Day 5:
Almost the whole family was together for Islands of Adventure. My older sister and her family were the only ones that didn't come. We were really praying for good weather since we were only going to be in Orlando for 3 more days. 2 of them to be spent at theme parks. It was a beautiful morning. Warm, but not hot. Overcast, so the sun wasn't beating down on us. By the time we parked, got the strollers...walked the "miles" to the front gates, it had started raining. And then pouring! It was warm...but wet. We had poncho's and we were happy to put them on. It was amazing how much heat those things trapped! It ended up raining off and on all day. But it really only poured once. It was quite nice and the only complaint I had, were my shoes. I wore exactly the WRONG shoes and ended up tossing them. They were totally hammered and my poor feet were A LOT happier out of them than in them.
As we walked in we saw Dr. Suess land. The girls fell in love. They were so excited to be there, and be able to go on rides. This was their official first time at an amusement park. We went on the carousel first. It was fun because your "reigns" did something different on each animal. On mine, the head moved. Sophie's blinked, Aubree's mouth opened and closed etc...
There was a really fun play area for the kids. A lot of interactive toys and a water splash area. We headed here a couple of times when the adults wanted to do bigger rides. The girls were very patient with us when we did things they couldn't. I was very proud of them.
The park was really fun. It has a Marvel area where we went on The Hulk. It was AWESOME. There is a Jurassic Park land, and a few others that we didn't even get to since we only had one day. Both girls passed out, giving us a nice break. Only, Sophie did pee all over Dave as he was holding her when she fell asleep. We still stayed for two more hours! Poor them. But we weren't about to leave. We didn't leave until closing, and we totally maximied our day there.
Now for the BEST part of the day, and almost the best part of the whole trip: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! They spared NO expense. Every detail was thought of, and it was very magical. Right as we walked through the gates the music swelled and went full into the main theme. The timing was perfect. We walked up to the Hogwarts Express and right then the steam engine blew. For our first experience it was quite breathtaking. You really feel like you're part of the world and excited to experience everything. Dave and I decided we need to go back when we can spend a day there with out kids. It's not huge, but the detail is incredible, and we didn't get to FULLY appreciate it. We walked by a lot of cool shops including Honeydukes, but didn't go in. The line for Oliviander's was too long, so we ended up skipping that as well. What we didn't miss out on though, was the magic! Cheesy, I know..but really! We went on the Dueling Dragons ride quite a few times. It was SO FUN! And the line into the ride was amazing by itself. We saw lots of fun things like Ron's crashed car and The Goblet of Fire. We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks. We all ordered butterbeer. I could spend a whole post on butterbeer. Needless to say we came back for more. Hogwarts was probably my favorite though. We didn't even really know what it was. We got in line and saw that it was a ride, but the only description was that it was a tour throughout the castle. This was by far the longest line we waited in. Over an hour. And again the girls were just amazing. They waited the whole time without any major problems. Sophie was being a tootie magee...and she passed out toward the end of the line. Once we got close to the entrance of the castle it became entertaining again. With all the props and effects. I'm running out of words to use....but it was just amazing :) We did rider swap with our kids and got to go on it a few times for the wait. It was awesome. The ride itself was very fun. It's like a mix of Star Tours and Indiana Jones. I am pretty much a scardey cat and I covered my eyes during some particularly creepy parts. Definitely worth the wait. And to be honest you want to wait a little bit in line so you can take in all the detail once you walk in the castle.
It was sad to leave such an awesome place. But it was a great introduction into what amusement parks are all about for the girls to get ready for Disney World.
Post office :)
Inside the castle waiting in line:
Everyone was amazed at this part. We walked into a great hall of paintings. They looked like REAL paintings. Then they started talking to each other...and walking into each other's frames. I have no idea how they did it...but WOW!!!
My parents were quite amazing also, they took the kids on a couple of rides so that Dave and I could have fun with out them. Normally I would have said no, they're our responsibility. But My parents got a 3 day hopper pass to the park, so they said and hour out of their time was fine. SCORE! We raced to a few more rides....and ended our night with Dueling Dragons :)
Walking back to the car we were talking to the girls, asking them their favorites, and such....they had so MUCH fun. I was very glad. Both of them had three favorite rides. The Cat in the Hat ride (it was fun), Flight of the Hippogriff, and Flying Pterodactyls. The last two were the ones my parents took them on, so I'm sure glad they did.
Amazing, Amazing day!
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