You know that I used to keep up with our family's life a bit better than this... but here we are!
We've just returned from a pretty special vacation to Orlando. Cory & I have put off traveling to any theme park for the total of our family's existence. Imagine my surprise when I learned that he had booked a Spring Break trip in January. WOW.
We left early Tuesday March 19th, and by the time we got to our hotel in Orlando, we pretty much just dropped everything in our hotel room and headed straight for Universal Studios.
We stayed at a place called Sapphire Falls, and you got to take a water taxi to the Universal "City Walk" area. From the water taxi, it was a short walk into the park.
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| At the airport in Denver--our flight left at 7:50 am |
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| Looking out of our hotel room towards the park |
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| Aboard the water taxi |
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| A glimpse of a portion of the hotel--Loews Sapphire Falls |
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| Selfie on the water taxi |
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| On our way across the bridge from the water taxi towards Universal Studios |
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| Walking into the theme park! |
We were STARVING, and we made our way straight to The Leaky Cauldron, where it was very dim and we ordered Butter Beer right away. There are two main parks adjacent to City Walk--Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The London/Diagon Alley portion of Harry Potter World is in Universal Studios, and the Hogsmeade/Hogwarts portion of Harry Potter World is in Islands of Adventure. Both are only portions of these large theme parks. When you have a "Park Hopper" pass, you can ride the Hogwarts Express in between the two different theme parks.
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| My flash made Ruby close her eyes! (Inside the Leaky Cauldron) |
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| Outside the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron |
I don't know how to explain everything in as much detail as it deserves, but suffice it to say that if you've read the books or watched the movies, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter does not disappoint. It's such a visual feast--they have replicated the stores and shops, they have added interactive wand sites, there's so much attention to detail from a vomiting display mannequin in Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to so many ads on the exterior walls advertising things like a station wagon-style broom for the whole family. It's pretty hard to do it justice!
