Universal Studio's Florida

Sprin018.jpg (21471 bytes)
The crowds were unbelievable.   Coming in from the parking lot on the moving side walks (not pictured), it remind me of both a the Atlanta Airport and the New York City Subway Station at Wall Street during rush hour -- Mobs of people fast walking, twenty abreast.

Partially, pictured here (the line actually stretched to several places out of view, so as not to discourage the patrons too much) is the line for "Back to the Future".  Be prepared to wait between an 90 minutes to an hour for most of these rides during spring break, which happens to be peak season.  Arrive early to beat the crowd on your favorite ride.  Terminator 2, Back to the Future, Twister and Jaws are definitely the big hits at the park. 

Sprin015.jpg (22836 bytes)

Amazingly so, even with the wait, these lines move fairly briskly (we were at risk of losing our place in line to take the previous picture).  Also, there are fans with water mist and ice cream stands along the way to cool you off.

Below is the view at the front of the line, which overlooks Martha's Vineyard, Jaws neighborhood in the back of the park.  They have a great show in that lake at the end of the day that catches everyone's attention.  Make sure you plan, and get your seat early.

Sprin019.jpg (19974 bytes)

 

There are plenty of photo opportunities in the park.  My son, Matt, decided to ham it up a little for the camera.  I actually had to get in line to catch this picture.
Sprin021.jpg (21311 bytes)

 

Several photo opportunities were only available at a price.  They wanted $5-10 (I forget which) to get your picture taken with T-Rex.
Sprin025.jpg (23768 bytes)

 

One of the highlights of for our day at Universal was the Wild West show.  The banner says "County Dance and Hanging Saturday Night".  The actors and stunt men (stunt people) in this show were a real hoot.
Sprin022.jpg (17551 bytes)
Sprin023.jpg (20365 bytes)

 

One more tip:  After touring the entire park and poking our noses into a several establishments we concluded, based on aroma, that Mel's Diner (from Happy Days) was the most appealing place to dine.  Mel's has more than six serving lines, and appears capable of dealing with several bus loads and hour.   Following that there is a real pleasant, fast food, Italian restaurant with a large dining room that is air conditioned.  Al's maintains that 50's motif with both inside and outside dining, and several vintage cars in the parking lot.