the jerky motions when it went over connectors.
The humidity by 9:30am was so high, we had sweat running down our backs - soooo nice. We decided to do the Jurrasic Park water ride, as it wasn't a very 'wetting' one - by the time we got to the front of the queue, the only seats left were the front row! At this point, Abi reminded us we were in the second row last time, and the people in the front blocked most of the water.
Which is what we did for the second row this time! Completely soaked on the front of our bodies, and completely dry on the back. Dan floated the idea of us going on the other water rides since we were half wet already, but the rest of us declined in favour of the personnel drying booths! Pretty sure they're designed for one person at a time, but the four of us squished in there fine.
After another go on King Kong, we hopped back on the Hogwart's Express to the other park.
Time for me to do the last ride - the Doom Drop. Alex went with me, and there was a lovely Irish couple who were also very positive and talked me into it.
Holy crap, it went up FAST! And then dropped, and went up, and down, and up and down a bit slower and lower. The man reached out for my hand and squeezed it, which was very sweet of him, but which also meant I had to let go of the restraint I was gripping for dear life...eek! Poor guy, got to hold a complete stranger's sweaty hand, ha ha ha, and his poor wife had our hands in front of her face! I even took my other hand off to wave to Dan!!
Back on terra firma, I was congratulated by both Abi and Dan.
"Yay, Mummy!"
"Well done, Nic," said Dan. "Now you've done every ride!"
And then, I had the best thought of the day:
"Oh wow! Ha ha ha! Guess what? Now I'VE done every ride, and nobody else has!"
Because I'd done all the Dr Seuss rides with Abi the other day, I had actually completed the entire ride list at the park. Yes, Alex and Dan had done more rollercoaster rides than me, but I'D DONE EVERY RIDE! Hah! I ruuuuule!! Mwoah ha ha ha ha!
Very self-satisfied, we carried on to finish off a few more rides. We were all hot and bothered at lunch time, and couldn't make a decision on where to eat (that also had gluten free options), so settled on candy floss. Well, we were in an amusement park...
Once we'd done Escape from Gringott's (for the fifth time? sixth time?), we had icecream from Florian Fortesque's. They had some pretty cool flavours: apple crumble, Granny Smith, earl grey and lavender, sticky toffee pudding, clotted cream, and strawberry and peanut butter, to name a few.
We ate our icecream in Diagon Alley, and got to see the dragon on top of Gringott's breathing fire!
By the time we were leaving the park around 3pm, they were already closing sections and people were queuing up for the Hallowe'en Scream Nights that happens every year from September to October.
We spent another couple of hours relaxing at the pool for the last time; unfortunately, it clouded over, so lying on the loungers wasn't very appealing, and we all got out by 6pm.
We check out of the hotel tomorrow (hence no more pool), but we have one last day at Universal Studios. Not setting the alarm though...
Day 83 - 15 Sept '23 - Universal Studios, day five. In the pool yesterday, floating in the water and just relaxing, both Dan and I felt that it was the first time our holiday had felt like a holiday. It was, therefore, very sad to pack my bag this morning, and check out of the Bali-like resort.
Hagrid's Flying Motorbikes was again delayed, so we crossed it off the list and started in the Universal Studios park first.
Today was also souvenir-buying-day; we told the kids they could buy one thing each and we would buy them a tshirt. Abi bought a Transformers tshirt (and I bought one too, as they said Universal Studios Florida on them), but Alex couldn't decide on anything to buy (namely because he couldn't decide on a tshirt, the Transformers toy he wanted looked like rubbish, and he didn't want to pay for shipping back to NZ for the massive cuddly toy spider). We bought Abi the Dr Seuss 'Thing' tshirt she wanted that said "that Thing is my brother", and Alex got the Veloci-coaster tshirt, as he seriously loved that ride - I think he'd been on it six times, the fruit loop!
It was super busy at the park today, so the wait times had jumped up loads. We did Transformers, The Simpsons, Minions, and Men In Black, but Jimmy Fallon was too long a wait, so that got crossed off. The Mummy and Escape from Gringott's were delayed, so they got crossed off the list too, and after a Krusty Burger for lunch, we went back to the other park. Here we split up - Alex went on the Veloci-coaster (AGAIN!) and the rest of us went on the flying cupboard (AGAIN!). One last ride on Spider-Man, the flying Hippogriff, King Kong, and The Hulk rollercoaster for Alex, and we were sadly done.
Bye-bye Universal Studios - it's been a blast!
"What an awesome holiday," I said, as we got back in the car, "time to go back to our holiday!"
"You've been waiting to say that, haven't you?" Dan commented cynically.
"Yep!"
My second cousin John had kindly offered us the use of his house in Dunedin, a couple of hours' drive from Orlando, so that's where we headed after leaving the resort. On the way, we passed an incredible power pole, an excellent advertisement for the nearby Disneyworld!
Only in America...!
Comments