s/v " WIND WARRIOR ": May 10th - Titusville to Universal Studios

It seems like so long ago that we left Titusville, Fla. In a nutshell, we motored up to St. Augustine and waited for my brother Dan and his friend Rosa to visit us from Orlando on Sunday the 13th. In the meantime we did the tourist thing ..... AGAIN!!! We rented a car to run to Orlando and see Universal Studios with its many rides and thrilling displays.
Well, after nearly five months of seeing near zero population and no big highways this was quite the eye opener. I must say that they sure have a funny way of placing things together down here. I wonder what part of the dog the wings came from hahaha....??
Both of these restaurants were beside SPCA's. Makes you wonder ....

We got up early in the morning and drove the hour to Orlando. It was actually a nice change from sitting on the boat.

Universal Studios here we come. They are so organized here as are all the major attractions. The lineups are very long, however, if you purchase a priority pass online for an extra $30 each you got to go to the front of most lines. We didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for most rides.

I thought it was a little steep at first but when you see lines taking up to two hours long and you walk right to the front, it is worth it.

Like I said .... "HELLO TO CIVILIZATION AND BIG CROWDS"!

The highlight of the day was the Harry Potter exhibit. It was fantastic and if I took one photo of the castle, I took a hundred. What a site ... and life-sized.

The village of Hogsmeade where the kids escaped to from Hogwarts put you right there with them.

I didn't realize that riding on a broom through a game of Quidditch and dodging dementors at an extremely fast rate could make one come very close to woofing ones cookies. Man, what a ride. The 3D surround screen and sound sure made this thing seem real. It was just a bit fast for us older guys.... hehe. I would highly recommend this experience to everyone. Next stop was a little shot of butterbeer to cool off with before lunch.

Next stop was the Jurassic Park display and some pretty fast roller coasters before it was time to settle down to something more our speed ... Dr. Seuss .... who else ....

What's better than a leisurely ride on a Dr. Seuss, high in the sky trolley through every book we ever read as kids ... and adults .... Cat in the Hat ... Green Eggs and Ham ... Hop on Pop, One Fish, Two Fish etc...

Ok already ... I need some more action .... On to the Super Heroes section. Spiderman was a 4 dimensional ride that took you through a thrill ride in Lower Manhattan that matches no other. You got hot from fire balls ... wet from water balls that are hurled, and after crashing into the side of the Empire State Building and spiraling towards the ground only to be saved at the last minute as Spiderman's web captures you and hauls you quickly into the air just seconds before your life would come to an end. What better way to end a great day of very wet water rides, thrilling rides, easy rides and journeying back to the Wizarding World of Harry P9otter ..

Oh yeah ... one last roller coaster ... THE HULK!!! YEE HAWW!!
What a thrill as I got shot out the end of that tube on the ride of a lifetime!! I'm NOT too old for this stuff!!!
Oh baby ..... Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!...... I'm going to die!!!! I love it!!