08 September - Universal Studios

I guess my body clock still playing up – as I awake about 4:30 a.m. Rather than waking Pat who is still sound asleep I head off into the spare bedroom with computer to begin to write up this diary and also put some thoughts down as to the issues that we have faced so far this holiday. It was supposed to be a chilling one – but true to the way things have gone for us it has not turned out that way.

Pat wakes at 7 coming into the spare room to find me, so we decide to go to Universal Studios to collect our tickets as well as spending the day there. Universal has always been probably my favourite park – although Epcot pushes it close. I make a tea and coffee, and we both shower and get dressed. At this point I check out the dishwasher – opening the door to find at no real surprise that everything is still not clean, so wash everything by hand quickly.

Grab whatever we are taking with us – placing most in the wheelchair (well the pocket in the back anyway) and go down to find the car. Jump in – and set the Sat Nav – and again it takes us the wrong way down International Drive – so scenic route again – although rather than taking us up International Drive it takes us onto the I-4 which truth be told is probably the longer but quicker route!

20 minutes or so later we arrive at the main gate, to find that parking is now US$20.00 for the car! The first time I came to Florida (1998) it was US$6 or US$7 depending on the Park! Still that's only 333 percent inflation really over 18 years! As we arrive at the kiosk to pay we show disabled badge, and after taking the money he puts a blue ticket on the car windscreen. He instructs us to put the hazard lights on – and move across the lanes to the marked disabled lane, and follow it round and up. We arrive and park at Jurassic 301, exit the car and move off and head towards security.

We again have our own lane (i.e. for those less able) with an elderly couple in front. They take a few minutes to get through the checkpoint – and then we are up! Pat's bag is checked and I am swiped down with a detector and then have to empty all my pockets (and there are lots of them) until he is happy, and off we go! Still not in the parks – but getting closer now.

We walk through City Walk, round to the right and over to the Universal Studios area, to join another main stream queue to collect our tickets…. About 15 mins later we have them – and are advised to take a photo of the bar code in case they get lost or wet or some such as that is the only way we will get replacements.

Then into the park through the gate and surprise, surprise none of the official photographers take our picture. Not that we are that bothered, but it's almost as if the wheelchair is a photographer repellent!

Walk down the main thoroughfare, and as we are close, and as the wait time is only 5 minutes we decide to get on the Despicable Me - Minion Mayhem ride. The first time I came to Universal, this was the Hanna-Barbera ride, then the Spongebob Squarepants one (see holiday diaries to Florida 1998 and 2007!) – and for the last couple of visits it has been theDespicable Me - Minion Mayhem. We are asked if we want to ride – or we can sit and watch the ride, to ride means that Pat has to get out of the chair, but that is fairly easy. So, that is what we decide on.

There are a series of pre-show pieces, and on the final one we go through the door, and come back on ourselves to get to the ride. There is someone in the seats that we had been allocated – but the very nice lady in control asks them to move across and we get Pat into the ride and the wheelchair away and me beside her. The ride is lots of fun, and actually quite aggressive – probably more so than I remember. Still lots of fun, and the first ride of the holiday is behind us!

I don't know if it's the very physical part of the ride or what but we need a toilet break! So looking at the map – I find the nearest loo – or should that be "John". As we get out (we both use the large disabled one – well I pushed Pat in and then it just made sense for both of us to use it!), we are close to the Transformers ride which is showing a wait time of only 10 minutes. This ride has become a favourite of recent times.

As we arrive at the ride entrance, a screaming hoard of children also get there, guess the 10-minute wait must have attracted them. We arrive almost simultaneously, and normally we would probably have taken the same route into the ride – although fortunately the attendant points us down the "Express Pass" route. We arrive at the start of the ride in front of the kids, although we can still hear them! We get into the ride car – and a couple of the kids jump in behind us – which actually make it quite amusing! They are not as loud as could have been and are jabbering away in Spanish which gives the whole ride an almost surreal feel. Off the ride and into the shop – having to get through the crowd here quite interesting, as the very tightness of the shop makes it not easy navigating through with the wheelchair!

Then walk to Revenge of the Mummy ride and first stop is to get a locker (if only we'd known…see later in this piece), which requires a fingerprint for recognition to re-open and then get on the ride. Now I said earlier that the Minions ride had seemed a touch violent – but again it must be my memory playing up as Revenge of the Mummy is very brutal, chucking us around a lot – some of the stops and starts did cause bruising – but loads of fun. The photo that is taken on the ride is a great one of me – but not to be had as the picture had too screaming people in it! (not us- ha ha)

We go to get stuff out of locker, but there is a longish queue for the terminal that I had used to get the locker originally. I remembered that in order to open the locker that you are hiring, you have to go to the specific terminal that you used to get it! At the front of this queue for the terminal there is a guy who has overstayed his welcome and needs to put dollars in (only I think his dollars are in the locker!!) Makes for an interesting few minutes…..

He manages to get the three dollars and get his bag out to be followed by a group of Indian women who proceed to try and get their stuff but it would appear, that either they have forgotten who of their group had used their fingerprint to get the locker as four try separately with the fingerprints to be told no match, or they are at the wrong terminal. As they go to find an attendant – two other girls move in – they were first anyway… and open theirs. I go next and am straight in – and we away – the Indians still looking a little perplexed!

As we walk off – we hear the strains of "respect" booming out, and being right on the door step, ok almost in the road where they perform, we approach the Blues Brothers – only they have not arrived yet it is the person playing the Aretha Franklin part that is singing. Now the Blues Brothers have always been a favourite of mine, both the films and the show that is performed at various intervals during the day at Universal, on the street! I am bopping away pushing the wheelchair, and "Aretha" comes over and joins us – dancing and singing away, making both of us part of the show. After the show is over, we head off towards the Harry Potter area of the park, around the lake.

As we walk we notice a group of people pulling together a crowd around the area they are setting up in. A small trampoline, is placed down and a few large buckets, and then a booming voice starts talking. They are acrobats, and the main "prop" they use apart from the trampoline is dead fish. Large dead fish (obviously not real ones, as that would have caused a stink – ha ha). They are quite funny but standing around watching their very silly antics makes us both quite thirsty. Nothing what so ever to do with the temperature I might add (yeah – right!) There is a drinks place close, so head over and grab a diet coke for me, and a "Freezee" for Pat. One sip and Pat is suffering from "Brain Freeze" and needs a ciggy to get over it. 😂 My coke disappears in about 20 seconds flat (the time not the coke – which is quite fizzy lol).

We continue on and spot the Harry Potter area – well Kings Cross Station and the triple decker bus that is the "Night Bus"! We slip into, via the cleverly disguised wall, Diagon Alley. It's funny, even though it's the third holiday that we have visited the area it still gives me a thrill to walk into it. We walk through the alley – and it is still amazing. Onto Gringotts Bank – where there is a ride to be had, and as we approach the lady in charge beckons us over. Don't we need to put our stuff in the locker? I ask, to which the reply is no – you have the wheelchair so don't need it! Could have saved ourselves some time earlier at Revenge of the Mummy then, biy would have missed out on all that fun!

The ride is actually called "Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts" and is a "ride on" 3D experience. As Pat is willing to transfer – they pull out a car for less-abled, we step in as the car is stationary as opposed to the moving walkway that you have to navigate through. Trouble is you miss the very beginning and the very end of the ride. The lady who is controlling the "pulling off" of the car, asks if we mind waiting for a few minutes as there is more less-abled people about to arrive via the hidden route, that we had just navigated through.

When they arrive, there are four riders, in two groups, and as the car only takes four one group has to wait a heck of a lot longer. The old boy who is in the wheelchair and joining us on the ride is very doddery – and it takes a while to get him on. Then we are off – and as before a well fun ride.

Once we are off we have to back down in a lift to go up – or could it be the other way around – I can't remember which, but we hold the lift for doddery and the missus – ha ha.
Diagon Alley itself is quite busy – there are lots of shops, but it's not easy to get Pat in and out of them, so we decide to move on. In the good old days, there would have been Earthquake etc to experience, with Kong and Jaws, but that whole area is now a large building site – with the forthcoming Fast and Furious to be in place there.

So, walk on round to Men in Black, which is a fun interactive shoot-em-up with Will Smith! Again, normally you have to place all hand-held items into a locker, but the lady, who will be our guide on the first part of the pre-show tells us not to worry. The pre-show as always very good then onto the ride itself after a very speedy walk through. Having said that they wait time was 10 minutes, but I reckon the whole time from the wait in the queue, to actually getting on the ride as about 20 – but hey it's not like we have anywhere to be – right?

The ride itself lots of fun – with Pat winning hands down – although she had been complaining at the beginning that she wasn't scoring well. I blame my gun too – but won't take anything away from her spectacular shooting skills (what just in case she finds a real gun? – ED).

As we exit Men In Black the next stop on the walk around the lake is Crustyland – home of the Simpsons (as opposed to Homer of the Simpsons who is a character within the series – ha ha). Again, going back in time (ouch – ED) it used to be the Back to the Future ride, but now is the Simpsons. It's still a simulator – but the cars are no longer the DeLorean ones but more comic in shape. (you talk for yourself, buddy, the gull-wing of the DeLorean is pretty comic in my eyes – ED).

When we arrive at the ride – it is not too busy, a mere 5 minutes, but again by the time we have navigated through the pre-show, and actually got on it – it's about 30 minutes. What makes it worse is that there are loads of cars all holding 8 people, and in the height of the summer they are all full, and it keeps the ride time down. Today not all are being used – although there is staff to waste. Most of the delay could have been removed – but then again that is me with my customer service/operational head on!

Ride is ok – was so much better when it was Back to the Future – but still a good use of our time.

It's now just past lunch, and as we are both feeling peckish, and we have ridden the important rides, we decide to do a little retail therapy and partake of some food. Immediately as we discuss this we both think of the Ponderosa steakhouse we had frequented last time with the T-shirt and souvenir shop beside (actually there was a door straight in from one to the other – perfect). We head out of the park, back through City Walk and arrive back at the car with no massive delays placed in our way – well apart from the lady in the disabled toilet, who definitely wasn't disabled!

We set the Sat Nav for the Ponderosa that I think was the one that we frequented last time with the gift shop beside. As we arrive at the front the signage is covered – and the whole place is deserted. It is shut down!😕

However, the gift shop is still there – so we go in and buy a few bits – 2 "wifebeaters" (a nickname for sleeveless t shirts) for me and 2 ordinary t shirts for Pat plus a luggage tag to replace the one lost earlier in the year. We are hungry though, so decide to try and find another Ponderosa, as there were a few when we were looking at the Sat Nav. Again search – another one close by – well almost at the end of International Drive. Click go and set off, pulling into the car park, immediately noticing that it is open for business. Woo hoo – good food at a reasonable cost here we come.

The beauty of Ponderosa is that you choose your main item, and everything else is included in the cost, with the exception of drinks. There are many starters on the buffet tables, and salads, pizza etc – all chucked in. Then, there are the deserts – oh wow what can I say!

Well, its chicken breast for Pat and sirloin steak for me with a cherry coke and a bud light (you work out what for whom – lol)! We are very fortunate as we have a good waiter, who we ask what happened to the other Ponderosa restaurant the one that was deserted. It was not making money even though it was beside the Orlando Eye, one of the newer Orlando attractions. We had noticed it – but truthfully never even crossed our minds to try it – having the London Eye at home, with its very scenic views of London as opposed to the "scenic" views of Orlando and I think that may be the problem! We actually pass it on the way back to the Fountains, and it doesn't look very busy at all.

We arrive back, feeling very full, but there is no disabled parking bay again. We park close and take the shopping back to the room. Having all the mod-cons in the apartment, we decide to do a load of dark washing – oh we so know how to live – he he. While the load is on we sit and chill here in the apartment, as it is too hot to sit by the pool. I do a little reading, and we start a couple of the crosswords that we had brought with us. Pat plays a couple of games on her iPad, and we have a couple of drinks. The washing machine finishes, so everything goes into the dryer, and when that finishes I find my mistake. The dryer has melted one of Pat's bikinis to which had got put in, by mistake. Oh well guess I will have to buy her another one.

With the washing put away, we settle down and Pat catches up with the parts of Divergent that she couldn't remember as she had fallen asleep. We also watch the Jungle Book – the live action newer version, which has some good effects – but is not a patch on the original!

In a bit of a turnabout, I am almost falling asleep, so after it finishes, we decide that as its almost 11 o'clock we will turn in completely. Quick read and lights out – and asleep quickly.