Islands of Adventure!

Yesterday was our much-anticipated first day at Universal. We left the house around 7:15. Our timing was perfect. We got there around 8:20, but it is a long walk to the front gate. By the time we exchanged our ticket vouchers and used the restrooms, it was 8:50. They dropped the ropes at 8:52 and we were off! We headed straight to the Harry Potter area (along with everyone else I think). Our first ride was a children's roller coaster--Flight of the Hippogriff. The line had Hagrid's cottage, which was cute and the view of Hogwart's castle was amazing. Kara was nervous to go on the Hippogriff, but she pushed through. Luke rode too and said he loved it!

Hagrid's Hut was in the line next to the Hippogriff. Our first ride (and picture) of the day!

Then, we went to the main attraction of the day--The Forbidden Journey inside the castle. I don't want to give any spoilers, but it was pretty awesome. Even the line was fun. There were talking pictures and Dumbledore's Office and at one point, Ron accidentally made it snow! Kara didn't want to ride and Luke was too short, so we did a kid swap. As a sidenote, Universal is amazing with kid swaps, so much better than Disney. They let everyone go through the line together, then the people not riding wait in a nice air-conditioned room, generally with a television showing something based on the theme of the ride. Then, they let the person who was waiting ride with someone else in the party, so they don't have to go alone. It was great, and we used it on many rides.

Right before our first ride on The Hidden Journey

 Since the lines were still short, we decided that Thomas and I would take Kara and Luke on Hippogriff while Elizabeth, Jack and Anna did Forbidden Journey again. Even though it is a short line, it takes a while and we were able to ride the small coaster 4 more times. During this time, we watched an evolution of Kara. The first time, Thomas had to keep his arm around her the whole time. Then, during the second ride, she let me remove my arm for the second half. The third ride was arm free. And, on the fourth ride, she actually put her arms up in the air! She still doesn't like the big drop of roller coasters, but this was a great way to boost her ride confidence. After that, she was much more willing to try other rides.

Can you see Kara, all huddled in next to Thomas? Not by her 5th ride!

Standing proudly in front of the marker for the ride.

We got a frozen butterbeer (so, so, SO good!) and waited while Elizabeth and Jack rode the dueling dragons roller coaster (it has a new name, but I can't remember what it is). From there, we headed to Jurassic Park, but not before posing for one more picture.

So, so good.

One final picture on our way out of "town"

The main ride in Jurassic Park was closed, but the kids did the Ptyradon Flyers. The kids wanted to stay and play in the play area, but we wouldn't let them stay and play yet, too many rides to do first! We did Kong, which I thought was amazing. The lines for Spiderman and Hulk were really long. It was now shortly after 12, which is when everything peeks, so we headed to Seuessville, where the lines were pretty much walk-on. We did everything there twice, and bought bakery snacks. Then, headed back to the big rides. Thomas, Elizabeth and Jack rode the Hulk Coaster, while I took the others on a teacup type ride. Unfortunately, Thomas banged his head pretty hard during the take-off on Hulk. I felt terrible for him. He had a severe headache the rest of the day and couldn't ride anything. He also had blurry vision for a couple of hours. I think that stupid ride gave him a concussion!

Luke on the CaroSeussel

So Seussy

Thomas sat with Luke while Elizabeth and I took the kids on the water raft ride. We got completely soaked. We could have jumped into a pool fully clothed for the same effect. It was fun, but I wouldn't do it again unless I had a change of clothes. Then, Jack wanted to ride the other water ride (kind of like Splash Mountain). Thomas took everyone else to play in the Jurassic Park play area while we did that (see, we made good on our promise to return). We met up with them there and everyone played for a bit longer.

Kara was feeling brave and wanted to try the Harry Potter ride, so we went back that way, stopping for a late lunch. She tried it and she loved it! I was proud of her for stepping outside her comfort zone. By now, it was 5 and the park closed at 6, so we took the Hogwarts Express to Universal, which was open until 8. The train was amazing, it had a virtual screen, but I won't give anything else away. Islands of Adventure had Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, which were incredible, but Diagon Alley at Universal was like nothing I'd ever seen. They weren't kidding when they said it was a totally immersive experience. Our first stop was Ollivander's. They do a short presentation with the wand maker (who looked like a wizened wizard, with his long white beard and robes). Anna was chosen as his subject. Like in the book, she tried a wand and a spell. The first two wands did not work the way they should, but then the last wand chose her. He handed it to her and the wind whooshed and the lights glowed and well, you just knew. Of course, we had to buy it and two more for the other kids. It was an expensive stop, but we had told the kids they had $50 for souvenirs for the trip, which was just enough for an interactive wand (Kara chose a non-interactive, so she has a bit left). Then, we explored some more and the kids tried some spells with the interactive wands, and were nice enough to share with Kara so she could cast spells too.

Practicing with her new wand

My favorite picture of the day, outside 12 Grimmauld Place

We did not ride the Gringotts ride, we will save that for Thursday, but we spent a while in Diagon Alley, including the dark area of Knockturn Alley. We then left Diagon and saw more a bit more of Universal. We rode The Simpsons Ride, which everyone who rode, except Jack, thought was awful. It was in the old space for Back to the Future and it felt old. The ride was very choppy and rumbly. It is hard to describe, but I wouldn't recommend it. Luke was too small, so Thomas took him on a cute ride outside. We all rode ET, then decided to call it a day. It was 7:30 and we were tired. We had walked almost 10 miles (9.94 according to my fitbit). They had a Mardi Gras parade going on, so we walked along the route, catching beads on our way to the exit. We made it to the car around 7:45 and were home less than an hour later. It was nice to finally drive along I-4 with no traffic.