Day 4 ? The fun gets serious from here

We couldn't hold out any longer...so we headed to Universal's Islands of Adventure. After the wait for Transformers, we decided to step the fun up with "Express Tickets".

This would get us straight to the fun, with no waiting (ouch, they were expensive). So without any waiting, straight onto the Hulk Coaster. Unlike most coasters which haul you to the top and let you go, this one actually accelerates you on the up slope, before around 8 or 9 loops.

Off that and rush to another. This time indoors (air con!) with Spiderman 4D. Essentially the same ride as Transformers, but with Spiderman.

Too much fun too quickly, so onto a slow walk up to Jurassic Park. And then the rain came down in Jurassic proportions. With the Lightening, they have to shut down all the outdoor rides. Why would they need to stop people going up large metal structures which are well grounded in a lightening storm, no-body knows....

We huddled under K's umbrella and headed for Harry Potter - what we had all come for. Surprisingly the queue wasn't too had at 60 mins, especially as most of the other rides were off.

Unfortunately, there was no "Express Lane". Seemingly it is marked in the small print of the tickets, but I did have a few words with the attendant that it should be more prominent at the desk.

Harry Potter was as good as ever...and of course K met someone in the queue that she knew. Good Grief.

Getting peckish we headed to the "Three Broomsticks" pub for a grand feast. Actually pretty good for theme park food.

With the rain nearly off, we took one last indoors attraction at Poseidon's Fury. A pretty impressive indoors show.

With the rain truly off now, we decided to head back to Jurassic Park in the dry. Big mistake! We got totally drenched on the big splash at the end. Well, after all, that's what it's about. Feeling damp, we headed back to Toon Lagoon and watched people on the log flume. Well, more than watched, we put quarters in the water guns and me, L and D could soak innocent people as they went past on the ride....we just think we were adding to their fun.

Everyone decided that the log flume looked too wet, so we went on Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges instead. Again - bad call. This time we were soaked to the skin...

It was starting to get on, so we headed towards Seuss Landing (via a quick trip on Spiderman as we passed). Slowing things down, we took a trip around Cat in the Hat. Very sedate, but about my level of literature - and read out for me too.

A quick trip past Sinbad's Stunt Show and we were back in Harry Potter Land. We ran onto the Dragon Challenge Coaster for a quick adrenalin fix, then back onto Harry Potter ride for a second go. As it was dying down, it was only 20 minutes wait. Cool.

Completely knackered, we headed for the exit, with one last pass on the Hulk. Everyone fell asleep in the car (well nearly everyone - I stayed awake fortunately) - and we couldn't be bothered going back out. So Dominos for dinner and off to bed.