Tenchi's Day trip to Universal Studios

Hello there my lovely readers! Been off the blogging world for a few days. We had some rough days at work, spent the day in Orlando, and then I had the BRILLIANT idea to reconfig. my computer to make it run faster. Spoiler alert: it doesn't and now Microsoft Word refuses to install on my computer. Lets all give a warm welcome to Open Office Writer shall we?! The box is really small folks. Looks odd. I hates change. XD

This way to fun? Got it!!! XD Tenchi was too busy trying to wake up and missed taking pictures of the entry way.

But now I am here and back folks! Time to start anime blogging....after my day trip to Universal post woohoo! Soup and Oyster crackers shall power me through this blog. Then I have three days off from work after tonight's shift. So don't worry folks, I will catch up during this time. You know...before I go back to Orlando to use the rest of my days at Universal Studios!! XD

Why look at the time! We must have fun.

So my friend from Maryland, the one I went to Otakon with last year, was invited by her mom to go on a cruise in place of her grandmother. It was all very last minute for my friend so it was very last minute for us when we got the invite. But I was like....well everyone else gets to ask off for work PEACE OUT SATURDAY! The husband and I woke up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and off we went to battle maybe Thanksgiving traffic. This trip was so weird for me. I usually plan things further in advance. What is this dropping everything and going to have fun?

I see my legs!

After taking a detour because of an accident which had an accident on it and a broken down truck we were only...an hour late. Woe is us! Sorry my friend. After taking a quick pic of where we parked off we went to....Universal Studios. But this time in the daytime hours. It had been 6 years since the husband and I had gone to Universal Studios during the day time to see everything so it was fun. XD Well after we got into the park. They have implemented a finger scan policy now that only half the population can seem to get the hang of. Each line had someone trying to use a one park only pass or a family who hadn't written their names on their ticket thus everyone had to try and scan it. X___X It was special indeed.

A ride attendant....on a continuous mover. Good thing he is not in a heavy suit. XD

We finally got scanned and walked in. And immediately I was almost over run. When we were there 6 years ago there were some characters walking around to have their pics taken but not as many when we first walked in this time! We saw Back to the Future, Men in Black, The Simpsons, Shrek, and another group a bit away right out the gate! We focused more on rides and shows this time but next week I will make sure Duffy gets his picture taken with all these characters. I mean...there were a ton and it was at random. Take note Disney. While scheduled Meet n Greets are fun this random interaction is great too. So while Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure might not have as many attractions as Disney this really made up for it.

Roller Coaster? I will be over here folks.

We located our friend and off we were to the first ride of the day (for us) Rip Ride Rockit. Obviously Tenchi the chicken did not ride this ride but I walked through the queue and took pictures. The cast members were very diligent in telling me that I couldn't go on the ride with all my stuff. I am sure they have dumb/angry people all the time that fail to notice the FREE lockers outside the ride. So I think they were relieved when I was like nope not riding but thanks for telling me.

So many pics, so little time.

The husband and friend went on the ride and had a good time but they said the ride was short. What they did like about the ride was the pick your own music feature. And after the ride you can watch a little video of yourself in addition to seeing a picture of the ride. My husband really liked that feature and thought it would be fun if you really lost your mind on the ride. Nice little addition. I thought it was weird they thought the ride was short when it takes up one side of the park. X__X

People are doubting this will get done in time. You can do it!

While the husband and friend were on the ride I tried to take pictures of the surrounding area. See that fast moving construction? That is the newly announced Transformer's Ride. XD Good thing they kept it such a good secret. Construction really is going along really fast folks. This ride is set to open Summer 2013. Given how slow Disney is at building things (their mine ride won't open until 2014!) maybe this will light a fire under their butts? If the competition can do it why can't Disney? So you keep on building Universal Studios. Yay for Transformers!

Oh a person?! Not a group of people messing up my shot?

After the husband and friend rode the crazy ride it was...not Despicable Me time. The friend had already ridden that when we were on the highway not moving. But we did ride it folks. As apparently it is my new favorite ride ever. No at this point we started walking towards Twister. We had no one in front of us folks. It was a pretty empty at the park. The longest wait all day was E.T. at 40 minutes with Despicable Me at 20. It was weird. X__X Like look no strollers and tons of space to take Duffy pictures. Duffy will get his own post after next week when I put them all together.

Pics from the Mummy ride. They kinda suck.

Back to Twister. I am surprised this attraction is still around. I would have thought that Twister would have been next to go but I guess Jaws had a bigger spot for the new Harry Potter land. But it is still a decent attraction being a million years old. Oh and I haven't seen the movie. That was the basic theme of the day for me. XD I think my favorite part was the flying cow part. Oh and you can survive a Twister that is taking down houses by tying yourself to a pole with a belt. The more you know.

This one only kinda sucked because it was at the end where there is light.

After Twister it was time for The Mummy. For people who are brave enough to ride it. I rode it once and I think that was enough for me. XD I did walk through the ride this time to take pictures. But it was very dark inside the queue so they all came out poorly. Duffy was like um I can't see anything thanks. There are signs in the queue now that that state it a roller coaster. That would have been nice when I accidentally rode it last week.

It's show time!!!!

We were randomly walking after The Mummy when we saw some people gathered around. And like good people pretending that they are Japanese we felt compelled to wait too. Turns out it was a Blue Brothers Show. XD Never seen the movie but the cast members really looked like the actors. It was a cute little show, adding charm to the area. Jazz it up folks!

Do they really?!

Look at the map I see we hit Disaster! I remember riding it before but the experience was totally different this time. Either they added the preshow stuff or I forgot all about it. The audience was picked to do certain things as we filmed our own movie. The person in charge of our movie was so great. He thought fast on his feet and made anything a joke. Like the screamer for our movie....it was like she was sneezing. You could barely hear her. One man spoke no English and it was hilarious how our movie maker was pretending to work around him. The part at the end with the subway being attacked by forces of nature I remember but not seeing our actual movie. It is hard to describe I think...or maybe I am doing a bad job of describing it. It was more like an interactive attraction, like the Laugh Factory at Magic Kingdom. Different every time.

Can we have these rules at work?

Walking walking past where Jaws used to be. Rest in peace Jaws. My friend had no idea what was going there in its place. XD Maybe because I am insane I think that everyone else knows what is going on. So I happily told her it was the expansion for Harry Potter and how the two parks will be connected. That way people will stay at both parks and not just pick the one with Harry Potter in it. Work seems to be going on really fast. Will have more pics next time. Trying to get as many attractions under our belts before our friend had to go back to her cruise shop. Maybe next time she takes a cruise the Harry Potter stuff will be done woohoo?

I think I was expecting a Willy Wonka machine.

After walking a bit we made it to Men In Black Alien Attack. Yay a ride made for me. We quickly OH WAIT! I forgot something. After the Blue's Brother Show we walked near a restaurant that wasn't opened yet except for drinks. I was like that is silly but then the husband explained that the 100 type of soda machine was in there. Since I have never been to Firehouse Subs or anywhere else that serves it I decided I needed to see the machine. I think in my head I thought it was this GIANT machine with tubes all over the place with every type of soda ever. But it was this....and you push buttons and little flavor packets get mixed with your type of soda. I got orange sprite. XD They had buy 2 souvenir cups and get a third one free. The guy behind the counter said we could use it next week too so we took advantage of it. XD

It has been written!

Okay NOW Men in Black. The lockers were big enough for our drinks which was good for us yes. The ride line was like 10 minutes long but a lot of that was just walking through the queue. My friend had never ridden before so she didn't get a lot of points at first. But soon we were all neck and neck (the husband claims that his gun wasn't working right) when something magical happened. They announced it was time to hit the red button...AND I GOT IT FIRST! 100,000 point bonus! Tenchi is the winner for this ride. First time EVER in ANY shooting game. Write this down folks. Tenchi ROCKS Woohoo!!!

Spotting some fun there folks.

After this victory it was near 1 o clock and since most of us got up at the crack of dawn we decided to get some noms. We skipped the Simpson's ride for now and walked to Mel's Dive-In. The Simpson's area is going to get new restaurants in the future but for now it was time for walking. I am a boring and picky person so I just got a burger and fries. I did like the fries better. The restaurant itself could use a little more seating. XD I forgot to ask the husband to pick me up a shake while I saved seats. Maybe next time. I did get a churro later in the day so I guess like is okay. XD

Can I buy one of these?

After using our 8349545 packets of ketchup I practically dragged everyone to the Sponge Bob store. Every time we go to Universal Studios this store is always closed and I made a sad face. I really don't want the show that much but I like seeing him in character and I wanted to see the store. XO The store is a meet-in-greet area too. Duffy will have to get his picture taken next time. For now I will look at Jellyfish Lamps and what not.

Sounds delicious.

We finally back tracked to The Simpson's Ride. The husband has ridden this three times and still doesn't like it. He hasn't said what he doesn't like about it but he is a good sport and goes on it with me. My friend seemed to like the ride. It was more my speed anyway. I do think that they need to time things better because the preshow really explains what the ride is about. If you miss it you won't know what is going on all the way. Unless the baddie is a baddie in the show and people all know that. But even you only get half the preshow you can understand most of the ride.

Blast away long lines!

We were going to ride E.T next but it was 40 minutes and we were like um no sir we have a time limit for my friend. The kid area at Universal Studios is really kid like. Nothing like Fantasyland at Disney. Nothing really much to do for older kids and people like Tenchi who need in between rides. Maybe Duffy will get some pictures taken next time but for now we move on.

Dance fishes dance!

Before we made it to Shrek we stopped to see a little mini show from Sponge Bob. We were just walking along when music started playing and fish on roller blades came out and danced for people. Just random fun. Sponge Bob also came out to take pictures. So many random moments of fun that don't take place in a building. But I guess on rainy days things might not happen as much.

Still haven't seen the 4th movie yet.

Back to the front of the park is Shrek 4-D. Earlier in the day this attraction had a 30 minute wait. Probably because it was one of the first things you see when you enter the park. But we got there and it was a walk on. I must remember to take pictures of the waiting room next time. That preshow you can't miss so you are up to speed on what is going on. I like how it doesn't affect the plot of the second movie any. Like it adds to it without being not canon. The husband did not like how the seats moved but I thought it was fine. But why do all rides/shows lately throw water at you? X__X

Bombs make good gifts!

After this attraction the friend wanted to do a little shopping before heading back to the cruise ship. She doesn't think the It's So Fluffy is fluffy enough. XO How could she??!?! She bought a few things for her mom though. I wish there was an its so fluffy pin. XO I would buy that. The husband bought us churros and fudge later in the night but other than that I was good. Saving my money for next week.

Hint: The answer is almost always C!

The friend had to leave to make it back the ship. We went to take pictures outside near the Universal Studios globe. Then we headed back in the park. After waiting for the special people in front of us to get their acts together. Then it was finally time for the Despicable Me ride woohoo!!!

Don't fall asleep! It's cute!

This time we actually had to wait in the real queue. XD We got to see the entire cycle of Minion questions and other fun things. I know that waiting in line isn't supposed to be fun but I liked every minute of this extra stuff. This is what lines should be about! XD

So can I buy that in the shop?

I tried to take as many pictures inside the first preshow as possible without ruining anyone's fun. XD That wouldn't do right? But the first preshow of this ride you can skip parts of and still follow. The second preshow is the one that really is important. All the while this is a 15 minute attraction and you don't even know it because of all the fun. Like wow like a mini movie.

My entire house could be full of minions...but that might be a bad idea.

Clearly I really like this attraction a lot. I can't stop talking about it or saying nice things. It just....is what every ride should be. Tons to look at and well themed. Something to keep the kids interested in. Now if they added more of its so fluffy it would win the best ride of all times from me! XD

Get out of the road people!!

Right after getting out of Despicable Me and seeing the characters it was time for the SuperStar Parade. We just walked up to the sidewalk and got a seat 5 seconds before the parade. It was a light day folks. The husband noted that we were much closer to the parade floats than we have ever had been before. Also they didn't clear the streets until 5 seconds before the parade appeared. Perhaps because of how the park is configured. Still get out of the road folks!

Okay thanks. XD

The parade itself is very short. Since this is Universal's Studios first daytime, non holiday parade I say there is room for growth. Growth is a positive thing right? For now it is a cute little parade that you don't need to wait for hours to see. I think the handlers could be better dressed to go along with the floats but the floats themselves were super cute yes?

The rest of the pics are for the parade since it was still light outside.

After watching the parade the husband wanted to see a bit of Islands of Adventure as he had never been before. He was out of the country for work when the friend was in town two years ago. So off we went to the short walkway between the parks. No monorails or trains here. XD It was getting really dark folks so no pictures of Islands of Adventure. Does it seem off to anyone else this year, it getting darker sooner? Feels like it to me.

We'll watch the parade from the other side next time.

We walked around the entire park doing things here and there but mainly just getting a feel of things. Since the friend came on Saturday we will not be able to use our tickets during Christmas time. Sadness. So we will go back next year to see the Grinchmas stuff. But as it stands the Dr. Seuss area of Islands of Adventure is the most Christmas themed area of the entire park. We rode the trolley ride and the husband says that we can eat at the Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-pendous next week. It took me 384732 minutes to type that restaurant name.

An apple? Not a banana?

We walked through The Lost Continent rather fast but we shall be doing the two attractions they have there next time. Two folks. Not three. A talking fountain is not an attraction! A lot of random shops all over the place. Needs more attraction this land.

Who are you again?

The husband was excited to see the Harry Potter section as he actually has seen the movies. I made sure to take him into the main shop as there was no line to enter this time. Last time the wand making section of the shop was an hour wait and to get into the regular shop was about 15. The shop was pretty crowded but we got to go in. The husband was not impressed that the robes cost 100 dollars though. I mean in general theme park stuff seems expensive but we have a hard time spending 30 dollars on shirts.

These pics really go with the paragraphs don't they?

We rode the Forbidden Journey ride as the wait time was listed at 15 minutes. I don't think the line was that long but we did stop and watch both of the previews as we would have walked through the areas super fast. At night the walkways seemed darker than usual but the husband enjoyed it just fine. People just rushed through the line so fast. Like you must watch all this to know what is going on. It is part of the ride folks.

Sponge Bob would make a great magician...

The ride itself was...well more than I remember. In a good way. I did tell someone earlier that the ride is not a roller coaster and while I still stand by that...it is a bit more intense than I remember. Apparently I forgot the part where you are almost upside down. I remember on your back but upside down? So is this a fun adult ride for Tenchi? I think so. The husband seemed to enjoy it so that is all that matters.

It was weird seeing Hop stuff in the parade.

Jurassic Park seems boring in the dark folks! This area also needs more attractions to make it feel like a full place to be. We went through the Camp Jurassic portion of the playground and learned that slides have an expiration date. Or adults shouldn't go down them. Both the husband and I were like WHOA crap after it was over with. The play area was nice enough but maybe it needed oh I don't know..DINOS?! You know the thing that this area is about? I see now folks.

Don't they have more popular characters than Hop?

Next up was Toon Lagoon. Only it is November and a bit cold for water rides. Which is a bummer since I think the Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barge is the best water rapid ride I have ever been on. Maybe I will just take pictures of the queue. XD It is a fun ride though folks.

The angry chick is cute though.

After stopping by a few shops we decided to ride the Amazing Spiderman ride. It was a brief line so we were like okay before we go we shall ride that. They redid the ride apparently but I don't see what is different from before. That or I can't remember. I do think the food in the newsroom area looks horrible. Unpainted and tacky. The ride itself is fun although I don't remember spinning as much. XD

Dance! For we are random!!!

It was getting rather late and we still needed to head to Downtown Disney to get our Mickey's Christmas Party tickets. So we bid the park goodbye as we would be back soon. We picked up some food in the City Walk area but if I could redo it again I would have ate at the Earl of Sammich. Way too many people there eating after leaving the parks like us, not enough places to sit, and just a mess. But at least they have these food options available so maybe I shouldn't complain.

Dora was like peace out I am out of here!

That is about it I think. XD Be prepared for more posts next week. I shall get all my Christmas celebration done before December, then work all the way through Christmas to pay for this fun. Thanks for reading!