Day 12 - Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure

We purchased tickets online this morning and headed out to the park.  Parking is $17, but remarkably well-organized for the thousands of cars all converging on the area at once.  We decided it was worth it.

We picked up our tickets at will call and headed in.  We also purchased an unlimited refill cup for $12.  Between the three of us, it seemed like a great deal for all-day refills.

Into the madness.

Our first neighborhood: Superhero Comics

Heading into regular comic strips.  I am now profusely sweating after 15 minutes.  :(

Enjoying the cooling water on a bridge.

Jurassic Park was great.

Me, the fossil, and Mom.  Maybe not in that order.  :)

We started off with a freefall ride in the superhero area, but Mom wasn't interested so Erin and I went as a duo.  This was a familiar trend for the day, although we did manage to put Mom on a "scary" ride once with interesting results.

Jurassic Park was fun with a rope climbing area, caves with hidden passages, and a discovery center with some great games for children.  It was very well done.

This alone managed to use up two hours, so it was lunch time.  We went to Mythos, the best theme park restaurant in the world for six consecutive years! (Note: according to Mythos.)

The award-winning Mythos.

Mom and the crazy walls/ceilings of Mythos.

Very fun butter.

Fish tacos, potato salad, and balsamic tomato and watermelon salad.

The presentation of our dishes was great.  The atmosphere was unique.  The prices were reasonable for a theme park.  If only the food tasted decent.  Stale tortillas and undercooked cod made for sad tacos.  All three of us agreed the watermelon salad was to be left uneaten.  The potato salad was okay.  Mom didn't care for her quinoa.

At least we had a pretty view!

After lunch we moved to the Lost Continent, which comes from a 1968 film, so we weren't too familiar with it.  The Temple of Poseidon gave us a water and fire show which was special today but probably world-class when it opened.

Entering the supposed-to-be-scary temple.

OK, enough with all the areas no one came here for.

Erin and Mom then entered their paradise and took pictures of everything in sight.

Hogwart's Express.  (The only picture I took.)

Entering Hogsmeade.

Candy store.

Giant jelly beans.

Hogwart's Express from outside.

Storefronts.

Hagrid's Hut.

Upstairs in the wand shop.

Deciding if this wand works for me.

Getting butterbeer.

Posing with my butterbeer.

Taking the train!

An owl and some luggage.

The pictures go on and on, but I think you get the idea.  We rode a number of the rides as well, but no loose items are allowed so the phones had to stay with Mom.

The ride in the castle was especially well done is probably the best attraction I've ever ridden even if it's not the most intense in terms of aerodynamic design.  Erin and I rode it twice, bringing Mom along the second time.  Unfortunately, the ride paused during our second time at a sideways angle and Mom was not enjoying herself.  She's not really the adventurous type, so we now have some great quotes like "I want off this ride!!!"

After Harry Potter World (which we only covered half of), we saw Fear Factor Live where Erin and Mom looked away as two men drank a smoothie made of rotten fish, ground mystery meat, sour milk, and worms.  We followed that up with a hilariously bad stunt show where the story was written by an 8 year old.

We then passed through a few other areas, but most notably, Dr. Seuss land!

Ooops, this was the Sinbad set.  Not Seuss.

Here we go!

Moose juice anyone?

Walking through the 'hood.

The very exciting fish ride!  (See below.)

Not sure what this is/does.

About to ride an elephant (me) and a...bird? (Mom)

The fish ride!  I am told this ride is adorable.

Just your average, everyday landscaping.

After completing Islands of Adventure, we walked over to the Loews Pacific in search of food, but ended up back at Citywalk where we became Parrotheads.

Live music on the patio.

Wasting away again in Margaritaville.

(We ate at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.)

After paying another crazy amount of tolls to get back, we made it to the hotel to prepare for our second day at Universal Studios in the other park.

You can really tell I didn't take these pictures because Erin isn't the feature today.  Somehow I ended up in nearly all of them!  I'm sure we'll revert back to normal once we get back on the road.

Back to Harry Potter tomorrow!