A Universal Day and What I Wouldn't Do To Get Out of Driving

I met Adele and Gina at Universal in Orlando on Friday.  Since I won't be renewing my annual pass, this would be my last visit for the year.  It was my third time visiting on the pass, and I figured it had paid for itself after two visits.  And, I wanted to see the new Minion Mayhem attraction before I cancelled it!

We were determined to make it a leisurely day, and we did.  We met up just before noon, and both got the closest parking spaces we ever had, one row apart, right near the crosswalk bridge to the rotunda. Our first order of business:  lunch!  We went to one of our favorite fast food places at Universal, Richter's.  The food is decent and we like the 100 choices of soda!

We then stopped at the candy / bakery next door for dessert.  The cookies and cream candy apples were buy one, get one free, so Adele and Gina enjoyed them while covering themselves in chocolate cookie crumbs!  I had a chocolate chip cookie that looked like it was just sliced from a giant sausage of cookie dough.  And we got to catch the "Minions" in their dance routine right outside the door!  Adele and Gina got to hang with Margo, Edith and Agnes!

We also did the E.T. ride (I was Raoul again), and the Revenge of the Mummy attraction.  It was hot in the sun, so we decided to head over to the Islands of Adventure for a Butterbeer, posing for a few pictures on the way.

Keeping our priorities straight, and to hydrate, we headed over to the Hog's Head pub for some Butterbeer.  Always good!  We were going to ride the Dragon Challenge roller coaster, but dark clouds were coming in quickly, so we opted to head to Hogwart's and the Forbidden Journey attraction.  It was my longest wait of the three times I've been there (I think just under an hour and a half maybe?) But, we did manage to avoid the downpour, being under cover for the outside portion of the waiting line.  Before we left Hogsmeade, Adele picked up some pumpkin juice from one of the shops.  It tasted like pumpkin pie!

On our way out of the park, we stopped at Confisco Grille for dinner.  We wanted some lighter fare, and it fit the bill!  Exhausted from the sun, but content, we began the trek back to the parking garage (Spiderman section).  As we were crossing the bridge, I reached into my pocket for my car key.  It wasn't there!  Keeping a cool head, (yeah!  right!)  I tried to figure out what to do. I usually wear shorts with cargo pockets, a safe place to keep the key.  I thought the pockets in the shorts I wore would be deep enough.  Apparently, they weren't!  I felt the key all during the day when I reached into the pocket to place or retrieve my sunglasses or pass.  I'm not sure when it vanished, but I'll wager it was on the Harry Potter ride.

Fortunately, I'm a member of AAA Plus, so towing up to 100 miles is covered.  I have a spare key and a valet key back in my apartment.  I figured towing would be the most efficient way for me to get home.  And, I thought it would be nice to have a chauffeur!  Shortly after calling AAA, I received a call from Riccardo, the driver of the tow truck.  The upside: he was he was already on his way to the parking garage.  The downside:  to pick up another car for towing.  He estimated it would be an hour to an hour and a half before he would get to me.  Although we were all so tired, Adele and Gina kept me company.  They played hangman while I plugged my cell into an electrical outlet we found near our cars.

I had one other dilemma.  My apartment key was in the glove compartment and to get into my apartment building requires the key.  So, I called Ralph, my landlord to see if he could meet me to let me in when I reached home.  But I didn't know what time it would be (it was about 10 or 10:30 by now, I think).  He said he would keep his cell on the night stand.  My wheels were still spinning, so I thought I would check to see if I had locked the glove compartment.  Using the flashlight on my cell (love it!), through the window I saw that it was unlocked!  I figured I would ask Riccardo if he could get into the car so I could get the apartment key and call Ralph to let him know he was off the hook!  When Riccardo arrived, he broke in and voila!  Ralph got to sleep.

We left the parking garage just before 11:30 pm.  Adele and Gina enjoyed watching the tow truck pick up the front of my Rabbit.  All was good!  Now for all of us to head home to get some rest!

Did I learn anything?  (That's why you always leave a note!)  I'm going to leave my valet key in the glove compartment (is that good or not?) and I am always going to make sure I keep my key in a locked pocket!  Amen!

ADDENDUM:  Just off the phone with lost and found at Universal.  They found the key!  Going to ship it to me!  YAY!!!

And it's back in my hand today, August 21!