Day One at Universal

Where to start....at the beginning, I guess. We had a nice ride on the motorcycles from Bee's RV Resort here in Clermont to the Clarion Maingate in Kissimmee (same hotel we stay at each year for Stu's annual retired Firefighter reunion). We got checked in and took showers....then Stu realized he had left his meds back at the RV.

So he hopped back on his bike and made the 30 mile ride up and back...along with getting gas and dealing with two chatty neighbors. LOL! In the meantime, my daughter and her family arrived at Denny's next door for dinner. They were packed....and only had one cook on hand. We finally ordered and just as our food was arriving, Stu arrived and ordered his dinner.

The kids were beat, especially the oldest who fell asleep at the table without eating. We finally managed to get the two girls up and into bed...in less than five minutes they were both asleep. Good thing, the alarm was set early so we would have time for breakfast before the shuttle bus picked us up.

The girls were good about getting up, we ate a nice breakfast at Denny's (currently offering a 20% discount to AARP members). We loaded onto the shuttle bus at 7:40 and headed off on our adventure. None of us had ever been to Universal Studios, but we had all been to Disney several times.

We got there about 30 minutes before the park opened, time enough to get our tickets and get in the main line. We chose to do Universal Studios first, knowing that Monday was a holiday and the Harry Potter section of Islands of Adventure would be packed.

Here was our Day One schedule:

Stu, Donna, Samantha, Amanda
      E.T. Adventure®
      Ride Your Bike Across the Stars
Stu, Donna, Samantha, Amanda
      The Simpsons Ride™
      Crash Through Krustyland
LUNCH
Samantha, Amanda
      Curious George Goes to Town
      Water fun and playground
Stu, Samantha, Amanda (the girls went solo 3-4 more times)
      Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster®
      The Nuttiest Kids' Ride Ever
Stu, Samantha (Amanda was too short)
      Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit®
      Take Your Music for a Ride
Donna, Amanda
      JAWS®
      Go on a leisurely boat tour off the coast of Amity.
Donna, Samantha, Amanda
      MEN IN BLACK™ Alien Attack™
      Zap Aliens and Save the Galaxy
Stu, Samantha, Amanda
      The Simpsons Ride™
      Crash Through Krustyland

SKIPPED
      Revenge of the Mummy®
      Plunge into Darkness

      TWISTER...Ride It Out®
      Experience what it's like to be a real storm chaser

      Disaster!SM
      A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring YOU

Most rides were simulated in some way, the only real roller coaster ridden on Day One was the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit® which was Sam's favorite ride of the two days. Amanda's was JAWS®, she loved the special effects and said that's what she'd like to do when she grows up.

The girls weren't interested in the other roller coaster ride (Mummy) or the Twister or Disaster simulated rides. I should have told Amanda about the special effects in those!

Here are a few photos, the rest are in our SmugMug Album.

Needless to say, by the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted. Fortunately we ate dinner in the park (we had done the meal plan) so we just had to wash up and crash. Everyone was out before 9:00!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu