Going to Universal Studios Today !

[J.R.E.]

 


The last time Ed, and I went to Universal Studios,(Orlando) was in the early 80's They were still putting it together back then. My mother also went with us.

Ed stopped at AAA and got some discount tickets. I've been up for about a half hour now, so it's time to go push him out of bed !!

Supposed to be a sunny day today, with temps in the mid- 70's, so it will be a good day to get out and about and enjoy !!



Later------Ray

[mjmel]

Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
 
Mike M

[minismom]

I've never been to Universal    Let us know how it was!  What an awesome way to spend a Monday!

Mum

[RapidRod]

Hope you guys have a great time Ray.

[randym431]

Supposed to be a sunny day today, with temps in the mid- 70's

Oh, yea, rub it in Ray   
It looks and feels like the inside of your Frigidaire freezer here.

But really, have or hope ya had fun!   

ps. do they still have the I Love Lucy set clone?

[pozguy75]

Oh you will have a great time! And if you see Frankenstein's Monster running around...it's okay...he's not real...

Oh, and go on the E.T. ride...it's cute and fun...and you get to ride on a bicycle...

I have so much fun there...I used to go all the time when I lived in L.A.

[anniebc]

Hi Ray

I hope you both have a great day out..wish I could join you, but it's a long way to go just for a day out..

Hope you let us know all about it when you get home.

Enjoy your day.

Hugs
Jan

[AlanBama]

I've always wanted to go there Ray!  Hope you guys have a great time.

hugs, Alan

[Robert]

I love it. 

You sound like a little boy in a candy shop.

robert

[BT65]

Ray, I hope you and Ed had the best time!  Please let us know how it went.  Did you take any pictures?

[J.R.E.]

 

We had a Great Time, at Universal Studios. I was going to post back last night, but we both were pretty much wiped out ! We got home around 7:30 last night, and we both just crashed out. Ed said his legs hurt, my feet hurt, but we both woke up feeling refreshed this morning.

We left home around 8:15 in the moring on Monday, and after getting through the morning rush hour traffic in Tampa, we were buzzing along at 70 MPH on Interstate 4, heading to Orlando. The weather was fantastic. We're about 90 miles or so from Orlando.The temp was up around 79 and Sunny.

We arrived, and had the car parked by 10:00 AM. It's been quite a while since we were at Universal Studios. I didn't remember any parking garages back then, but traffic control and getting people into  Universal was really organised. I did find the fingerprinting, at the main entrance, a little invasive.

When we got into the park, I suggested we work in a counter-clockwise direction.  There was a good turnout, and working in the opposite direction, to see the attractions, worked well. Almost everybody was following there maps, but going clockwise.


The most waiting time we had, for any show or attraction was 15-20 minutes, so things moved along fast.

After your parked the first section you get into ( without the Entrance ticket) is "Universal City Walk". A few different shops and stores and restaurants to take ones money! There are nightclubs, concert venues, cinemas street performers, vendors. One of those restaurants was "Emirils". ( from the TV show)

http://www.emerils.com/restaurants/orlando_emerils/ 


One of the other ( of many restaurants) was the Nascar Grill. This place was good size. Outside were some of the Nascar racing cars that the public could view and have your pictures taken with.
Universal City walk, closes at 2:00 Am.

http://www.nascarsportsgrille.com/


And there was the "Hard rock Cafe"

http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/cafe.aspx?LocationID=89&MIBenumID=3


Also the "Bubba Gump Shrimp Company"

http://www.bubbagump.com/locations/orlando.html


After walking and browsing through that section You then go into the Main Studio section.  Have to point out also, that " Universal Island of Adventure" is another complete section of the park, and has most of the larger rides and roller coasters, and plenty of other attractions !

http://www.universalorlando.com/ioa_index.html?s_kwcid=universal%20islands%20of%20adventure|1037282161

We didn't go into "Islands of Adventure"  That's another day.....


Once in Universal Studios There are quite a few attractions to see and more than enough to make your day go by too fast !!

Some of the attractions/rided  and shows included. The famous "ET" attraction. We saved that one for last. And I do enjoy that one, especially flying over the city at the end. Very peaceful....


The "Earthquake adventure is there. It's one of the rides I remember from our last visit there. And it is still is as cool as ever !! It still amazes me how they manage to put it all together, with the Subway collapsing, truck crashing in from the street in flames/heat and water pipes breaking. Just toooo coooll !!


"Terminator" 3-d was also very good. I think my favorites was "revenge of the Mummy". This is is an indoor roller coaster ( similar to "space mountain") Ed doesn't like roller coasters but he did go on it, even though his eyes were closed through almost every bit of it. I had to un-pry his hands from the hold in bar at the completion of the ride !   It's fast makes sudden turns and backs up, and the visual are great also.
I love roller coasters, the bigger and faster they are, the more I like them.

Another favorite was the "Twister" ride based on the movie Twister. It's not actually a ride. You actually stand in rows, with a railing in front of you. The rows are stepped, so everyone gets an excellant view. You are overlooking a small town, when the storm starts to form. The lightning starts, the breeze kicks up, and before you know it, the town is crumbling apart in front of you, With gas tanks exploding. Much too cool  !! It's amazing the amount of heat you can feel on your face as things are exploding and transformers shorting out. !! This one got a great round of applause from everyone !!


Then there's the "Jaws " boat ride.  This is also pretty cool, as "Jaws" shows his teeth to those in the boat. Also some good pyro- technics on this one also !! Got a little wet on this one.

"Shrek" 4-d Was a lot of fun also.. You had the 3-D glasses to wear, and was very realistic. You sit in an auditorium for this one, and the chairs are all wired with air blast and rocking and jerking motion. We both enjoyed that one. Not quite sure where the water spray came from. I think that shoots at you , from the chair in front of you !


"Beatlejuice's" Rock and roll graveyard review, was also a great show, singing, dancing ( I thought the Vampire was pretty HOT in his leather pants, and opened shirt !!  The music was great, lot of good laughs and also some pyro-tecnics involved with this show..  Very cool . great Music !

There was quite a lot to see, and the time went much too fast. "Jimmy Neutrons Nicktoon blast", The "Blues brothers",.."Fear Factor Live", Men In Black ( also very good)


The "I love Lucy" tribute was also very good to see. Some of the clothes she had worn in movies were displayed along with many of her Oscars and awards she received through the years. Ricky's Bongo drums were displayed, along with many stories to go along with the pictures, hand written letters to Lucy from Jackie Gleason. It was real nice. By the way Ed reminded me that I love Lucy's first show was on the day he was born October 15th, 1951.


Anyway, lots to see for all ages, and lots of fun for all. It was a nice escape from reality for the day !!  We had a great time, it just went to fast..

I am on vacation until next Sunday, so I am going to try to talk Ed into going to Busch Gardens ( Tampa) this Friday. I'l see if I can get him on those rides...



Ray

[BT65]

Ray, that sounds like so much fun.  I'm glad you guys had a nice time.  I'm with Ed on those rides, though; I wouldn't have had my eyes open either!

[minismom]

That sounds like so much fun and something that the entire family would enjoy.  I'm glad you had such a wonderful time.

Quick story: Mini is our daredevil fiend.  We were at Bush Gardens in Virginia and she was very angry that we couldn't find a roller coaster that she was big enough for - and she was NOT degrading herself by going on a "kiddie coaster".  We finally found one that hangs down from the track.  She got very upset when they put the safety harness over her head and argued with the guy that she promised to hold on tight enough.  Then, she leans up to the couple in front of us.  Very scary looking couple, by the way - shaved heads w/ tatoos, black eyeliner from eyelid to nose, about 30 earrings each, black lipstick.  Anyway, Mini leans up and asks the guy, very politely, "Excuse me, do you plan on screaming like a GIRL?"  The guy turned around, saw that it was a just turned 6yr old, and said, "Nah, but SHE will!", pointing to his female counterpart.  When the ride was over, they both gave Mini a high-five.

All that to say, if you are looking for someone to ride the scarey rides, I'll ship Mini to you. We'll have to fro her curls and put her in platforms, but she'd LOVE it!

Mum

[RapidRod]

The only places I've been is Kings Island, Six Flags in Ft. Worth and Sea World. Kings Island is on 25 minutes away. If you seen it once. That's enough. The don't let you walk around drink anymore and that took the fun out of it. But they do have "GAY DAY" every year.

[cgsorlando]

I'm so glad that you had a good time where I work. That really does make my day more complete. Perhaps you should try Margaritaville next time. It's a great place to work and play!

[J.R.E.]

I'm so glad that you had a good time where I work. That really does make my day more complete. Perhaps you should try Margaritaville next time. It's a great place to work and play!

   You wouldn't be that hot little vampire number in "Beetlejuice's  review would ya !!    All of you do a great job. Like I mentioned earlier, everything was very organised, from the minute you get there.

 

Quick story: Mini is our daredevil fiend.  We were at Bush Gardens in Virginia and she was very angry that we couldn't find a roller coaster that she was big enough for - and she was NOT degrading herself by going on a "kiddie coaster". 

Thanks for the story mom.  Your story brought back some memories for me. Every year my father and mother would take all us kids to "Crystal Beach" , Canada . Crystal beach amusement, was not too far from Niagara Falls , Canada. ( I don't think it's even there anymore. Back in those days Crystal Beach was known for it's "Comet Rollercoaster.( wooden one) I can always remember how frustrated I was back then, because I wasn't tall enough, or my mother thought I wasn't big enough to go on some of the rides, including the Comet coaster. I think anytime ony of us kids got on the rides she used to cringe a bit. ( she was not a ride person.) Going to Crystal Beach was a yearly event for our family back all those many years ago !! Thanks for the story and the chuckle !!




Ray

[sacinsc]

Just tell me that they got rid of King Kong. I was told by a person that worked there...that the track the car rides on isn't the safest when it was built and the it was cheaper for Universal to pay the extra insurance than fix it. Having ridden the dumb and I mean dumb thing several times when living down there and working for Disney in entertainment.....I would be happy if it were gone! Island of Adventure has 3 of the best rides ever...Spiderman...unreal how life like that is. The Dueling Dragons...you feel like your going to hit the person in the other coaster and The Hulk....where you get shot out of that tube and in the day are blinded temporarily from the sun and have no clue where you are

Matt