What an adventure

Hi ya'll

Yesterday I actually managed to find universal studios! I was so proud of myself. Especially since I was by myself. :)

I got on bus number 1 to get to Chatham. I walked from there to Publix. When I was there I saw a few itrollies, so I went up to one to find it empty. I tried another and thankfully there was someone there. They told me to cross the road.

So I did, and eventually I got on an itrolley. :)
The lady told me it was the busy route and to expect about a 45min ride.
International drive is fascinating. There is a lot to do there. Shopping, entertainment and several themeparks! So I was taking it in the whole 45min ride.

Of coure when the trolley stopped it looked like I was in th middle of nowhere. The driver told me to go to the lights and turn left. Which I did. ...but she didn't tell me what to do next. So I turned to my trusty GPS. :)
Unfortunately my GPS didn't understand that I was walking and not driving. So I was walking in the heat for agessssss....

Luckily I saw some people and they told me they had walked 20mins in the direction I was heading and that it was the wrong way. So I followed them.

Eventually we found Universal.
The security man got grumpy at me. :/ scary. I can't believe some of the rules about photography. It almost makes me scared to take photos!

I got to the ticket area and was all excited. It had already been a long trip.
..and then the ticket lady told me that my proof of residency wasn't adequate. I was so upset and mad. Especially since a lady from Universal rang me when I was in NZ and said everything would be alright.
I went through 3 different people who all said I couldn't get the pass I wanted.

I was so irritated by then becuase they didn't even try to be helpful.
It was where I could really see how different and nice Disney cast members were in comparison.

I suddenly had a brainwave and searched my phoneemail for the letter from last year. I then rang up their help number and got through to a representative pretty quickly luckily. The lady's name was also Kimberley, and she was nice. After I explained everything she gave me a code and said it would allow me to purchase the pass!! :D

So I got a power pass, which is a years admission to Universal (a few blockout dates) for about $140. :) ..and whilst I was at it I grabbed my Halloween horror Nights ticket too. :D hehe. I got those at the cheapest price too (the lady was saying I had to pay more, but I eventually got what I wanted XD ). So woo! Go persistance!!

Of course once I had those I went into the park and explored. The first place I went ot was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I was soooo excited. I had been waiting for this for a long time!!

I loved Harry Potter. It is tiny, but it was non-peak so I got on rides within 20mins and so got to go several times! That, and I went on a few several times!

Teh castle ride is really amazing. ...and the dragon coaster is s lovely and relaxing. :) [yes, I think rollercoasters are relaxing. Strange aren't I?]

I got to drink butterbeer!!! It was so cool! ...and it actually tasted pretty good!

The shops were pretty neat, except I thoght it was lame that alot of the shops were fake shops that didn't actually exist. :(

I fond out tht Universal uses a locker system. I was confused at first, but it turns out it's like a safe way to *freely* store your stuff whilst you go on rides. :)

After had exhausted Harry Potter (inc shopping) I walked around the rest of Universal. It was quite interesting. Lots of fun theming.

I went on a lot fo rides because they only had really short waits. My fav was thr Hulk coaster which was awesome and fast!

The tower thingy I was not impressed with. Sure,I walked straight onto the ride, but it was not scary at ALL. XD
The spiderman ride was ok, but not anywhwere near as awesome as this lady in the Olivanders ride queue mde it out to be.

I was amused by all the areas that were themed. Like the Betty Boop area and the Dr Seuss area.


Eventually I had the dilemma of how to get home!! Since no-one was around to help (and their help desk was not helpful) I asked around near the transport area and eventually met a nice couple who helped me out.
I followed them on the lynx (what is up with transport here only taking exact change :'( ) and eventually had to transfer busses.

I got on a bus that said Premium outlets because I actually knew where those were.

Then I got there and freaked out becuase I had no idea how to get to any apartment complex!
Luckily this nice guy from Turkey (who ironically was previously a cast member) showed me where to go to get to the commons.

I waited for the bus.
..and of course it started torrentially raining!

Luckily, when I finally got aon a bus, there was a nice guy at the other end who offered to take me to my apartment under his umbrella! Wasn't that nice!? :) I was super appreciative of that. ...even if I still got pretty soaked haha.


Today I had a fun day hanging out with a cast member from work. He picked me up (yay for cars! :D ) and drove us to universal.

It was so nice to have someone to enjoy a day off with!

Again, no lines. :D So we went on rides pretty quick.

Oh and on a ride that actually did have a descent line, we managed to skip it becaue I did a show request. :D Michael was working so we got to skip the lines and go straight on whilst he was taking the ride. It was awesome. :P

....and then of course in the afternoon just before we are abotu to leave, it torrentially downopours. It was so bad that if you were out in in for a second you would be drenched.

We held out as long as we could in theshelter of a merchandise shop, but we had to go. So we ran in the rain to his car, and yes, we were drenched after.

It was suprisingly fun though.... Even though it was freeeezing!


Tonight I actually bothered to cook a proper meal. It was pretty nice too. So hurrah. :D

Right.
So tired, and I have a double shift tomorrow.
So goodnight ya'll!!!


xxx