We got to the park around opening. Amazingly enough, we parked in exactly the same location as we did yesterday, so it was easy to remember where the van was!
Our first stop was Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast. This attraction was just built when Andrew and Maria were there on their honeymoon in 2003. They were doing test runs of the ride then. The kids weren’t able to sit in the motion seats, because they are too rough. But they were able to come in and view the show, sitting in stationary seating. This was fine with Vavo, who gets motion sick anyway, and wanted a stationary seat. The ride was really loud – why are the rides all so loud? But it was fun, and it exited into a cool interactive NickToons area. The kids stood in front of a SpongeBob background, and we could view them on a screen, with jellyfish floating around them and other things going on around them. It was cute. There were also interactive quiz areas – the kids got good scores, just by pressing random responses!
Our first stop was Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast. This attraction was just built when Andrew and Maria were there on their honeymoon in 2003. They were doing test runs of the ride then. The kids weren’t able to sit in the motion seats, because they are too rough. But they were able to come in and view the show, sitting in stationary seating. This was fine with Vavo, who gets motion sick anyway, and wanted a stationary seat. The ride was really loud – why are the rides all so loud? But it was fun, and it exited into a cool interactive NickToons area. The kids stood in front of a SpongeBob background, and we could view them on a screen, with jellyfish floating around them and other things going on around them. It was cute. There were also interactive quiz areas – the kids got good scores, just by pressing random responses!
The next ride we really wanted to see was Shrek 4D. This is a ride where you watch a 3D show while in motion seats. The special effects were cool. The story began where the first Shrek movie left off, as Shrek and Princess Fiona traveled to their honeymoon destination. Lord Farquad came back as a ghost to try to kill Fiona and make her his ghost queen. Yikes! The seats moved around, bouncing and bumping. There were air effects – like there was wind as a ghost “flew” by you. When you exit the ride, you go into the gift shop, and outside the gift shop is a sign pointing to where you can meet the “noble steed”, Donkey. Sometimes, Shrek is there, too. 
Our next stop was “E.T. Adventure”. This ride is really neat. You fly in little bicycles, to help E.T. save his home planet. Even Jeremy got his own bike to ride. It was so refreshing for him to be able to go on a ride all by himself (not too short). It was a cute little ride with cute little aliens. Steven Spielberg did the intro, and they give you a “passport” at the entrance, where they type in your name and associate it to your passport, so that when you board the ride, it speaks to you at the end. E.T. said, “Thank you Aiden, Thank you Jeremy, Thank you Maria, Thank you Drew, Thank you Vavu”. That was fun!
Next door to E.T. was Fievel’s Playland, based on An American Tale. This area had lots of slides and rope ladders, tunnels and climbing objects. The kids stayed in there for a long time. That is – until Maria lured Aiden out with the roller coaster next door.
Aiden was so excited to go on “Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster”. There was practically ZERO line. So we went right on. The only bad part was having to walk through the whole queue, even though no one was there! It was a cute coaster – all based around being silly and nutty. As soon as the ride was done, Aiden said he wanted to go again. And since there were only 2 other people on the whole coaster, and no one was in line, Maria asked if they could stay on. And the worker said no! Humph! They said, “please exit the ride”. That was a little annoying. So we exited, walked around to the front, walked through the empty queue again, and got back on. Aiden seemed to gain an equal amount of enjoyment the second time around. Of course he wanted to go again, but that could’ve gone on forever, so we moved on.
Next door was “Curious George Goes to Town”. This was a HUGE play area with lots of water stuff to play with. Andrew found this area really cool – and said we should come back with the kids in their swimsuits to play. There were huge towers with big buckets on the top that slowly filled up with water, then dumped down over the whole play area, soaking anyone in their path. There were water cannons, and also other play areas behind the scenes – like the “ball factory”, a two-level battleground where people shoot nerf balls around at each other with air cannons.
Also in the Curious George area was a circus tent with more play stuff in it, like slides, things to climb and pictures of animals with buttons that you press to hear the animal sound. The kids stayed here for quite a while, too. There was a lot for them in this area of the park.
After playtime was done, we started walking over to the Men In Black attraction so the adults could have some fun. On the way, we passed by the area where they are building the new Simpsons attraction, scheduled to open next year. They already have the store built that is associated with the ride. It’s a Kwik-E-Mart!!! SOOOO COOL!
Men In Black: Alien Attack had a really cool queuing area, and was a really well-done ride. Too bad you aren’t allowed to take pictures inside. Boo-boo. You enter in through an area guised as a World’s Fair exhibit entitield “The Universe and You”. Then the presentation is interupted, and you go on an elevator and discover you’ve been recruited to try out to be one of the MIB’s. You walk through the control area that is tracking alien activity, and board a vehicle to enter a training area where you will test your skills at zapping aliens. You have a gun, and your ride vehicle tracks your score. There is one section of the ride where you see an opposing vehicle go through an x-ray which reveals they are aliens in disguise. A target appears above their vehicle, and if you shoot them, their vehicle spins out of control. It was fun and silly. Vavo waited with the kids, because she doesn’t like spinning and they were too short to ride. They ate popcorn and chilled out in the shade. The kids knocked over the popcorn bucket, and some nice guy sweeping the sidewalk went and got them a new one. When we came out, we saw Vavo sweeping with the dude’s broom, and were like “what the heck is going on”?
Our next attraction was Jaws. JAWS is located in an area themed after the tiny New England fishing village of Amity. You board a tour boat, and of course are attacked by a giant shark. The tour dude shoots at the shark a number of times with a grenade launcher, blasting up huge gushes of water toward your boat. The shark lunges at the boat a few times, and there’s a huge explosion when you’re around a boat gas station. The fire felt really hot, it was so close! The kids seemed to enjoy this one, although Aiden looked a little unsure at a couple of points with the gun and the fire. But he understood that the shark was fake.
After Jaws, it was lunchtime. We went to Richter’s Burger Co. in the San Francisco district to grab a bite. After lunch, the kids were wearing out, so Maria took them in the stroller to see if they would fall asleep for a nap, while Vavo, Vavu, Uncle Howie and Drew went on to Twister and The Mummy Returns.
Maria met back up with the group when Andrew was in line to take a picture with the Simpsons! They had an RV out in the street with a sign, “Universal Studios or Bust”, next to the location of their new attraction. Homer, Marge, Lisa and Bart were there, signing autographs and taking pictures. There were people there that were totally into it, who were having them sign Duff Beer cans, and were wearing Simpsons clothes.
Drew with the Simpsons
After meeting the Simpsons, we saw Doc Brown walking down the street
Next, Maria joined the guys to ride Terminator 2: 3D while Vavo stayed with the kids. This is a theatre-style attraction that is shown in 3D, intermixed with real actors and special effects like lasers and moving seats.
After T2, it was time to go find a seat for the parade. Universal is hosting balloons from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for their own, “Macy’s Holiday Parade”. We got a great seat, right next to the replica of Macy’s in the New York area, in front of the Christmas tree. There were a lot of balloons, floats, people on stilts, and Santa appeared at the end and lit the Christmas tree.
Near the end of the parde, we realized that we had dinner reservations at O’hana in
DisneyWorld’s Polynesian Resort that evening at 7:20. So we took off from Universal and headed for DisneyWorld. We made it on time, and got the best seat in the house. We were right in the corner of the dining room, and the dining room was completely surrounded by windows. So we had a great vantage point of DisneyWorld from our table. We could see the Castle in the Magic Kingdom, all lit up. We could see Space Mountain and a big section of the Polynesian Resort.
DisneyWorld’s Polynesian Resort that evening at 7:20. So we took off from Universal and headed for DisneyWorld. We made it on time, and got the best seat in the house. We were right in the corner of the dining room, and the dining room was completely surrounded by windows. So we had a great vantage point of DisneyWorld from our table. We could see the Castle in the Magic Kingdom, all lit up. We could see Space Mountain and a big section of the Polynesian Resort.
Dinner was really good. They marinate the meats for a number of days in advance. The meats were very tender and delicious. Dinner is served family style, with no menu and is unlimited. They come by with a big bowl of salad and wontons with dipping sauces. Then they bring appetizers, followed by the main event. There are all kinds of meats to pick from – and they bring them all. Turkey, pork, beef and chicken. During dinner, there are activities for the children, like a coconut race, hula lessons, and a conga line. It was all so good. And then dessert- pineapple bread pudding with ice cream and bananas foster sauce. That was yummy, too! By the end of the evening, we had all had a really long day and were ready to retire. Seems like those rest days always come at just the right time – tomorrow we stay home and relax.
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The best part of day 30 was the really really light crowd, being able to stay for the parade (WITH good seats).
The worst part of day 30 was the sun beating down on us...again.
What we learned on day 30 was mid-week is FOR SURE the best time to visit Universal.
The weather on day 30 was hot during mid-day, nicer in the evening, but humid.
Our character sightings on day 30 included Shrek & Donkey, Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat, Woody Woodpecker, two penguins and a lion from Madagascar, Doc Brown (from Back to the Future), The Simpsons.
The crowd level on day 30 was sooooo light.
The best part of day 30 was the really really light crowd, being able to stay for the parade (WITH good seats).
The worst part of day 30 was the sun beating down on us...again.
What we learned on day 30 was mid-week is FOR SURE the best time to visit Universal.
The weather on day 30 was hot during mid-day, nicer in the evening, but humid.
Our character sightings on day 30 included Shrek & Donkey, Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat, Woody Woodpecker, two penguins and a lion from Madagascar, Doc Brown (from Back to the Future), The Simpsons.
The crowd level on day 30 was sooooo light.
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