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!!

 

Disney World Epcot

When we realized we had the same spring break as the Shaheens we knew we wanted to do a trip together! But to where? I was hoping for a National Park like Yosemite but the weather didn't seem to be quite right for that. Bron loves sunshine and beach so he was suggesting Orlando. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Disney World! We weren't expecting to do a Disney World trip with our kids though and it felt very last minute and very expensive but when it comes to the Shaheens we are all in. Planning which parks which days and where to stay and all the details felt so overwhelming. Somehow we managed it. And off we went on Collin's 14th birthday! We had a direct flight to Orlando so we should have only been in the air for 4 hours. But once we got to Orlando the plane just circled and circled and then got rerouted to Tampa. We sat on the runway for the longest time with no update. Then they were going to make us get off. Then they weren't. It was torture. FINALLY they said we could go back to Orlando. By the time we landed, we had been on the plane for EIGHT hours. Ugh. And it wasn't over after that. We had to wait for our luggage. That took another hour and a half at least. We were tired and hungry and over it but at least it was just a travel day and we weren't missing park time. And at least the flight wasn't cancelled. When we finally got our bags we had to walk so far to our rental car. It was dark by the time we were headed to our hotel. We didn't know where to eat but there was a steak house and an Applebees by our hotel. The steakhouse had an hour wait. Applebees it was. Wow. I didn't realize what garbage food Applebees was, haha. I don't think I've had it since college. Luckily the kids didn't seem to notice. I felt so bad for Collin that he spent his whole birthday stuck on a plane, but at least it was the start of a cool trip. Our condo was awesome. It was spacious and had a kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was basically a small house! We were just so happy to be there and ready to start this vacation!

Day one was Epcot!! I was SO excited for Epcot. Probably the most excited for this park than any of the others. I'd heard about it my whole life and it was so fun to finally be here! I'll just say this right off the bat. Don't go to Disney World in March. When the rest of the country is on Spring Break. It was so crowded. Long lines and wall to wall people. Yikes. We started with Test Track... you design your own car. The ride, itself, felt a little like the Cars ride at California Adventure. Then we went to Soarin' Over the World. Same ride as Soarin' Over California in California Adventure. I love that ride. Another very long line, but it wasn't so long AFTER we left *eye roll*. We tried to get food from a few different places. There was a Mexican restaurant that was highly recommended from blogs but it was pricy so we only ordered a few things to share. It was good food, but I wish I hadn't had us go there since we can certainly get amazing Mexican food at home. Germany didn't have the mac n' cheese I had read about. Another bust. But then Weston got chosen by a street performer to join his act! I swear, Weston always get picked! He did some juggling and played catch. It was entertaining and fun to watch him! We went all out at the French bakery. I had read it tastes just like real French bakeries. I don't know what they were smoking because it definitely was not amazing. Another bust. Ugh. Oh, except for the raspberry macarons. Those were tasty. We went to Canada and watched this cool video with enormous screens that surround you. The most beautiful scenery I've ever seen! Now I want to really go to Canada! We got some poutine which was eh. We did the old Epcot ride in the big "golf ball". It was a hoot. So dated haha. It was supposed to show us a glimpse into the future! The last and final ride we did was Guardians of the Galaxy. OH.MY.GOSH. It was soooo fun! I was not expecting that! You're in these pods and fly around, going every which way. It was so smooth and had fun music and was a complete blast! Poor Megan got sick on it though and threw up afterward. By far that was the best ride at Epcot. I heard later that Ratatouille is a fun ride too but we didn't get to that. I would love to go back and really get to explore all the different countries and sample more food. Just wasn't in the cards for this time. Too. Many. People.

So amused by the real telephone haha!