August 27: Adventure and Roller Coasters

We decided to do the Islands of Adventure theme park as the first stop on our trip. Primarily because it had the new Harry Potter attraction, and because it was a Friday and we figured there would be less people than on a weekend. So, after a quick continental breakfast at the resort, we headed out to the parks! We hit the Marvel Super Heroes area first, taking in the Spider-Man ride. From there, it was off to Jurassic Park for the River Adventure, which turned out to be a bit too much for my son; specifically the 85-ft. drop at the end. It's in water, but still quite a scare. Though very well themed, unfortunately, Harry Potter offered only a little excitement for us, as my son was too short to ride the main ride (and my daughter didn't want to), and there are only 2 other rides in the attraction. However, my daughter and I did ride the Flight of the Hippogriff, which is really her first authentic roller coaster experience. I have to say, she is now hooked! So much, that we had to immediately go again. The nice thing about staying at the Universal Resort is that your room key can be used as an Express Pass to avoid the long lines. Thus, we were able to hop on again within 5 minutes! After getting the lay of the land, we decided to hop over to the Universal Studios theme park. The kids were itching to go on the Jaws ride. But, first we did the Shrek 4-D attraction. After Jaws, my daughter and I went into the Twister attraction, although I don't think she saw any of it because her face was buried in my chest the whole time. Tired out from all of the excitement, we headed back to the resort for some swimming and snacking. Only 3 days left. Why do I spend valuable vacation time dreading the day we have to go back home?