Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios

The Parousians spent some time during the Florida trip enjoying the charms of recreation at two of Orlando's theme parks: Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. On Friday morning, we awoke early and attended Mass at Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine (which, by the way, we are sure has some connection to Universal Studios...we decided we should have a presentation on it). From there, we made our way to the Islands of Adventure for a day of scares -- I mean thrills from riding on the rollercoasters.

We began the day riding the daunting coaster The Hulk. For those who are terrified of coasters, this was by the far the most terrifying. However, I am told by thrill-seekers such as Mary-Grace that this rollercoaster was not bold enough. From there we made our way to other fabulous attractions such as the 3D Spiderman ride, The Cat in the Hat ride (which we voted scariest ride), and my personal favorite the Dueling Dragons. On Saturday, we went to Universal Studios to enjoy rides such as the Mummy, Shrek, Twister, and Back to the Future before making our way to Mass at St. Nicholas of Myra.

And just in case you thought our time at the theme parks was all fun and games, I can assure you, it was not. The Saints fans in our group were sure to defend the truth of the faith by screaming "Who Dat" at the Eagles fans in the park. We also prayed the St. Michael prayer as we slowly made our way up the on the Dueling Dragons (This was especially for those of us who are terrified of falling off rollercoasters). During the course of our couple of days at the parks, I made a comment that the rides I enjoyed the most were also the ones that terrified me the most. Michael Denton managed to connect this comment to his presentation on Sheen's Life of Christ. We took every opportunity to recognize God's graces during our leisure time. All in all, the time at the theme parks was a worthy way to recreate, and even though we spent much of our time waiting in lines, we spent it discussing topics related to the faith and culture.