This morning we were out the door by 7.15am and on the boat to Universal Studios. We had about a 20min wait until the gates opened…
then it was walk as fast as you can over to Hogsmede. It was our first time visiting here and we were so excited. Even though I’d seen video of people entering Diagon Aley for the first time – it still has that WOW factor.
Unfortunately we soon found out that Gringotts, the ride everyone wanted to go on during early entry, was down and no-one knew for how long.
Instead we took the opportunity to explore the shops and take photos while the crowds were still light. The attention to detail in both the Harry Potter lands is unbelievable.
We had missed getting breakfast on our way in so chose to go to The Leaky Cauldron and share a few dishes.
Christy had been a little moodier earlier this morning (no doubt due to lack of sleep) so in effort to make up for things offered to buy Athena (and herself) one of the interactive wands so they could do magic together. Such a sweet gesture.
After we saw this…
we visited….
and the kids did some magic.
By now the area was getting a lot busier.
so we decided to head out.
We got to meet the conductor (and driver) of the Knightbus. Christy got told to be careful waving her wand around as there were muggles about.
Next up was the Men In Black ride.
So much concentration…
Time for some popcorn..
while Christy went on the Simpson’s ride (another of those 3D simulator rides that Kevin and I aren’t a fan of).
Then we got to meet the Simpsons.
And Kevin had a lot of fun in Spongebob Storepants.
It was another extreamely hot, humid day so even though we hadn’t had lunch yet, we all felt it was time for some dippin’ dots.
Unfortunately the colourful ones (above) that Athena got weren’t that good so they ended up sharing my chocolate ones. Christy had cookie dough (and also shared with Athena) and Kevin had banana.
After enjoying our ice cream we went on the ET ride. Always cute.
And then the kids got to have photos with some of the Despicable Me girls.
We had been going to do the Transformers ride but there was quite a wait so we decided on the Horror Make Up show instead.
We had really enjoyed this last time but I didn’t think the guy this time was quite as funny. Still good though.
Christy opted to stay at the parks a little longer when the rest of left. We stopped at City Walk and finally found somewhere for lunch. Athena had chinese and Kevin and I got Mexican again.
I had another salad bowl. For some reason I said sour cream instead of dressing so it wasn’t as good as it should have been.
When we got back to our room, Athena went for a sleep while Kevin and I got changed and headed for the pool. We relaxed in the shade (since it was too hot in the sun even at 3pm) and had a swim. Kevin got himself another cocktail. Such a nice way to relax on holidays.
I decided not to go back to the parks with the family in the evening as I just wasn’t feeling that amazing and wanted to be ready for another early entry in the morning.
Here’s a few photos to show what they got up to…
I settled down with a cup of tea (after working out the kurig machine, which wasn’t hard at all). Not long after they left I started feeling a lot worse with pain, so it was lucky I hadn’t gone.
I spent the evening watching vlogmas videos on YouTube and with the “kids” I was babysitting :-).
