Day 2 Orlando, Florida - universal fun

after a bit of a lay in and missing breakfast i have plans to visit universal studios. i managed to miss the free shuttle bus from the hotel so i thought i might grab some brekkie/lunch somewhere.

the weather is great, nice to be able to wear shorts in the baking sun. i walk down universal drive past many of the restaurants and of all the places an english pub was the one that cought my eye, which was nice...

A nice full english breakfast and a pint, while watching the footy. just a shame it had to be spurs v cardiff. good to see ipswich managed a draw with chester in the fa cup, oh how the mighty have fallen. it still seem weird having to tip everyone, especially at the bar, i would expect to get ripped off by bar staff at home. im getting used to it though.

next stop was universal studios, but i could not find a cab, so i just walked using a little bit of guesswork in the direction of the themepark. i guessed pretty well, but it still took some time to get there. i walked through city walk which is just full of restaurants and souvenier shops. the queue to buy tickets was pretty small, but man it took so long. the theme park itself was fairly empty, which was great for me as i never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a ride.

the back to the future ride was pretty cool, just an imax type cinema screen and a replical deloreon that shock around alot. i loved it. twister was excellent until they threw a load of water at you from behind, soaking me in the process. the cow flying through the air was a master touch.

then onto the earthquake ride. after a few demonstrations of special effects techniques using models and blue sceens and dummies jumping down lift shafts we got onto a fake underground train. not surprisingly given the name of the ride an earthquake started, lots of shaking falling debris, a burst gas main, damn that thing was hot, reminded me of getting too close to the calor gas heater as a kid. next the road collapsed above and a tanker truck came carreering towards us followed by a surge of flood water from above, again i got wet, which was nice...

now i couldn't go without visiting jaws on amity island. you could tell the ride was quite dated, but still entertaining, and yes yet again i got wet.

the streets around the studios looked pretty cool, grabbed some food and had my first taste of how big the portions are. i ordered a burger and milkshake. the burger could have lasted me a week and the milkshake was a pint glass of ice cream. i still managed to finish it.

next stop was to another theme park called island of adventures. this is where all the roller coasters are. dragon river was cool, just like the log fume ride at chessington, only, as you would expect from america, much bigger. hey guess what i got soaked.

the best ride of the lot though was the hulk ride. starts of with the typical whinch up to the top, the all of a sudden it accelerates and shoots you up the top, i was not expecting that. after a few loops and quick turns and alike, we go past the photo point, just as we get there i think my glasses are falling off and try to grab them with both hands. this saved my glasses however when we got to the end of the ride and reviewed the picture i looked like i was sacered witless and was cowering behing my hands. some kids were mocking my picture, which was nice... time to leave

got a taxi back to the hotel, booked another one for 7 am to catch my flight to new orleans in the morning. had a little internet time, enjoyed a beer or three at the poolside bar, before returning to my room to watch more crap american tv. just dont watch the news it scares you. oh i see the convenience store down the road had an armed robbery earlier. sweet.