Showing posts with label Universal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Universal. Show all posts

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Islands of Adventure

My girls were so excited to go to Universal's Islands of Adventure. They wanted to go back to the Wizarding World or Harry Potter! Emma asked me to make her a Slytherin shirt for her to wear. I made a Hufflepuff one for Rebekah too. Emma even read Rebekah the first couple of chapters of the Sorcerer's Stone to Rebekah on the drive down. Rebekah really wanted to go on the Forbidden Journey ride which requires you to be 48". I measured her and Rebekah is about 46.5" tall. She ran and got her "tall shoes". They were black loafers with a thick heal. I measured her again, right at 48". However, when we got to the park she went up to the measuring post and her head passed right under the bar. Everyone made a quick huddle around her while I took off my socks, rolled them, and shoved them under her heal. Heather said an employee spotted us and said "Good luck!" Well it worked. She now hit the bar with her head. And it was worth it. She loved the ride. Well, she had her eyes closed the whole time. We went back later for a 2nd ride. There was a great employee who hammed it up with her. She said she went on it already but had her eyes closed the whole time. He told her she had to keep them open or he would keep sending her back on the ride until she did. When we got off she said "I kept them open until the skeletons (the dementors) came." That's pretty good.

We also rode on the Dragon Challenge, and The Hulk. Both had loops. I really liked the Hulk, it has a sneaky start. Of course, we went on Spider Man too. They have improved the movie portion of the ride. I think it must be in HD 3D now.

 Dr Seuss Landing is such a fun and colorful place.






Here's the cousins all together. And I finally got a shot of Rebekah holding hands with Nathan.






This was our last day together. Mike & Heather took an early flight in the morning. Heather's parents took them to the airport and then started the drive back to Mississippi. The girls and I cleaned out the house and then started our own drive back. 15 hours later we made it home.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Welcome to Hogwarts

We couldn't wait to spend the day at Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure to check out Harry Potter World. Emma finished the first book before we left and started on the second one, so she was excited too. The Hogwarts Castle was the Forbidden Journey ride. Emma got to go on it 4 times!!! (We did the child swap with Rebekah so Clay and I only got 2 times each). They really did a great job re-creating Hogsmeade. This is the one place that you need to check out the bathrooms! You can hear Moaning Myrtle inside.
We loved the butterbeer! I had 3 or 4 of them during the day. It tastes kind of like a cream soda with a shortbread/butterscotch froth added to the top. We went to Honeydukes and had a chocolate frog and some chocolate caramel fudge.
We loved seeing all the things from the books: the Hogwarts Express, Hagrid's hut, Buckbeak, the car that Ron and Harry flew to school one year, and the monster book!
Later in the day we went to Ollivander's wand shop. Inside they recreate the scene from the first book, choosing a kid from the audience to play the part of Harry. It was fun to watch. Afterwards, you are let into the gift shop part. They have replicas of all the different wands from the books. Then they had wands based on the Celtic calendar. Emma got the Hazel wand. Rebekah chose the Beauxbaton ribbon (in a later post). For dinner we ate at the Three Broomsticks and I had yet another butterbeer (for the record, I like the regular version better than the frozen).

The girls also enjoyed visiting Seuss Land. However, Rebekah said her favorite ride was Spider-man.