A day of firsts

Yesterday was a day of firsts, and a day I enjoyed quite a bit.

We walked from our hotel over to Islands of Adventure at 7:30am to be there when the park opened at 8. We got in line for the new roller coaster in the Harry Potter section of the park…Hargrids Motorbike Adventure. Even though the park wasn’t open for more than a few minutes….we still waited in line a good 20 minutes. That’s one of 2 things that the express pass isn’t good for here in Universal, so you really have to run there first thing in the morning.

You guys. IT WAS SO GOOD. It made me smile out loud, and it was such a great way to start the day. The line gets to be a good 75-90 minute wait later in the day, so we’ve only been on it once…I can’t say enough about it.

If you like roller coasters, it’s a great ride. If you like Harry Potter, it’s a great ride. If you like smiling, it’s a great ride.

After that, we rode the other Harry Potter ride, Forbidden Journey.

And then…we got a butterbeer.

But…for science purposes only….. I got frozen instead of my favorite…cold.

The majority of the mass population will tell you they like frozen better…I’m going to firmly disagree with that.

Frozen is good. But it’s not the best. By ANY means. And also…it betrayed me. Brain freeze with every sip. So even if I WANTED to experience it’s deliciousnesss… I couldn’t.

Again, I did it for science. But it’ll be the last time I get a frozen.

After that, my brother and I headed over to the other new ride at IOA, Velicicoaster. And, friends, that is the kind of roller coaster that makes you know you have a brain inside your head. Because it will rattle it around so much, you’ll know it’s there. 😂

It was an intense roller coaster for sure. Which, I’m okay with. But there were many moments where I had my arm across my chest while we were going upside down, just to make sure everything stayed in its place, if you know what I mean. (We don’t do TMI here. This blog is a safe space. We do real life here.)

I’ll include a video of a short piece of the track so you see what I mean.

It was a lot of fun, but Hagrids holds the top spot for best ride, hands down.

It started raining at around 11, but we waited it out under a table with an umbrella eating our “lunch”…a bowl of pizza tots. Basically, exactly what it sounds like. But it was delicious.

We managed to miraculously avoid the rain, but we headed back to the room after lunch. We hung out until about 3:30, when we headed back out.

Dinner was delicious, and I got my squid ink pasta. It’s something I get every time we come to this specific restaurant, Vivo Italian. It lived up to its expectations.

We headed back into Universal after dinner and caught a show, again, new to me, the Bourne Stuntacular. It was, simply put, freaking incredible.

The way they used screens mixed with practical sets and on stage effects in combination with live actors…it was like a huge mind fuck. You couldn’t tell what was real, what was a screen, who was an actual person and who wasn’t. It was amazing. And definitely a highlight of the day. I can’t say enough good things about that.

It was a really good day overall, and even though I did nearly pass out as we were walking our 10th or 11th mile back to the hotel…I made it.

My legs are holding up, mostly, and last night was the only night I really struggled. It was intense. But I didn’t die!

At the end of the day, if this is what your hair looks like, you know it’s been a successful day of theme parking.

Looking forward to another 10 miles today. And a cold (not frozen) Butterbeer!