Day 5: Universal Studios (Land-of-Irrelevance) & Islands of Adventure

The highlight of the day was the Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barge raft ride. I have never been so drenched on an ride E-V-E-R. There are no pictures of the insanely wet ride because we had to rent a locker for our electronics (best decision of the day). The sun was not out in all of its glory this day so we walked around soaking. I opted to wring out my clothes but still spent most of the day damp (I avoided using the word moist because that's reserved for only describing brownies).

After we enjoyed all that Islands of Adventure had to offer we headed next door to Universal(ly lame) Studios. They may not have Back to the Future 'The' ride anymore but the park is a step back in time all on its own. We collectively decided it was the theme park of irrelevance (Terminator 2 3-D is still a main attraction along with MIB). Jaws was taking a respite so we didn't even get to see him lunge out of the water at our broken tram. Thankfully Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt made up for it on the behind-the-scenes inner workings of their new hit movie Twister (told ya - relevance!). There's something special about seeing a plastic and paper mache cow fly by attached to the same ropes I use to rock climb.

For those thinking Harry Potter is going to be amazing it at least looks amazing - we saw the kiddie coaster and unless they speed that sucker up it's going to be more Hufflepuff than Gryffindor. It's curiously close to Jurassic Park and makes for confused pictures (until you see Dr Seuss land and feel like you're on too much Xanax). The time spent eating at the Jurassic Park cafeteria I wanted to have a spoonful of Jell-O (that's the only time you will ever hear me say that) just so I could have it quiver and reenact the Raptor scene from the end of the first movie (you should see my Laura Dern impression, it's hands down awesome).

Ah, the memories. Thanks Bill & Helen (notice that I'm too afraid to even mention E.T., let's just move on before I have a nightmare)!