Day 5 - Universal Studios (take 1)

We had purchased two days worth of passes for Universal Studios when we booked our trip through our travel agent (my childhood friend Tara's mom Debbie Simmonds out of Prince Albert)...and so because we booked all of our Disney Dinners in advance we have really planned ourselves to death here. Today was our first day to hit Universal.

I called the transport company last night to arrange for our transport there and back. It's $30/way/person so all together for the two days it was $120 each just for transportation. So we were hoping it was worth the money! And it sure was. It was on time, clean, quick.. and super friendly service.

We got on our bus at 8:25 this morning and it was just before 9 am when we got to the park. A lot had not opened yet, so we wandered around a bit getting the lay of the land. It was pretty obvious that it's now Monday - the crowds were absolutely bearable! Hardly anyone around really. No line ups for anything! The park is really two parks - Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We opted to do Universal Studios in it's entirety today and we'll save Islands of Adventure for Thursday when we come back.

So - first stop - The Simpsons Ride! I think Abbey and Jason could have gone on this one a few times. Again - Oakley was too little for it so we hung out outside of the ride and checked out the tame squirrels that came right up to you and would eat out of your hand if you let them! Then we traded off and Abbey and I went in the Men In Black ride which was pretty silly but fun! And lots of twists and turns so a perfect ride for Jason to have sat out of!

Then we kept on walking. We came up to the Jaws exhibit which was closed for renovations... so we just took some pics in front of the big pretend shark instead! We found an Oakley store so of course had to stop in. Jason bought the carry on suitcase that he was looking for in Regina before we left. Another nice touch - we left it there and were able to pick it up at the front gate before we left. It would have been crazy to drag that thing all over the park all day!

Then we tried to get into the "Disaster" ride but we missed the last show by a few minutes - so had to wait. We then saw a Pearl kiosk that my friend Karla had told me about from a trip she took to Vegas. So Abbey and I chose oysters and they were opened up to reveal a pearl! I was hoping for something other than a 'stinkin' white pearl!' as you can get brown and pink and all different colours (Thanks KK!) but did end up with a beautiful white pearl and so did Abbey although hers was larger than mine and has lots of pink in it! We chose white gold pendant settings for both of our pearls, Abbey's is dolphin and mine is an open heart that the pearl sits inside! Both gorgeous and now we have matching (sorta) pearl necklaces with quite a story to tell!

After this we walked for a bit and came up to an Animal Actors show that was just starting, we missed 30 seconds of it. It had a bunch of stunt animals and their trainers, including birds, dogs, pigs and an orangutan. It was amazing! We all really enjoyed it!

Then off to find more rides. Jason and Abbey went into the ET ride and Oakley and I then went to the Barney show. Well after waiting about 10 min I figured J&A would be almost done so we left. Oakley doesn't know Barney, I can't STAND Barney... and I really didn't want to be stuck in that show if J&A were done sooner than it was over. So we went next door to an indoor (read: air conditioned) play area that had an indoor train, boat, water play area, sand play area, treehouse, music area, maze, etc etc etc. We probably played in there for 40 minutes. Jason radioed when he was done and I told him to go onto the Terminator show as we could certainly amuse ourselves for 15 more minutes! Well, we got to see Barney come out after his show and we got our picture taken with him although it was pretty funny since we didn't see the show and Oakley has no idea who he was and was kind of scared of him!

Then we wandered trying to get Jason and Abbey on the radio and with no luck. I was starting to get pretty worried as we didn't really have a plan as to where to meet in case we got separated and had no help from the radios! (needless to say we quickly created a plan!) Turns out that the wait for the Terminator show was 20 min outside the building, 20 min inside the building and the show was 20 min long although they said it was worth it! Lots of really cool effects!

By this time it was 1pm and everyone was starving. We found a burger joint and had some awesome cheeseburgers and refueled everyone up!

Then we went to a show our little Oakley could finally go to - the Shrek 4 D show. These 4D shows are really cool. So you take your regular 3D and add in a bunch more effects. This was a story that took Shrek 1 and continued the story on so it wasn't like regurgitation of the same movie all over again. Donkey sneezes and water sprays all over you and gets you all wet too! Pretty fun!

And then while we were at it we hit the Jimmy Neutron show across the street. It was a bit old for Oaks and a bit young for Abs. Oakley and I had to sit in stationary seats while everyone else sat in seats that moved as you flew through this movie scene. Oakley didn't much like it which means I didn't much watch it and was happy when it ended!

Then it was time for the little lady to nap - so we got her settled in the stroller (with a little help from an air conditioned Starbucks, the fan we bought on day 1 and a Daddy with much more patience than Mommy!) and she slept for a bit over an hour in there for us. Better than nothing! While she was sleeping it was my turn to do some rides with Abbey while Jason and Oakley found a quiet shady spot.

First up was the Mummy ride- an indoor roller coaster. That's right folks - roller coaster #3 for us on this trip! It was good but short - which is sometimes a really good thing! But we had to laugh because the Mummies themselves were so fake - Abbey said at one point "Seriously? Plastic mummies? Seriously?" and I had to laugh! And of course they always take your picture for you to buy at the end (we never buy them but sure get a laugh out of them!) and the one of Abbey and I on this Mummy ride was hilarious! I'm screaming my head off and Abbey looks bored out of her mind! Guess she's a pro already!

We hit one more ride before making our way back to Jason & Oaks. It was the Disaster Ride we tried to get on earlier in the day but had just missed the start time. Ohmygod it was so funny. We laughed so hard! It was all about a director making a new disaster movie and we were extras. They picked about 7 people to participate a bit more than others but by the end of the ride they showed the movie trailer that they made using scenes they filmed with us then and there. So funny! (and we got soaking wet again! Completely took us by surprise!)

Then we found J&O and Oaks was up from her nap so we hung out in the shade for a bit more then made our way back to the BIG roller coaster in the park (are you keeping track? yup it would have been our fourth!!) however it was having 'mechanical difficulty' so we stayed away - far far away! I told Abbey that it's not the ride itself I am scared of - it's the possibility of the ride not working properly that scares me!

So off we went to our last ride of the day - the Twister ride. They said I could bring Oakley but then went on and on about parental supervision required... so I thought what am I getting myself into? Well they basically had recreated a scene from the movie where a tornado comes through and you are sitting on the front porch watching - I think there was supposed to be some water coming out of a fire hydrant that gets backed into by a truck but it didn't happen - so it was less than exciting!

So after this we left the park and went to the CityWalk area which is outside of the park limits and has shopping and restaurants and bars. We found a spray pad and since I had a change of clothes for Oakley and it was about 8 million degrees we let her run... and cool off. And boy did she ever. Until a little boy ran her over and she hit the pavement and scraped up her knee - poor little boy was more upset than Oakley, he felt so bad for making her cry!

So off to Bubba Gump Shrimp for dinner. I got Oakley changed up and it was strange that by the time we got back to our table we hadn't been at least greeted yet. So we flagged down a waitress who helped us and informed us that we should have been looked after and how unacceptable it was that we hadn't been helped. So then the manager came around and profusely apologized and offered to buy us dessert. Sounded good to us! We had a wonderful meal, even Oakley ate...(always a good thing) and then we ordered desserts. Abbey order mocha mud pie and it could have/should have fed our whole table and then some! The desserts were HUGE and they neglected to tell us that they were family sized! We felt pretty stupid with these huge desserts that we ended up wasting most of! But like all of the other places we've visited the service was amazing and the food was awesome!

We wandered a bit more until it was time to catch our bus and made a couple more purchases - Abbey bought a dress at the 'Endangered Species' shop - just gorgeous, she's wearing it tomorrow and we'll take pics (she wanted a sundress like she saw so many people wearing). And I bought a daiquiri from Fat Tuesdays (like a 7-11 for booze slushees only - my fav) and the girl asked me for ID!! We had a good laugh and I could have hugged her. Made my day!

We had a bit of a mess up on our ride home. We were booked for 9:15 but we caught the 8:15 home (could have sworn we would NOT have wanted to stay so late) but apparently that was what I booked, so we were a bit crowded in a van on the way back, with Oakley on my lap - gawd I hate that. But other than Jason getting yelled at from the driver a few times we made it home safe and sound. Phew!!

Everyone showered and we're all in the process of hitting the sack. Oakley is out, Jason and Abbey went to get milk and drinks and I kicked them out again so Oakley could fall asleep a bit harder so they should be back soon. Jason will post more pics from today in a separate post.

Tomorrow is Downtown Disney day. I really don't think we'll need all day there but we'll see. Maybe we'll hit Magic Kingdom after supper and try to get a bit more there in before Friday as I think it will be a lot for one day. But we've told Abbey she can sleep in - I'll take Oaks to the pool when she wakes up so that it is nice and quiet for Abbey for a bit!

That's it for now! Thanks for reading and commenting!