2018 Tour - Day 4 - Universal Theme Park, Orlando FL.

We ate breakfast at the hotel and Polly went ahead to Universal to get all the tickets. Group arrived at Universal at about 8:30 am, we distributed tickets, and then the fun began. We had texting check-ins throughout our 12 hour visit - 9 am to 9 pm.

These are short impressions from members of our group:

Shane Johnson: Eating dinner and sharing memories from past tours with Lindsey, Bryce, Autumn, and Jack at the leaky cauldron in Harry Potter World

Stephanie Greer: My favorite part of universal was when troy thought he had great directional skills but got us lost twice.

Julia Beall: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

Katie Eilliott: My favorite part was when the food was late, so when we saw them we all cheered as Bryce held the chips above his head and ran.

Sam Johnson: “¡ONLY 8 PIECES OF CHICKEN!” - I almost passed out on hulk

Editor’s note: Family friends of the Worrell’s who live in Orlando worked with Carol to deliver huge trays of Chick-fil-a nuggets, fruit, chips and drinks so everyone got lunch in the park. We gathered for about 40 minutes to eat, reapply sunscreen, get vouchers for dinner in the park, and compare stories of what we’d done so far. 

Taylor Cappeluti: Optimus prime

Lydia Turner-Little: Feeling like I was really walking through Diagon Alley

Liz Elliott: Adam Lenker was super excited to spend time with characters. We spent time with Betty Boop, Popeye and the Simpsons.

Angela Nardone: Having trouble finding our way to the exit

Troy Moskowitz: Me and my crew of Taylor Katie Stephanie Angela and Dee had a ton of fun at the horror make up show

Dee Robertson: The horror make up show was really funny! Rock the red...sunburn

Jonathan Colborn: I lost weight. Thanks be to God. (Lots of walking and sweating)

Carol Worrell: One favorite memories from Universal and Islands of Adventure was riding the Hogwarts Express and thinking about all the fun that Brian was going to have riding The Hogwarts Express. I also loved getting to ride the rides with my boys and getting completely soaked on the log ride with Joseph and putting my hands in the air and screaming like crazy on the hippogriff roller coaster. The Hulk was my favorite roller coaster. 

Phil Hulcher: gratitude for my brother’s recovery and Rose’s purse being found (it was stollen in France where she is studying for the summer) - Editor’s note: Phil got lots of good news yesterday while we were at the park!

Bryce Taylor: “mommmmm! buy me more butter beer!”

David Hembrough: Getting chafed

Sasha Kuznetsov: The funnest part about going to Univ Stud was that my group (who are almost all adults) had more fun than most children

Emma Dube: The whole Harry Potter experience was so cool, and the butterbeer was delicious. 

Kae Johnson: Hanging out with all the youth while at Universal (especially Calista, John, and our three boys)

Editor’s note: we left the park at 9 pm and headed back to our hotel - same place as last night. On the bus, there was a time of comparing total steps taken in our Health apps/fitbits. Bryce Taylor was pretty sure he came out with the most steps (25,831) until Cole Vlasic discovered how to access his phone app and had about 80 more than Bryce. Maybe because he had to walk around and search for his misplaced backpack?! Good news that Cole found his backpack with help of cell phone finder and Universal security. Annie Elliott had about 22,000 steps when we left the park but she topped 30,000 by the time she finished running around the hotel lot. That’s a lot of steps for our whole group, and God ordered them all. (That’s a reference to one of our songs - wink)

Some folks went swimming in outdoor pool, others visited in lobby and had cookies/hot beverages provided by hotel, some went next door to do laundry at neighboring hotel. We think everyone slept well - physical exhaustion makes for good resting.

~ Polly

Click Here for Photos from Day 4