Day 4 of January

It's Monday Janaury 7th.   Today is the day to start getting something done.  Laundry is started, suitcase is unpacked (yeah I know I'm a little slow)  Most of the Christmas decorations are put away and hey, it's only 8:00 a.m.  I am most surely going to need a nap.  Let the Florida saga continue.

Florida Vacation
Day 4
Monday, December 31st
 Wow, what a difference a day makes.  It was around 10:00 a.m ish when we arrived at the Universal/Islands of Adventure once again.  On the Sunday we had to park on level 5 for parking, and today we were on level 1.  Today was being spent entirely at the Islands of Adventure.  Harry Potter was where both Ashley and Patrick wanted to start the day.  The ride was called "Harry Potter and Forbidden Journey".  The wait time, 100 minutes.  To give you an idea of how long the actual line was, while we were in line for those 100 minutes, we were continuously moving.  We met this one young boy who was there with his dad.  I don't recall his real name, but we called him, "Young Ron Weasley."  (I don't seem to be able to load any pictures on my blog)  He was in grade 3 and on chapter 8 of the first Harry Potter book.  His enthusiasm for all thing Harry Potter was very contagious.   Ashley even got her picture taken with him. 
    Patrick had assured me as we entered the ride line that I would enjoy the ride, and not feel any movements that would cause me to upchuck.  I was a little nervous when around each bend in the line, we would come across a sign with a warning that people who suffer from motion sickness should not board this ride.  But Patrick dimissed these warnings as general cautions on every ride.  I'm not sure how to rate this ride.  Was it worth the 100 minutes waiting in line?  Absolutely.  Was it scary?  Not really.  Did it make me feel queasy?  A little bit.  It wasn't so much the movement of the ride that gave way to motion sickness, but the 4 D affect of going around and up and down was very realistic.  You want to close your eyes to avoid the feeling, but the affects are so spectacular that you don't want to miss a thing.  Would I do the ride again?  Nope.  But I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't done it before.  In reflecting back, I'm pretty sure Harry Potterland was the busies part of Island of Adventure.
     So with Harry Potter under our belt, the kids wanted to do the Jurassic Park River Adventure.  I decided to sit this one out until I regained some equilibrium back.  The three others returned from their river adventure with very little water damage.  But that wouldn't last all day.  By now Ashley was also feeling a little nauseous and so she and I walked around while  Patrick and Bill took on the Dragons Challenge.  Unfortunately like the day before, this ride was having some technical difficulties so the boys dropped out of the ride before they wasted too much of their time in line.
     Leaving the Wisarding World of Harry Potter behind, we headed towards Toon Lagoon and the Dudley Do-Righ Ripway Falls.  All I can say is thank goodness it was a much warmer day today.  We ended up all equally wet.  And because we were already wet, we figured the Popeyes and Bluto's Blige-Rate Barge would be the next wise choice.  Maybe wise isn't the right word, but we were finished being wet for the day.  With a meeting place picked out, the boys bravely headed for the Incredible Hulk Coaster, and the smart ones, Ashley and myself headed off to do some shopping.
     Our day was starting to wind down, and we dceided dinner at Margaritabille would be a treat.  Thank goodness the chairs were wooden, because we were all still sporting wet butts.  The meal was o.k.  I don't think anyone was overly hungry, because except for Patrick, we ordered from the appetizer menu.  There was a solo artist playing his guitar and singing and he made the meal and wet clothes much more enjoyable.  We decided to head back to the park for a last bit of shopping.  That's when Patrick looked at his dad with that glimpse of dare and suggested they try the Dr. Dooms Drop of Fear.  Neither of them was willing to be the smart one and say no, so off they went, full bellies and all.  I'm happy to report that both of them returned with their meals in tact.
     We headed back to the parking lot where there were rows of car lights waiting to get into the park for a New Year's celebration.  A near perfect drive back to our hotel was a welcome surprise.  I headed to bed; the kids went to the lobby for some wifi fix; and Bill joined them shortly afterwards to get a bit of work done.  It's 10:30 Happy New Year.