Happy Wednesday Friends!
I hope the first half of your week has been amazing! We got home from Florida on Monday and I have been spending the last two days catching up for the days I missed work.
Over the weekend we went to Florida so I could run my first ever half marathon! I am planning to do a recap post of my race tomorrow to fill you all in on how the first race went.
Before the half marathon on Saturday, we went to Universal Studios to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the other theme parks in the area. I have heard so many fun things about the Harry Potter theme park and Justin is a huge fan of Harry Potter, so of course while we were in Orlando we had to make our way there.
We left on Wednesday during the day to head out to Orlando. It was a bit chaotic getting onto the plane since we have never flown Southwest before. Our flight was a smooth flight with little to no turbulence. On our way in, Justin grabbed a picture of a rainbow while we were making our decent into Orlando.
Christina picked us up from the airport in the evening and we made our way to the house we rented before heading out to the store to get some groceries.
Thursday morning, we got up early to head out to Universal Studios for the day. Once we got there, we picked up our passes and got birthday badges for Justin and Christina. Christina heard somewhere that if you have a birthday badge, you have a chance of getting a free wand at Ollivander's and with their birthdays close together, we thought we would get double the chance to get a free wand.
The best part of the birthday buttons was every person wishing them a happy birthday. I swear the employees are required to with people with buttons a happy birthday, but when I asked someone about it she said that they do not have to but it is suggested they do.
The morning we spent walking around the park and checking out some of the fun areas. The first area we went to was Jurassic Park. We stood in line for what we thought was a ride, but ended up taking a picture with a velociraptor. It was a silly little thing, but we got a good laugh out of the thing.
After Jurassic Park, we made our way to Hogsmeade to check out the Island of Adventure of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
I have to say I was very impressed with how like the movie it actually looked. The buildings and everything were very realistic. I was hoping the park would not be super busy, but by the time we got there, it had started to get busy.
Thankfully, when we went to Ollivander's, it was not super busy and we only waited about fifteen minutes to get into the store. Christina was picked to be fitted for a wand and it was fun. I posted a video on Instagram of her getting selected for a wand if you wanted to see it. I also took the time to pick out a wand for myself while we were there{I know I am a nerd}.
After Ollivander's we made sure to get a glass of Butterbeer. Christina and I got a frozen butterbeer and Justin got a regular one and wow they are so delicious! I am hoping to find a recipe so I can make some at home to use with our new Butterbeer mugs we picked up there.
After Butterbeer, we made our way to the train station to head to Diagon Alley. I loved this because during the trip to the station, you got to watch a fun video on the train. Plus, at this time our feet had started to ache and we desperately need to sit down for a few minutes.
Once we arrived in King's Cross station, we checked out the phone booth and made sure to dial "magic" to talk to the Ministry of Magic. That is such a fun little thing to do - especially if you have kids.
After the phone booth, we checked out Diagon Alley and boy was that neat! I really appreciate how much detail they put into the park and how much it felt like we were actually there. It also helped that there were tons of people dressed in their robes. I think my favorite part of this part was the fact that the dragon breathed fire every ten minutes or so. I was shocked at how hot it was!
After spending some time in the park, we walked around the rest of Orlando to check out the other areas and made sure to take a ride on the Men in Black ride. This one was a lot of fun because you were given a gun and needed to shoot the aliens as you were going by. I got the highest score on our car, thank you very much.
The afternoon ended with a train ride back to Hogsmeade and a few shopping trips before heading home for the evening.
Such a great day at Universal Studios!
Question of the Day: What is your favorite Disney park you have been to?
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