Orlando day 12

Day 31 - Sunday 11/7/10 - Universal Studios, Orlando, FL

Our original plan had been to hire a car in Orlando but when we arrived at Walt DisneyWorld and saw how good the transport system was, we decided that we didn't need one. So the plan for today had been to visit Kennedy Space Center, but how to get there without a car? We thought about hiring a car just for the day or getting a cab out there or even abandoning the idea and having a shopping day instead. But in the end we decided that we hadn't had enough of Universal Studios yet and wanted to spend some more time there. So we packed up and checked out of the Royal Pacific, left our luggage with the bell hops and walked down to CityWalk. We grabbed bagels and coffee from our little breakfast stop and were at the gates of Universal at 9am for opening. We went directly to the Rip Ride Rockit but it wasn't operating. We were told that we could get in line but they didn't know how long it would be. Seeming as we'd already been on it once the day before, we decided not to waste time there and went in to watch Shrek 4D instead. When we came out the Rip Ride Rockit was operating but the line was already up to 40 minutes so we gave it a miss and lined up to meet Shrek, Donkey and Princess Fiona instead.

Donkey was hilarious! Emily was wearing a Twilight t-shirt and he was going on about how vampires were scary in his day and he didn't understand how they could be sex symbols now etc. Fiona asked him if he was on Team Edward or Team Jacob and he said "I'm on Team Donkey"!! He sounded exactly like Eddie Murphy and it was so funny!

We started to head towards Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone when the Madagascar float went by.

I noticed a guy with crazy white hair in a white coat getting on a bike and didn't think much of it other then "that's a bit odd". But Emily suddenly yelled "it's Doc"! And I realised that it was Doc Brown from Back to The Future which is one of our favourite movies. Doc signalled for us to follow him, so we changed routes and chased him to the other side of the waterfront where we discovered

The Time Machine!

Doc was great. We were the only people there and he spent lots of time with us, talking about the movies and the sets and the DeLorean etc. He said this was one of 7 used in the actual movies and when he realised what big fans the kids are, he let them sit in it!

We also checked out the train from Back to the Future 3

and Doc's bike

before reluctantly moving on when some other people arrived and wanted to speak to Doc. That chance character sighting turned out to be one of the highlights of the whole trip!

We continued on to Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone

where we rode the ET Adventure which was very cute and then the kids had a lot of fun in Fievel's Playland.

We met Shaggy and Scooby Doo

Winnie Woodpecker

Curious George

and Barney and friends

and then the kids rode Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster

before getting soaked in the Curious George playground!

We rode the ET Adventure one more time (love that Universal Express pass!) and then walked over to New York where Alex and the big kids rode Revenge of the Mummy while Sammy and I did some souvenir shopping. We then walked back around to World Expo and caught a Fear Factor Live show and after that the big kids rode Men in Black Alien Attack. Sadly it was time for us to start making our way back to the hotel and the airport, so we headed towards the exit but stopped in Production Central for one more ride. The Rip Ride Rockit line was too long so we rode Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast instead and then left the park and wandered over to CityWalk for lunch. We didn't have time for a sit down restaurant meal, so we went to the BK Whopper Bar where we got burgers and fries for the boys and Panda Express for Chinese food for the rest of us.

After our quick lunch we walked back to the hotel where we retrieved our luggage and got a cab to take us to the airport. First stop was the Disney Store where we attempted to buy everything that we forgot to get at the parks, but sadly they didn't have any of the things we were looking for. We then braved security which took forever and then boarded our flight to Charlotte, NC.

On arrival in Charlotte we had to run to catch our next flight. We had about 40 minutes transit time and we were in the terminal furthest away from where we needed to be! We ran as fast as we could with kids and lots of hand luggage and arrived at our gate just in time for boarding. As we were taking a small propeller plane to our next destination we had to check in our hand luggage, but luckily there was someone waiting to take it from us on the tarmac. After a short flight we arrived in New Bern, NC where we were met by my aunt and cousins and settled in for a few days of relaxation with family.

Orlando day 11

Day 30 - Saturday 10/7/10 - Universal Studios, Florida

Our plan was to hit Wizarding World early again and then move over to Universal Studios at opening time of 9am. So we caught the first boat to Citywalk, grabbed coffee and bagels for breakfast and lined up at Islands of Adventure ready for the 7.30am hotel guest opening.

Sam didn't want to ride Forbidden Journey again, so he and Alex lined up for Ollivander's while the rest of us went back to the Castle. This time I smuggled my small camera in but it was hard to capture a lot of the details.

The Mirror of Erised

Herbology class

Inside the castle

Dumbledore's office

Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom

Harry, Ron and Hermione

Gryffindor common room

The Sorting Hat

The ride was great the second time around as I picked up on different things that I hadn't noticed the day before. After the ride we joined Alex and Sam in the Ollivander's line. They were pretty close to the front so we only waited a few minutes.

When we were let in we went right to the front and stood at the counter.

The Wizard pottered around a bit until everyone was inside

and then he came around behind the counter and chose Emily to get a wand! He measured her first

and then she tried a few different wands

until the right one finally chose her

From there we filed into Dervish and Banges which was so crowded that we could barely move. The boys chose wands and we picked up a few postcards. Luckily the monster book wasn't for sale!

We visited Honeydukes and bought Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and then headed out via The Lost Continent exit, admiring Hermione's Ball dress

and checking out Hogsmeade train station on the way.

We left Islands of Adventure and walked next door to Universal Studios, passing through the gates just after 9am. We went directly to the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit as that was the only ride where we couldn't use our Universal Express. The line was around 15 minutes at that stage, but when we got off the kids wanted to ride again but it was already up to 60 minutes! We weren't lining up for that long, so we walked through Hollywood, checking out the old movie cars on the way.

We met Bart Simpson outside The Simpsons ride.

Even though our Universal Express passes got us to the front of the line, we still waited around 30 minutes for The Simpsons Ride as it kept breaking down. I would have skipped but the kids were keen to ride, so we waited. From there we walked around to World Expo and rode Men in Black and then it was on to San Francisco/Amity and JAWS.

We all did Disaster! and then Alex and Sam sat out while I took the others on Revenge of The Mummy and then we all experienced Twister. We were ready for our afternoon break by that stage so we went back out to CityWalk and had lunch at NBA City

before walking back to the hotel for an afternoon at the pool.

That evening we walked back down to Hogsmeade for dinner at The Three Broomsticks. The wait was 20 minutes so Alex took the kids for a spin on Flight of the Hippogriff while I waited in the line.

After a dinner of fish and chips and butterbeer

we checked out the Hogs Head

and had a last look around

We still hadn't caught the Frog Choir or Triwizard Spirit Rally, so Sammy and I sat down to wait for the next show while Alex took the others on Dragon Challenge.

The Frog Choir were awesome! The others had finished Dragon Challenge when they came out and the woman that introduced them spotted Harry and his red hair in the crowd and she was all "oh we have a Weasley here, how are things at The Burrow?". He was all embarrassed!

After the Frog Choir it was time for the Triwizard Spirit Rally who also put on a really good show.

The boys from Durmstrang

and the Beaux Batons ladies

It was then time to leave Hogsmeade. We'd really enjoyed our time there.

One last shot of the castle