2012: Universal

Calamity occurred when, on the way to Universal Studios we stopped at Wendy's drive thru and ordered my oldest son two hamburgers and fries. Instead of hamburger he received cheeseburgers, which he won't eat. And while not paying attention, his little brother ate all his fries. He was starving when we arrived at the hotel but the only remedy was a $15 hamburger-not a chance! He had to wait until we arrived to the park and ate dinner.

We checked into the Loes Royal Pacific. The only reason we stayed here was because guests in a Universal Hotel get "fast pass" for lines, otherwise we would have fiund someplace cheaper. Just to park my van in the parking lot and walk a mile to the hotel cost me $18! The hotel was beautifully and incredibly themed, however the theming seemed confused. Is it Hawaii? India? Indonesia? I couldn't tell.

The hotel is very large and it was a long walk to our room. When we arrived at the room we found it smelt like bleach. So we hiked all the way back to the front desk and asked to be moved.

The new room was very small, considering we spent hundreds of dollars. The bed was very hard with just a piece of foam over it. I would spend the night with a red blinking light on the ceiling keeping me awake. And although we didn't know it when we arrived, the shower dripped all night long. There was no refrigerator or microwave, although I doubt there would have been room for it.

As we settled into the new room, my youngest announced he lost his 3DS that he had got for Christmas. Was it in the first room? The lobby? After a long hunt, we remarkably found it behind a bench in the lobby.

We headed off to Universal Islands of Adventure (which includes Harry Potter) arriving around 5pm, and had a good time. We haven't spent a lot of time at Universal. We visited 23 years ago, and then six years ago I attended an event that rented out the park, but that has been all.

Our first ride was the Cat in the Hat. After being in the speed pass lane for fifteen minutes they announced they were having a "great" delay. We stuck it out and eventually did get to ride it.

The best part of the park was Harry Potter. We drank Butter Beer and ate Chocolate Frogs and we twitching from sugar overload. I am not sure they cod have made the stores any smaller if they had tried

We stayed late and closed down the park. Overall it was a good experience and I wouldn't hesitate to return someday if I could afford it.