The day at Universal was a big one, thus the need to divide it into two posts!
After the Hulk ride of my life, the guys suggested we go over to the Universal Studios park to check out some of the rides there. The first one we lined up for was the Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast. Even though it was a kids ride it was such a blast (he he!) – when we went ‘virtually’ under water all these bubble started falling from the ceiling. It was just gorgeous and really, really well done!!
The Revenge of the Mummy ride was next – whoa this was seriously awesome. Reminded me very much of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland but was quicker and had the most unbelievable special effects!! You are going backwards, forwards, up and down in this tiny cart going so fast through some amazing scenes. This is one that you just want to get straight back on after it finishes. It is an indoor ride so everything is very much a surprise – you just don’t know what to expect when you get on board!!
We then wandered over to the Twister Tornado Simulation – whoa!! This was really good – and not because I love watching storm chaser shows or anything. Just to see how special effects are created before your own eyes – it was SO realistic – as if you were sitting a few metres and watching a tornado wreck havoc without you ever being in danger. The sounds were so loud and it was just great – the buildup went through a lot of the footage from the Twister movie and how they created an F5. It was really interesting!
It was then time to bid farewell to my Florida friends so we got some hot drinks to wind down after such a crazy day and before I knew it I was back on the bus to La Quinta. If anyone has sleeping problems, just drop them in a theme park for a day – you automatically sleep so well after a day running around like crazy!
I settled into bed to watch the Grammy awards and had to stay up right to the very end to catch the Red Hot Chili Peppers – they were great. I also truly loved Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts performances – I love love love the song San Antonio Rose and then to hear them sing Life in the fast lane and Desperado – it was really really good! So great watching the Grammy awards LIVE instead of watching and knowing all the results – and then of course, the E! coverage all the next day repeating the red carpet conversations.. Zzzzzzzzzz!