Spring Break

The family and I took a super quick trip down to Orlando over spring break....we went because being the Harry Potter geek that I am, I wanted to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!  We actually had different plans for spring break, and when those fell through we decided on a Wednesday to go out of town on a Sunday.  Remember, and I know all of my readers are smart enough to know this but in Orlando.....Plan early, the earlier the better!!!!  Since we did not have that luxury we did luck out finding a room, considering MS, AL, GA, & KY were all on spring break.  The hubby went through Priceline and we got a great deal at Wyndham Orlando resort, $79 a night...so truly no complaints!  If you have ever been to Orlando, you know that you spend no time in the room anyway, and if you are in the room you are to exhausted to notice that they somehow all look alike!  The grounds of the Wyndham were beautiful and the pools were awesome and heated.

Before we left out for FL, I went and purchased our tickets from ITR(military speak for cheap tickets).  Universal Studios in Orlando has two parks, we purchased one day tickets for each park...so no hopping around.  Honestly, they could have combined both parks because I think they could both be done in one day.  We visited the Islands of Adventure first where the Harry Potter was located.

One of the best things that Universal offers is their express pass, if you stay in a universal resort they sometimes offer this as a perk to their guests.  It is probably worth the extra that you pay for the "average" room at their resort because for a one day, one park express pass for two adults it was $134....even this squirrel was laughing at the thought of paying this:) but if you want to ride, and that is what I came to do...suck it up and pay the price....so worth it!!!!  Keep in mind there are several rides in both parks that the express pass will not work....Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is one of those rides.  The wait time never went below an hour and a half, my boys didn't want to wait, so it was the one ride we didn't go on. 

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, WOW...if Harry Potter was real, this is exactly what it would look like!  They really did a great job...if you go just remember to bring your patience and a big huge bag of money:) Also, the excitement has not declined...it is just as popular now as it was this summer and it draws the crowd.  Even with all this excitement Universal does not seem to have it together.  You MUST go and wait in a line...well sort of a line, in that line you get a ticket with a time on it to come back.  Get there early!!!! and by early I mean get in line when the park opens and sprint to the ticket line!...no really, I am not kidding!  Come back with your ticket...and they will let you in at the entrance to Harry Potter.  Lose the ticket and you are out of luck....and the entrance times go quick.  Seriously....the earlier the better.

  Above is the Forbidden Journey Ride, it is modeled after Hogwarts.  All of the stores from the books are represented, and you can even buy butter beer and wands!

The wait time to get into the gift shops in HP were an hour and a half....yes, folks one hour and thirty minutes for one gift shop!  Then another hour or so for butter beer, my kids don't wait that long for anything so we did not visit a gift shop or get butter beer.  Apparently in the summer it is worse than that...plus you have people passing out and puking in line from the heat:)  That was word on the street anyway, but I believe it!!!! The best kept secret was the wand cart at the end of the HP area...it was only about fifteen minutes.  Here is where the big bag of money comes in....31.90 for a wand, you did NOT read that wrong 31.90.  But when you want one as bad as your children, you pay....dearly:)

Andy loved the Dr. Seuss area of the park, it was perfect for smaller children but the rides were big enough for the almost teenager Brett!

The Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges were a favorite of kiddos, they rode it over and over!  They looked like drenched rats afterwards!


Ripsaw Falls, another water ride is another that you will get soaked on...but these people put their thinking caps on and built people dryers!  For $5 you can jump in and dry off after getting soaked:)

The next day after dragging myself out of bed we headed over to Universal Studios Park, I am fairly certain it is older,  definitely not as many rides  While we were there they were celebrating Mardi Gras, it was a theme that carried throughout the park and into the gift shops.

The rides in this park are definitely more dated.  ET and Jaws have seen better days, but still classics and we enjoyed them! Men in Black is an interactive ride and both boys thought that was the coolest.  The Revenge of the Mummy was one of my favorites but The Simpsons was the boys favorite!  A few years ago, they overhauled the Back to the Future ride and turned it into the Simpsons.

One of the best parts about going to an amusement park is the people watching you can do....had to snap a pix of this guy!

 The Universal Studios park closes at 7 p.m., and Islands of Adventure stays open till 9 p.m., the second night we got out earlier, went back to the hotel to rest up for the drive the next day.

Hope you all enjoyed this post!