Florida - Part 4

Hey there. Unexpectedly took the weekend off. That can happen when you have three kids stay the night. It was fun though.

Soooo... fourth day. We hit Universal's Islands of Adventure. Yes, that would be the park that includes Harry Potter!

First up we hit Jurassic Park though. There was a LINE to even get to the Harry Potter World. A line that was obscenely long and wound through several other areas.

There were a few of these cars in the Jurassic Park area. And several dinosaurs popping out of the "jungle." We did the Jurassic Park River Ride. SO good. Tad was a little scared, but not scared enough to stop him from asking if we could do it again later. Maybe it was that 85-foot drop at the end...

The Discovery Center looked JUST LIKE the Visitor's Center from the movie. The inside layout was even similar. It was pretty sweet. Not to mention air conditioned.

Hubby and I split from the group to go do the Hulk rollercoaster (super sweet, we sat in the front row). When we got back together we stole Tad and took off. To meet Spiderman.

My mom LOVES this picture. It's now her desktop. Don't they look like old friends having a great conversation? It's pretty much the most adorable thing ever.

Tad and I spotted a spinning ride. Which we had to do because those are his favorite.

Doesn't he look like he's having fun? He was cracking up the whole time.

We finally met up with everyone MUCH later in the Dr. Seuss area. Which was cute and fantastical and everything you would expect. Including the Caro-Seuss-el.

Tad made sure to pick an elephant. Which I didn't get a great picture of. But it was the coolest looking carousel ever.

FINALLY it was time to hit up Harry Potter. And... okay, we had walked through it before we met up with everyone. I just couldn't wait. I'm not sure Tad appreciated it fully. But my jaw dropped. Seriously, if you are a fan, you HAVE to go see this park.

Isn't Hogwarts INSANE??? The whole area was still really crowded when we finally went to hang out, but we only had one long wait. The lines for the shops are just as long (if not longer) than the lines for the rides. We obviously didn't go in any shops. I think if we had been on a kid-free trip we might have waited.

Oh, and we had to sample the Butterbeer.

The one on the left is a frozen/slushy one. And yes, the cup on the right is a souvenir cup. We had to. :) Someone already asked me if it's actually a beer...

Nope. I'm not that kind of aunt, haha. It's kind of like cream soda, but the foam definitely has a butterscotch taste. It wasn't bad. But the frozen/slushy one was definitely my favorite.

Buckbeak's ride was the only one that the little boys could ride. It's a pretty quick, small rollercoaster. And Tad LOVED it. I think he would have stayed on it the rest of the night if we let him.

We finished the night with water rides. Because it was still warm enough to justify it. The first one, we didn't really get wet. The second one... all nine of us were soaked through. It was fun. All the kids went a second time with some of the grown-ups. We were honestly so wet that we left puddles where we stood for too long.

This was the first night that the long hours proved to be too much for the kids. All of them (okay, except for Willow, who talked NONSTOP) fell asleep on the way to the resort. Can you imagine how pleasant it is having a soaked 6-year-old fall asleep on you in the car?

And that finished Universal. It was mostly kid-friendly. But not always. You've been warned.