I still remember the first time I landed in Orlando to go to Disney World when I was a kid. For a girl that had never left the Midwest, Orlando was so exotic. Not only was it the first flight I was old enough to remember, but after you land, an exciting monorail tram ride awaits to take you from the plane to the main terminal. Wow! I’d never been on anything like it. The palm trees, the sparkling ponds, and the sunny skies are the perfect backdrop for a dream vacation. It’s no surprise that the Nebraska girl moved to Florida for college and never looked back. After multiple trips to all the theme parks and nightclubs in the area while we were in college, Orlando doesn’t seem quite as exotic anymore, especially considering we have been traveling around the world for the past 15 months. But, who doesn’t want to re-live childhood memories and enjoy a good theme park again?
After three months in Europe, we came back to Florida for a few events that we didn’t want to miss – a reunion with my volleyball girls from UNF and a wedding for one of Jimmy’s best friends from high school and college.
Luckily, the two events were only separated by one weekend, so timing worked out well to come back for a few weeks. But, what were we going to do for the extra week in between? When I told my sister, Steph, and her husband, Kyle, about our plans, they thought it would be the perfect opportunity for the family trip to Orlando that they kept putting off waiting for the right time. Before I knew it, they had booked flights and bought tickets for Universal Studios. Yay! More family was coming to visit us during our round the world trip part two, and this time in exotic Orlando. We were excited for the opportunity to spend some time with our niece and nephews at a couple of the famous Orlando theme parks.
On the first day, we met them at the entrance gate to Universal Studios. While we waited for them, the music to Jurassic Park and Back to the Future played in the background, and I could feel the excitement building just like when I was a kid. This was going to be so much fun!
The biggest reason for picking the Universal theme parks over Disney was that my niece and nephews are bigger fans of Harry Potter than princesses and other Disney stuff. So, the focus of our first day was on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This did not exist the last time any of us visited Universal over 16 years ago, so we were just as excited as the kids to see it.
Walking into Diagon Alley feels like you are stepping right into the movies. Die-hard fans are speechless, and even those of us who have only seen the movies once can appreciate the detail and complexity of the setting. The kids had a lot of fun playing with the interactive wands and casting spells on everything from water fountains to flying pens to jumping frogs and even singing heads.
The 4-D multi-dimensional thrill ride Escape from Gringotts was a blast as you are taken deep underground on an adventure with Harry and the rest of the gang trying to escape from evil Voldemort and giant trolls. The fire-breathing dragon on top of the building was quite impressive and a nice touch to get riders excited for the adventure below the Gringotts Bank.
After a fun morning wandering around Diagon Alley in Universal Studios, we jumped on the Hogwart’s Express from platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station to go to Hogsmeade Village and Hogwarts Castle at Islands of Adventure.
The park hopper express pass is definitely the way to go – skip the long lines and go back and forth as much as you want between parks. We had lunch at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade and even heard Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom.
The highlight on this side was definitely the 4-D hanging rollercoaster-like motion simulation ride inside Hogwarts Castle on flying benches that follow Harry through forests filled with giant spiders and around the quidditch field. The kids absolutely loved this ride, and us adults couldn’t stop talking about the impressive state-of-the-art technology. Of course, we went on this ride at least four times.
After a day full of Harry Potter, we finished up on the old-school classic rides that I remember from 16 years ago including the water rides like the Jurassic Park boat ride, Dudley Do-Right’s flume ride, and Popeye’s barge ride.
The barge ride was a blast and is always a favorite because the whole family can ride together and laugh at each other as waves crash over the sides and random jets of water pummel unsuspecting victims. There were no survivors after that ride. We all got completely soaked, but I guess that is kind of the point of a water ride in hot and sunny Florida.
We ended the day trying to dry off by being whipped around by the Hulk and thrown into the sky by Dr. Doom.
Both rides were just as good as I remember with Dr. Doom still being my favorite. I love the rush when you fly out of your seat at the top! The Hulk’s fast take-off out of the tunnel is still a unique twist on the traditional “slow-ride up with a big drop” coaster.
We have definitely gotten old as both Steph and I were walking sideways after that one. We couldn’t rush back in line for multiple rides like back in the days. Whew! We got a lot done in one day, but we still had two more fun-filled days to go.
We focused on more of the old-school rides and shows at Universal Studios on Day 2 like the Terminator, Transformers, Men in Black, and the Simpson’s.
Everyone agreed that the Simpson’s ride was one of the best 3-D simulation experiences. The fact that the Simpson’s is still relevant today and that kids love it so much is absolutely amazing. 28 years and still running!
Of course, we couldn’t pass up a chance to have lunch at Moe’s Tavern while in the Simpson’s village, complete with a Duff beer and a Flaming Moe.
Day 3 was all about going back to our favorite rides. The Rip-It Rock-It Rollercoaster in Universal Studios was a favorite of everybody. Not only could you pick your own song to listen to (Steph and I agree Devil Went Down to Georgia was the perfect choice), but along with the traditional picture, video is also taken while you are on the ride. Seeing everybody’s facial expressions on the first round was priceless, especially since none of us knew we were being recorded. On subsequent rides, we all got a bit crazy with dancing or other silly stuff. Can you Dab while on a roller coaster with crazy twists and loops? My old ass hurt myself trying to keep up with the kids. None of us actually took a pic of the roller coaster, but here is the expression of the littlest who couldn’t ride the rollercoasters but managed to win the jackpot at the arcade while we were away.
One of Steph’s favorite rides was Jimmy Fallon’s Ride through NYC, and Kyle’s favorite ride was the King Kong Adventure.
Of course, the boys loved it when Kong broke the neck and cracked the jaw of the T-rex. Kinda scary, I thought.
Lastly, how could we have a blog and not talk, at least a little bit, about food?!?! Trying Butterbeer is an essential component of any trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We were all a bit nervous that this might be a bit too much of a sugar bomb, but we were pleasantly surprised by the perfect complement of the cream soda style drink with butterscotch whipped foam topping.
I still remember how much my college roommate loved the giant turkey legs when we visited theme parks back in the days. I think my sister became a big fan too.
After 15 months abroad, we also realized that everything is oversized in the US. Even when some countries like Germany are known for their pretzels, the US still has to make them bigger.
The kids loved the giant donuts that they could eat with Chief Wiggum.
Theme park rides have come a long way since we were kids. Rollercoasters have always been awesome, but the visual aspect and interaction on the virtual reality rides today are truly impressive. Going from the old-school Terminator 3-D show to Jimmy Kimmel’s Ride through NYC, you can really see how far 3-D technology has come. The last time I visited Islands of Adventure was actually with Steph when she came to visit me in Florida the summer before her first child, Melanie, was born. Life has truly come full circle now that I got the opportunity to experience a couple of the best theme parks in the world with my sister again plus her children and our amazing husbands.
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