The One With the Margarita Volcano
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2007
1
17
24
Trip End
Aug 20, 2007
Orlando,
Florida,
United States
Monday, August 13, 2007
Anyway, at 4:00 we left for our second day at Universal Studios and I couldn't have been more excited. Today we were eating at one of my favorite restaurants anywhere - Margaritaville! We first tried it in 2005 since I love all things tropical and I loved the idea of the atmosphere there. What we found was our own little goldmine. The food and atmosphere here are AMAZING. I had grown up with my dad listening to "Cheeseburger in Paradise," and my brother and I always sang it
Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville
. I was never a huge Jimmy Buffet fan but I do like a lot of his music and he's become almost synonymous with Orlando thanks to all of our dinners at Margaritaville within the past few years.So we left for Universal Studios at 4:00 and were there by 4:30. The parking attendant again gave us free parking with dad's NBC pass and we quickly walked through the parking garage and CityWalk to Margaritaville. We've had pretty long waits here in the past but since it was still early and we had a reservation we were seated right away. We were seated at a table right in the middle of the restaurant, in between two huge screens that play Jimmy Buffett videos, videos of people partying in tropical locales to Jimmy Buffett music, and other southern rock videos. Mom and I ran to the bathroom quick before we sat down. I love the bathrooms here, as weird as that sounds. People write all over the walls and we always have fun reading everything and writing our own messages.
When we got back to the table one waitress took our order, but she was finished for the day so after she put in our order another waitress took over. Our appetizer came out ten minutes later - the Volcano Nachos! I'll admit it... the Volcano Nachos is one of the main things that keep us coming back again and again. We're big nacho fans and these are the greatest nachos EVER. Literally E-V-E-R. They had raised the price but the nachos were bigger than ever! They're normally huge but the portion this time was HUMONGOUS! It's actually funny how much they give you! Man, those things are good.
We couldn't even finish the nachos
The entrance to Margaritaville
. There was just way too much and we still had our entrees. Those came out soon after and they were just as good. Well, at least dad's, Mike's and mine were. I got the pulled pork sandwich and onion rings, dad got the Cheeseburger in Paradise, and Mike got a turkey and American cheese club platter which came with seven mini-sandwiches. Our food was delicious! None of us were very hungry, though. Those nachos really did fill us up. One time I'd like to go back and just get nachos and dessert. Nice and healthy... haha! The only thing I didn't like about my sandwich was that the shredded lettuce on top of the pulled pork had cilantro in it and I hate cilantro. I tried to get as much of the lettuce off my sandwich as I could but it was hard since it was mixed in with the pork. It wasn't too bad, though. Mom had gotten a taco salad but it wasn't very good. It was lettuce with tons of chopped meat, cheese and tomatoes dumped on top. The chopped meat was really spicy, though, and it just didn't all go together. And after the nachos it was like eating MORE nachos so it didn't make much sense to get it anyway.When we were done eating one of my favorite Margaritaville things happened - they ran out of Margaritas. There's a big Volcano and a HUGE glass in the bar area that is full of Margarita mix. Each time someone orders a Margarita the glass empties more and more. When it's finally completely empty, the lights starts to flash and the volcano starts smoking and rumbling until it starts spewing out Margarita mix into the big glass, all while a video of Jimmy Buffett singing "Volcano" plays
Me at Margaritaville
. Once the volcano fills the glass with Margaritas, the lights stop flashing and a video of Jimmy Buffett singing "Margaritaville" plays. It's the coolest thing and much fun! Margaritaville really is the place to partaaaaay! Our waitress brought us the bill a few minutes later and it came to $75 with dad's discount.After eating we decided to make our way over to Universal Studios. It was all the way on the other side of CityWalk and we decided to walk down by the water to get over there. There's a huge lake in the middle of CityWalk that leads down to the three Universal resorts, and there are huge stairs for people to walk and sit on. There are lots of palm trees that reflect off the water and you get a great view of both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. It's a really pretty area and we were at Universal Studios within ten minutes, after taking our time taking in the scenery around the lake. When we got to the front of the park we took some pictures before heading inside, and again they were using the biometric scanners but only in certain lines and we got on one where they weren't using them.
When we entered the park we looked at the times board and ET wasn't showing up. It's one of our favorite rides in the park so we wanted to go on it first. We walked down Hollywood Boulevard and took some pictures before making our way over to KidZone to find that ET wasn't open. Ugh, we should have known from it not showing up on the tip board
The tropical decor at Margaritaville
. Oh well, hopefully it would be open later in the day. Worse than ET being closed, though, was that it was starting to rain again! We hadn't gotten stuck in the rain for the past week and a half and now it was raining on both of our Universal days. What a pain!Since we were already at the back of the park we decided to go over to Men in Black. Mom hadn't gone on it in 2005 or 2006, and we wanted her to go on it this time. It's not bad at all... some parts spin a little but it isn't too thrilling or anything. You can't carry bags onto the ride so they give you a free locker for two hours. We went to get a locker and then got on line. There was a half-hour wait listed, but the line wound up being more like forty-five minutes and we were standing out in the rain for the first five. I wasn't in the best of moods but I tried to make the most of it. For the first ten-minutes of the line we zig-zagged around outside but at least it was covered. Once we got inside it was so much better - dry and air-conditioned!
The line for Men in Black is kind of fun. It makes it seem as if you're walking through Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' office and there were lots of alien animatronics all around. When we finally got to the front of the line two single-rider people cut us off. There are two rows of three seats in each car and Dad and I were going to sit together in the back while mom and Mike sat in the front, then the two single-rider people were going to sit behind one another in the empty seat in each row
Mom in the bathroom, haha!
. They just cut us off though, and sat together in the back row. Not cool! We had waited on line for forty-five minutes to sit together and these people had waited on line for ten-minutes knowing that they weren't guaranteed to sit together. We brought it to the attention to the ride attendant and he separated them. Sometimes I don't like people.Anyway, the ride was fun. It wasn't the best but it was entertaining. It's like Buzz Lightyear's Spaceranger Spin but a little darker and less cartoonish. The aliens actually look pretty realistic! For some reason I never have as much fun on this ride as I do on Buzz though, and everyone else agreed. I wound up having 29,000 points, mom had 25,000, dad had 88,000 and Mike had 200,000. I guess his hours of playing video games paid off!
After the ride we decided to head over to ET again to see if it was open. On the way we saw something truly disturbing. The stunt show was going on nearby and there were lots of loud noises. We saw a mom walking around with a little boy who couldn't have been older then two. He was really, really young and was just hobbling along. The little boy fell flat on his face and started crying hysterically. He had hit his face and it was so sad to see. Instead of the mom caring, though, she just left him on the floor crying. She rolled her eyes and sauntered over to him, pulled him up by the back of his shirt, and kept walking with him behind her. This woman was walking with a young couple and they just smiled at her
Dad with our HUGE volcano nachos
. Then an explosion went off in the stunt show and the boy, still crying, got scared and again fell right on his face. Again the mom just left him there, but this time she cracked up and screamed to the couple, "Oh snap, he thought he got shot!" Then she just left him there until she looked back to see him still on the floor, and she rolled her eyes and again pulled him up. He was TWO. Regardless of a child's age, how is saying they thought they got shot funny? And why wouldn't she run over to help him up? The baby was two for God's sake, and was obviously hurt. It was literally one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen. We were all nauseated. Mom and I gave this "woman" the dirtiest look ever and I loudly said, "Some people are truly disgusting and shouldn't have kids." Sometimes people amaze and nauseate me all at once. Ugh.I hate to say it, but you do see different people at Disney and Universal. Of course it's not everyone - lots of normal people and families go to Universal, lots of Disney fans make their way over to Universal, and you do see your fair share of weirdo's at Disney, but the losers were out in full force at Universal. Maybe it was because the tickets are so cheap... who knows? Dad's a big Universal fan and even he said that you find a different clientele at Universal than at Disney. Unfortunately, we found that to be very true this trip.
After Men in Black we made our way back over to KidZone and ET was open
Some of our food
. Yay! The line was pretty short too, only ten minutes. We waited outside for five-minutes and then were let into the pre-show where we watched a movie with Steven Spielberg talking about ET. Then we were let into the big room where you tell the ride attendants your name and they put it into the computer and give you a card. My little cousin Alison is a huge fan of ET, and each year one of us always says our name is Alison so we can tape ET saying "Goodbye Alison" at the end of the ride to show her. So this year we decided to all say that our name was Alison! We were cracking up as we each told the girl that all of our names were Alison! Then we walked through the rest of the line. The indoor part of the line here is the coolest. It looks like you're in a dark forest, with trees and smog all around. There's also a part where ET's teacher comes out to ask you to help save ET, and there are full-size police cars in there that make it look like the cops are searching to ET. It's a lot of fun! We walked right through it, though, and were on the ride in no time.We were seated in the second row of a handicapped car. Normally you sit on seats that look like bicycles, but this car's front row was just a bench seat which was good to see. Everyone should get to go on this ride; it's one of the best. We flew over Los Angeles and then entered ET's planet where we were greeted by all of his little alien friends. My favorite part of this ride is when you fly past the moon and you see the shadow of everyone on their bike's gliding across the moon
Mike at Margaritaville
. It's so cool! As much as we all love this ride, it didn't hold the same charm this time as it has in the past. Maybe it's because we've already been on it so many times? Who knows. It was still cute, but not as enchanting as any of us had remembered and they only said "Goodbye Alison" once! We should have known they would only say it once. If everyone has the same name they can only say it once and have it count for everyone. Damn, that would have been so funny! I taped it anyway and Alison loved watching it. At the end of the ride we ran into the gift shop and dad tried on an ET hat. It was so funny!After ET we made our way over to New York to go on The Mummy. I had to go to the bathroom at this point and Mike had a fit over having to stop again. We got into our first big fight here and I yelled at him pretty good, haha! I just told him that I was running into the bathroom and if he was in that big of a rush to get on the ride than he could go by himself. I was only in the bathroom for two minutes anyway! UGH, moving on. I love New York here at Universal Studios, it always brings us right back home. The theming is amazing; it really does look and feel like Manhattan. It's pretty surreal!
While walking through New York I noticed that the big globes were out in the water and that people were lining up for the fireworks. The Universal 360 fireworks spectacular is amazing! They set fireworks to clips of some of the best Universal movies - there are montages of comedies, dramas, patriotic films, horror flicks, romances, etc played on four huge globes
The huge margarita glass being filled
. It's a great show and I had loved it in the summer of 2006. When I looked online it said that the fireworks had been discontinued for this year, but they were all set up and ready to start at 9:45. I wanted to see them but no one else felt like waiting around so we made our way over to The Mummy.There was only a ten-minute wait listed which was awesome. The line here is so much fun! It feels like your walking through the dark, hidden tomb of the mummy, and there are lots of special effects and surprises. It really is kind of scary and a whole lot of fun. We walked half-way through it without stopping, and then had about a ten-minute wait to get to the front of the line. Mom doesn't go on this ride since it's pretty intense so she went through the chicken exit and dad, Mike and I all sat in the last row of our car. The ride was really good! Normally I would say it's great, but it was a lot shorter than I had remembered and at one point the car whipped around a curve and I snapped my neck and it hurt really bad. This was the fifth time I'd been on the ride and that had never happened before. It definitely ruined a lot of the experience for me but it wasn't too bad. The ride was still good, but not as good as I had remembered it. I had no idea what was going on today! I love Universal - I really, really do - but nothing was thrilling me. None of us were as impressed as we've been in the past. Maybe Disney had spoiled us?
After The Mummy we started making our way to the front of the park when we saw that Twister only had a ten-minute wait
Margaritaville being played in the restaurant
. I love Twister! It's a really cool stage production where they simulate a tornado right there in front of you. My dad loves action movies and he and my mom took Mike and I to see Twister when we were younger and we've always loved it. I'm fascinated by natural disasters and I love the movies about them (Twister, Dante's Peak, Daylight, etc), so I always love getting to "live through" one of these movies.We got on line and waited outside for a few minutes before we were let into the pre-show room. There are a series of pre-shows that you have to go through for this attraction. First you all stand in a huge room where a video plays scenes from the movie and Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton tell you about making the film, and then you walk through a big room that is set up to look just like the house that's destroyed in the movie. The light's are then shut off and you watch a few minutes of video of actual tornadoes shot by storm chasers. It's really cool. Ten minutes later we were let into the sound stage and no one was going into the first row so we went right in and were four of only ten people in the front row. If you're going to see this show, go to the front row... it's amazing! The show was just as great as usual. The special effects are really, really intense, especially in the front row. The fire was really hot - you could actually feel your eyes burning! The fire coupled with the wind, rain and tornado itself made for a very cool experience..
Me by the lake in CityWalk
. and I love when the cow flies across the room!After Twister we made our way to the front of the park. We had done everything we wanted to do and were hot and tired. I had to laugh at the big Mr. Bean poster they had hanging on one of the soundstage walls since we've all been big Mr. Bean fans for years! I also took some pictures of the surrounding buildings and posters before we made our way out of the park.
When we got to CityWalk we again walked down by the water to get to the parking lot. It was really pretty down there, but I wasn't in a good mood. My legs were killing me and I was dreading the long walk through CityWalk and the parking garages. As we walked through the garages, though, they played "A Decade Under the Influence" by Taking Back Sunday and it put me in a little bit of a better mood. I love Taking Back Sunday! They're one of my favorite bands so it was a fun song to hear. Universal always plays good music! At this point my legs and feet were really killing me from all the walking and my right ankle was especially bad. Every time I put pressure on it I would get a sharp pain through the back of my ankle, like I was hitting a nerve or something. It was so painful and uncomfortable, but thankfully it stopped after a while and we made it back to the car by 9:50.
On the drive home we decided that tomorrow would be a free day. It was supposed to be another Islands of Adventure day but we had done everything we wanted and we were all more interested in relaxing and taking it easy. I wanted to rest my feet after all the pain I was in... we wanted to be in good health and good spirits for our last few days at Disney later in the week! We were back at the house by 10:15, where mom and Mike watched Hell's Kitchen and then we all watched So You Think You Can Dance (recorded on a DVD, of course). I was really exhausted by this point so after So You Think You Can Dance I just got in my pajamas, read "Sex and the City" in bed, and was asleep by midnight.
