Once the last of the Superstar Parade danced its way past us, we continued up the street toward New York and the Mummy.
I knew Steve would enjoy getting his adrenaline going on a coaster (albeit a mild one, as he was quick to remind me
) so I shooed him along as he protested...weakly. Today was our actual anniversary....22 years!!....and I think he was worried that I’d be iinsulted if he admitted that yes, he wanted to ride something that I didn’t. Very sweet, but so silly.
GO, I told him. I was happy to explore the New York area with camera in hand, and the posted wait was only 10 minutes anyway. We set a meeting place, and he entered the queue while I took a stroll.
I really love the New York area, the detail is so perfect.
And I think it was wonderful planning to put this beautiful little park adjacent to the Mummy. What a perfect place to enjoy the Florida sun while your loved ones get all shook up on the coaster
.
Much to my delight, I stumbled upon this little festive gem.....and being the Christmas Elf that I am, I had to go inside!
I was sorely tempted to spend the souvenir budget right there, right then, In its entirety. I mean, they had Minion Christmas lights........MINION CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!!
They had a marvelous selection of decorations, actually. It took all my self control to snap my photos and shuffle myself out of there before Steve would be wishing he’d kept me supervised
.
I was just leaving the store when I spied Steve coming out from the Mummy, so snapped the obligatory ride pic for the photo album before continuing on our exploration tour:
After the Mummy, we wound our way around and checked out Springfield. The area had undergone a huge expansion since our last visit in 2012, and being the Simpsons fans that we are, we were so excited to see all the changes and new features that they added. We were not disappointed!
We walked through Simpson’s Fast Food Boulevard, checking out Moe’s Tavern and the menus at the various dining locations. Steve had his photo taken with Jebediah Springfield (Jake was going to be insanely jealous):
....and we walked on to the Twirl & Hurl.....we would ride this one a lot over the course of the week!
We moved on, knowing we didn’t have huge amounts of time to devote to any one area, with the park closing early and our bodies growing weary from such an early start and a busy day. As we walked, we were trying to decide if we should visit Diagon Alley today (just getting a taste of the new section of the park, knowing we’d have limited time there) or leave it until we were back on Sunday (when we had a full day at Universal planned and could take all the time we wanted). Then, just like that, all that chit-chat went out the window when Steve spotted Bumblebee out for a meet-and-greet. My great big macho man turned into instant child and beat a path to the line. Yes, there is a little kid in all of us, just aching to be let out
.
After the character meet, Steve rode Transformers (at my urging.....for heaven’s sake, man, I don’t mind!!)....again, with no waits.
After Transformers, my guy was adamant that we were going to do something “for me”.... and by making that suggestion, he knew what “Despicable” attraction I would be headed to.
I am sure I was smiling like an idiot as we walked into the queue, which we now sped through as our after-4 pm Express Pass (a perk of our Premier AP's) had now kicked in. I was about to fulfill the top item on my bucket list: I was going to meet a Minion (actually, make that two! ).
Did I mention that there’s a little child inside all of us, just dying to be freed?
Despicable Me, coming up next. And no, we couldn't wait.....we opt to get a little taste of Diagon Alley (literally ).