Magic and Mayhem

It's Universal day today, and we get a taxi bright and early to make sure we can squeeze it all in. We've pre-booked tickets and Express passes, but the headline Harry Potter ride isn't included in the Express pass so our plan is to go there first before the queues build up. Advertised opening time is 9am but when we get there just before 9 the park is already crowded, and the queue for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is already 60 minutes! The ride was excellent, a simulated broomstick ride accessed through a replica Hogwarts complete with talking portraits and holograms of the cast. I love the attention to detail.

We queue almost as long to visit the wand shop, preceded by a dramatisation of the wand-choosing process. Having spent two hours on two activities, we plot a course through the remaining rides using our Express passes. Alex has to do the roller coasters on his own as Simon and I are World-class wusses, but that doesn't seem to bother him. He proclaims the Incredible Hulk roller coaster the best ever. But we did everything else, including two stunt shows and every single water ride in Islands of Adventure, ending up sodden and bedraggled. We had to stand in the sun to dry off before getting a taxi back to our hotel.

Dinner tonight was nothing to write home about. We walked right along International Drive in search of a restaurant but found nothing that appealed. Finally, tired and ravenous, we settled for the Denny's close to the hotel.