We had originally planned on doing three theme parks which were Disney land, Universal studios, and Bush gardens. Our revised shortened America visit meant that the parks were cut from three to one, with a plan to return to the others in the future as we plan to visit America again sometime.

Our park choice to visit on this trip was Universal studios which also includes the Island of adventure, which actually makes it two parks but not!?!

From the motel we were staying in we caught the free shuttle to the park which runs twice on a morning at 8am and 12noon to the park, but only once in the evening at 7:15pm. We wanted to make the most of our time there so took the early shuttle. On arrival the park is noticeably more organised than any we have ever been to before, but this organisation is only limited to the park as the rest of America seems to be chaotic.

The rides and shows around the park vary between themes from kids tv and themes from more mature films like the mummy, twister, jaws etc. As we had paid for all this we wanted to do it all including the kids themed ones, which as it turns out where as much for the adults, or big kids if you are us!

Several of the ride/shows involved 3d or 4d shows, out of these our favourite was the 4d Shrek one. After warnings in the dungeon from the three little pigs and Pinocchio we were ushered into the torture theatre, here along with Shrek and Donkey you go on a mission to save the princess! All the seats in the theatre shake an jump throughout as you race through the woods or fly on the dragon, oh and you get showered with dragon snot!!

On the twister site you get soaked from the battering of wind and rain the tornado throws out as it passes, ripping down power lines and blowing up cars feet in front of you ensuring a red glow on all faces.

It was red hot in the park as the sun was blazing all day and in Florida this means oven hot! It was welcome relief when we got into the indoor rides as they were lovely and cool and just like Shrek a few gave you a cool of with a little shower!

Regular celebs could be spotted around the park during the day, such as Marilyn Munroe in all her glam, Bart Simpson, Shaggy and Scooby, Madagascar and lots more but as soon as they appeared a crowd would flock in seconds from nowhere.

The rides here have now gone interactive making them that bit better, for example on MIB after a ride in the secret lift you pass the crazy creatures in the coffee room, then into the control room with the big screen and alien operators as the end of the world is signalled. Finally in your car and fully armed with a laser weapon you get to put your shooting skills to the test, the more aliens you hit as they leap drop and run at you from all angles the higher your score! Oh but miss this ride out if you don’t fancy been spun round at warp speed on the spot when attacked from all sides.

Near the end of our first day we had nearly completed the Universal Studios area of the park but not even started on the Island of adventure so had to extend our tickets for a second day. At the end of the first day we picked a ride we thought was the most original and this was the new Simpson’s ride. You are seated in a car and the roof pulls down around you to make the sides, then you are raised up around 10 feet and sent on a wild roller coaster, boat, rocket, car, ride through a theme park and round the Simpson neighbourhood. The combination of what your eyes are seeing and your body is feeling from the cars movements really does make you feel like its all very real, even when you are falling and dropping head first.

Various themed streets make up the park network depending on the rides in the area, as it was almost time for the park to close we took a very steady stroll to the food zone as all this walking had left us very hungry and very very tired. After finding and having possibly the best Chinese food we have had since leaving home we got the shuttle back to motel and flaked out for the night.

Up and off early again the second day, this time as planned we were set to hit the Island of adventure. We weren’t too sure what to expect from this part as it was almost completely made up of character themes. Some of these turned out to be a little ore than we had bargained for, especially the Popeye & Pluto rapid ride which took no prisoners by drenching every bit of clothing of everyone on it. Lucky for us that it was a warm day!

Up to press we had cured Carina’s travel sickness to the point she could ride in a vehicle, fly, do rides all without her tablets. She did still use her bands sometimes but this was a good result from how bad she had been. The two dragons ‘Fire & Ice’ were a step too far though and sent her into a complete tizz! The two rides are a duel of the dragons from the days of castles, they do 360 twists and drops before going head to head! We were sat at the front unaware this was going to happen, by the time your brain figures out you are heading directly for the oncoming riders you are whipped away into a loop and pass the other dragon side by side before a sharp turn sends you hurtling for the ground! The first ride was not the one that did Carina in though, it was the fact that we did the opposite dragon just to see what the difference was.

A couple of hours after the dragon rides, travel sickness tablets and some time with head on table Carina was felling almost human again and able to do stuff. We got wet a bit more on the Canadian log flume and on Jurassic park and as usual in the park these rides were well over the size of our UK rides. As we got further into the Island of adventure we found more and more stuff that was heavily geared to kids so for us it became a bit dull, but we think the reason this was built was because the Studio part we were in the day before is ore suited to older kids and adults. So as such we got an oversized ice cream which was delicious! After which we went back to the Studio park and did some of our favourite rides from the day before.

Near the end of the second day it came very cold very quick and the sun disappeared in minutes, soon after that the park was flooded and we were paddling in knee deep rain water wearing ponchos we had bought from a nearby shop. This was a good example of how quick the weather changes in a tropical area, we were jut glad it was the end of the day and we were heading to the shuttle bus.

Tired and fatigued we set to pack our bags as once again we were moving on, we’d had a great time at the studio, seeing shows and doing rides that had trucks blowing up and storms soaking us, riding the world of animation and generally just joking around. This place is fun no matter what age you are.