Orlando Day 6: Universal Studios

Since it's been two months since our Disney World vacation, I thought I better wrap up this series of blog posts. I wanted to include the last day of our trip since I use this blog as a family scrapbook. I rarely print off pictures anymore unless I am going to frame them, so I like to include most of my pictures in my blog. Hopefully I'll print off a blog book one day (when they figure out a better format for blogs with lots of pictures), or I'll order a yearly CD of my blog to keep as a digital photo album, journal, and keepsake. 

The last day of our vacation we took a cab to Universal Studios. It was about a 30 minute drive from our hotel at Disney World, but Reid was set on meeting "the real Spider-Man" on this vacation. He didn't understand that Spider-Man wasn't a Disney character, so we had to make a trip to Universal for the meet & greet. It cost us about $600 for all four of us to get a daily pass for both Universal theme parks, Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. We decided to do both parks because Spider-Man and Jurassic Park were in the Islands of Adventure theme park, but the Barney and Curious George rides were in the other theme park. We spent most of our time in the Islands of Adventure theme park and should have only done a one-park ticket. Universal has an express pass, which is like the fast pass at WDW, but this cost about $60 extra per person per ride or around $200 extra per ticket. We knew the kids couldn't ride all of the rides at Universal, so we skipped this purchase. This meant longer lines, but with fewer rides to ride for our kids' ages, this was the best choice. When our kids get a little older, I definitely think the express pass would be worth the extra money, especially during busy seasons and on weekends. 

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Our first stop was Marvel Super Hero Island for the meet & greet/photo op with the "real Spider-Man." This was Reid's favorite part of our entire trip and worth the $600 park tickets! If your child loves Marvel characters and super heroes, Universal Studios "Islands of Adventure" is a must! The good thing about Universal is that it is mostly for families with older children and teens, so unlike Disney there aren't long lines to meet the characters and get autographs. Teenagers really don't care much about Captain America's autograph. Ha! That really works to your advantage if you have little ones. We never waited in a line to meet any of the super heroes!

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After getting Spider-Man's autograph, Jeb and Reid rode the Spider-Man ride! This was a 3D roller coaster adventure, and Jeb says the ride was truly "amazing!" 

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 On Marvel Island, the super heroes come riding through the street on their motorcycles every hour on the hour. They play loud super hero music and clear the streets. Reid thought this was awesome!

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 Spider-Man gift shop...EVERYTHING you could ever want Spider-Man themed! 

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The kids were still too little for some of the rides at Universal, but they really liked the Storm Force Accelatron! Since the teacup ride was under construction at WDW, I'm really glad we got to do this fun little attraction! 

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 Captain America was SUPER nice! 

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Leaving Marvel Super Hero Island

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Next stop... Toon Lagoon! This section of the park was cartoon-themed and included bright, colorful signs and rides that included Betty Boop, Marmaduke, & Popeye.

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 The boys making their Popey faces! Jeb's is classic! 

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So true...

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 While the boys rode some rides, I took LilliAnn to Me Ship, the Olive to play. This giant ship is a "Popeye and Olive Oyl" themed play area for smaller children. LilliAnn has so much fun!

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Looking over towards the other theme park, Universal Studios Florida

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I got some great shots of Jeb and Reid riding Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barge. They got absolutely soaked and Reid loved every minute of it! 

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 This was Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. There was an extremely long line for this "log ride," so while the boys were waiting in line, LilliAnn and I headed to Jurassic Park!

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Jurassic Park looked just like the movie! From all of the buildings and huts, to even the trees and foliage...I thought I was going to get eaten by a T-Rex any minute! While we were waiting for Jeb and Reid to get to this area, LilliAnn and I rode the Pteranodon Flyers ride. This steel suspended roller coaster is only for smaller children who are accompanied by an adult and is tucked away in the area of the park called Camp Jurassic. Jeb left his phone with me in the stroller and I didn't tell him that we were moving on to Jurassic Park. The Pteranodon Flyer line was an hour long, and after waiting over 30 minutes, I really didn't want to get out of line. I was sure that Jeb and I were going to lose each other, and he had my ID and all of the money in his wallet! Thankfully, as LilliAnn and I were "flying" overhead on this two-seater gliding roller coaster, I spotted Jeb and Reid. I yelled from high above and he heard me, looked up, and knew which ride we were on! I was praising the Lord a little extra at that moment because my biggest fear was being stranded at Universal Studios with a dead cell phone, no money, and no husband!! 

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 LilliAnn got a hair wrap in Jurassic Park. She called it her "brave," instead of her braid. 

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My kids are a little young to be into Harry Potter, but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was awesome! This is a picture of Hogwarts Castle.

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The Lost Continent - this island is themed to ancient myths and legends 

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The last island in this theme park was Seuss Landing. This was my favorite island of the park! I LOVE Dr. Seuss!

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 Waiting in line for The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride

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 Even Jeb liked riding the Caaro-Seusse-el! 

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 I mean, how cool is the carousel?!

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 We really wanted to ride The Cat in the Hat & One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (which is kind of like the Dumbo ride), but it was a Saturday and the lines were extremely long. Plus, we still had the other park to see! 

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 Green Eggs and Ham Cafe

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By this point we were starving, so before heading to the other theme park, we stopped to eat at NBA City. Another one of Reid's favorite things of the trip! 

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Reid took this pic! Isn't he a great photographer?!

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 In my opinion, Universal Studios Florida theme park is for older children and teenagers. There are kids areas to the park, but my kids seemed to enjoy Islands of Adventure theme park much better. This is Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster located in the Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone. 

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A Day in the Park with Barney stage-show was over by the time we got to this park. Also, I was kind of disappointed in the Curious George Goes to Town play area as the water features were not working, but the kids loved the ball area where they could shoot foam balls at each other out of cannons. There were several other things that we didn't get to do in this theme-park because the kids were exhausted, but next time we will try and ride E.T. Adventure, Fievel's Playland, Disaster!, Transformers: The Ride, Twister, and Men in Black! 

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Walking out of Universal Studios - Orlando

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Universal Orland Resort was definitely worth the money and 30 minute cab ride from Disney. The kids had a blast, and Jeb and I enjoyed our day as well! We really could have spend two days at Universal, but I think we got in a lot of attractions considering this was a Disney World trip. For the ages of our children, I was very glad we decided to do Universal the last day instead of Epcot. We'll save Epcot for our next Disney vacation. 

If you have ANY questions at all about vacationing to Orlando, WDW, and Universal Studios, please email me at kelliannrollins@aol.com. I did a TON of research because I wanted to get the most out of this vacation for our kids ages. I was extremely satisfied with my planning and we had the BEST ROLLINS RUCKUS VACATION!