Universal Studios

A few days after we settled into a new RV park near Jacksonville, we woke up one morning and said "let's go on an excursion" and 90 minutes later, we were on our way to Universal Studios.

It's not that we felt we had to go but since we were so close it seemed like something we should check off.  We'd been to Universal in Southern California on one of our Disneyland trips but it had been probably 40 years or so.  We figured things had changed a bit since then.

We were there as it opened and our first stop was Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.  We aren't really Harry Potter fans (I know virtually nothing about it) but we'd heard that this was one of the hottest areas in the park.

We walked right in and got in the short line.  But we had enough time to enjoy Gringotts Wizarding Bank, where Bogrod, one of the bank's tellers, awaits guests who are visiting the bank to open an account.

Bogrod

Bank tellers

The ride was pretty intense so no opportunity for photos.  But I made it through.

And then on to another ride.  I'm not a fan of wild roller coasters so while we were in line for Harry Potter, people told me which rides to avoid and this one was not on their list.

They lied.  A few years ago we were at Hollywood Studios and without doing any research, we boarded Aerosmith's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.  I HATED IT!  I mean, really, really HATED IT!  And the Mummy was about like that and halfway through the ride I was madly looking for a way out.  Did I mention I hated it?  But I made it (not like I had any choice).

Okay, this one couldn't be too bad.

How bad could Jimmy Fallon taking us on a race through New York be?  I was assured it wasn't a roller coaster but a 3D motion-simulator.  Okay, I'll admit it was as advertised but by this time I'd had enough.

Thankfully, the park was starting to fill up so I knew the "walk ons" were limited now.  Phew.  So we walked around the park and took in the sights.

It was fun to see the streets from different viewpoints.

And some familiar spots just waiting for someone to be discovered.

Maybe Marilyn Monroe was a visitor?

Hello Kitty had just finished her paw print.

We thought about stopping for a milk shake at Mel's.

These guys took a break from their construction work to make some music.  They were amazing!

Pizza, anyone?

Even though it was lunch time we moved on.  And after we ate, we went back to Wizarding World to check out the shops and other attractions.

We made our way to Ollivanders, Makers of Fine Wands.

Apparently wands are a pretty big thing in Harry Potter.

We left the shop and came across Ukranian Ironbelly.  Again, we didn't know much about him but the crowd seemed to be waiting for something.

Whoa, we quickly found out what they were waiting for!

As we walked by the Escape from Gringotts, we were happy that we were able to walk on without waiting earlier in the day.

As we walked to the front of the park we saw that the city was in good hands.

Of course we had to make a stop.

It was fun but we walked out without anything.

And then it was time to leave.  We both decided we were happy we came but not sure we'd go again.