Day 12 Monday 1st October 2012 Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure
We were up at 7.15am to get dressed and have breakfast before being picked up by Mears transfer bus. Our bus arrived on time at 8.20am; there was only 2 other couples being collected at POR, 1 couple from POFQ and 1 couple at SSR. The driver was lovely and gave us loads of helpful tips and told us about the parks.
On the way we spotted the new Characters in Flights balloon
Now, Im not a huge fan of US and IOA, I much prefer Disney and could easily have spent the full 2 weeks at a Disney park but Steven likes them and we both said we wanted to go on the Harry Potter ride again.
We managed to get IOA done in less than 3 hours. We went straight to Harry Potter, which was only a 10 minute wait, although it felt like it was closer to 30 minutes still it beats the huge 2 hour wait we had last year. The ride is amazing and I still cant believe how fab the castle looks and the shops.
Most of the rides were a 10 minute wait at IOA, which is probably how we managed to get through the park in less than 3 hours.
We walked over to US which was busier than IOA but still the longest we waited for any ride was 20 minutes. We even rode The Mummy twice in a row as there was no line.
What I really loved was the Despicable Me attraction. Its a bit like Shrek 4D but a tiny bit more advanced.
Now, last year I had an issue with the people behind us in the queue for The Simpsons ride. The man and the child with him pushed in front of us when we got into the little room before you board the ride and pushed through to get a seat in the front row.
The man wasnt a small man height wise and width wise not being nasty but surely he shouldnt have pushed in front of us and should have some consideration for the people he is around. For example, my brother and dad would sit in the back as theyre taller than me, my mam and little sister, so can see over us. This man plonked himself in front of my dad and mam and blocked their view of the screen.
The same thing happened to me and Steven this year. A man and his girlfriend pushed their way past us in the room in order to get front row seats and both of these people were bigger than us! They also spoke and kissed through the whole thing anyway!!
Are they just incredibly rude or are we too nice? I wouldnt feel comfortable barging past people, even though I would probably never see these people again in my life, I couldnt and wouldnt want to deal with any awkwardness or confrontation as Im just not that type of person.
The Simpsons ride vehicle is strange anyway because it feels like the seats in the back row are actually lower than the front row. They probably arent but it just feels that way. Surely it should be a bit higher than the front row though?
Its a shame some sort of drama has happened on this ride whenever weve rode it as it is a good attraction, but it gets ruined by others.
After this debacle we rode Men in Black then I asked Steven if I had ever took him on the E.T ride, apparently I hadnt. So off we went to E.T, Steven wasnt impressed!
We then sat through the Terminator show, which neither of us had done before. Less said about this the better!
By just after 4pm we had done everything we had wanted to do and were on route back to POR.
(The man with the push chair is walking right through our 'proposal spot'
MK had PM EMH that night, so we powered through and at 7pm headed to MK! We rode BTMRR 3 times in a row and Splash twice. Then went over to Haunted Mansion but on the way Steven stopped for a turkey leg. We then went on Its a Small World (Steven was pretty much forced onto this ride) then we headed over to Cosmic Rays so I could have something to eat.
Afterwards we rode TTA and Buzz Lightyear. We were shattered by 11.30pm and headed back to POR.
I must say the buses back from MK werent too bad. Both PO resorts have their own bus stop and tended not to be too busy when we were leaving.
After a very long day we were asleep as soon as we got through the door!