Dulcee
01-14-2014, 10:03 AM
Today was a Universal day. Full disclosure I hadn't been to Universal since I was maybe 6 or 7, so 20 years ago. Its not high on my list of priorities but I kept an open mind.
DH and I were up early to let the dogs out at the kennel. We headed back to the villa and slowly everyone was getting up. We still didn't get to Universal until about 10:30 (parking here ran $16-22, I was surprised it was more then disney!) I had tried to convince my inlaws to buy tickets in advance, this was too much planning for them so we had to stand in line for tickets. We stood for a good half hour. we finally were able to purchase 2 day 2 park tickets which came with an extra 3rd day free. However the decision was made that the express pass for 7 adults was way too pricey. Say what you want about disney's fast pass plus system but at least everyone gets it with their ticket.
We headed into Universal Studios by 11 and did FIL's necessary bathroom/coffee trip. The day started off fairly warm and sunny. Everyone had opted to leave sweatshirts and the like back in the car.
I swiped a guide map, for anyone interested pretty much EVERY ride in this park is not suggested for expectant moms. My inlaws had been to Universal far more recently then myself. My SIL assured my the Mummy ride would be fine for my pregnant self so we hopped in line. By the time we made it to the front of the line and I saw the ride video I opted out. I hadn't realized how much I had been relying on "knowing" the disney rides to make a judgement call on riding. When DH got off he agreed it was a better call not riding.
Next we headed over to the Disaster show which was ok. DH was picked as one of the in show people and the subway segment was cool, very disaster canyon-esque. Next was Men in Black which was good. However this continued the trend of backpacks always having to go in lockers which was very time consuming. Why can't they have bags on the ride vehicles like disney?
By now it was getting cool and everyone was hungry so we headed into the Simpsons area to grab burgers. This began my turn off to Universal, seating. We got in line, got our food and then realized that they assigned seats. No big deal because we had entered through the door where the line started. Once we sat we watched at least 5 families be very rudely told they had to leave their seats because they didn't have food yet. Two employees even harassed (there was honestly no other word for it) a very young boy holding a table for his family who didn't speak english. They literally stood and told him to leave repeatedly. He was maybe 7, had no idea what they were saying and was all alone! DH finally had enough when the poor kid was at the point of tears and told the employee to leave him alone. I understand the concept of reserving tables for those with food but if your going to do that there should only be one entrance into the restaurants and signs posted in at least english and spanish explaining the system.
It was getting colder and winder by the minute now. We headed over to the Simpsons ride. The wait posted was 20 minutes but we ended up waiting more like an hour on these elevated walkways. We FROZE. When we finally made it inside there was 1 employee to work the line, organize groups inside and load vehicles. It was ridiculous and felt very unprofessional. The ride itself was ok. I'm not a huge fan of simulator rides to begin with and the vehicles were dirty.
Next we headed to ET. This one I thought was cute, probably because it has the disney dark ride vibe. DH and little BIL headed to the Rocket roller coaster next while the rest of us grab a cookie at the monster cafe. Once inside I asked a employee to direct me to the restroom and he shrugged and said he didn't know where the ladies room was, then walked away. What?!
The wait for the coaster was fairly long so we got in line for Shrek. The boys made it back just in time to get on. Again, this was cute but nothing amazing. By now the inlaws were dragging and wanted to head back. The lines for terminator and the minion thing were astronomical without the express pass and didn't seem to be waning any so DH and I agreed it was probably best to go.
I was totally unimpressed with Universal Studios. The humor of most of these rides were crude and personally, I felt inappropriate for children. I didn't watch things like the Simpsons as a kid and you can be darn sure my kids won't be either. The employees seemed disengaged. The whole place rubbed me the wrong way. DH and I agreed we would not be heading back to this park anytime soon but we agreed we still wanted to head to Islands of Adventure another day this week.
Dinner tonight was at Planet Hollywood. Not my choice, actually this is probably my last dining choice in Disney but MIL wanted to go. We had to take a bus. The cold and wind had shut down the ferries. I've never been so cold in Disney in before. Dinner was fine, nothing special. DH and I shared the zucchini chips, he had a burger and I had the shrimp fajitas.
Afterwards it was way too cold to walk around so we headed back for the night.
DH and I were up early to let the dogs out at the kennel. We headed back to the villa and slowly everyone was getting up. We still didn't get to Universal until about 10:30 (parking here ran $16-22, I was surprised it was more then disney!) I had tried to convince my inlaws to buy tickets in advance, this was too much planning for them so we had to stand in line for tickets. We stood for a good half hour. we finally were able to purchase 2 day 2 park tickets which came with an extra 3rd day free. However the decision was made that the express pass for 7 adults was way too pricey. Say what you want about disney's fast pass plus system but at least everyone gets it with their ticket.
We headed into Universal Studios by 11 and did FIL's necessary bathroom/coffee trip. The day started off fairly warm and sunny. Everyone had opted to leave sweatshirts and the like back in the car.
I swiped a guide map, for anyone interested pretty much EVERY ride in this park is not suggested for expectant moms. My inlaws had been to Universal far more recently then myself. My SIL assured my the Mummy ride would be fine for my pregnant self so we hopped in line. By the time we made it to the front of the line and I saw the ride video I opted out. I hadn't realized how much I had been relying on "knowing" the disney rides to make a judgement call on riding. When DH got off he agreed it was a better call not riding.
Next we headed over to the Disaster show which was ok. DH was picked as one of the in show people and the subway segment was cool, very disaster canyon-esque. Next was Men in Black which was good. However this continued the trend of backpacks always having to go in lockers which was very time consuming. Why can't they have bags on the ride vehicles like disney?
By now it was getting cool and everyone was hungry so we headed into the Simpsons area to grab burgers. This began my turn off to Universal, seating. We got in line, got our food and then realized that they assigned seats. No big deal because we had entered through the door where the line started. Once we sat we watched at least 5 families be very rudely told they had to leave their seats because they didn't have food yet. Two employees even harassed (there was honestly no other word for it) a very young boy holding a table for his family who didn't speak english. They literally stood and told him to leave repeatedly. He was maybe 7, had no idea what they were saying and was all alone! DH finally had enough when the poor kid was at the point of tears and told the employee to leave him alone. I understand the concept of reserving tables for those with food but if your going to do that there should only be one entrance into the restaurants and signs posted in at least english and spanish explaining the system.
It was getting colder and winder by the minute now. We headed over to the Simpsons ride. The wait posted was 20 minutes but we ended up waiting more like an hour on these elevated walkways. We FROZE. When we finally made it inside there was 1 employee to work the line, organize groups inside and load vehicles. It was ridiculous and felt very unprofessional. The ride itself was ok. I'm not a huge fan of simulator rides to begin with and the vehicles were dirty.
Next we headed to ET. This one I thought was cute, probably because it has the disney dark ride vibe. DH and little BIL headed to the Rocket roller coaster next while the rest of us grab a cookie at the monster cafe. Once inside I asked a employee to direct me to the restroom and he shrugged and said he didn't know where the ladies room was, then walked away. What?!
The wait for the coaster was fairly long so we got in line for Shrek. The boys made it back just in time to get on. Again, this was cute but nothing amazing. By now the inlaws were dragging and wanted to head back. The lines for terminator and the minion thing were astronomical without the express pass and didn't seem to be waning any so DH and I agreed it was probably best to go.
I was totally unimpressed with Universal Studios. The humor of most of these rides were crude and personally, I felt inappropriate for children. I didn't watch things like the Simpsons as a kid and you can be darn sure my kids won't be either. The employees seemed disengaged. The whole place rubbed me the wrong way. DH and I agreed we would not be heading back to this park anytime soon but we agreed we still wanted to head to Islands of Adventure another day this week.
Dinner tonight was at Planet Hollywood. Not my choice, actually this is probably my last dining choice in Disney but MIL wanted to go. We had to take a bus. The cold and wind had shut down the ferries. I've never been so cold in Disney in before. Dinner was fine, nothing special. DH and I shared the zucchini chips, he had a burger and I had the shrimp fajitas.
Afterwards it was way too cold to walk around so we headed back for the night.