Yes, yes I did. I went to Universal Studios for a long weekend. Valentine's weekend in fact. Without my husband. Without my kids. But with my sister! This was our Christmas present to each other. I am not ashamed to admit that I am a huge Harry Potter fan and knew one day I would make it to Orlando and experience the books come to life. And I was not disappointed!
We made it down there Thursday night. I didn't get in until about 10:00. We booked a hotel right across the street from the park, so early the next morning, we walked over for the adventure to begin. We headed straight to the newer "Diagon Alley" and the "Escape from Gringotts" ride. AMAZING! So amazing that we would ride it a total of 5 times over the next 2 days:).
We went hard that first day and quite possibly logged several hundred miles walking, but we experienced and explored all the magic we wanted to. We ate lunch at The Three Broomsticks, had butterbeer in line for the ride in Hogwarts castle, perused all the wizard shops, jumped through the brick wall onto Platform 9 3/4, rode the train back and forth between Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade.
We crashed back at the hotel around 5:00 and spent the rest of the evening chilling in bed watching TV. Saturday we started over again, but spent a little more time riding some of the other rides Universal has to offer. I loved the Transformers ride, too! After eating lunch at The Leaky Cauldron,we took a mid-afternoon break and went back to the hotel for a nap. We headed back to the park around 5:00 and tried to get in as much as we could before it closed at 9:00. However, we failed to realize there was a Mardi Gras parade scheduled so at one point, I felt like we might be in New Orleans. We were shoulder to shoulder with people, pressing through, trying to move. Not necessarily my idea of fun. But we got through to open space and made it on to a couple more rides while a concert was starting up {Jessie J? I had no idea who that was, but my knowledgeable college freshman sister filled me in!}. We ended up at Hard Rock cafe for dinner. It was crowded--it was Valentine's night--and took awhile but the crowds and people were entertaining to say the least. We got back to the hotel close to midnight!
Sunday, we got up and hit the park for a couple more rides and souvenirs before heading back home. It was such a fun trip and a sweet experience to share with my sister. I can't wait to take my kiddos back for a weekend there. It will be awhile though, because they have to read all the books first. And they're not old enough to read them yet:). Thanks Maddie, for a wonderful dream come true!!
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