Univeral Studios Orlando

On Tuesday we went to Universal Studios! We got up early and wanted to be there before the gates opened. The parking was kind of crazy. We had to walk quite a ways into the park and when we got there it seemed the gates were already open! But rides weren't going. So weird. Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure is apparently the most popular ride so we got in that line first. We waited 2 1/2 hours!!!!!! No joke. It was INSANE how long that line was. When we got to the front, Tanner was too short to ride so he had to wait with Travis. But that actually worked out great for the other kids because they got to ride it twice in a row, when it was Travis's turn and I waited with Tanner. It is definitely a fun and very fast ride. Tanner was right on the edge of being allowed on but I'm glad he wasn't because I think it was too intense for him. The Shaheens had a later start to their day so they got to the park right as we were getting on Hagrid's Ride. They went on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey so we took their kids and went on it again. Trav, me and the boys had done this one in California and it's a pretty cool ride. The line wasn't too horrible. 

If we thought Epcot was crowded, Universal took it to a whole other level. I have never seen so many people in my life! It blew my mind how packed it was. You could barely get around. We tried to get lunch at one restaurant and they were literally out of food. So we waited in line for an hour for some very expensive pizza. At least it was yummy. We split up so because the rides are very much either for teenagers or little kids. Travis and I took all the older kids and Bron and Megan took the younger ones. We walked all over the place just trying to find the entrance to a rollercoaster. Once again, waited in a crazy bad line, but finally got to ride The Hulk. Oh my heavens. I was not prepared for that. I thought I was going to die. Honestly, I had an out of body experience and started praying I'd live through the next 3 minutes. It went SO FAST. 67 miles per hour. And sharp and high and all the bad things. I didn't understand how a body was expected to survive that. I made us all take a picture in front so I never forgot how freaking brave I was!

Then we met back up with the rest of the group and got on the Hogwarts Express. Bet you can guess what I'm about to sayyyy... yep, horrible line!! California doesn't have the Hogwarts Express so it was fun to experience it. It takes you to the other park that's part of Universal Studios. They split Hogwarts up into the two parks so you have to buy tickets to both. We spent over $1,000 for our family for just this day. I can't even. It felt criminal. We brought our wands from California and the kids had fun trying to do magic at all the places they have set up for that. Making water squirt out of cauldrons, lights flicker, etc. We also got our butter beers!! Three cheers for butter beer. Too bad it wasn't real alcohol to help us with the frustration of sharing the park 8 billion people. We walked around the shops and rode The Escape from Gingotts. It was such a cool ride. But the 5 oldest kids, Collin, Weston, Lilly, Rubi and Steele begged to go do another rollercoaster. So they went on Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit. I guess you can pick what song is playing in the speakers of your seat during the ride. The boys thought it was awesome. We heard from Lilly later that she thought it was scary. Thank goodness I didn't have to go on it! No thank you. Once they got back we went into The Leaky Cauldron and got dinner. It was delicious! And actually seemed reasonable priced. I may have gotten another butter beer. It was really disappointing to pay that much money and not even experience a fourth of what the park had to offer. Absolutely NEVER go to Universal Studios over spring break!!