Bucko's World

Sometimes you have that feeling of “the morning after the night before” without having had the night before.  A feeling of both remembering the fun you had, and that come down feeling of regret that the fun of the night before is done…..and all you have to toast it by is a hangover, either literal or figurative……..

It’s an odd day today, after the drama of exam results a couple of days ago, and the huge anticipation of Daytona Beach yesterday, today just seems….well, a bit of an anti-climax….

We’ve had a lie in and are all a bit unsure what to do next.  So, there’s really only one thing to do – head off to Celebration and the Market Street Café and massive brunch alert.  Really, if you’re going to make plans for the day it’s best done over a pint of Orange Juice and a three egg omelette.  It seems that the consensus is a return to Universal Studios for some more wizarding action.  But first a visit to the most mahoosive Nike Store on the planet is in order.

It’s odd then, that in such a big store, neither myself nor Coaster Buddy can find what we want.  CBs trainers don’t seem top exist here, and my simple request for a Nike Fuel Band thank you very much is met with blank stares.  “Hey dude, the watches are all over there” is the closet I get to a reply from some stoner who is apparently Assistant Under Manager.  Well, with his keen eye for a possible sale, he never very likely to be over anybody is he?

And so on to Universal Studios and one of my favourite rides of all time – The Hulk.  Decked out in its bright green livery, and towering over a whole section of the park it is indeed an impressive sight, and an even better ride.  Last time we waited over an hour and a half to have the bejesus scared out of us due to a technical fault, but this time a mere five minutes passes before we are strapped in and ready to go.  And it is good.  Having persuaded CB to ride with us this time, the scream ratio is high.  The ride goes from standstill to upside down in like one second and there are seven inversions and a seemingly endless plunge into a smoke filled tunnel still to come – big grins all round then!

We then go off to queue for Olivander’s Wand Shop, which sounded good – but which was, quite frankly, fucking shite.  Don’t waste your time – no honestly, really don’t.  I’ve seen more convincing stuff at Bembom Brother’s in Margate, and that’s been closed for ten years….

That is put behind us as we go and ride the main Harry Potter attraction again; even better the second time, and a much shorter queue.  The trick here?  Go in the afternoon, coz it’s the first thing everyone tries to do when they first get to the park.  See what we did there?

Next up is another favourite from our previous trip, the 3D Spiderman ride.  Lisa and Conor missed it last time so it’s good to have a full house this time around.  They’ve updated it since we were last here – and it’s even more hair-singe-tastic.  The drops are stomach churning, and the effects are superb, a must every time you go!

We’ve been worried about Caitlin’s poorly foot all day and as we head off towards the evening she’s in obvious distress.  But trooper that she is, she’s man’s up and we head off to the Hard Rock Café - the biggest one in the world dontcha know? – and for one of the treats of the holiday.

Imagine you just been dropped into the middle of the film Rock of Ages.  That’s what Universal’s Hard Rock Café is like.  All spandex, 80’s hair and screaming guitar solos.  It’s amazing the staff have time to serve you food.  And the building itself is just brilliant.  There’s a huge pink Cadillac spinning from the ceiling, rock memorabilia everywhere, and the sound track to my youth is playing in the background.  Sore feet and tired legs are immediately forgotten and we order up a banquet fit for a fat American.   We then stand up and sing along to Warrant’s Cherry Pie as if it’s the most normal thing to do in the world – and why shouldn’t it be?

The food is excellent and quite frankly I could sit here all night singing along and drinking pints of Sam but unfortunately I have to drive everyone home, but that fine.  A day that started on a bit of a downer has ended on a huge high, and all with minimal planning.