After getting to bed at around 1am I was expecting to be knackered this morning, but felt relatively fresh for a 7.30 alarm. Picked up hire car around 9am and we headed over to Universal's complex.
The morning started cloudily at Islands of Adventure with a go on The Incredible Hulk coaster, which was brilliant, followed by the Spiderman ride, which was even more brilliant. Just as we approached the area of the park with the water rides the sun came out, and a nice wet ride seemed exactly what was needed.
First up was Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls (basically a log flume) which gave us a nice splash. I found a use for my poncho (to wrap my bag in!) Just as we left the ride it broke down, so that was good timing!
Next up came Bluto's Bilgerat Barges (rapids ride) on which we got absolutely drenched. Or at least I did - Tom wimped out and wore a poncho. In fact, we liked it so much we went round and did it again - one of the benefits of going off-season was the rather short queues!
To round off the water rides, we did the Jurassic Park ride, then popped round the corner to Hogsmeade for some Harry Potter fun. The Forbidden Journey simulator ride was extremely well-done, and we enjoyed Dragon Challenge (Fire was better than Ice!) before having lunch at Mythos (which was apparently quite well-known) - I had a rather decent chicken, ham and cheese hot sandwich, while Tom had Crab sliders.
Having exhausted much of Islands of Adventure, we took the Hogwarts Express over to the Universal Studios park. Diagon Alley was busy and the queue for Gringotts was a bit long for our liking so we skipped that and headed up to Men In Black instead, which was fun and reminded us quite a bit of the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney. I was doing really well and had racked up a winning score until Tom hit the destruct button at just the right moment and got an unbeatable 200,000 point bonus!
The Simpsons ride was just as enjoyable (if not more) than the LA version, as was The Mummy. By the time we'd done Transformers (Universal are very good at simulator rides) it was time to get to the holding area for the evening's horror night. The park closed at 5 but re-opened for the horror night at 6, so in between times you're basically kettled in a few areas of the park. Using a guide we read online, we picked the area next to the Transformers ride, which was near 3 of the mazes.
The moment we were released we headed for the first maze, which was Alien vs Predator themed. It was... all right. Unlike the fright night mazes at Thorpe Park we'd done in previous years where you enter in small groups, in all the Universal mazes we experienced the queue just filed through the attraction while the live actors and effects worked their magic. Dusk Til Dawn, our second maze, was better. We then headed up to the back of the park, ignoring the large queues at the other entrance area mazes, and hit one themed around a cannibalistic biker bar, then finally one set in a haunted doll's house, which was probably my favourite of the lot.
By this point we were peckish again so grabbed a bite to eat in the Simpsons area of the park. I opted for a rather unusual item - a fried chicken breast sandwiched between two waffles, with maple syrup mayonnaise. It sounds bizarre but worked really well!
Bill and Ted's Halloween Adventure was a pleasant surprise - not only was it a very funny live-action show with lots of jokes and plenty of digs at Disney, but it had a rather attractive cast of males (and plenty of pretty girls for those who like that sort of thing) who took their tops off a lot for various gratuitous reasons. Unfortunately my attempts to find the cast entrance and "borrow" some of them didn't come to anything...
After a night-time jaunt on Rip Ride Rocket, the queues had built up on the other mazes and we were both flagging from a long day so left the park at around 10pm. I was driving in the US for the first time in about 3 years, in an unfamiliar car on unfamiliar roads, so of course it poured down the moment we got on the Interstate, which made it very difficult to see the lane markings! Somehow we made it back in one piece.
Tomorrow's plan is to fill in the gaps at Universal, doing the rides and shows we didn't get to today and revisiting our favourites. Going well
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