I'm not a fan of Walmart, if I'm honest. There's just something about the layout and the colours that I'm not keen on...and even the shopping bags are grey! We bought a couple more bottles of wine, including a Rex Goliath Shiraz as the Cabernet and the Pinot Noir have been delicious! There will definitely be a couple of bottles sneaking their way into our suitcases!
The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent lying by the pool, but there's been a lot more cloud today and it looked as if a storm was brewing. At around 4pm we headed off to Universal and the sky was looking very ominous! We had the usual queues on the I-4 as the traffic was very busy and we did wonder if the road was ever quiet!
We decided to go to Islands of Adventure again and I'd promised Mikey I would go on the Bilge Rat Barges with him (I'd packed a change of clothes in my bag!). The wait time was only five minutes but the walk to the start of the ride must have taken longer than that! We were put in a boat with another couple and their daughter and two children who had been on before as they were still soaking wet! Even before the ride started we got wet as the seats were covered in water!
Predictably, we got drenched! It's a very fast and furious ride and as well as being splashed from beneath, there are also curtains of water and jets that get you from the top as well! Sophie had joined us and spent most of the ride squealing and trying to shelter under me, but it didn't make any difference! She was soaked as well!
We staggered off the ride and Keith and Mikey rode the Jurassic Park River Adventure. Keith hadn't joined us on the barges as he didn't want to get wet, but he got soaked on the River Adventure ride! Ha! He came off with wet hair and splashes all over his shirt!
The wait time for the Harry Potter ride was horrendous - 105 minutes - so we went to see the Sinbad show instead, which was a good idea as it had started to rain and the sky was looking very stormy indeed! The show was fun but we couldn't hear all that was being said, so we enjoyed the fireworks and special effects and rested our weary feet for twenty minutes!
Mikey and Sophie wanted to go on Doctor Doom's Fearfall so on the way there we tried to ride the Dr Seuss Trolley Train ride. The wait was 25 minutes but after waiting about ten minutes they put out an announcement that as the weather was worsening, the ride might have to be suspended. We decided to call it a day and as we made our way out of the park, the rain started in earnest.
Getting out of Universal was a lot harder than normal as I think everyone had the same idea! The traffic on the I-4 was nose to tail and we crawled all the way to the exit for the 192. We'd decided to eat at The Longhorn Steak House but our estimated journey time of about half an hour soon stretched to an hour. By the time we arrived at the restaurant, the rain was torrential and we saw lightening flashes in the sky. We ran into the restaurant to find a crowd of people all waiting for a table and we were told it would be about 45 minutes. Keith went to get us a drink and luckily, after waiting a short while, we managed to get a seat at the bar. Our feet were all very sore!
The meal we had was exceptional and our waiter, Mike, was great and very friendly without being over the top. We started with chilli cheese fries and then we had bowls of Caesar salad with fresh baked bread. Mikey went for a burger, Keith had parmesan crusted chicken, which he said was beautifully succulent, while Sophie and I enjoyed steaks with mashed potatoes. By the end of the meal we were stuffed so no desserts for us tonight!
It was still raining hard when we drove back to the villa and the windscreen wipers could hardly cope with the downpour of water. I took it very slowly and within a short while we were sitting on the terrace with the last of the Pinot Noir and watching the rain plop into the swimming pool!
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