This morning I got I got up and made my way to the Outlet Centre where I was able to get the iTrolley up International Drive. At first I was the only one on the trolley for a lot of the time, and then all of a sudden there were hundreds of people on board and the ride slowed down a lot.
I finally got to the stop closest to Universal and hopped off and walked that good old stroll over the freeway and to the parks. It was pretty hot today so by the time I got to the parks I was a little hot and bothered.
It was 32 degrees celsius, but it felt a whole lot more.
I met up with Ros and Camilla outside the ET ride. They had bought a clever refillable mug for the day. A bit like our ones from Pop, with a chip in it. At universal they have over 100 drink flavours to choose from. Me oh my!
I finally got to the stop closest to Universal and hopped off and walked that good old stroll over the freeway and to the parks. It was pretty hot today so by the time I got to the parks I was a little hot and bothered.
It was 32 degrees celsius, but it felt a whole lot more.
I met up with Ros and Camilla outside the ET ride. They had bought a clever refillable mug for the day. A bit like our ones from Pop, with a chip in it. At universal they have over 100 drink flavours to choose from. Me oh my!
We went on ET, and then headed to the animal show next door. A brilliant show with all kinds of animals. My favourite were the otters, so so sweet. There was also a gorgeous ginormous pig who I quite liked. They had dogs, cats, and birds too.
After the show I grabbed a drink on the way over to transformers. We went down the single rider line for Transformers and waited maybe a minute tops. When we got off Transformers the ride had been closed! Not sure why, our ones seemed to have gone just fine.
We walked through some awesome street sets to The Mummy. Camilla hadn't done this ride before and was considering doing it. Unfortunately I could not remember the ins and outs and ups and downs of it so couldn't give any warnings or reassurance.
But she did it! On we got and had a blast!
We walked through some awesome street sets to The Mummy. Camilla hadn't done this ride before and was considering doing it. Unfortunately I could not remember the ins and outs and ups and downs of it so couldn't give any warnings or reassurance.
But she did it! On we got and had a blast!
We found Ros and then headed around to a ride called Disaster in a San Francisco type pier area of the park. It was closed, so we walked along past the new Harry Potter area of the park which is being built, to Men In Black.
MIB is similar to Buzz at Disney except there are these crazy spinning parts. Camilla outright won. Her score was so so much higher than Ros or mine!
We headed back around past Disaster to see if it was open. And it was. Not the greatest ride, and so much time spent in pre-shows it gets a little tiring. But it is ticked off the list now.
We went to a nice seafood place for lunch. I had a chicken sandwich! Very seafoody!
It was then back through the park and over to Islands of Adventures.
First stop, Spider Man. We did this single rider.
Then over to the Popeye ride. Since it was so hot I didn't mind getting drenched. Ros looked after our bags while Camilla and I went on. We were with a lovely family. A Mum and Dad with two girls, and their Grandparents. The Grandmother just kept getting absolutely soaked at every fall and turn, they were all in hysterics. The Father was laughing so much because he was hardly wet- but towards the end he got a few bucket loads on him which had them all laughing away again.
Camilla and I were pretty soaked, especially our shorts.
We then walked through Jurassic Park to the JP ride. We all went on this one.
There was one man in our boat who kept putting his hat on. You aren't allowed to wear hats on the ride so they had to keep warning him that if he didn't take it off they would stop the ride. We were coming up to the big drop and they were repeating over the speaker again and again, 'the man in row two remove your hat' and he wouldn't. I started shouting, take your hat off.
Finally, just before we went over he took it off.
Ros had a poncho on to protect her hair, and the force of the drop flung the hood backwards off her head, we assumed this must also have been what would have happened to the mans hat if he left it on.
We got another good splash on the drop.
We then wandered through Hogsmeade enjoying a cup of Butterbeer. The Butterbeer today was nicer than other times I have tried it. Maybe it was because I was hot?
We headed back around past Disaster to see if it was open. And it was. Not the greatest ride, and so much time spent in pre-shows it gets a little tiring. But it is ticked off the list now.
We went to a nice seafood place for lunch. I had a chicken sandwich! Very seafoody!
It was then back through the park and over to Islands of Adventures.
First stop, Spider Man. We did this single rider.
Then over to the Popeye ride. Since it was so hot I didn't mind getting drenched. Ros looked after our bags while Camilla and I went on. We were with a lovely family. A Mum and Dad with two girls, and their Grandparents. The Grandmother just kept getting absolutely soaked at every fall and turn, they were all in hysterics. The Father was laughing so much because he was hardly wet- but towards the end he got a few bucket loads on him which had them all laughing away again.
Camilla and I were pretty soaked, especially our shorts.
We then walked through Jurassic Park to the JP ride. We all went on this one.
There was one man in our boat who kept putting his hat on. You aren't allowed to wear hats on the ride so they had to keep warning him that if he didn't take it off they would stop the ride. We were coming up to the big drop and they were repeating over the speaker again and again, 'the man in row two remove your hat' and he wouldn't. I started shouting, take your hat off.
Finally, just before we went over he took it off.
Ros had a poncho on to protect her hair, and the force of the drop flung the hood backwards off her head, we assumed this must also have been what would have happened to the mans hat if he left it on.
We got another good splash on the drop.
We then wandered through Hogsmeade enjoying a cup of Butterbeer. The Butterbeer today was nicer than other times I have tried it. Maybe it was because I was hot?
We sat in the sun for a bit to try and dry out. And then decided it was time to head home as it was almost time for the sun to drop.
Camilla and Ros kindly let me get their taxi with them to their hotel, and I then crossed the road to get the iTrolley back to housing.
It was such an unexpected but added bonus getting to see them both on is trip. When I left home just after Christmas it would never have crossed my mind that I would get to meet up with them here in Orlando of all places. The three days I got to spend time with them were absolutely amazing, and I cannot wait to see them again either when I am next in London! or maybe if they come to NZ.
Camilla and Ros kindly let me get their taxi with them to their hotel, and I then crossed the road to get the iTrolley back to housing.
It was such an unexpected but added bonus getting to see them both on is trip. When I left home just after Christmas it would never have crossed my mind that I would get to meet up with them here in Orlando of all places. The three days I got to spend time with them were absolutely amazing, and I cannot wait to see them again either when I am next in London! or maybe if they come to NZ.
I got the trolley back to the Outlets, and on my way through I stopped in a few shops and got two new tops and finally a pair of new shorts (which I've needed since I got here). My old ones will be in the bin and not coming back to NZ.
I walked back to housing and got a bus to my complex. A somewhat early night before the big 24hr day 15 hour shift tomorrow.
I walked back to housing and got a bus to my complex. A somewhat early night before the big 24hr day 15 hour shift tomorrow.