Orlando has something besides Disney?

   It was 8:30am and we were already 3 tantrums in. These are definitely forced smiles.


Back in February, Sean bought discounted Universal tickets, and wouldn't you know, the tickets had to be used by the end of this month. We haven't had a free weekend in a long time, so we decided very last minute that it was now or never, and off we went. 

The great thing about Universal's theme parks is that everyone is at Disney World! There were longish lines for a couple of their big attractions, but for the most part, it was much less crowded. This could have been because we were there on weekdays, but also because most people think the two Universal parks are geared towards older kids. All of us (even the almost 2-year-old) found plenty to keep us busy. The added bonus was that all of the parking for the theme parks is covered, in parking garages. This is especially nice for summertime in Florida.

We got to visit Harry Potter World, and it was pretty darn cool. It looked very similar to the way her books described it, and even though that area of the park was crowded, we couldn't leave without riding the rides and sipping a delicious Butterbeer. Oddly enough, the line at Ollivander's (the wand shop) was far longer than any of the lines for the rides. Apparently everyone wanted a $50 magic wand.

Although we're still getting the hang of having a Thing 1 and a Thing 2, we enjoyed the parks and would probably head back there in the future instead of the crazy crowds at Disney. 

                             Our very own little Cindy Lou Who in Seuss Landing.

                       They had a great splash pad area with a small water slide.

          On the caro-Seuss-el. Real men wear pink. And belt themselves in on carousels.

Cowabunga Teague!

They got a little wet on this one.

                       The Hogwarts Express! He's no Cedric Diggory, but he'll do.