Florida Part 1: Universal Studios

Our family took a vacation in March to Florida. Jackson has long wanted to visit Harry Potter world at Universal Orlando, and when Bode got into reading the books this past year, we thought it would be a great time to go. California's theme parks were still closed due to Covid, but Florida was up and running, making it seem like an even better time to go. We decided to combine the trip to Universal Studios with a trip to Sanibel Island, FL, which is somewhere Sean and I have wanted to visit for a long time. We spent the first few days in Orlando before heading to Sanibel. It worked out so well, and it was such an awesome vacation!

When Sean and I used to move each summer when he sold alarms, we discovered Wawa gas stations. Sean loved working in the South and he loved Wawa and would go in for lunch often. When we saw one near our hotel in Florida, we had to stop. We all grabbed some quick sandwiches after a long flight. 

After checking in to our hotel, we still had a few hours before Universal closed, so we decided to head into the park. I am so glad we went in that first night. It was really fun seeing Harry Potter world at night! It really was such a fun atmosphere and you do feel like you're in the movie. We saw the big dragon breathe fire, rode the Gringotts ride and tried our first butter beer! Bode loved seeing the "night bus," since he had just built the Lego version he got for Christmas.

Once the park closed, we headed back to our hotel (Cabana Bay) and went swimming. It was a great first day!

We woke up bright and early the next morning to hit the park. Since we were staying in a Universal hotel we were granted one-hour early access. It felt really early since we were up against a time change as well! We were We knew Harry Potter world would be crowded so we headed there first. Even with early access and getting right in line, the Olivander's wand experience line was already a few hours long! We took turns waiting in line while the rest of us explored. The kids had fun using their wands to do "magic" with the interactive windows, fountains, etc. The wand shop was so cool! So many little fun details. 

The Olivander's wand experience was worth the wait. The workers led us back to a room at the back of the wand shop where Jackson and Bode both got to test out wands to see which one was right for them. 

After a full morning of Harry Potter, we ventured out to the rest of the park and enjoyed the rides. 

This rockin' rollercoaster was a big hit. The kids rode it twice in a row! Once was enough for me! haha I love how much our kids love roller coasters and how adventurous they are.

We happed to be there on Fat Tuesday, so several workers were throwing out beads all day. The kids LOVED trying to get beads and I think Bode ended up with probably 50 necklaces by the end of the day. 

DAY 3

On our final day at Universal Studios we started the day riding up the few remaining rides in the part of the park we were in the day before before heading over to Islands of Adventure (the other attached park). Molly liked trying on this bead headdress while waiting for her brothers who were riding the Mummy ride.

To get over to Islands of Adventure, we took the Hogwarts Express. It was so fun!

We loved Islands of Adventure also. The Harry Potter stuff (Hogsmeade) was really cool and the castle was awesome also. We enjoyed going in the candy shop and the kids bought chocolate frogs and every flavored beans. We were lucky to score tickets for the Hagrid ride (not an easy task since it had to be done online and all tickets would be claimed in seconds!). I am so glad we were able to ride it. It was an awesome ride and with the child switch pass, most of the kids were able to ride it twice!

More butterbeer!

After Harry Potter, it was on to explore the rest of the park. The Jurassic Park area was fun and the kids liked the water ride. Molly, Davis, Bode, and I rode a fun pterodactyl ride while Sean and Jackson went to get in line for the Hulk rollercoaster. Bode was able to catch up to them in line after and since Molly and Davis were too short to ride, we went and bought donuts and hung out in Dr. Suess land til they were done. 

We switched off so I could ride the Hulk with the older boys and we all rode a few rides together. We still laugh about how we got stuck in line for the Kong ride in an area where a scary animatronic old lady is yelling "Kong!" over and over. We all wanted to die after listening to her for 30 minutes straight! 

After everyone had their fill of rollercoasters and fun, We called it a day and head back to the hotel for one more night of swimming. Our time in Orlando was a blast and we were looking forward to hanging out at the beach after being in theme parks for three days!