Day 43: UNIVERSAL
My roommates had all been discussing getting season passes to Universal Studios for weeks, all considering the commitment but never quite ready to go for it, UNTIL Sunday night when Maddie and Morgan and I were trying to decide what to do the next day and we decided to go to Universal! After looking up all the season pass info, I had already made the decision to spring for the Preferred Pass, which is the second level pass, so the ride there consisted of me attempting to subtly convince my roommates to get a season pass as well. The first level season pass has two weeks of blackout dates, which of course include the days my family will be visiting, so I automatically had to get the second level. When we got there, Morgan and Maddie were still trying to decide if they should just get day passes, but lucky for me it's almost the same cost to buy a season pass, so they went for it. When we got there we went up to the ticketing window and met Norm. Norm is probably the nicest person I've met since my arrival. Not only did he accept our letters of residency so we could get a discount, he asked us our favorite Harry Potter books and movies, and he drew adorable things on our celebrating buttons. I got a Happy Birthday button with a wand on it, as well as a minion to watch over me, Maddie got a celebrating button with a stack of galleons because she looks "responsible" and Morgan got the Goblet of Fire. It was glorious and adorable.
I don't know if it was okay to take a picture but here it is.
See the goblet?
We're in! We started in Universal Studios (for those of you who don't know, Universal Studios is actually two parks, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure) and went straight back to Diagon Alley. Before you get there, you walk through a London-y type area, which includes 12 Grimmauld Place!
You can see Kreacher!
Just FYI, the photos I post here are curated from my phone, Morgan's snapchat, and Maddie's Facebook, sometimes Instagram, and wherever else I can find them, so they will always be different sizes and some of them will look weird.
We finally found our way to the entrance of Diagon Alley and let me tell you, it was amazing. Right away we ducked into Ollivander's and Maddie was chosen to get a wand! It was so cool, especially right at the start. I took a video of it but it's on her phone, so eventually I will post a link to her YouTube channel once she posts it.
After we finished our ice cream and wandered around Knockturn Alley, we went into the wizarding bank Gringotts! Btdubs, that dragon breathes fire.
There's a new ride inside Gringotts that usually has a pretty long wait, but even at midday it was only about twenty or thirty minutes for us. It was probably the most magical, exciting, perfectly executed ride I have ever encountered and I cannot wait to return. Even the queue was well done.
After that we wandered into Weasley Wizard Wheezes, the pet shop, and then back out to King's Cross station. We waited in a queue that looked exactly like the tube, and then we ran through a brick wall.
The train ride is just magnificent. Once you board it takes you over to Hogsmeade (in Islands of Adventure) just as if you were heading to school. I had been to Hogsmeade once before, but it was still such a magical trip. The wait times for the rides were a bit long, so we started at The Three Broomsticks for lunch. The guy who took my order was really weird and he told me all about how he only eats paleo and does cross fit and runs 5Ks, so it's a bit of a different experience from the Magic Kingdom, which is what I've become used to, but the food was still amazing and I finally got to try hot butterbeer! It was just as it should be and I highly recommend it, but only if you're in an air conditioned location. Florida is hot, so it would be just uncomfortable to drink it outdoors.
We went over to the Seuss area while we waited for our lunch to settle, because going on those rides after eating a full meal would be a mistake. Turns out going to the Seuss area was also a mistake. I don't recommend. After that we went back to Hogsmeade, where the wait times had gone way down. We rode the Flight of the Hippogriff, the Forbidden Journey, and then we went on the dragon ride three times because why not?
At this point the park was about to close, and we had yet to ride Hulk. Hulk is a really big fast rollercoaster, which is exactly my speed, so we booked it over there. Maddie and I rode right before park close, so by the time we pulled back in, no one else was in line except the people in the front row line. Turns out they cut the general line a little too soon, or the front row line a little too late, because they still have to run the ride until all the people in the front row line are gone. Once we got off we saw two girls waiting to just get back on, so we figured we would ask too, and they let us all back on! After our second ride we hoofed it back over to Universal to ride Rockit. For the third time that evening, the queue guy saw my birthday button and sent us into the express line, so we didn't have to wait as long. Rockit is an absolutely amazing ride. You get to choose a song to listen to while you ride, and it goes so fast that it almost ripped my birthday button off.
Day 44: Typhoon Lagoon
We had yet to hit up the water parks, so on Tuesday, Morgan and I decided to spend the afternoon at Typhoon Lagoon. My work friend Kaitlyn met us there and we went on all the big tube rides, I went on a slide that was a mistake, we snorkeled with sharks, and we we were half drowned during "surf time" in the wave pool. It was awesome.
.....................
Follow along on my journey!
- Subscribe to this blog via email through the widget on the right.
- Find me on Instagram!
- Follow the hashtag #suiteheartsix on Instagram to see what my roommates are up to as well
No comments:
Post a Comment