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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 1676119" data-attributes="member: 2205">The Great Dyal Vacation of 2004 Trip Journal Entry #7: July 8thFor our third day at Universal, we actually turned the alarm off and went back to sleep.  We did exactly what we had been preaching against; showing up around 11:00 when the crowds were at their worst.  Of course, by this time, we had done everything, so we figured it wasn't as big a deal -- we'd spend the day doing a few things, but mostly wandering around soaking up atmosphere and taking pictures.Of course, it actually turned out much better than that; my ticket, which was reprinted, was having problems with the ExpressPass machines, so we ended up getting something like 8-10 ExpressPass "wildcards" from the employees, and we did all the rides we really liked over again without waiting in the "real" lines, including Dueling Dragons twice so we could go on both sections.  Of course, even the ExpressPass lines were 15 minutes or so long by this point, but that was OK, that's still not long to wait for a huge hit of a ride.  We didn't get to get in the front of the Hulk or Spiderman this time, though, and I definately recommend the front for both of them.In the later afternoon, it started raining again, so we ducked into some shops to buy T-shirts and stuff like that for the kids, and for my in-laws who were watching the kids.  We were really starting to feel old and footsore by this point, too, after three days of being on the go here.  So we left the park itself, and kicked around Citywalk for a while, which is the "nightlife" area of Universal Studios.  We went and saw King Arthur, which was brand-spanking new at the time, in the late afternoon/evening.Julie didn't like it much at all; it was too different from what she expected, I guess.  I, on the other hand, thought it was pretty much what I expected, but was disappointed in many aspects of the movie anyway.  The movie wasted time developing some things that weren't really important (like Bors and his relationship to his girlfriend and all his kids) while rushing through some other parts that really were important, like the romance between Arthur and Guinevere, which was thoroughly unconvincing, or the friendship of Arthur and Lancelot -- these guys were supposed to be best friends, but all through the movie Lancelot was the least friendly of the six or so knights of the round table.  In general, the movie was a little too all over the map with little details that it wanted to show when a little more focus would have been a lot better.I was also bugged by the historicity of a lot of it.  I mean, it's great that they did enough research to pull up the name Artorius Castus and his Sarmatian knights, but if they did that much research, surely they noticed that that historical figure was several generations earlier than the Anglo-Saxon invasions?  The sharp division between Roman and British was also problematic; Arthur in large part was supposed to be special because he was half-Roman, half-Briton, but Britain was full of Romanized Britons at this time.And who the heck are the "woads"?  Are they supposed to be Picts, because they're painted and are mentioned at one point as living north of Hadrian's wall?  If so, why are they described as rebel Britons, and how the heck is an army of them hiding in the woods near Badon Hill?  Wearing Xena style barbariana, no less?I dunno.  It's unlikely I'll buy this DVD, I think.  It just was too mediocre.  After that, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, which is always fun.  Apparently we got to sit in the 'C's; we had Billy Duffy's guitar (from the Cult) as well as a big signed poster of "Wildflower", my favorite Cult song.  There was a lot of Cure stuff around as well, including a bass played by Simon Gallup.  I'm not sure how "hard rock" the Hard Rock cafe was; I distinctly remember hearing "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran while we ate.  Now, my memory's getting a bit hazy.  I think we went clubbing as well, although it's entirely possible that we actually did that the night before.  There are a handful of clubs around Citywalk notable for their live music; there was a great reggae club that we enjoyed for quite a while, and a jazz club that was OK.  The more anonymous club, but the one I was actually most looking forward to, "The Groove" was billed as a kind of techno type of place, but I was disappointed to find that it was actually much more of a hip-hop club.  Although, out of the blue, they did play "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order, which of course, is one of my favorite songs of all time.Regardless of which day we actually went clubbing, we were done with Universal Studios at the end of our third day there, and ready to move on to the next stage of our vacation.</blockquote>

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