A Universal Experience: Part 4- Amy (Appendix A)

It was my intention, during our vacation at Universal Studios in Orlando, to REALLY live in the moment. Turns out...REALLY living in the moment is kind of expensive. I couldn't afford to wear the wizard's cloak while waving a forty dollar wand and still eat so I had to dial my REALLY back a bit. Walking around Hogsmeade and drinking a butterbeer was pretty close to living in the moment. Until I tried balancing my beverage with some other tasty snacks and ended up spilling it. Naturally...I was devastated. "You didn't even like it," Katie consoled me in disgust as I loudly lamented my loss for the next several hours. Katie obviously needs empathy training. "That's not the point, Katie," I snapped, reminiscing about the good times I'd had while sipping my butterbeer. Plus, Savannah, who normally I have to BEG to take a picture, snapped a shot of me desperately and sadly cleaning up my mess. Except it looks like I was discreetly vomiting behind a garbage can. Nice.

I had conducted hours of research prior to the trip to be able to REALLY live in the moment. Armed with the "secrets" of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, my little group caught a rare glimpse of Kreacher, made a call to the Ministry of Magic, was surprised by what happened when we turned a doorknob in Knockturn Alley and heard Moaning Myrtle in the restroom. At least, I hope that was Moaning Myrtle. I moonwalked backwards through the magic wall of Platform 9 3/4 and timed my arrival in the castle so that Hermione made it snow on me (twice!). As my own group completely took my efforts for granted, I decided to hold a dissertation on the shuttle for a more appreciative audience who, in fact, TOOK NOTES!

My research also revealed that those who purchase theme park tickets through the resort are also privy to a coupon booklet! Of course, I demanded mine and then spent the rest of the trip determined to save twenty cents at Cinnabon if I made a purchase after 2 pm. I'm embarrassed to say that I failed in this mission. We did score a free appetizer at the Hardrock Hotel's restaurant though!

We discovered, upon checking into our resort, that they had mistakenly booked our poolside view room (that overlooked the desolate desert of a construction site) to a view-of-the-parking-lot room. To appease us ("I didn't know we'd booked a poolside room," Geri muttered as we stood there confused as the concierge apologized to us), the resort promised to personally move our belongings the following day while we were out enjoying the park AND gave us four meal tickets to be used at the hotel. Fantastic!

What they didn't tell us is that some insane cleaning person would walk off with Katie's air mattress and that our 7th story room would have the water pressure of a broken grocery store squirt gun. Katie gave a whole new meaning to the word, "bubble head" when she was unable to rinse the soap suds out of her hair. Jim, the maintenance guy showed up, adjusted the shower head and then shrugged, saying, "Best you're gonna get on the 7th floor." With our vast knowledge of the plumbing world, we all nodded with keen understanding. "I wonder what people do who live in high-rise buildings,"  we wondered later. Subsequent research revealed that there exists a no-rinse body wash. And there's always hygienic wipes. Between the missing air mattress and the missing water pressure, we scored four more meal tickets and felt like we'd won the lottery.

One meal ticket was used on a snack run. "Going down," stated the robotic elevator voice. "I'm yelling timber," I sang (without fail. I am an utter DELIGHT to vacation with). We hit the commissary and stocked up on chocolate and chips and ice cream. Arms full, we re-entered the elevator and shared the ride up with a man and his son. Let me amend that. A physical trainer and his son. One more time. A well-conditioned, muscular physical trainer and his son. AWKWARD. To break the uncomfortable silence, Geri joked to the little boy, "We're on vacation...don't eat like us." The man and his son stepped off the elevator and as the doors closed, the man said, "Don't worry. He knows better." We drowned our shame in snack food. Living in the moment really takes some hard-core discipline.