The Generation Game Tour 2023 – Day Twelve Saturday 27th May

Moving day, again.

I was up and about around 8.30 and for Louise and I there was little packing to do as we did all that yesterday. It was a different matter for Rebecca of course. Anyone with young kids will know and understand the horrors of packing for a day out, never mind a two-week holiday, so they had a lot on this morning.

I did Dad things like emptying the bin and the fridge before playing with the boys so Rebecca and Tom could literally get their shit together.

We successfully left the villa bang on 10am and got into the car. It was then Louise realised she had left her phone inside so it was 10.01 before we left, for a second time.

Breakfast was required so we headed up to the 192 and a Perkins. It was a weekend so it was busy. I ran in to make sure we could get a table before everyone else went to the trouble of leaving their vehicles and we were in luck. We were seated immediately and literally just beat a rush of folks coming in who then had to watch us order and eat for quite some time before they were seated.

Whilst we browsed the menu a balloon artist approached the table and we commissioned a piece of his art. I don’t know how we do it, but not one of us had any cash to tip him, but we somehow found a few dollars to avoid embarrassment.

I had Brioche French Toast.

Louise, quite some distance away, had Omelette and Pancakes.

I think Tom and Rebecca had the same thing. I just don’t know what it was called.

Mum had a strawberry pancake thing which seems to have escaped my camera, as did Freddie’s Rainbow Pancakes.

Here’s Dougie basking in the afterglow of Tom’s sunburn.

The service was a bit slow and surly but the food was great and a reasonable $113 plus tip.

We dragged our fullness back to the car and set off towards the Royal Pacific at Universal. The I4 was busy and about ten minutes out from our destination, Louise informed us that this would be about 9 minutes and 30 seconds too late for her to find a toilet. Somehow she managed to contain herself and I managed to get us there a bit quicker, but she had to roll out from our moving vehicle as we approached the hotel entrance and sprint for a restroom.

The rest of us drove off to self-park and managed all the cases without her.

I like this hotel a lot, but check-in always takes an age. I don’t know why, as every piece of information they could possibly want or need is provided by me when I book. Regardless, Tom and I stood at the desk for over twenty minutes whilst the receptionist tapped away at endless stuff on their computer.

On the plus side, our rooms were ready and next to each other so we headed up to 2611 and 2613.

As you will see, I splurged to upgrade to the “tree view” option.

After just a few minutes of dumping cases, we were out again and heading to the water taxi.

Not the first turtle head that had been experienced today of course.

Technically these may be terrapins, but that wouldn’t work as well for attempted comedic effect.

We needed to head to Guest Services to sort out tickets for Louise and me. We had to redeem our Hurricane Ian affected tickets rolled over from last time.

We queued up for a bit before getting to a window and being sorted relatively painlessly.

As we were already there we decided to do Studios first.

Getting in was a bit faff filled. With our tickets split between my phone and physical ones for Louise and me, I had to stand at the gate and call folks forward when I swiped to their ticket. Some worked the first time and some didn’t. Anyway, we finally got in…nope, then Tom was stopped for a survey.

Ok, now we can start.

We selected the first thing we saw as our first ride.

I fell on my sword and stayed out with Dougie. A move my Mum would curse me for as she did not enjoy the shaking about she took on Minions.

Dougie and I strolled the shop enjoying the AC for about 30 minutes whilst the others Expressed and rode.

Between crowds coming out of the ride, I snuck us in for a quick meet and greet.

Next, we intended to ride Rip Ride Rockit without upsetting Freddie further who was gutted he could not do so. Good old bribery was our plan, but could not find an ice cream with which to do so anywhere. Anyway, Louise and Mum did not want to ride so they took the boys off whilst the rest of us did.

See how the weather is now glorious as soon as we leave the beach?

This is one heck of a ride, but now, at my age, it’s just pain and screaming. Thankfully it was over quickly and we returned to the others. We were heading for The Mummy, a ride Freddie was very keen to try.

We finally found ice cream in the shape of a Haagen Dazs shop and we all had too much.

Everyone apart from Mum and Dougie went off to ride, and to confirm the locker thing is still a confusing mess. Eventually, we figured it out. I of course locked my theme park ticket inside the locker, which was in my bum bag, but thankfully I had taken photos of them and had retained my phone in my zipped pocket (a must for any visit to Universal – Pro-Tip!) so would use those to unlock it once we had ridden. Pro-tip number 2!

We went through the blurry Express queue reasonably quickly.

Freddie was not too sure about it as we exited. I think it had taken him by surprise, but after giving it some thought over the next few hours, he wanted to and did ride it again and loved it.

We found Mum and Dougie on a bench watching some dancing.

We watched the end of that whilst Rebecca and Tom took the boys off to the loo/nappy change.

Transformers next.

A firm Freddie favourite. For me, it’s one of too many simulators at Universal and as I always say, it’s Spiderman with a different film. I know that’s dismissive of what was no doubt millions of dollars of development, but it is!

Over to Diagon Alley now. In all the years we’ve done Diagon Alley we’ve never really been able to have a good look around the shops as they are just too busy. This year was no different, especially with a stroller.

So we found Mum somewhere shady to sit and headed into Gringott’s.

Ross Kemp has let himself go.

There’s still a fair amount of queue even with Express.

But eventually, we got there.

Again, at the risk of dismissing an incredible feat of engineering. The ride is thrilling but can anyone hear what any of the characters are saying? The entire storyline is lost on me other than some things are trying to get us and the good guys save us (spoiler alert). Maybe that’s just me as I am too busy bracing my entire body against the painful jolts.

We took a moment after this ride and got some drinks. We found a bench and rested.

Most of us then walked around to Men in Black.

It was Freddie and me in the front row and with a spare seat next to me, I did what any competitive Dad/Grandad would do and grabbed two guns. It didn’t make the impact I may have hoped for on the scores but our car won at least.

Returning to those not riding, we decided we were all knackered and should head out for food. There were zero plans for dining this evening so we were now searching out dining options on a busy Saturday night at City Walk. Easy right?

I was walking and app surfing to no avail. I walked ahead of the group, stopping off at restaurants hoping to snag a walk-up for seven. What could possibly go wrong?

The only place that could take us was the Bob Marley place. Somewhere we have never considered, but any port in a hungry storm. I told everyone where I was and waited for them to catch up before we were seated.

Christ, the music was loud. I know, by definition this is a music-centric venue but they had a proper DJ on and the volume was rattling my teeth and preventing any kind of conversation.

I had Beef Patties, but it was probably just chaffing from all the walking.