ThePassportPrincess

On Friday Morning we were up early to get ready for a day at Universal Studios!
We had to be on the bus by 8am to get to the park around opening time.
Quite a few of us rushed to the park so we could get to the front of the line before anyone else.

Overall, the wait times we had for that day weren’t too bad for a Friday
I think the longest we had to wait was about 25 minutes for a ride. But then again, we saw some that had like 45 minute wait times so didn’t bother to go on them.

I ended up going on all the rides with 6 others people. Emma, Brent, Marisa, Robert, Mitch and Scott.
Me, Emma, Robert and Brent were really keen on all the rides but Marisa and Scott were being a bit of a scaredy cat 😜
Mitch however was just too hungover to go on half the rides haha.

We started off at Harry Potter world, and anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a Harry Potter fan at all. I wasn’t a fan of the books and have only seen a bit of the first movie.
However, the setup that they have at Orlando universal is so cool!
We took a train to Harry Potter world from ‘Kings Cross Station’The train ride was really fun and so were the rides at Harry Potter World. I think they only had about 5 rides overall but the whole set up is quite well-doneThey were also selling this ‘butterbeer’ drink which tasted really yum! It doesn’t taste like beer, it’s more of a butterscotch and caramel drink with froth on top.

The first ride we went on was The Dragon Challenge which is a roller coaster that overlaps each other. It’s quite cool because as you’re queuing up for this ride they’ve put Harry Potter things to look at, including the Goblet of Fire and the Triwizard Cup. Also the hike to the ride features the flying car featured in the second film, as well as Hagrid’s hut.

The second one we went on was called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey which is a new attraction inside a replica of Hogwarts Castle.
When you walk in, it’s like a tour of the castle and it’s grounds and you get to interact with various characters and props from the Potterseries, including a speech from Dumbledore, and directions from Harry, Hermione and Ron, before boarding a ‘magic bench’

The Magic Bench takes you around the castle by using a simulator flight. If you can imagine it, you’re strapped into this ride and it moves around while realistic animation versions of the Whomping Willow, a horde of dementors, giant spiders, the Hungarian Horntail Dragon, and a Quidditch match appear in front of you. It’s so realistic it can actually be a bit scary haha!

So basically if you love Harry Potter you’ll love Universal.
They have heaps of Gift Shops around the park selling shirts and wands, hats and gowns and broomsticks.

When we finally left Harry Potter world, we went back to the main park and went on the Jurassic park ride which we all got wet on!The other people in the group all went on a couple of the other water rides but I skipped out on them because I didn’t want to look like shit for all my Univeral Photos. Hahaha. #fancytraveler
I was going to go back at the end of the day to do them but didn’t end up having time.

I really wanted to go on the Hollywood Rip Ride Rock It (pictured above) but by the time we got there it started thundering and lightening so the park had to close the ride.

I feel like I went on most of the rides overall so I’m happy about that. I’d defiantly go again as well! All of us went on the mummy ride like 4 times haha. Mainly because it was so much fun and also because the line was short when the storm came.

I saw the Simpson themed area of the park which was really cool as well. Scott got one of those large donuts and some of the others bought Duff beer.By about 4.30pm the storm had begun and it just absolutely poured down!
We all bought ponchos so we wouldn’t get our clothes soaked.
But by 5.30pm we were back on the Coach, soaked and on our way back to the hotel, so I’m not sure how well those Poncho’s actually worked.When I got back, I quickly did my hair (as it’d gone all curly and frizzy from the rain haha) And then met Marisa downstairs so we could Uber to the Mall.

We went to the Mall of Mallesia  (I think it was called).
I wanted to go so I could find something to wear in Miami and we were both going to get our nails done.

When we got there, we were starving and wanted to go to the Cheesecake Factory as everyone talks about it being amazing.
It was pretty amazing alright, because the line was like out the door. It was such a big restaurant but it was full and so many people were waiting that we didn’t bother to hang around. We said we’d try and go if there was one in New York City though.Instead for dinner, we went up to the food court and had these wraps. They weren’t too bad but the service was so shit.
We went in search of a nail bar or something but they didn’t bloody have one!
This wasn’t turning into be the greatest shopping trip 😯
Instead I bought some nail polish so I could do my nail polish at the hotel.
It’s great coz OPI is like $9 here, cheap!

I also couldn’t find anything to wear so I’m going to have to re-wear the dress I wore in Las Vegas for Miami. I did however buy a black skirt so I could always team that up with one of my overly worn tops from this trip.

When it was time to leave (the mall shut) we ordered an Uber and he didn’t even come! I rung him twice to tell him exactly where we were standing at the mall (since it was so big) and he obviously couldn’t find us so he cancelled the ride and I got charged $5. Grrr.

Then the second Uber we ordered cancelled as well until we finally had this lovely guy Anthony come and get us. It was an interesting ride home with him. He was an ‘actor’ and we all talked about the meaning of happiness and goals in life haha! Very deep and meaningful for an Uber ride.

When we got back to the hotel, we went to the supermarket so I could get nail clippers and some vitamins for my sickness.
Marisa also got some Lucky charms (the cereal) to have in the morning and we went back to her room to do our nails. (Well I did my nails anyways) and we sat on her bed and ate our slices of cheesecake that we did end up getting from the cheesecake factory before we left.
They were so good but I couldn’t finish mine! 😦I was knackered and was in bed by about 12am (so yes another late one) but I’m on the bus now heading to Miami and I’m trying to have lots of naps.
That’s the good thing about being on the coach, if you have a late night the night before you can always sleep and prepare your body for the coming night.

I know I’m sick but I’m not missing out on partying in Miami! I haven’t drunken in 2 days and it feels weird now.

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