Universal Resort 2016 - Day 3, Universal Studios Florida, Part 2

Walking out from Diagon Alley, we made a right and started heading toward the San Francisco and New York areas of the park. Looking at the map, I realized that San Francisco had nothing but restaurants. 

I know now that the "Disaster" ride closed and the new "Fast and Furious" ride is being built in its place...

We walked right through San Francisco into New York. That is where we had lunch.

After lunch, we started heading toward the "Revenge of the Mummy" ride. On the way, we ran into the Blues Brothers. Doug was so happy...

Doug has a soft spot for the Blues Brothers. He even did a talent show number in high school with a friend as the Blues Brothers (he was John Belushi). We had to stop and listen to them for while...

Then it was Mummy ride time. I was pretty nervous about this one. You all know I researched all this stuff before heading to the park. This one was going to be pretty intense. Another one of those "lock your stuff up in a locker" rides.

"Revenge of the Mummy"...

It did not disappoint...

It literally increases speed on an incline and races you around the place. And there is fire on the ceiling! Holy canoli!!! 

After the ride was over, we were able to see the picture that was taken of our car at a certain point during the ride.

This is where things got hilarious for us. When we saw the picture of our faces, I couldn't stop laughing. I swear, I almost peed my pants.  

I was freaked, Doug was nervous and Bri was smiling...

This is the pic zoomed in. I'm telling you - Bri is a total adrenaline junkie. Look at that smile. The faster, the better.

We laughed so hard at the picture, we actually bought the picture to take home.

So after that traumatic fun time, we headed over to the Production Central section of the park. (In all honesty, the Mummy ride ended up being one of our favorites.)

Besides the Mummy ride, there wasn't another ride to go on in New York. I realized when I got home, they closed the "Twister" ride that was there. They are replacing it with a new Jimmy Fallon ride...

 The first stop in Production Central, the "Transformers" ride...

 Oh Daddy......

I just kept thinking how much I wished my nephew was with me at the park. He would have freaked over all the Transformers stuff...

3D glasses...

Character greetings...

We liked the Transformers ride so much and with the express pass there was hardly a wait, so we went on it again.

Next, it was off to the "Despicable Me Minion Mayhem" Ride...

See the "Rip Ride Rocket" coaster in the distance behind Despicable Me (above)? Yeah - we totally didn't do that one. And again, I had a disappointed 9 year old. Her dad and I just aren't super high or upside down roller coaster people. And with all my neck and lower back issues, I felt it was a very good decision. I had already put my body through much more than I probably should have and I was still mobile thank goodness. I didn't want to push my luck. 

Minion Ride...

See below? This ride was a 75 minute wait without an express pass...

This was the longest we waited for a ride. I think we waited around 35 minutes or so in the express line to get on it.  

They had a video playing while we were in the cue...

We finally got into the entrance...

We were ushered into another room for an intro movie before the actual 4D movie ride...

I really enjoyed the ride. Worth the wait for sure (the 35 minute wait, not the 75 minute wait).

Next was Shrek 4D...

It was cute. But, it was one of the attractions that felt a bit dated for me. Still glad we did it though.

Moving on to the Hollywood section of the park...

Beetlejuice siting...

 Betty Boop siting...

Pharohs on stilts walking around - not sure why on that one...

 Super awesome Scooby Doo and Shaggy siting!

Fist bump...

Scooby Dooby Doo!!!!

While in Hollywood, I saw Marilyn Monroe and Lucile Ball riding in a convertible in the distance and they were just pulling away. I was so bummed because my mom LOVES Lucy and I was hoping to get a photo opp. I was praying we would see her maybe the next day somehow.

We checked out the T2 show...

It was pretty cheesy in my opinion. A very, very dated attraction. Probably my least favorite thing we did the whole trip. And remember, I got soaked the day before. It was very loud with lots of explosions. Briana was like "What was going on?" and "Who is the Terminator?" It was kind of a bust for us.

As we headed for "Woody Woodpecker's Kid Zone", we ran into the very end of the Sponge Bob parade...

Kid Zone...

It was time for the "E.T." ride.
 
Bri has not seen E.T. yet and I wish I had made her see it before going on the ride. She really, really, really wants to see it now though. She loved the ride. And I will say, this is probably the tamest ride we went on the entire time. It is similar to "Peter Pan's Flight" at Disney if I try to make a comparison...

Cool seats - they look like bikes...

This is a Google image, I didn't try to snap any pictures during the ride...

Woody Woodpecker and Curious George siting...

We ran into Doc Brown as we entered the "World Expo" part of the park. We had just watched "Back To The Future" on New Year's Eve, so Bri knew exactly who he was. She was very eager to meet him. It was so awesome...

The DeLorean (Bri was holding her new E.T. stuffed animal)...

The World Expo contains "Springfield USA" - the Simpsons of course...

Bri really wanted to go on the "Twirl and Hurl" ride. She dragged Doug on this one...

Now, there's a "Simpsons" ride and a "Men In Black" ride also in World Expo. But it was hitting 4PM and I was done. Toast. Exhaustion was hitting me (all of us really). And I knew we were once again in the back of the park. It was going to take probably 20 minutes or so to walk back to where the bus was going to pick us up. We decided to call it a day. We would check out those two rides we missed the next day. We had one more park day to go.

Bri had a wonderful time that day - it was a big success...

Back to the hotel we went. We were going to be up early once again the next day.