We had scheduled Sunday as an off day from the parks for the girls. We had been having a ton of fun, but those kids were so off schedule by this point it was borderline ridiculous. One of Mom & Dad's goals for the trip was to sneak off to Universal Studios to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Since we conveniently had a Grandma to leave the gals with, we went ahead and planned our Universal adventure for Sunday.
Despite a soaking rain when we got up, we left the ladies behind to enjoy a laid back pajama day with Grandma and headed to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Park.
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| Hmmm...maybe this rain isn't going to let up? |
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| Ponchos were on about two seconds after we left our vehicle |
It was definitely a great day to not have the kids with us! We learned shortly after entering the park that this was no ordinary morning rainfall, but rather a full blown tropical storm system (she went by the name of Debby, the #$%^&) that had parked itself over Florida for several days. In Orlando, we didn't get the strong storms or damaging winds that they saw on the Gulf Coast, but I tell you what, I have
never seen a soaking rain quite like this. It. Did. Not. Let. Up. Once. ... even for a second. Our ponchos were put to good use!
On a positive note, the fact that the park was nearly flooded really kept the crowds away, and we enjoyed 5 minute wait times on most of the attractions throughout the park. And, most importantly, we LOVED Harry Potter. They did a great job bringing the Wizarding World to life, and it was totally fun to experience. Here are a few of the highlights for our fellow
nerd friends Harry Potter fans.
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| It's the Hogwarts Express! The Hogwarts Express!! |
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| The poncho probably does not help make this picture less nerdy, huh? |
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| The Three Broomsticks - we had lunch here (because it's awesome AND dry) - very Potteresque |
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| That, my friends, is a giant keg of butter beer. YUM! |
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| Hogwarts! (I think he pulls of his poncho much better than I do - no fair! ) |
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| A shot of the shops in Hogsmeade. The snowy rooftops in Orlando was a nice touch. |
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| Trying our first glass of butter beer. Seriously amazing stuff -but I am guessing there is no less than 500 calories in this cup! |
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| He may be a holographic image, but I was still kind of nervous about being addressed by Albus Dumbledore himself. |
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| I would like one of these in every room of my house...if I wasn't afraid that E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. would make fun of me. |
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| The sorting hat! He totally whispered "Gryffindor" as I walked by... |
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| Inside Olivander's Wand Shop |
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| Olivander picked this kid out of the crowd to find her the perfect wand. He went through a 10 minute process letting the wand choose the wizard (very important, you know). I resisted all urges to push her down and run up there myself... |
Our fear of drowning, or worse, damaging our iPhones, kept our cameras tucked away after we left the Wizarding World, but we did spend several more hours exploring the rest of the park. This particular park features a lot of water rides, which was convenient as we were already soaked to the bone. We took advantage of the no line situation to ride most of the attractions several times, conquering the entire park in just about six hours.
We returned to find our girls well-rested, happy and dry, albeit a little stir crazy. Daddy and Grandma took them to the swimming pool in the rain (why not?) for a little while, and I later took them on an exciting adventure to fetch slushies and snacks for the movie night scheduled for later that evening.
It was a very wet day in Florida, but we made the best of it. We packed up after the kids went to bed (at or near their normal bedtimes - SHOCKING!) and prayed for a dry Monday...
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