Universal Studios / Shopping - 19/8

Guess who went to Universal Studios and who went shopping?

No surprises here: Ioana didn't enjoy the rides at Disney parks and decided to go shopping instead, while the rest went to have some more fun :-)

Universal Studios

And fun it was!

Yoram and the kids arrived a little late to Universal Studios Florida park (there are 2: Universal Studios Island of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. The choice was hard, but the first looked a little more extreme, so we chose the second). Ioana dropped us at the park and went to spend some money.

Entrance to Universal Studios Florida

Universal Studios parks are a little different than Disney's: while Disney parks have all kinds of roller coasters and a lot of attractions designed in a Disney atmosphere, Universal Studios park are all about movies. There are roller coasters and other simple rides, but there are a lot of rides that are a mix of roller coaster (either real or enhanced 4D like) and a movie, i.e., you feel like you ride inside of a movie, which is amazing!

We started with Transformers 3D movie, which was actually a Terminator 3D movie (we entered the wrong theatre). Started with a demonstration of real Terminator robots showing off their fire power and then the movie, which is integrated with real actors (looking similar to the characters in the movie) running on stage. The movie looks pretty real. Tamar was a little frightened. Maybe it's not suitable for her age...

We moved to E.T ride, which was absolutely amazing. There is a silly plot that the ride goes by (E.T. should return home to save his friends with his healing abilities. Told you it's stupid), but it is amazing. The coach has 4 seats in a row (we all sat together), which are like bicycles, and you experience the movie while riding in the coach (including flying over the city on the bicycles).

Then a simple roller coaster and a fun slide into water.

A "simple" roller coaster

Water slide

And Amit and Tamar

Knight Bus

And then Harry Potter ride, which was even more amazing than E.T. (during the very long wait to the ride you pass through Gringotts, the goblins bank, with goblins that look very very real on the sides of the path, you see news papers with moving pictures, etc.). And then you go on the ride, which is something else. 

Diagonal Alley, and a dragon 

Not to mention strolling in Diagonal Alley (where Harry Potter goes to buy stuff for school), which looks exactly as in the movie (and where the boys got themselves 2 good looking wands and Tamar got a school bag just like Hermione's).

Still Diagonal Alley

Still in the alley

The capes are so expensive

Wands Store, like in the movie

The kids practicing magic with newly bought wands

Yoni with the Simpsons

Lunch with the Simpsons

We went also to the Simpsons area, where we took a 4D Simpsons ride, which was really nice and then had lunch in a Simpsons restaurant that showed Simpsons episodes all the time and had a lot of fun.

DeLorean from Back to the Future

Another ride that shows how films are made (called Disaster) and a Shrek 3D movie, which was not that good.

The restaurant from Back to the Future

Eaten by Jaws

That's it. It was getting late and Ioana finished her shopping, so we had to leave the park and head back home. We had a lot of fun.

Shopping

Not much to tell. 8 hours resulted in a lot of clothes for the full year - Desigual won for being the leading store with the higher amount spent and WhiteHouseBlackMarket won the ״revelation of Ioana" - being a such a nice store she knew nothing about. 

We all arrived home very tired and couldn't pack for tomorrow - when we need to leave the house at 11:00 after all the new shopping are in the  suitcases.