Day 2 of Vacation

Day two of our vacation was very exciting; it was our first day in Universal Studios.  When we started discussing our vacation for this summer the kids were in love with Minions and all they could talk about was going on the Minion ride at Universal Studios.  Spencer and I’s last visit was around 10 years ago so we thought that would be a perfect family vacation.  We then found out earlier this year that the new Harry Potter land was opening up in April.  We have the movies and have seen them a long time ago but never got really into the books.  I thought since we were going to be going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter we better brush up on our Harry Potter knowledge so we started reading the first book together.  About half way into the book we were all obsessed and true blue HP fans!!  With our vacation on the horizon we didn’t have time to read all the books so we dived right into all the movies.  We finished the last movie Friday night before we left.  We could all not be more excited to see Hogwarts and to walk through the streets of Hogsmeade.  We made it to the park right when they opened.  We were staying at the beautiful Hilton that was the closest hotel to the park.  It was wonderful and being so close was awesome.

 We saw that the line for the Minion ride was super low so we decided that would be our first stop.  Lots of the rides at Universial are either 3D or 4D.  The kids loved the ride!

 After that ride you exit into a Minion world.  It was adorable!

After exploring that area we were so excited to make it over to Hogsmeade.  It was amazing! Just like walking right into the movie or the book.  It was a surreal experience.  It was really neat!

 The characters were wonderful and made it even more of a real experience.  It was so cool that we had just watched all the movies because the kids knew everything and I think it was such an awesome experience for them to feel like they were really walking into this world.

 There are 2 rides in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The flight of Hippogriff which we all could ride and was a family mini roller coaster.  This was the kid's favorite ride.  It was smooth and not that fast but still had the thrill of a roller coaster.  The second ride was, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  This was like a 4D crazy wild thrill ride that you had to be 48" to ride and poor Carter is about 46" he was devastated but we tried to reassure him we might come back since we bought the year pass. They do have the child switch pass like Disneyland but unlike Disneyland the whole party must wait in the line and then at the end of the line one parent and the small child wait in a room while the other rides and then you switch.  It was too bad that poor Carter had to wait in the hour long line just to have to wait in the little room but if he didn't he would have missed all the cool stuff we got to see and going into the Hogwarts Castle.  I loved these screaming plants from the movie:

 It really felt so real!

 Aubrey and daddy went on the ride first while Carter and I waited.  When them came back to the room Aubrey had a huge smile and Spencer looked like he was going to puke and he was so sweaty.  He gets motion sickness and this ride put him almost over the top.  I was a little worried to try it out but went for it with Aubrey and I thought it was pretty fun but I could see how it made Spencer sick.  After that ride we got in line to go to Ollivanders Wand shop to get the wands the kids were dying for.  We got in line at a good  time and only had to wait like 10 minutes.  Earlier in the morning the wait was an hour I think because it's the first thing people see but we got an insider tip from a worker to wait and go later after the morning crowd died down.  When you go into the shop they have a wand maker talk about the wands and then a wand chooses one person in the group.   We orginally thought that person would get a free wand but then found out that even if the wand chooses you, you have to still pay for the wand.  We had our fingers crossed one of our kids would get picked but the wand maker chose another boy.  The magic was really fun to watch.

After the show you exit ino the wand store and the kids were beyond excited.  The wands are pretty pricey so it was such a treat that Nana and Papa sent the kids with some spending money to get their very own interactive wands.  Aubrey picked Hermionies wand which is a beautiful wood wand with vines going up it.  Carter picked Professor Dumbledores wand which is the most powerful wand.  Both wands came with a map.  After they got their wands they were off to set spells.

They have different spots marked all around Hogsmeade that the kids could use their wands.  Each location has a drawing on how to wave your wand and what spell to say and then you see something happen.  It was really cool.  It took lots of practice but once they got it they were casting spells all over.  We got lots of videos.  The kids are still saying the spells and doing the movements all around the house.

 Daddy and I got to enjoy a yummy butterbeer (non alcoholic) while the kids played.

It was then time to explore more of the park.  We went on the Simpson ride minus dad since it was another 4D thing in Springfield.  We watched a great show on movie stunts and then we made it to our absolute favorite ride, The Studio Tour.  That ride is so cool it takes you all around real movie studios and sets.  The ride is about an hour long and it's so much fun I was so into it I forgot to take pictures.  Here was the view from when we got on the tram.

and I got to meet Marilyn Monroe right before the ride.

 It was around 4 at this point and we were all getting pretty tired and hungery so we decided that it was time to leave and check into our hotel.  But first we got to met a few more characters.

 This cracked me up... We saw Spongebob and I said "Aubrey and Carter go take a picture with him." Aubrey ran over but Carter grabbed me and started pretend crying saying "nooooo I'm scared" then a mummy came out of nowhere and he ran and hugged him.  Later that day I asked why he was scared of Spongebob and he said because I don't let him watch that show lol.

We decided to go get a late lunch early dinner at a yummy Mexican place on City Walk before we went and checked into the hotel.  We then checked in.  We had a great room on the 17th floor whith a view of the pool and the Hollywood hills.

Carter was excited to break into his donut we got in Bart Simpson land:

It was huge! He loves donuts so this was a perfect treat for him.  We all had some and still didn't finsh it lol. After our treat we went down to the pool to swim and soak in the hot tub.  It was so nice! After that we came back to the room for some baths, room service and a good night sleep.  The kids slept with their wands.

What a great start to our Vacation!