Disney Day 5 - Universal Studios

On Thursday of our trip, Caitlin still was not feeling well.  She still had fever and whenever it would spike she'd get a small rash.  Fortunately, she did well as long as she was on some medicine.  That day, Bryce took one for the team (what a great husband) and stayed at the hotel with the kids all by himself.  I know, am I lucky or what? His parents went to see some family that live nearby, and I went with my mom, becca, casey, will, and Grandpa to Universal to check out Harry Potter World.  This was the one thing my mom and grandpa wanted to do more than anything on this trip.

Us making fun of my mom and her "purchase" that morning (sorry, inside family joke but I couldn't resist putting it in the blog).

Islands of Adventure theme park

The best thing about this park is there was hardly anyone there.  We walked right onto every ride and had very few crowds to deal with.  They have a neat Dr. Seuss area that would have been fun with the kids. We immediately went to the Harry Potter part.

Entering the village

They did a neat job of recreating Hogsmeade.  We stopped for lunch at the Three Broomsticks and all had some butter beer (delicious - kind of like cream soda).  Afterwards, us young folk rode a dragon roller coaster.  Then, we headed for Hogwarts.

Picture of Hogwarts Castle

Inside Hogwarts is a ride, but it's also a tour of sorts. You follow a line but you are going through the castle.  It was pretty cool to see things from the movie inside (like talking/moving pictures, etc).  The actual ride is this moving/imax type thing.  Honestly, the ride was not my favorite. After our big lunch, it made me rather nauseous and I have to admit I closed my eyes for probably half of it (it's long!). 

Close-up of the village

After that, we explored the village a little which I have to say was kind of disappointing. It's really not that big and does not have many shops/things to do.  My mom, Grandpa, and brother headed back towards the entrance to relax while Casey, Becca, and I explored the rest of Islands of Adventure.

Then, it was time to head home. That night, we all ate dinner in our room and watched Michigan basketball.  My Grandpa and Evan had a lot of fun playing together.



Up next, the last day of our trip!