2013: Universal

On Friday we took a trip to Universal Studios. With a year pass to Disney, it doesn't make sense to buy tickets to Universal. Instead, Universal has a City Walk similar to Downtown Disney that is free. Free... Except for the $16 parking fee.

If you visit Universal, you'll enjoy the first ride: Park The Car. This is a long twisting hair pin turn that snakes you for miles into a parking garage.

After you park your car for the Magic a kingdom, you can take a boat or monorail to the park. Not Universal. It is all escalators. My oldest son thought it was an example of American Laziness to ride the walking escalators so he refused and walked the entire distance. That probably explains all the blisters on his feet today!

There is a globally accepted rule with escalators: if you want to stand and ride it, stay to the right. Allow people who want to walk on the escalator to pass on the left. Everyone knows this! Everyone, except the idiots visiting Universal. Come on! Get with the program! Get out of the way!

We ate lunch at Margarettiville. I had regularly tried to get into the Myrtle Beach location but the lines are an hour long or more. At Universal? We got right in! It was a nice experience even though the food wasn't as good as the decor. I have seen the magic here, no need to return to eat there.

After lunch we watched a movie at the giant AMC theaters. Then we checked out all of City Walk. And that is about it. There wasn't live entertainment nor much imagineering. Just a plot of land to rent to businesses - very mall-ish. Very plain. But now we can say that we visited Universal during this trip!