Last week we flew to Orlando FL. It was Ben’s first time on an airplane and we got him a window seat. He thought the takeoff and landing were cool, but his favorite part was the tray table in front of his seat.
We had a mishap with diverted and canceled flights and lost luggage, but we finally arrived at the hotel and we got our bags the next day. We stayed at Cabana Bay which was a fun, retro 60’s themed hotel. It had a Starbucks, gift shop, cafeteria, bowling alley, arcade, swimming pools, water slide, and lazy river.
We spent the week at Universal Studios, mainly doing all of the Harry Potter stuff. Our first stop was Diagon Alley. They kids shopped for wands at Ollivanders, which they could then use to make things move, light up, squirt water, etc. all throughout the area. We browsed the other shops – Sugarplums’s candy, quidditch supplies, robes, quills, pets, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes – and the creepy Knockturn Alley. We rode the Escape from Gringotts ride through the bank vaults.
Then we hopped on the Hogwart’s Express and rode over to Hogsmeade.
There we rode the Flight of the Hippogriff roller coaster several times, and the Forbidden Journey ride inside Hogwarts castle.
We drank lots of frozen butterbeer, which was delicious.
We didn’t ride Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure, because the line for it was 2 hours long and our feet were tired.
Besides the Harry Potter stuff, we also visited the Dr. Seuss section which was adorable (Ben loved the Sneetches ride), as well as Shrek, Minions, The Simpsons, and Jurassic Park. James and Ben rode the new VelociCoaster.
