Universal Islands of Adventure

We picked up John and the kids and headed for Universal arriving there at 10:30.  Let the adventure begin!  This was the first time Carol and I had ever been to Universal.  We both agreed that we liked it and Carol even went so far as to say that he liked it better than Disney!  John said that it wasn't crowded as he had seen it many times before.  We could walk in the streets.   We were able to walk on most rides and the two that had lines, John was able to get something like a Disney Fast Pass.  I loved the colors of the park.  Seuss Land was very colorful.  As we walked through it, the Seuss characters seem to come alive.  We rode a couple of rides in Seuss Land before going to Jurassic Park and Comic Strip Land.  One thing that I think Universal does better than Disney is providing places to sit.  Benches, low walls, and large rock-like structures were everywhere.  When we wanted to sit and rest, we didn't have any trouble finding a place.

Our first stop was Seuss Landing where we rode the Cat in the Hat and a Trolley Ride.

A great picture of Aidan, John, Katie and Carol.

We saw a lot of characters.  Here is the Cat in the Hat and the Lorax.  Below is Julian from Madagascar.

Harry Potter Land

No one in our group felt adventuresome enough to ride any big roller coasters but we saw plenty of coaster rails.

This was at the entrance to Jurassic Park.

All five of us felt that the  Spiderman ride was the best of the day.  I would have ridden it again if my feet hadn't said "No!"

We saw Betty Boop.  We also saw some superheroes like Captain America and the Grinch.  I took pictures but they didn't turn out well.

All together I think we rode six rides.  The last ride we all rode together was the Popeye Water Ride.  It was advertised as "You will get wet."  That was so true.  Everyone was soaked except Katie and I.  Only our feet got wet because we wore rain ponchos!   Katie and John rode the log flume ride while we waited with Aidan.  At that ride, there was a log with seats in it for you to get in to see if you could get into the log.  Both Carol and I tried and our knees would not cooperate so we sat out this ride.  I guess we have reached that "too old" stage in our lives!

We left the park at 4:00 and all of us were tired.  We had a great time and I would return to Universal.  The only down side was the traffic leaving the park. I-4 was horrible.  It was bumper-to-bumper for several miles.  We didn't get back to John's until nearly 6:00 p.m.  All I wanted to do at that point was get back to the motorhome and take my shoes off.  It was so good to get our wet shoes off and relax.  

It was a fun day and I am so glad that we got to experience Universal.  It didn't rain and although it was hot, we didn't notice it.  There were people of all shapes, sizes, and ages enjoying the park with us.  We took a picnic lunch and had ice cream for dessert.  Carol and I both agreed that this would be a visit-again if the opportunity came up.