Masters of the Universe

Our last trip down to Orlando in 2011 - we hit both Universal and Disney.  This time around we had to choose.   In general Universal has a bit more to to keep the older teens entertained and also easier to do in a 3-day window.  Our only hesitation was that Brett will not have the same Disney connections/memories as the other kids.  That is one of the downsides of the youngest child, as the family starts to move on and forces you go grow up a bit faster...

One of the advantages of staying on Universal property is the ability to enter the parks an hour before the general public and be able to hit the popular Harry Potter attractions before they get crowded.  There is a shuttle bus that runs from our hotel but there is also a nice walking path that takes about 15 minutes to walk.   The park opened at 7AM.  The kids voted to take the shuttle - the kids lost the vote.  Nothing like a sunrise walk to the park.

As a big fan of the Simpsons I was happy that they expanded the area of the park dedicated to the characters from that show.  The ride is still the same from the last time we were here and also the same as the one in Hollywood but it is still a good ride.

They have also enhanced the Harry Potter area with a very cool train that runs between the two Universal Parks.  Brett enjoyed this train much more than Amtrak and also enjoyed the ButterBeer. I have a long list of geeky/dorky things that I do but I draw the line at wands.  I think when adults venture into wands and/or spandex they hit a new level.  

After a full day at the parks - we headed back to the hotel for a bit of pool time.  We then went to the NBA restaurant on CityWalk.  This is the weakest theme restaurant in the world.  The restaurant has a few NBA pictures on the wall, a pop-a-shot in the lobby and a leather covered menu and that is about all that distinguishes it from an Applebee's - except  the Applebee's have better TVs.  They don't even have a Kevin Stacom Sandwich on the menu. Weak !

We returned to the hotel at 10pm and Brett closed down the Lazy River at 11pm.  The same Lazy River that sells tubes that you can use on the river for $15.  An approximate profit margin of 1,500,000%.