Ahhhhh Harry Potter! Love it! I have to agree with you, the level of theming they have for both parts is just outstanding and blows me away. Kind of makes me wonder why they seemingly slacked off with the rest of the park! I loved Gringotts as well, though I don't think I could pick one or the other.
You really got a lot done in your day so far! We didn't make it to the ice cream parlor, so I guess I'll just haaaaave to make a return trip Oh, and I LOVE your shirt! Perfect for Universal!
Love love love the HP stuff! We may yet make it there, but it will be a while. The price difference between an add-on day at Disney and a two-park Universal ticket tend to get us to lean Disney more often than not. But I will go here someday!
The theming looks really amazing, and honestly a lot better than I remember from Islands of Adventure. Looks like you both got a ton done and had lots of fun! And I'm glad that you got to get on the Gringotts ride with minimal fuss after the frustrating first wait!
Wow!! Harry potter looks so amazing...all the areas I mean...so jealous. I think I'd want to try the Butterbeer ice cream since I liked the drink so much. Sorry yours was dissapointing. I wonder why they don't do samples? Maybe people would just taste all the weird ones and never order...who knows...I love your shirt too BTW.
Universal really did well with the detailing they have in their Harry Potter areas! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!
Thanks for sharing your experience at Universal. My daughter is reading the series now. She is on the fifth book and loves it. She has been talking a lot about wanting to visit Universal next time we go to Florida. So, I am sure we will someday. I loved Harry Potter too and it has been fun talking about the books together. We have been watching the movies after she finishes each book. I had not seen any of the them except the first. I am happy that the movies have followed the books so well.
I really enjoyed reading about your Universal day (except for the part where you waited an hour for Gringotts and then had to leave and cried....that was sad!).
We went a few years ago when Hogsmeade first opened. My husband LOVES everything Harry Potter (he spent like an hour picking out a wand, was extremely excited about it, and has it on his desk at work). I watched the movies and enjoyed them, but I'm not a diehard Harry Potter fan. We thought it was really cool, but because of my crappy motion sickness I couldn't go on Forbidden Journey. My husband went on it alone to see if he thought I could take it, and he said I would have been sick for sure. So I'm guessing I probably wouldn't be able to go on Gringotts without getting sick...which is terrible because I really want to go on it! Oh, and I LOVED the frozen Butterbeer!! That ice cream you had sounded really interesting, too bad the flavours weren't stronger. So we really want to go back to see Diagon Alley, but knowing I can't go on the Harry Potter rides makes it hard to justify the costs, especially when adding it on to a Disney trip. We might do what you mentioned - wait until the new water park opens, and do a trip to just Universal and Sea World or something. It would just be so hard to be that close to Disney and not go!
Cowfish sounds so interesting, I'm really looking forward to your review! I obviously know what you're talking about when you said your stomach couldn't take any more rides, so I'm glad you were able to recover enough to have such a fun dinner! When we went to Universal a few years ago I really liked City Walk. We ate at Bubba Gump's and enjoyed it a lot. I think we could spend a lot of time there if we did a several day Universal trip.
Sorry that some of the rides made you feel sick...I think I'd be in the same boat. Your dinner looked awesome though...I love trying new and different foods. Your driver sounded so funny on the way back! I'm glad he had a great sense of humour!!
I selfishly hold a grudge at The Simpsons for giving Back to the Future the boot (we did it once as kids and my brothers and I called each other McFly for about a week!) but like you I also don't watch the show so I have nothing really tying me to the new area. I suppose I'll try it out more another time (like you, in a Universal-exclusive trip). Your dinner looks really yummy!
Your driver back sounds pretty hilarious! Always nice to see those with a pixie dust sense of humor outside the Disney bubble.
Just wanted to say I love reading your reports! I've been reading since your wedding. You have so many great trip. I do not run ,but enjoy seeing how much fun those marathons are for you. Very cool. I am just living through everyone else until we can go Oct 2016.
Glad to see parts of your Universal trip. We haven't seen any HP yet and plan probably 2 days there so that we can take our time to see plenty of old & new things. We don't want to rent a car just for getting over there but we're nervous about what other transportation to use. Please explain how and what you use and if you don't mind how much $ ? Thanks!
Back to waiting for your next update and adventure
stopped to watch the lovely DeVine, whom DH had never seen before:
Mickey and Minnie in their safari outfits!
we decided to try a dole whip with coconut rum. This was delicious!
That sounds like a great final day for this vacation! You got a lot done at Animal Kingdom. I never seem to be able to fill more than a couple hours there at a time. Yak & Yeti is my favorite as their appetizers are great for lunch! Looks like you had some nice choices as well. I love the way you ended your vacation with a Rum Infused Dole Whip! That really is a perfect ending.
I don't think I've ever seen DeVine either...must add it to the list for next time.
So cute!!! This is one of the only places you can see them together I heard...
Looks delish!!!