Trip Report - Fathers Day day 1

My wife and I went up Sunday for a quick 2 day trip arriving about 10:30am.  We stayed at Loews Royal Pacific because the rates were decent and the Express Pass.  Our room was ready, so we dropped off our stuff and headed to Universal Studios (US).  

We rode the Minion Mayhem which is actually really fun and funny.  Went back to a little stand for a breakfast croissant the down to the Mummy.  After that headed over to Finnegan's for a drink (hey, Father's Day) then over to Diagon Alley.  My wife got one of the new 2nd gen wands and started an adventure.  We quickly found out that this was going to be addictive and quite a time investment.  We rode Gringott's and headed out of Diagon Alley to avoid getting wrapped up in spells.  Over on the other side of the park we rode ET which is always like a fever dream, but fun.  He never pronounces my name correctly.  After going to the little passholder clearance store, we went to see the Bourne Spectacular stunt show which we had never seen.  I have to say it was very entertaining and just a really good production value.  Can't believe I waited this long.  

We went out of the park to the NBC grill for a drink before dinner at BiCE at Portofino.  It's usually a great meal, but was only "okay" this time.  After dinner we headed over to Islands of Adventure (IOA) and went back to "HarryPotterLand" to ride Forbidden Journey then over to Hagrid's.  The posted wait time was 100 minutes, but we got on through the Express Pass line in 30 (nice) even with the threat of a thunderstorm.  After the ride I got a 2nd gen wand and we did some wand adventures for awhile. Like I said, it's really fun and challenging and a good way to take a break between ride lines.  After that we headed over to VelociCoaster (front row always).  On our way out we did the Cat in the Hat - one more we had never done.  Cute ride, but I still feel bad for the fish.  Finally we got on the boat and headed to the room.  I love the parks at night so I'm glad we stayed late.  We got a lot done.