We had family coming into town for the July 4th holiday weekend and they wanted to take their kids to Universal Studios (primarily for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter). Since we needed to buy tickets for ourselves, we took advantage of a current Florida resident deal and got 2 free days with our 1-day tickets. As a result, we had those two extra days to go by ourselves and since it’d been 5 years since our last visit, we decided to spend Father’s Day weekend scoping out of the parks before our visitors arrived.
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Labor Day Weekend 2014 at Universal – Home and Recap
It’s Labor Day, which means the holiday weekend is over and it’s time to head back home.
Labor Day Weekend 2014 at Universal – Day 2
Last night we decided to get up early and ride Escape from Gringotts again. Why not? So this morning started much like yesterday with the walk to Universal Studios from our hotel and the Early Park Admission line back through London, Diagon Alley, and the ride itself.
Labor Day Weekend 2014 at Universal – Day 1
We got up early this morning, grabbed breakfast at the Starbucks in our hotel, and then walked over to Universal Studios for the Early Park Admission to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.
Labor Day Weekend 2014 – Back to Universal
It’s Labor Day weekend which means it’s time for our annual mini family vacation over in Orlando. We haven’t been to Universal Studios in a few years so we’re looking forward to seeing all the new stuff (Diagon Alley, Minion Mayhem, Transformers, etc.). The weather might interfere with our plans, however, as there’s an 80% chance of rain both days. 🙁
Universal’s Rip Ride Rockit rip-off
This past weekend I rode the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster for the first time at Universal Studios Orlando and really enjoyed it. I didn’t know anything about it before riding, so that first experience was really cool. You get to pick your own music from a selection of about 30 tracks and then rock out while you ride (I chose The Crystal Method’s “Keep Hope Alive”). After getting off the coaster, instead of the traditional screens showing a captured photo for purchase, I found an interactive kiosk that played back video of me on the ride. Each car has a video camera that records you on the coaster along with the music you selected.
Home from Universal; a Disney comparison
Normally we spend the morning of Labor Day in the hotel pool but since we already had some pool time yesterday, we checked out early and bid farewell to Universal Studios. We had breakfast at First Watch (I tried the new bacon/cheddar pancakes, which were different, but surprisingly good) and then killed some time at Downtown Disney (to keep the Labor Day weekend/Disney tradition alive).
Universal, Labor Day Weekend 2011 – Day 2
We got up early this morning to take advantage of the early (8am) opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure for hotel guests. Of course almost every other hotel guest was doing the same thing, but since there are only a few Universal hotels, the crowd was still manageable.
Universal, Labor Day Weekend 2011 – Day 1
The last time I’d been to Universal Studios was in 1999, right after Islands of Adventure and CityWalk had opened (almost 12 years ago!) so I was really looking forward to our visit today.