We left on Wednesday and flew to Tampa. My mom picked us up and took us to my sister's condo. We went to get Taco Bus for lunch and met up with one of Jason's friends from here who had moved to Tampa with his wife about a year ago.
On Wednesday night, we went to St. Pete with mom, Sally, and TJ. We went to a taco shop. It was probably about 60 degrees, and we were sitting outside in hoodies and crushing beers. The clerk brought us our food and was like, "So, you guys aren't from around here, huh?" LOL.
On Thursday, we drove to Orlando and met up with Bobby and Joyce. The four us went out and played pinball at this dope bowling alley that had a pinball room in the back room. Then we went to get some beers and gator tacos at Black Hammock.
On Friday, Jason and I drove to Universal and met up with Kim, Jeff, Karen, and Barry. We stayed at the Pacific Paradise, which is park of the park. It was about a 15 minute walk to the gate, but the best part was that a Fast Pass (to jump to the front of the line) is included in the price of the room. Most rides, we waiting for 11-15 minutes. Longest wait was 25 minutes, for King Kong, at the end of the second night. It was both mine and Barry's birthdays on Saturday, and we got big orange buttons to wear all day from the guest service tent. All day long, people were telling us, "Happy Birthday!" And we got a shout-out over the PA in the Men In Black ride, and the whole room sang "Happy Birthday" to us in line for E.T. :)
The park is spectacular. Not just Harry Potter, but all the areas they have built. Going in, I was kinda like, "I don't really care about the rides, I just want to see Hogwarts and Diagon Alley" but the rides are awesome! There were only three traditional roller coasters. Everything else is a 3D experience where you are in a car that is controlled by a robotic arm and you watch an omni-max movie and feel like you are really whipping around and speeding. There are water misters, flames, and fans depending on what is happening in the ride. Its actually really cool. And for waiting in line--you wait in line indoors in a climate controlled warehouse. And the line is also part of the experience. For example, you enter Hogwarts to ride the Harry Potter ride, and the line takes you through that castle and you can see the staircases, the Great Hall, the talking pictures, etc. In Gringott's, you enter the bank and see all the goblins working at their desks, and that is the line.
Speaking of traditional roller coasters, one of the parks has a craaaaaazy awesome roller coaster and you can pick a song to listen to while you are riding. Jason and I did't even have to think about it---we selected "Kickstart My Heart". Goddamn. It was perfect. The song was edited so it kicks in when you take the first plummet. And there is a GoPro mounted in front of you in the car that records the whole ride, then you can watch it when you're done. Also, for crowd control, people who work there ask how many in your group, then assign you a lane. They assigned us the front row! It was great! I was totally spent after riding it.
So, we also bought a pass for both parks, so we got to ride the Hogwart's Express in between the parks. I started crying a little bit when we got to Platform 9 3/4. I got some ice cream at Fescue's, and Jason got some Every Flavor Beans at Honeyduke's. We also ate at the Leaky Cauldron and the Three Broomsticks. The food was excellent and they have really mastered the crowd control. It was very impressive. I drank some pumpkin juice, didn't have the butter beer.
We did the park all day on Friday. Friday night, went to Pat O'Brien's for dueling pianos. Jeff got turnt! We did the park all day on Saturday, then I came back to the room and passed the eff out!
I went down to the pool on Sunday before we left, but there was waaaay too many kids in there.
We drove back to Tampa, then got tacos and margs with mom and Sally before flying home.
All said and done, a great birthday weekend. I would def go back to Universal.
