A chilly but sunny day, I thought it'd be great to visit the parks. Unfortunately, so did a gazillion other people so as I got on Universal property and saw we were being diverted to the auxiliary parking entrance at 10:45 in the morning, I knew it'd be packed. And it was. Wait times for everything were outrageous and even lines to get drinks and snacks were unbearable to me. Luckily I wasn't drinking so at least I didn't have that added issue.
Again entered Studios and made my way down Hollywood Blvd., past the Bourne Shit-acular, past Schwab's (I know you have Dole Whips but still too cold for that) and moseyed on down to a ride I haven't been on in maybe 20 years or more, E.T. Wait time was about 30 minutes but at least it's an interesting queue. When we gave our names, I gave my alter ego Spencer.
Simpson ride was 50 minutes...Nope. My neck was sore enough from the drive over anyway. And my stomach didn't want to deal with the smells of powder-scented Maggie farts, thank you.
Walking was good today. Slow and steady and nowhere near as feeble as last visit. Good times. My bone spurs would later be a-screamin' if I stepped too lively though.
Went into Diagon Alley but thought a second or two about it and what would I do here? If I were drinking, there'd be that but that was not an option today, so I popped back, rounded the corner and rode the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade in IOA.
As you can see from the pic above, I think it was more packed than opening day! (Sorry about the pics out of order, kinda lazy today)
Totally forgot to check out Hagrid's coaster! Made my way over to JP and checked out VelociCoaster. Sleek and smooth sounding, this isn't as big or high as I would have thought from the vids I've seen. Inversions look totally rad though! With the line going on forever and an average wait time of 100 minutes, didn't even think of going on. What's more, I checked out the sample seat...of course a no go...and in my guess, it'd take at least the loss of another 50 pounds before I'd fit on this.
Kong, which last few times here was pretty much a walk on was some 50 minutes so skipped that. Sat a while, people watched while sipping a 12oz cup of Coke Zero fountain service ($4.45). Hey, up next was a ride with only a 5 minutes wait time...Dudley's! Maybe the fact it was 45 degrees had something to do with that?! Yet some crazy people were riding it as you can see above.
Lunchtime and places were queuing up of course, but not so much at Wimpy's. People tend to forget about this place being off the beaten path across from Popeye's which also had a 5 minutes wait time and some very, very brave (crazy) people riding it. Got in the short-ish line at Wimpy's for my cup of Dole Whip. The smell and look of the burgers they were churning out was awesome but I was holding to my plans that I made the night before that I'd spend only a buck or two more than the $16.50 Wimpy's was charging and get a real gourmet burger at Toothsome's Chocolate Factory. Turns out that when I got there later, it was filled to bursting and I couldn't find seating so I shoulda grabbed a Wimpy's burger after all. My Dole Whip ($4.25) was tasty albeit weird eating frozen dessert on such a cold day.
Last ride (yep, only 3 if you want to count Hogwarts Express as a ride) was jumping into the single rider line at the otherwise 45 minute wait Spiderman. Like last time I rode this, I'm really impressed about the improvements. It's still the same ride and the cinematics are still the same as 1999, but they're so much cleaner, brighter and 3-D with the enhanced projection and new glasses. Oh, about those, no toss in bins like the old ones, you hand them over to a staff member and there's a sign warning you to NOT consider stealing them since they are, as the sign says, tracked. Imagine getting a knock on your door: "This is the police! Come out with your hands up! We know you have those 3-D glasses!"
Sat watching the crowd at City Walk, view shown in second to last pic, after the disappointment of being shunned by Toothsome's, hostess was a bit of a bitch about it too. I saw their supposedly awesome shakes up close now and realized they're actually small and not as splendid as seen online. Maybe I won't be back to this place.
Got to thinking while sitting, not sure if I will come back to the parks anytime soon. Maybe the deepest, hottest weeks in summer when pussy Northerners can't handle it. Crowds these past few visits have been too damn high. I think I predicted as much back when Covid first hit that once it died down, the parks would burst at the seems with people craving to do things they couldn't during the height of the pandemic.
Other City Walk eateries were also jammed so I decided to drive on over to I-Drive where I was staying for the night. Saw an Uno's and even though I was craving a burger, decided that a good ol' fashioned deep dish would be a great treat instead. Vibes not so great in there so decided to get a large to go ($30.95). Thought for a minute about getting a draft beer but the bartender approached me with a really cringy fake smile and presented me with a drinks menu and it wigged me out. I just thought how insidious alcohol marketing was. I was blowing it out of proportion, I know, but it was just a weird feeling. I ordered a Diet Coke.
Checked in at my digs for the night, Avanti again ($97.07), watched HBO (Law Abiding Citizen) as I munched on my pizza and snapped the last pic shown above from my 6th floor window (in which you can see, way off in the distance on the right, the twin towers of the hotel I stayed in last time here). Later, after the sun set, got to watch the light and fireworks shows on and over Hogwarts Castle.
Hit the hay and was asleep by 7pm. As usual for this place, very firm yet very comfortable bed.
Woke up at 3:30am, watched another HBO movie (Moonfall) and checked out by 6:30. Drive home was a smidge busy with morning commuters and trucks but other than a few pains in my lower back from likely dehydration (only had a couple sodas and a few cups of water all day) got home soon after sunrise...but not before I'd pop on over to Publix and buy the fixins for my own version of the Toothsome burger and dessert I'd been hankerin' for. I'll make that later.
