Mike goes UNIVERSAL

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually be IN a movie you were watching? There are a select few places in the world where you can go to be completely immersed in the world of movies and TV. This leg of Mike's travels took him to the heart of some of his favourite big-screen adventures: Universal Studios in Florida. He was so excited he hardly knew where to start.

First he decided to spend a bit of time exploring the park with Roland, which included the obligatory stop off at Hard Rock Cafe. According to universalorlando.com this one is the biggest in the world!

Then it was time to explore the world of the movies. Mike started with an exhilirating 4-D ride to Skull Island where he joined other adventurers in being thrown around by monsters and saved by the enormous Kong, from the movie "Kong: Skull Island". The movie was released the 28th February so the story was fresh in Mike's mind. He insists that none of the creatures, skulls or scary islanders gave him a scare. It seems he's a rather hardy microphone after all.

Mike's next stop was literally more magical: the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. He took Hogwart's Express from Kings Cross by walking straight through the solid brick wall and onto Platform 9 ¾ where he boarded for Hogsmeade. His magical experience included being part of a fast paced game of quiddich which was interrupted by Death Eaters but Harry was there to save him from their clutches. This time around Mike admited that his circuits had gone into a bit of overdrive from all the excitement. 

He decided it was time to be brave and take on some of the world famous rides at Universal Studios in Orlando, like the Transformers 3-D adventure where he helped Optimus Prime defend the eart against the Decepticons and the incredibly scary Rip Ride Rockit which drops over 50 metres and goes at over 100km per hour! Fortunately for Mike there was a dry cleaner nearby who offered to launder some micro-undies. 

Some of the rides had seats and machinery that made it necessary for riders to be of a minimum height. Mike was not impressed that he had to miss out on those. However, he still took every opportunity he could to strap in and blast off!

By the time he reached Jurassic Park our audio adventurer was so electrically amplified that he hardly noticed the potential scares around him, even though they were super-sized!

After an intense day of rides, thrills and scares Mike was tired but happy. He wasn't sure if the hot temperatures were from the Florida weather or his own racing pulse frequency. Fortunately one of his celebrity pals, The Hulk, was there to rip out a rollercoaster car and hold it above Mike's head to make shade so he could cool down before going home.

That night Mike laid his head to rest dreaming of heroes, villains and big screen action as somewhere in the distance the Universal Studios theme music played...