Park 3: Universal Studios

Another great sunny day in Orlando!

Let’s get a picture, gang!

Autographs

Greetings from Springfield 

Aw, Homer’s so sweet… Not

But he knows where to get a good donut!

Caught the Blues Brothers ride in around the corner and perform.

The Gringotts Ironbelly Dragon is perched atop the bank in Diagonal Alley and breathes fire!

We rode the train between US and IOA from platform 9 3/4 through a brick wall

Making mayhem like minions do

 We left at 5 pm to fly home exhausted. The teens were happy 😀

Park 2: EPIC

Hard Rock Hotel was a very cool place to stay! 

 classic rock and roll music and memorabilia

Opening ceremony. Lots of people. Went straight to Super Nintendo World…

Up the tunnel!

So immersive. So cool!

The girls had power-up bands to get keys & points. The blocks made the exact sounds as in the games.

Bowser’s Castle

Mario Cart Ride 

 

Abby loved Isle of Berk from How to Train Your Dragon.

I loved it too. It had real flying dragons in the sky!

Hiccups Wing Glider was a fantastic coaster.

Lydia met Astrid 

"It's Alive! It's Alive!" Every world in EPIC has a portal, which we loved and enhanced the “traveler” theme. This was like going through a thunderstorm.

 

In the Dark Universe, we talked to Igor and rode the Frankenstein Experiment, where we thought Lydia got taken away for experimentation! 😱 But she was fine, just moved around with her single rider group. 

Harry Potter Ministry of Magic featured 1920s Paris from newest film and 1990s Britain. This portal was like going through a train station.

Afternoon break at the Hard Rock Hotel ❤️

Back to the park…

“Here we go!”

Donky Kong in back of Nintendo World

Harry Potter world

Stardust racers was intense and super cool at night. We watched the sunset while in line.

 

Closing water show

Park 1: Islands of Adventure

Fall break and we're excited to fly into Orlando to experience 3 out of the 4 Universal Studios parks!

Banana!

We stayed 1 night at Double Tree to walk across the street to the City Walk

Vacationing with 2 teenagers !!

Chocolate Emporium was colossally good

Checking out what rides we can ride. All of them!

OK, first morning we went straight through Hogsmeade to Hagrid's Motorbike ride, and it was an amazing coaster! Definitely would ride again.

Hogwarts Castle

Line was too long for Velocicoaster by the time we got to it, but met a 'real' velociraptor.

a scary cinematic ride

We love reading Family Circus every Sunday

spinning & smiling on Storm Force

Thank you, Spiderman, for keeping us safe on your ride.

Seuss Landing

Did two water rides. Got soaked on the second, thanks in part to onlookers with water guns. Afterwards, Lydia very much enjoyed the onlooker role. 

Fish & Chips were delicious. Butterbeer tasted like butterscotch and pumpkin juice tasted like apple cider.

Lydia enjoyed casting all the spells at the shop windows.

and she was selected for "The wand chooses the wizard" experience at Ollivanders Wand Shop!

We talked to the fountain. It played "in the heart of Texas" for us.

End of day 1 in the park. I think my throat is going to be sore from screaming. Lots of cool encounters. Gotta dry our shoes.