Orlando the Fifth

The next day we went to Universal Islands of adventure, A similar thing, just with different intellectual properties involved.

Jess and I rode the Hulk coaster first, definitely too fast for Tyler, but we both really liked it.  Then we got to the Spider Man Ride.  No line, thank goodness, because we rode it like 5 times in a row.  It was really neat, it had 3d stuff, bookended by real props.  It made for a terrifically impressive ride.  Tyler loved it, though he mostly closed his eyes for the parts with the bad guys.  In the middle of all those rides, we went across the street to meet with the real, live, Spider Man.  He was pretty great.  Had spider-banter and everything.  He even did it for the spanish-speaking family in front of us.  Tyler told spider-man he had just been on his ride.  He also told spider-man that the bad guys "were using potty words outside the potty".  This is how you calibrate the moral compass of a three-year-old.

We rode a ride called the Pternadon flier, which you had to be *under* a certain height to ride.  But you got to bring an adult, so Tyler went twice and took each parent once.  Kind of him.  Then we got churros.

Next stop was Harry Potter Land!  It's really pretty looking.  They had a big Hogwarts building with a ride inside that Jess and I went on.  Similar to spider man, you went back and forth between video screens and real things, both of which looked pretty great.  The ride moved a lot as well, it was fun.  While Jess and I alternated rides, they had a ride-share room that was playing the Harry Potter movie.  Tyler was entranced.

There was a smaller roller coaster next door that was perfect for Tyler, he went on it three times.  Having less busy days at the park certainly makes it easier to enjoy yourself.  Then we got lunch.  They had butterbeer and Pumpkin Fizz.  The Fizz was pretty good, mostly just a soda, but with a nice flavor.  I'm pretty sure butterbeer might just be pumpkin fizz with foamed butter on top.  Certainly looks like beer, but tastes like candy.  I can see why they'd put it in the book.

Jess went on another ride while I looked around at the shops.  I bought a crap-ton of candy, but little else.  I considered the wands, but it didn't seem right to buy someone else's wand.  You'd want to make your own.  Anyway, while I was looking at things, the park got hit by a *downpour*.  I got trapped under an awning and ended up getting my shoes really wet.  Jess managed to ride it out with Tyler in the entrance of a bathroom.  Eventually the rain passed and we went on a roller coaster called the Dragon.  It was pretty fast and fun, though it took us some time to figure out how to reconnect for the parent-swap.

Then off to Dr. Seuss Land.  Which was neat, because Tyler finally got all the references.  We did a few rides there, and the Cat in the Hat ride is surprisingly creepy.  Tyler liked it enough to ride it twice, though.

Next we went off to a stuntman spectacular called Sinbad.  It started off with a firecracker bang that scared Tyler pretty good.  He covered his eyes and ears for a while, but eventually opened up and watched with wonder for the rest.  He got really excited when Sinbad picked up a sword.  Anyway there was fun, and stunts, and more fireworks at the end, but Tyler had a great time.  We met the stunt-people at the end, too.  Tyler asked if the Bad Guys were good now.  We told him yes.

A final thing called Poseidon's adventure, a neat tour through a few rooms with clever tricks.  My favorite was when they flashed you with light and when your eyesight came back, you were in a completely different room.  That was a neat trick.

Jess and Tyler wrapped up the day by going on Spider Man two more times (total of seven!) while I looked around the shops for anything interesting.  I didn't find anything of note.  On the way home we picked up Pizza, and went to sleep early.