Well well well! Here we are again but on a much more positive note than the previous post. I did wind up going out on Saturday night to another Canuck’s place and played cards and indoor monkey in the middle and other such mature games.

Today, well, yesterday by the time I actually post this, I went to Universal Studios. I bought an annual pass for about $130 USD which is pretty decent consider a one-day pass costs about $60. So I figure I’ll have my moneys worth out of that by my year end. Again, today I was, “sadly” ;) , confronted with more super short lines.

Comments on Universal: The park def isn’t Disney, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I’ve been to the Disney parks so much that I pretty much know every ride. It was pretty cool being on rides that I have never been on before! In fact, I got in the queue for one attraction expecting a show and it turned out to be a rollercoaster! Universal’s layout is a bit of a mess compared with the careful design of the Magic Kingdom. A huge difference is the playing of recent, top-forty style music. That would never be piped through the Disney parks with the possible exception of a store and, obviously, Pleasure Island (Disney’s club/bar complex). I must say though, Universal has the BEST simulation ride of any park, unless you consider Soarin’ at Epcot a simulation ride. Universal Studios has the Back to the Future Ride. So yes, I’m biased as I LOVE the Back to the Future movies, but it actually is VERY well done even though the video is obviously dated. What’s happening in the video isn’t dated, but you can tell them film is getting well-played and wasn’t recorded digitally or with a new state-of-the-art camera. But yeah, overall, good times at Universal. One thing that messed me up though is the fact that their walkways look exactly like roads with pavement/ashfalt in the middle and sidewalks on the side so I found myself looking both ways before crossing the road! Disney-MGM Studios is like that as well though, but the past two times I have been at the Studios I was walking during a busier time so I didn’t really pay as much attention to the sidewalk-road thing.

Universal and Island of Adventures also have a promotion right now in which you pay about $20.00 and can eat your face off all day at six of their restaurants. Each time you go to the counter you get a main, drink and dessert I believe. Consider you could easily pay $12.00 to get those at just once point it’s a pretty good deal. Also, it’s an EXCEPTIONAL deal if you use it at a take-away counter and then eat it at outdoor seating where the staff can’t see you sharing! However, there were no indulgence on my part as I had no one to share with and could NEVER justify spending that as I was in the park for only five or so hours. I actually ate well yesterday! … Until I got home and one of my Italian housemates offered me some of her dinner. I said, “Sure!” and suddenly I was eating spaghetti in extra-virgin olive oil and butter. It was quite good, but I doubt it’s included as a fixture on the “Road to Healthy Eating” or something.

I slept in this morning (both a good [necessary] and bad [waste of day!] thing) until 10.30. Whoa. I was planning on going to a “Career Insights” by the general manager of the Caribbean Beach Resort and Pop Century Resort but find myself heading to the pool instead. As I spent most of yesterday on my own, I don’t feel like devoting four hours of my day to being by myself – especially since it’s so lovely outside! (Weather in Orlando.) And although the talk is four hours, from the time I leave my flat until I would get back it would be at least four hours. I figure I’ll do this stuff once the weather gets cooler (apparently in a few weeks).

Anyway, off to the pool!