Day Four
This day started with a mad dash to get out the door on time. It was a day packed full of things to do. We woke up at six in the morning! Have I mentioned we’re not morning people? We zombie shuffled over to the Contempo Café for breakfast where I got the bounty platter with kids waffles in place of the things I couldn’t eat because of my allergy. Yummmm! I love mickey waffles! Levi and Carolyn met us at the café right on time – impressive since they took a bus from All Star Music!
Now, before I get further into this day, I’ll tell you that it’s mostly words. I didn’t take very many pictures!
Okay, moving on. Our first stop was the courthouse in downtown Orlando to get our marriage license. We parked a block away and left Levi and Carolyn in the car and were confronted by the saddest homeless man on the way in. He came up to us and said, “I’m hungry. It’s Christmastime and I’m hungry.” Coda just looked at him because we didn’t have anything on us. No food or cash, so we told him we were sorry and kept walking to the courthouse. It’s not often that I feel bad for not helping out a homeless man, but it was heart wrenching. Does this happen often in Orlando? Anyway, we walked the block to the courthouse and the process was way more quick and painless than we anticipated! We were in and out in less than 15 minutes.
When we got back to the car, Carolyn told us that we absolutely HAD to go to Dunkin Donuts! She apparently grew up with Dunkin Donuts and it’s a tradition. Or something… So we set out to find one! But one other thing that we had to do today was get a TB test checked. One of the things Coda had done in Jacksonville was a TB test that absolutely had to be checked on this day! So he dropped the three of us off and went to a nearby hospital. I got coffee while Carolyn and Levi had donuts (I’m allergic). After we had sat there for over an hour, we decided to walk to the hospital since Coda wasn’t done yet. When we got there, Coda was extremely frustrated. It turns out that no one in hospitals will read TB tests! We finally found a clinic and got it read.
Finally we made it to Universal Studios, which was the main plan for the day. I would be lying if I said I was stoked about Uni, but everyone else was dying to go, so of course I tagged along. I went in wanting to have fun! Honestly! I’m sad to say, it just didn’t work out. Our first stop was the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. I’ve always enjoyed coasters and I’m all about some thrills, but I am also very paranoid about safety. I realize that Universal Orlando and Disney World are very safe, but when you show me a coaster that looks like this:
I get really nervous. I couldn’t even wear my glasses! So we went. And it was terrifying. Not terrifying in a fun way either. I hated it. I’m sorry to any of you who enjoyed it, but no. Of course, I didn’t tell any of them that I hated it. I agreed that it was tons of fun! Ugh. So Coda went back to get his backpack. And can I please just say, what the heck, Universal?! Whose idea was it to make visitors put backpacks in lockers at every single ride! What a pain! Okay, rant over.
Our next stop was Twister. Again, I went into it with an open mind. Carolyn talked it up all morning, so I was expecting something amazing! It was okay, but I wasn’t as blown away as I thought I would be. I expected not to see the string the cow was hanging from.
So, Twister behind us, we made our way to the Mummy. I will say, this ride was awesome! I have discovered that I’ve been spoiled by the theming at Disney World, and I think that is why I enjoyed the Mummy so much. The fire on the roof?! Amazing! My only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough! A+ on this one, Universal!
Next, we had to figure out what to do for lunch. It was an uncomfortable decision because everyone wanted burgers, but at Uni, the burger joints are literally burger joints! There’s no other option! So we decided on Lombard's Seafood Grille, which had something for everyone, including burgers. I got the chicken sweet potato risotto.
Oh, my goodness. This may have been the best meal I had on vacation. And I’m actually really sad that my potential best meal didn’t come from Disney World! But, my god, it was good! I have to find this recipe! We skipped dessert with the intention of getting cupcakes later, and I was told that we had to go to Men in Black next. On the way there, Coda called Reuben, who was supposed to be meeting us around 10am but had never showed. It turned out that he’d met some girl the night before. She worked at the hotel he was staying at (Shades of Green) and was from South Africa. Reuben and Cy had taken her out the night before and he had decided to spend the day with her at Magic Kingdom. Ooookay… Coda was a little upset to have been blown off for a girl Reuben literally just met.
By the time the phone call ended, we were at Men in Black. I was pretty worried about getting motion sick, but it turned out okay! It was a really fun ride (even if my score was embarrassing)!
We knew we had to get going soon because we had dinner reservations at Artist Point. On our way back towards the front, Coda really wanted to do the Despicable Me ride. He LOVES that movie! But as we passed Terminator, Levi decided we had to do that first. I had no idea what to expect, but here’s what we got – longest preshow EVER! The room was so crowded I was about two inches from the guy in front of me. I understand the need for a preshow, but I felt like this was just taking it overboard. The show itself was really cool. The integration of live action and 3D screen was amazing!
When it was over, we finally headed to Despicable Me. Coda was a little frustrated because we were running behind. He had wanted to leave earlier and was irritated that his brother had dragged him to such a long show. We got in line for Despicable Me, which was only about 20 minutes. Gru’s house was awesome! Coda loved all the details. Again, I was really concerned about motion sickness. I don’t do well with simulators. Imagine my excitement when I noticed the “stationary seating” line! I asked one of the women if I could get in that line and moved on over, leaving the others behind. The show was excellent! I know for a fact I would have gotten sick after seeing how those seats moved around. Disney, why haven’t you thought of this?
Just when we thought we were leaving, Levi begged us to go back to the Rockit coaster. I told them I would hold the backpack and they went on without me. I sat on the weird, disgusting, fake grass while I waited.
Finally, we were ready to leave. But Levi and Carolyn were not. They chose to stay behind and take a cab back later, so we went our separate ways. Back at the hotel, we had to make a stop at the Contempo Café for…
Cupcakes! Mine was pumpkin spice and Coda’s was red velvet. The pumpkin spice was AMAZING! I cut into it and the middle is full of ooey gooey caramel. YUM! I only ate half since dinner was coming up. We got ready and headed out to the boat launch to Wilderness Lodge. The boat ride was really nice and smooth. No motion sickness!
After a quick stroll around the Wilderness Lodge lobby, we were seated very quickly at Artist Point and met our really sweet waitress. We started with drinks – an espresso martini for me (there were plans for extra magic hours later) and Coda’s specialty, coconut rum, pineapple juice, and grenadine, for him.
The martini was definitely full of espresso! It was pretty darn good! Coda hated it!
For dinner, Coda had the buffalo and I had the filet mignon. Again, the chef was extremely helpful with finding allergy-friendly options!
Dessert was crème brulee with berries (allergy friendly!) and berry cobbler for Coda.
Everything at Artist Point was amazing! I was so glad it was yummy after the mixed reviews I’ve seen here. I would definitely go back! To end our meal, we shared a Wilderness Coffee, also amazing! Apparently I didn’t take a picture!
We took the boat back to the hotel and walked over to Magic Kingdom for extra magic hours. We had been debating all night whether to go because we were both exhausted, but Coda hadn’t seen the castle at night yet and we didn’t know when we’d get a chance to come back during our trip! So to the Magic Kingdom we went.
First, we had to get pictures with Mickey! I mean, we HAD to! It was a 10 minute wait!
What a blast! Coda, once again, had so much fun with the meet and greet! Chip and Dale is still his favorite, but he really liked Mickey too.
We got a quick photopass picture with the castle…
Then got a picture of the castle.
And finally, one more picture with the castle!
We caught the tail end of the Main Street Electrical Parade on the way out, and then it was back to the hotel and some mad ZZZs!
Up next: Harry Potter and a one horse open sleigh!
