We had an awesome and long day today at Universal Islands of Adventure.
It was a beautiful morning in Winter Garden. I was writing from the living room at the Calina’s house, looking outside into the lake and it was so pretty and peaceful. Soon, all the kids would be up and all excited as we were going to Universal today. I was able to finish my writing before all the excitement, so that was good.
We didn’t rush to get everyone up or out, but got moving along as kids woke up, made sure they were ready, got breakfast out and kids eating, and kept moving. We were able to leave a little after 9am, which is great. We only had about a 30 minute drive, then not a lot of traffic or a lot of cars in line to the parking area. We breezed through parking, got our spot, moved along the parking area and made our way into the park. By time we cleared all security, got tickets and walked in, it was just past 10am.
Bia had wanted to go to a park for her birthday, and with her birthday falling on Saturday, we all decided to go on a Thursday as there would be less people there. Calina’s joined us as well and we all took the kids from school for the day. This was so special for Bia and she was so happy to have the friends she loves so much with her, and her family of course. We got in and started our route to the right of the park entrance. The kids were all happy and excited. We had sunscreen sprayed on everyone as the sun was out and the heat was going to get even more intense as the day went on. It was in the 80s and the high was 91 for the day. We got to the Dr. Seuss area first, the kids saw some characters, then went on the Carousel.
They wanted to go one more time, and when they walked around they saw a show going on and stopped there instead. Then we got in line for the Dr. Seuss ride, which is a cart that drives around the top of the area. We waited in line for about 30 some minutes.
It was pretty hot, so by time we were done, the kids were loosing energy, and it was almost lunch time anyway, so we decided to stop to have lunch. The restaurants were pretty packed, so we found an area with a little grill place and plenty of tables, sat by our two tables and started working on orders. I got some drinks while Carol put an online order in. The heat was pretty strong and the kids were looking tired. Things got better after some Icees and cold drinks, and even better after we all ate. Right by where we were sitting there was an area where they had characters, so we saw Kung Fu Panda, King Julian from Madagascar, etc. while we were in that area eating.
Then we kept going and went through the Harry Potter area. The girls remembered a roller coaster they both liked the last time we were here, and that they rode a bunch of times, it is in from of the castle, so we went there. Vi, Bia, Bella, Carol and Flavia went. When they came back, Bia was crying. hahahaha… I guess she was surprised by the drop and not expecting it, and got scared. Bella and Vi loved it. They wanted to go again, so this time Henrique went too, but Bia stayed. To everyone’s surprise, he loved it. We went one more time and I went with Bia, and this time she was good with it, even taking her hands off the bars. Woohoo… all kids are good with this coaster.
We kept walking and were now on a mission to find a water ride, one that would get us all wet. We tried a few, waited in line at one that eventually broke down, but finally got into one. The kids had all changed in to their swimming suits for this. hahahaha… Flavia and I went with them. The ride is a big round floating ride and goes through the water and gets us pretty soaked. There were spots where a wall of water was in front of us, and there was no way to not get soaked. The kids loved it and we went again. This was nice and refreshing, and definitely helped cools us down, it was pretty hot by then.
We got in on another ride in the Jurassic Park section. The ride was pretty easy until we got to the end, where a big T-rex is coming at you, and out of the blue your cart drops down and everyone gets soaked. It’s pretty cool and funny, but it sure scared the kids. We had a few cries again. hahahahaha. It was getting late, so we decided to start walking back.
The girls wanted to go on the Happy Potter coaster one more time, so we went there. When there, they went over and over again. Carol at one point realized the ride across had a short wait time of ten minutes, it’s the actual castle ride, so we went there. Bia, Bella, Vi, Carol, Ricardo and I. The ride was pretty awesome. It mixes a ride, with some iMax type of screens and movement, but it has lots of scary parts, lots of them. The kids freaked out. ahahahahah. The adults loved it, Bella did too. As soon as they were out, Flavia, Carol, and Bella went back. They loved it. In the meantime, all the rest kept going in and out of the smaller coaster, pretty much until 7pm when they closed all the rides. That was fun! We were all pretty tired, hot and sticky, and hungry. We decided to eat somewhere on our way out. I asked all the kids how they liked the day and they said they loved it, minus the scary rides. hahahaha.
We looked for some places that were big enough to hold our group of 9, kind of last minute. The choices were Sushi (full), Pizza or Mexican. Flavia went out to pick a place, checked a few places, and ended up getting a table for us at the Mexican place. By time we got there it was getting dark already. We ordered our food and drinks, it was pretty loud where we were. It was also very dark. Kids were tired… hahahah… The food was pretty good, very seasoned. Lots of garlic and salt. We ate, paid and left.
We got home after 10, got the kids to the showers and bed. We decided to stay over at Calina’s again, and just run to the trailer tomorrow to get whatever we need. I had asked the girls to bring their computers just in case, so it worked out. They’ll start their classes tomorrow and we’ll be all set. I was beat, so I showered and went to bed. It was a loooong day.
We had a great day at Universal Islands of Adventure, enjoyed the rides and company, and started the early celebration of Bia’s birthday.