My sister, Michele, wanted to take her daughter, Megan, to the new Harry Potter area of Universal Studios so we cooked up a Megan-Dane Adventure.
They seemed to enjoy it.
We flew in late on Friday night, as in it was MIDNIGHT when we arrived and jumped into the hotel bed. Randy planned the entire trip and was serious about our schedule. I should mention that this was the first time I saw Randy get this excited about anything in the 18 years that I've known him well and secondly, I've never seen him plan anything to this much detail. We were required to be up and ready to leave the hotel at 7:15am on Saturday to arrive at the park before it opened for early admission to ensure no waiting in the Harry Potter area. If you haven't been to Universal you wouldn't understand but keep in mind the area gets so busy that it is closed to more guests until others leave the area through the busiest times of the day. The wait time for the ride can be hours and you have to wait in line to get into Ollivanders - but not us!
The area is so beautiful, it is hard to imagine without actually seeing it.
I love the picture above because they look like our little ducks in a row.
The candy I bought at Honeydukes was amazing!
And don't get me started on Hogwarts. It is absolutely magnificent.
Here is the evidence that I was actually there and Dylan went as well. He was excited about the Jurassic Park area where he couldn't wait to name another Dinosaur.
This one he named, Oblivion, and signed the birth certificate.
We watched with giggles in our throat.
Michele rode the Teradactyl ride with him.
We spent 12 hours in the two Universal parks on Saturday and 13 hours on Sunday. I used my camera as a phone the entire trip which means I didn't take very many photos and the ones I took are not good quality. We did pretty much everything in the parks including wall climbing. Megan went first.
Then Dylan.
While Dane watched and wished he was brave enough to try. Dane rode every roller coaster but would not climb a wall while being supported by a harness. Go figure.
Eating is important to us on an adventure. We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. twice because we love it so much. Dane bought a hat, t-shirt and button from the gift shop.
Somehow (unplanned) Randy and Dane were twinkies two days in a row.
We had some fun unforgettable moments while on our adventure.
Here is my top 10 list.
10. I rode the Hulk twice, once during the day and once at night.
9. After Dylan's bad attitude from getting too little sleep on Saturday I enlisted a cha-ching system for Sunday. Each time Dylan used his manners I said cha-ching which gave him a dollar to spend in the gift shops. It worked most of the day and he went out of his way to come up with ways to use good manners.
8. Rip Ride Rock It with Evanescence, Bring me to life coming from the speakers in my seat.
7. Talking Michele into riding The Mummy. I hope she has forgiven us!
6. Dylan attempting sucide on the bridge for not being allowed to buy a shark toy.
5. Michele screaming during the motion simulation Simpson ride and Megan keeping her eyes closed while I was insisting we are not actually moving!
4. I Scream Ice Cream Shop for two reasons. Buying expensive gelato ice cream two days in a row for an afternoon snack after searching for a good ice cream shop, and on the second day stepping outside the shop to find a Ben & Jerry's staring at us. On the first day we stood in line quite a while for the ice cream which was just as long behind us. When I took our ice cream to the table and realized I forgot to buy Randy's coke I ran back to the counter and yelled, "She needs to buy a coke!" while Michele was paying for her ice cream. I got a few stares.
3. Dane going mute to punish himself...which brings me to the #2 most unforgettable moments.
2. Dane stole a rock out of a gift shop and when I caught him with it the second time he stole the same rock his excuse was, I just wanted to see what your reaction would be. We were not pleased but instead of us punishing him he kept punishing himself.
1. Dane decided at the start of the trip he wanted to be called Church and informed us he would like to change his name. I said, just don't say Church when airport security looks at your ticket and asks your name. Later he said he didn't want to hurt my feelings by changing his name since I picked out the name Dane so we could just call him Church but not make it official. At the end of the trip I decided the best souvenir for him to have would be the dog tag he wanted so badly all weekend.
Michele and Megan left early Monday morning, as in airport pick up 3:45am. I felt so bad for them. The boys and I went back to the parks to ride a few last rides and buy Dane's dog tag on Monday. We were also able to walk on the Harry Potter ride twice in a row - no waiting! We met another family and swapped phones so we could both have a family shot in the park.
By the time we left for the airport around 1pm we were so exhausted I was nauseous.
Our flight was delayed over 2 hours which gave us time to stay in one spot and let our bodies rest from the rides and walking.
Overall, the adventure was fabulous! We all had a great time. We taught Michele how to be hard core theme park go'ers. No purse or bags! She called Randy, The Park Nazi which was very fitting on day one!
Dane and Megan deserved a special trip and I'm glad we were able to give it to them!
