USF & IOA, 9/3 Before Hurricane

With Hurricane Frances right off the coast, my office and University (UCF) were closed Thursday and Friday. After waking up on Friday, and getting tired of watching news coverage, I remembered Universal would be open until 6.

So I headed out around 1:30, and over to Winn Dixie for some last minute hurricane supplies (i.e. beer), and then over to the park. Initially I wondered if I made the right decision, giving up a pretty safe parking spot and using about 3 gallons of gas round-trip.

I pulled into the garage around 2:30, it was very empty. The few of us walking into the park couldn't help but feel like pseudo-rebels (insert Kill Bill walking music).

I went to the Hulk first, which turned into a surprising 15 minute wait (because of a 5 min. rain delay and single train operation). Then I passed Spiderman (5 min. wait... yes that's right, I passed it) for Dudley Do-Right, which was a walk-on. The only downside of going on was that it soaked my hair, making my hair products run into my eyes. Ouch.

Then I went over to Dueling Dragons, walk-on. While in the very short queue I talked to a father and son from England. While discussing some of the parks in England with them, the father said one funny thing about Blackpool: "They only have like one ride... but its 300 feet tall". I wouldn't really get on him about the height thing (235 I believe), but doesn't Blackpool have like 12 coasters and a ton of rides? Oh well. Also, they both said that DD was much better than Nemesis.

By that time it was 4. So I walked over to USF and got my 2nd ride (since opening weekend) on the Mummy (15 min.). The special effects were better than I remember, and the coaster part was more smooth than I remembered... but also seemed shorter. However, the airtime was great, and the banking on the turns was perfect.

It was a fun hour and a half.