Florida - Day 8 - Universal Studios

We got up early that morning to beat the crowds at Universal Studios, Florida. In order to control the crowds, Universal opened the gates a little before 9am and opened only the rides near the entrance at first. The crowd got dispersed into the rides rather than forming long lines outside the entrance. Clever.

The crowds didn't really arrive at Universal until 11 am. A and I were able to get on some of the rides without too much of a crowd and without using our ExpressPass. Universal's ExpressPass had to be purchased in advance and could be used once at each ride to bypass the lines. The ExpressPass came in handy in the afternoon, especially for the Simpsons ride. The wait for the Simpsons ride was 2 hours!

The building around the Simpsons ride was constructed to look like Krustyland. The Simpsons were picked to be the first ones to go on the new roller coaster. The audience climbs into the roller coaster cars after them. Sideshow Bob suddenly appears and wreaks havoc, trying to kill the Simpsons.

Afterwards, we headed to Emeril's restaurant on City Walk for a nice dinner. We enjoyed the atmosphere, but liked Mario Batali's food more.

appetizer compliments of the chef

Jumbo lump blue crab and sweet Maine baby shrimp open-faced ravioli

pan-seared Chilean sea bass

Angus filet mignon


caramelized pineapple-almond tart with chocolate gelato