The kids were super excited to go to Universal Studios because they wanted to go to Harry Potter World. Elora loves the first few books and we have read some of it to Oliver and he now loves it too. He even wore a cape because he thought it looked like Harry Potter wizards robes.
Elora was the only kids big enough to go on the ride inside Hogwarts castle, so I walked through the castle with the younger kids (they offer a “Tour” where you can walk through the line and see the inside of the castle without getting on the ride) and then I took them on the Hogwarts Express. We rode it a couple times and it was quite the favorite.
We went inside Ollivander’s Wand Shop and they choose a kid to act out the scene in the movie where Harry gets his wand. Elora wasn’t chosen, but afterwards she asked to have her picture taken with Ollivander and he let her act out the scene all by herself. She was SO excited. And then we of course, had to buy a wand because she wouldn’t leave the store without one.
We went to Honeyduke’s so we could get some yummy treats. Elora and Oliver both got wands which you could use all around the park to do things, like make music boxes play music or fountains spray water.
The kids got peppermint toads and chocolate frogs – YUM.
Marion had to have the crazy looking gummy spider. It didn’t look very appetizing to me, but she was super excited.
Hogsmeade was really neat, it was like walking around the actual Harry Potter movie set. There are only a couple rides though, so it is mostly a really neat looking and very expensive outdoor shopping mall…
After we had seen Hogsmeade we headed over to Dr. Suess land, which ended up being everyone’s favorite place. The kids had a lot of fun recognizing scenes from different favorite story books. Here is one excited Oliver who was happy about his wand and the star-bellied sneetches on the wall.
The Suess Carousel was pretty fun with lots of crazy creatures. James wasn’t old enough to ride many things, but he really enjoyed the carousel.
We found a bookstore with lots of Dr. Suess books and the kids were surprised to find ones they had never heard of! Elora wanted to buy every new book she found. Grampy is in the background and looks really excited about the book shop.
Elora hadn’t gotten to ride the Hogwarts train earlier, so we decided to ride it over to Diagon Alley. Elora loved all the different displays in the train station and she also really loved riding the train.
The dragon on top of Gringott’s was pretty amazing. The line for the Gringott’s ride was SUPER long, so we decided not to go on it and went to the Leaky Cauldron for fish and chips instead.
At the end of the day, Chris’ parents took the kids back to the rental house and Chris and I stayed a little longer so I could go on the Harry Potter ride inside the castle and explore a little.
We were HUGE fans of the butter beer, and then we realized that amusement parks are kind of loud and crowded so we left and went to dinner at a little Italian restaurant instead. It was fun to have an evening out!
That week while Chris went to work at the paintball tournament, Chris’ parents and I took the kids back to Universal Studios. James loved all the little statues around the park that he could sit on.
We headed back to Dr. Suess land and spent most of our day there. It was a fun place to explore.
We met Thing 1 and Thing 2, and the kids were REALLY happy.
We headed over to the Dinosaur area of Universal Studios and the kids really enjoyed the dinosaur exploration exhibits. Marion liked the big T-Rex.
The kids got to x-ray dinosaur eggs and then watch a little baby dinosaur hatch in the lab. They had a great time exploring. Oliver especially loved x-raying the eggs to see what kind of dinosaur was inside and Marion and James were amazed by the little baby dinosaur.
Elora loves Harry Potter so much that we had to go back to Hogsmeade and look around the shops some more.
And of course, drink butterbeer.
At the end of the day we went back to Dr. Suess land. My kids both love the Lorax, so they enjoyed walking around the Truffula forest.
Our favorite ride in the park ended up being 1 Fish. 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. It is a ride with flying fish that you ride in and you usually get sprayed by a little water. All the kids LOVED it. Especially little James, and it was the ride we ended up going on the most.
On our way out of the park Oliver found this Fire Brigade car that he liked, so we stopped for a picture. We had such a fun time – it was a little tough with all the little kids, but we had a good time exploring the park.
