Journey to the Sunshine State

When I was a little kid it was one of my biggest dreams to go to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. For me, being able to go to Universal Studios was would have been better than going to Disney World. I knew Universal Studios was themed with a lot of my favorite movie brands growing up like Terminator, Jurassic Park, The Mummy, The Fast and the Furious, Harry Potter and Men In Black were all there. I remember being five years old and watching the television commercials advertising Universal and thinking "Man, if I could go there it would be the best thing ever". Never did I ever imagine that my dream of wanting to go there would ever come true.

The road to this dream all started nearly six years ago when I first met this group of some of my closest friends. They were all geeks and nerds just like me and we clicked and started going to the movies together to see all the best geek fantasy movies (mainly Marvel films) together. They also told me about how every year they go stay in Florida for a week and visit Universal Studios while they are there. They had invited me to go every year in the past since we first met, but because I was still in college and always had something going on I was unavailable to go, but earlier this year when they made it known they were going I didn’t hesitate to go along when the opportunity presented itself.

When the reality that I was actually going became clear I couldn’t contain myself. Strangely enough the time leading up to the trip went by pretty fast, but enjoyably enough, time started to move slow once the day of the trip finally arrived. The night before the trip my friends suggested that I spend the night over their house being that we were all leaving at four o clock in the morning. On the morning of the trip we were all packed up and ready to head out. The drive there was set to be a nine hour drive but I didn’t mind it because road tripping is something I did a lot of with my family as a kid. I enjoyed going through South Carolina and eventually stopping in Georgia to pick up another friend on the way Florida.

When we finally arrived in Florida I was in awe at how beautiful it was. The first thing I saw was palm trees, much like I had seen in movies that took place in Florida like Bad Boys 2 and 2Fast 2Furious. I actually laughed in shock and amazement, still in disbelief that I was actually here. After going through a crazy traffic jam and finally making it to the resort we were supposed to be staying at, we checked in to the best looking Holiday Inn resort I had ever seen. This place had three pools, several golf courses and a number of stores, restaurants and arcades on deck. Because this was during the spring there were a lot of families and guess staying there as well. When we got to our three bedroom suite I was blown away at the site of what looked like a house, I realized at that moment that I was in paradise. After getting settling in that first day and getting some rest, day 2 was set to be a day during which everyone was free to go do whatever they wanted in the days leading up to Monday which was going to be our first day visiting Universal Studios. While everyone else was going swimming I decided to take a long walk around the grounds of the resort like I would normally do at home.

As I went on my walk I made note of how tolerable the heat was to me after hearing everyone talk so much about how unbearable the heat was, in my own ego-boosting way I felt like a super-human because the heat didn't bother me. Walking around the grounds of the resort I made note of all the sights from the golf courses to the pools and even the animals in the area. I actually saw a big turtle and several alligators. When I went to the biggest pool area at the hotel, that was when I knew that I was truly on vacation. This area had two restaurants, an arcade, a couple of drink and appliances stands, a couple of water slides and three very large dining areas both indoors and out. I truly couldn't believe that I was staying at this amazing place for a week and I was excited for whatever came next.

On Sunday night me and my friends all went on a walk in downtown Disney, which was right outside of Disney World and I have to say this place was like Heaven for a nerd like me. I visited a lot of merchandise stores that had a lot of products from some of my favorite franchises like Marvel there and I visited a place I knew of but did not know was there, which was Planet Hollywood. It was there I saw the real-life props that were used in movies like Terminator, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Happy Gilmore and Spiderman among others up close and personal. This was all so enjoyably overwhelming. When the night was over my friends told me that if I was amazed at downtown Disney, then I was definitely gonna be blown away by Universal the next day.

Monday morning finally came and not a moment too soon. We all had our tickets ready to go to Universal Studios and we were going to be there from 9am when they opened to 9pm when they closed. When we arrived at the parking garage that was supposed to lead us to the entry we were caught in a crowd of what looked like a thousand people all waiting to get into Universal like us. When we were finally scanned in I almost dropped dead of a heart attack. I had stepped into another world that I could have only dreamed of visiting. Between all the rollercoaster, merchandise and souvenir stores, I had no idea where were going first and so we got on a virtual Minion ride from the movie Despicable Me. I remember waiting in that long line thinking it was going to be underwhelming, but much to my surprise I actually enjoyed it and couldn't wait to get on the others. As my friends went on another ride called "The Raptor" which had a longer line to it, I decided to explore the rest of the park to check out the sites and I swear the little kid came out of me as I made note of every movie and tv show themed character and area that was there. After riding nearly every ride there was that day, I sat in front of the stage area near the entrance around 8pm later that night, happily exhausted and in utter disbelief that I was really here at Universal Studios enjoying myself. When the night was over my friends told me that I would the other side of the park, Island's Of Adventure, even more. After a day of rest on Tuesday, me and my friends made our way to Island's Of Adventure on Wednesday morning and they were right, it really was more incredible than Universal. I visited Jurassic Park, The Marvel area, and The World of Harry Potter. This all felt so perfect for me because I grew up loving all of these brands as some of my top favorite book and movie franchises. I cannot fully put into words how incredible this second day was, I just knew that it was going to stay with me for a long time. It was going to stay with me because I lived out a childhood dream that I never thought I would experience.

The next day after Islands of Adventure was our final day in Orlando, Florida. I took one last walk around the resort and reflected a lot on how amazing this vacation was and how when my friends went again the next year, I planned on coming again. We went out to eat at TGIFridays for dinner and enjoyed our final night there. I was actually glad to be headed home, but at the same time I felt so blessed for being able to go on this amazing trip. On Friday morning me and my friends checked out of the resort and began our nine hour trip home. When we finally made it back to Greensboro, North Carolina I genuinely never felt so happy to be back home, but even more so, I felt blessed to have been able to go on this journey to the sunshine state.