Paige, Rose, and Henry on Page

This year's Orlando focus was Universal Studios. We had debated it since we had heard that there weren't too many rides that would be good for Rose or Henry (and when Mike and I went we were only going on the adult rides and didn't really notice what there was for kids). However, Paige had read all of the Harry Potter books (ALL OF THEM!) by herself so it was the perfect time to see the Harry Potter rides and towns at Universal Studios. We made sure that Rose watched the first movie in the Christmas break as well so she would understand what it was.

Because the Canadian dollar is so bad, they were offering a "Buy 2 days get one free" special (I'm sure it's because of the dollar and fewer Canadian visitors). This made it even better and more exciting as it gave us 3 days of theme park fun. Grandma Val even signed up for 2 days and was able to visit both parks.

The day we went to Islands of Adventure was very very foggy. It definitely lent the appropriate atmosphere when we got to "the Wizarding Word of Harry Potter". There was a very long walk in from the parking lot, so when we got to the park we decided to go on a quick Carouseusal ride before heading to the Harry Potter stuff, since it was way in the back of the park.

At IOA, they have the town of Hogsmead. In it they had the "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey". Paige super wanted to go on this, and Rose was too short. We all lined up together though since the lines are always super interesting anyway, and Grandma Val kept Rose and Henry in the "Child swap" area while Mike and I rode the ride with Paige. The ride was really crazy and I wish I could go on it again to fully appreciate it. Most things in the ride are on screens, but the way it is set up it makes you feel like you are flying and right in on the action. This is actually the concept of a ton of the Universal rides. Paige was a bit freaked out though and was yelling things I could only vaguely make out: "I'm going to be sick!", screaming, etc. The way the ride is set up there are dividers in-between each person. I could tap her leg but couldn't see her face. This whole child yelling that they were going to be sick thing was a bit distracting, so you can understand why I feel like I wish I could experience it again!! The funny thing is that a couple of days later Paige said, "I kind of wish I could go on it again". I think since she didn't get sick and didn't fall out etc, she probably feels the same as me--that she needs another go to get the full experience. At any rate, it was really awesome, and afterward we headed to "Flight of the hippogriff", which is a small roller coaster along the lines of "goofy's barnstormer". Rose was able to ride it, and Henry was so close to being able to ride it which seems bizarre. It had the usual drops and twists and turns. Rose and I were smiling and laughing, and when I turned around to see Paige and Mike, Paige was crying and terrified. You never know what to expect!!

After the 2 rides we had to hit up some shops. We got 2 butter-beers to share, which were so delicious and refreshing. Henry would not give it up once he had a taste. We decided we definitely needed to get one on the next universal day--but this never happened due to the extreme cold of our next 2 park days. The next time we find ourselves there we are definitely getting more as well as some of the butter beer ice cream!!!

The girls really wanted wands, and of course they both wanted Hermione wands.

After Hogsmead we ventured off to Jurassic Park to play for a while in the play structure. When I think back to how gloriously warm it was while we were there I feel sad and bitter sitting in my office looking outside at a blizzard. At any rate after our jurassic Park fun (the ride we wanted to go on there was way too long of a line up), we headed back to Hogsmead since dining at The Three Broomsticks, was a must!! I would highly recommend this place. The food was excellent.

A very successful thing we did that day was the Spiderman Ride. I had been talking about it and the girls didn't want to go on it. So I started saying things like, "wow I really wish someone would go on it with me". Then Rose said, "fine", like it was a chore. Paige was on board after that too and I took the 2 of them on it. THEY LOVED IT. They ran off saying, "I want to do it again!!", and Mike took them on and GV and I sat on the road while Henry slept in the stroller.

We thought we would go home after this. My phone told me we had walked 10K that day already, and I think we were a bit tired, but Paige REALLY wanted to go on the jurassic park water ride for some reason, so we walked all the way back and Mike and I took Paige on it while GV stayed with Henry and Rose. If you see a pattern of GV waiting around a lot its true, but I think that anyone would be happy that day in the sun. We got absolutely drenched on the ride. Soaked. Dripping wet. It was actually unexpected how much water rushed into our faces when we went down the big drop. Rose was watching the whole thing unfold from a bridge and saw all of the various boatloads of people get soaked, and then laugh about it, so she decided she'd do it too. Mike took them on again. I was happy for my quick dry lululemon running outfit I decided to wear, and dried in no time. There was a big huge dryer in the gift shop for $5 a person for anyone who really didn't want to be wet.

So super fun day. Also tiring. We realized these kids are always happier on a super full stomach so we made sure to feed them regularly on all of the other park days. In terms of the IOA rides, Rose was able to do everything she wanted to do. Henry is still so little that the carousel and a ride called :one fish 2 fish" were good enough for him, as well as getting to walk around and have some treats. I think if he was a year older he'd be kind of mad that he wasn't able to do as much as the other kids. At this age though he was probably just happy to be wearing shorts for a change, and hanging out with his entire family and Grandma.

Here are the photos which are so much easier to just lump at the bottom at random.