I think yesterday has killed me off…I spent the night torn between freezing to death thanks to the air con in some strange form of nighttime desert torture simulation and my laziness to get out of bed and actually turn the heating up…laziness won; terrible night sleep, now I know how all those people that spent the night in the desert on the cusp of death on those survival podcasts I listen to feel…yep, exactly the same thing. Morning rolls by and the warmth of morning fails to reach…ahh just get up and get dressed Dean; on with the day.
“Alaska…today we make the rules”. Oh yes, forgot I said he could do that. “We control the day, you have to do as I say”…oh no, he has a rhyme, this can’t be a good thing; he’s clearly been looking forward to this. Right, so I kind of thought it may be fun to let the kids have a day where we did whatever they wanted (within reason; we need to keep some control over this pair), now it seemed like a pretty bad idea; with Grayson’s obsession with the pool, I genuinely thought we’d be destined for a 12 hour stint in the lazy river. Thankfully Alaska had some control and opted for a park visit instead…thanks little Loo, saved me there.
Ready to go at decent pace following a round of coffee (the kids needed some brain fuel to plan the day…I wish they’d laid off the triple shot espressos though, they’ll be on a caffeine high that will only spell disaster for us). Harry Croc’r…what? We’ve all got Hogwarts house Croc’s on today, they are super cool. Bet you can’t guess what house Alaska is? Mind you, with Graysons new found obsession with ‘play drowning’ me in the pool, maybe Slytherin was best suited for him. Annnnnnyways, get your Ravenclaw ass to the bus stop, let’s go!
Taking the bus today; Jordan’s first day enthusiasm has quickly worn off, and she used the kids day control to her advantage. They dump the stroller on me and leave me to fend for myself as they get seated at the back and the bus jerks to a start. Oh, this doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a smooth trip, best hold on tight. Oh bugger…catch me random family of strangers.
Before I know it, I’m flung across the bus and into a some poor unsuspecting family. My life flashed before my eyes (as I suspect it did for the small child I went cannoning in to); for some reason even with my superior strength 🙄, I lost my grip on the rail, but somehow managed to maintain grip on the stroller…priorities and all that. Luckily all good, few broken bones, bloodied nose and a black eye; first stop, Madame Pomfrey I guess guys. Sorry about your injuries, but at least you get to have some magical adventures. Fortunately the only thing really injured was my pride as the story of the flying Welshman swept the bus. Bloody embarrassing mind, I had to stand next to this family and apologetically make awkward conversation for the next 5 minutes. Get me off this damned bus!!
First on the list of things the kids choose…breakfast: VooDoo Doughnuts; great choice Alaska, you greedy little bugger. Did you even go to Voodoo if you didn’t have a pic in the chair?? Love the doughnuts here, love the merch even more. One of every T shirt please Jo if you’re paying…oh ok, just the one please. Doughnut time!!! Grayson makes fun of Jo for having an undersized nut (we’d all managed to get ridiculously sized offerings whilst Jordan went for something a little more gastric sleeve friendly), but struggles and cries at the failure to devour his dirt (that’s a doughnut…we didn’t actually make him eat dirt 🙄). It even gave Grayson hiccups…no idea how, but everything’s a competition with him, and failure comes with several excuses…strange kid.
Full of carbs, Grayson next selects some Universal Globe pics for a nice family memento…ahhh, he’s cute sometimes too. We manage to do the old ‘I’ll take a pic of you if you take a pic of us’ to a random couple just looking to enjoy the day. Thanks guys, sorry you had to wait for the globe to rotate 3 times before we all managed to smile and stay still…I’m blaming the triple espresso Alaska had.
Obligatory pics complete, right kids…Park choice? Luckily we were swaying the vote by standing next to today’s preferred destination. “UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!”. Good choice Grayson; and the system works. Back again for a full day today…and to check out the parade once more; it’s amazing, and the kids have a bead obsession now. Seriously, Alaska spent most of the day going up to anyone with beads and wiggling her hips in an effort to exchange dancing for beads…Grayson just kept showing his boobs. Put them away Grayson, none wants to see that.
Making the very correct assumption that we’d be greedy buggers all day, I picked us up a Food and Beverage card on special passholder offer; pay $120, get $150 in vouchers…BARGIN. Can’t help but think it’s a false economy mind, usually we have spent less that $60 on food all day…today I almost wiped the card out. Great ploy to be fair…and now I’m just a little bit fatter 😂
Ok so here we go…first rides of the day Grayson’s choice; The Mummy. He wasn’t coerced at all; honest 🙄. Wed tried and failed to ride it last night, so gave it a go first thing this morning incase we had to wait out Imhotep’s havoc. Poor Gray had a bout of nervous, pant pooping excitement, not sure whether he’d really enjoy the ride, and come off a shivering tear soaked mess. Fortunately we managed to avoid the lifelong therapy sessions as he enjoyed so much that he went back on with Jo. I just wish he’d stop blinking just when the photos were taken…what are the odds ey? Apparently don’t have his eyes closed the whole time, but blinked at picture time for both rides…that’s his story, he’s sticking to it.
Next up, Alaskas choice; it was always going to be the Minions. Last year we had to ‘ride’ the stationary seating…you think this ride is bad? Try doing it with no interactive element…TWICE!! Thank god 40 inch nij was now able to ride properly; would have been nice not to have the interruptions all the time as someone not so subtly tried to film the ride…it wasn’t me before anyone says…
We all enjoyed and danced through the exit, to the gift shop to waste some money…Grayson manages to con his was to some minion goggles…you best bloody wear these all day kid. To be fair, after 5 minutes I was wiling him to take them off, he’d channelled his inner minion and incessantly kept having banana outbursts and violent very minion like behaviour; must of missed the part in the minions movie where they joined a fight club Gray. Take those damned glasses off…well played kid.
Next up we were directed to Transformers, where Alaska made sure I was quiet in an effort to avoid being torn apart by Ravage…”ssshhhhh”; ok but I think the constant alarms in the line my give it away a bit babes. AUTOBOTS…ROLL OUT!!! Bloody love Transformers; even if their ride is a sub par Spider-Man…tell me I’m wrong, I’ll fight ya.
Following the defeat of Megatron, we managed a chance meeting Optimus and Bumblebee (this was so cool; just wish Grayson would look at the camera for a nice pic), before heading to “The money ride with the teddy bear with the guy that goes in the seats”…you know…that ride. No Grayson, no we don’t. Still have no idea what ride he was on about, and after 2 minutes protest so did he…we assume he had a brain fart and dreamt the ride via a midday Power Nap. Though to be fair, I’d be intrigued to ride it, sounds mad…
Ahhh, I just clicked…it’s Jimmy Fallon right? The seats, the bear…no idea bout the money, but that must be it. Note to self: Ask Grayson when he wakes up.
Tribute store next, time to drop hundred of dollars on merch destined to spend life in a drawer…oh yeah, give me one of every Mardi Gras shirt, and handful of beads and a bucket hat…note to self: buy bucket hat. Yes I’m obsessed with merch, I blame my father. This tribute store was awesome though, great creepy vibes and dare I say…much better than HHN 2024 store. Great bayou vibe; I love that universal theme their pop up stores…incredible.
By now we’d worked up quite the appetite, and I’d half given up letting the kids rule our day following Graysons gibberish outbreak and Alaskas caffeinated come down. Decided to give Central Park Crepes a go and try their seasonal offering…Duck L’Orange Crepe. Damn this was delicious and huge for the price, great value (though I was living on the high of a free meal using my gift card…see; false economy). Grayson on the other hand took a strong aversion to eating duck and began his stance as an animal rights activist…yeah, we’ll just overlook the chicken and beef you regularly consume via a Maccas happy meal then buddy; Alaska on the other hand…
Moving on from Grayson’s brief stint into the world of veganism…we hit up the Animal Actors show. Haven’t seen this in at least 10 years, these animals must be due to retire surely? Dogs with walking sticks, cats with Zimmer frames and a Duck in a wheelchair…well that’s what I had envisioned. Guess they got some new actors in since last time. This was a fun little show actually…really enjoyed it, and great respite for the rain that had began to creep in; at least it made it past lunch before it started raining today.
After queuing for 10 minutes for Grayson’s d Alaska to meet a dog (I know we have 6 at home, but none of them are famous; well not Scarlett botched her audition for Everest in the live action Paw Patrol movie…there’s a reason this doesn’t exist), we headed to Dreamworks land. Grayson firmly back in charge now manages to overcome his animal activist and destroy a Swamp Dog, chased down with a selection of Trolls Treats ice cream. Me and Jo were allowed a small taste, but the main event belonged to the kids. To be fair, the new Trolls ice cream were delicious, and a lovely face changing shade of blue and pink…the kids were covered mun. At least they enjoyed I guess, even if they tried a new transdermal approach to eating ice cream.
We spent a bit more time here, met Poppy and Brach whilst the kids had faces full of ice cream…great pics 😂, and had a play around in the swamp before leaving. Well not before Grayson decided I needed to run through the splash pad as he was in control. I’m really regretting this choice of day…I knew he’d try to drown me somehow. “Go back in, you’re not wet enough”….no thanks, I don’t much like to feel like I’ve pee’d myself all day.
Quickly visited the Brown Derby Passholder discount store to for some reason buy last years Chucky popcorn bucket for a tenner and make some other unnecessary purchases just because they were 50% off, and they made it across to the Wicked store to follow the yellow brick road to the worlds latest obsession. I just don’t get the obsession personally…saw the stage show, absolutely loved it; but absolutely hate The Wizard of Oz…maybe I’m broken 😂. Oh and we caught up with Scooby and Shaggy in their Mardi Gras attire…great interaction.
Circled back round to our favourite non ride of the park…Minion Blast, where me and Jo managed to make the top 30 for the day…well I was 12th and she was 23rd…OF THE DAY!!! Honestly, I’ve done many things to be proud of myself, but this…(don’t read this kids) this I was perhaps most proud of. Ok ok, I guess I’m also proud of my children…
Almost parade time now, the Mardi Gras stilt walkers and dancers are out, and Alaska switch to bead hunt mode. While Jo and Gray chilled with some Gumbo and King Cake, I was dragged in a tour of New York by Alaska on a hunt for more beads. This kid is obsessed, like a little Godzilla stomping around the city; “MORE BEADS!!!”. Ok ok, let’s go interact with someone then. Honestly, everyone we met was besotted with Alaska, they were so friendly and Alaska exchanges cute little dances for handfuls of beads. We had a great interaction with some stilt walkers, who remembered Alaska during the parade and stopped to have a chat with her during the floats. It was awesome, and just amazing to see.
Back at base camp, we return adorned with millions of new beads to Grayson’s horror…time to start drinking then is it Gray? Bloody fool mistook my souvenir rum cocktail for his own and was midway through a sip before we could tell him. Why the hell dis you do that Gray? “I thought it was mine”…yep, my mistake, I often treat him to a cheeky cocktail at home, should have know he had an addiction (again, this is a joke…)
Quick ride on the “The money ride with the teddy bear with the guy that goes in the seats” …confirmed, it is Jimmy Fallon, the Teddy Bear is Hastag Panda…booyah!!! Then it was Parade time again.
Honestly, I think this is the most fun parade we’ve ever seen, and I’m sorry to say, that includes any Disney Parade. The atmosphere is just amazing…and the dancers are great to interact with; “hey, this is Alaska…she’s from wales and she drove all the way here”…amazing. Oh, and the beads…so many, many beads. I may have narrowly avoided blindness once again, but the I had a great time (it’s not great to be talk when there are flying balls and string being launched at you).
Jo and Alaska make a move to the exit (they may take a while being weighted down by the millions of beads Alaska has collected), and me and Gray run for a cheeky little Minion blast…I did badly this time, I don’t want to talk about it.
Head to catch up with Mam and Alaska (easy to find by the sound of a million beads rubbing together as they walk…), before grabbing a 2 foot hotdog at the Hotdog Hall of Fame…delicious. Another fine choice kids…even if mammy was fuming.
Early enough back to the hotel for Grayson and Alaska to make their last decision of today’s activities…the pool; of course. Bloody freezing, but the kids really enjoyed…even if Alaskas independence meant the lazy river become a game of chance for her. “Leave me alone, I can swim by myself…Help me!!”.
Ok, we’re all cold. We’re all tired…time for bed I think. Another great day…roll on tomorrow :)
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