Florida Vacation 2013: Day 2

Day 2:

Our plan is to hit Universal Studios: Universal Studios.  (Yes, for those of you who are wondering, there are 2 different parks within Universal Studios.  One is called Universal Studios, and one is called Islands of Adventure.)

They are calling for rain later, so we head off early hoping to miss it.

First stop: getting our picture taken with Shaggy and Scooby Doo, because….well, because Jinkies!  We just love Scooby Doo!!!

After the photo-op, we headed off to the Despicable Me simulated ride.  We even talked mom into riding it!!  It was fun!  We started out by walking through their house.

Then, we stepped through the doors and into the training room.  Our mission?  To become minions!!

After we were briefed by Gru, we took our seats and went through the “training process.”  Definitely a fun ride!!

After that, we walked around the different areas within the park that are setup to look like other cities in America.  New York’s was my favorite.

Yes, that is an Egyptian man walking on stilts.  lol, I guess it is like New York…you never know what you will see.

It really felt like we were in a mini New York City…well, a few decades ago anyway.

After New York, we traveled to San Francisco.  Toby got attacked by a shark.  😀

He came across this sign offering the opportunity to wall climb, and of course, Toby had to jump on that!!

After we visited a couple more sites, Toby had to ride the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

After seeing how high it went up into the air…and how far down it had to come, I opted out.  But it didn’t stop Toby at all!

Here are a few of the twists and turns the ride offered.

Grandma and Toby had to pose in front of the spinning world.

Toby was super hot, so he ran through the sprinklers, again.  😀

Thankfully, the rain did not come until we left…literally…we saw the rain falling as we were walking through the exit.  Perfect timing!

Day 2: Success!!

Florida Vacation 2013: Day 1

After many struggles and obstacles, we finally made it to Florida.  Toby was so excited to put his feet on Florida land (even if it was asphalt) for the very first time.  We have quite an exciting vacation planned.  Lots of activities to do and many places to visit!

Day 1: Universal Studios – Islands of Adventure

Today, we plan to head off to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Toby and I are huge Harry Potter fans, and this is like a dream come true.  Visiting places that you have read about and only dreamed of experiencing…that is a truly great time!

Here we are in front of the train that will take us to Hogwarts one day…  :]  Ok so we didn’t actually get to ride it, but it was still fun.

Our day started off with breakfast at the 3 Broomsticks.

Toby and Grandma chose American style breakfasts…

I opted for the English Style Breakfast…I figured I probably would not get the chance to try it again…

It was all so delicious!!  Well, except for the Black Pudding a.k.a. Blood Sausage…I’m okay with never eating that again!!!

We were having so much fun that a squirrel wanted to join us…

He hopped up right beside me!!  It scared the bajeepers out of me!!

As we moved past breakfast, Toby found his favorite character on a poster…they still have him listed as a mass murderer!!  He was so not that!

Toby talked me into riding the Flight of the Hippogriff.  It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be!!

We zoomed our way into Hogwarts next.  Yes, they are even letting Muggles in now!!

We tried speaking “Sherbert Lemon” but the door to Dumbledore’s office just would not open!

After we left Hogwarts, we headed for Honeyduke’s.  Toby had his heart set on buying a chocolate frog.  Of course he ended up getting Salazar Slytherin’s card, but he still loves eating the frog!!

After a couple of exciting, but tiring hours visiting Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and Diagon Alley, we headed back to the hotel.  It started raining so we all relaxed in our many different ways :]  After the rain, Toby finished out the day with one of his most favorite activities:

Day 1: Success!!!