When in Florida - Day 7

For our last day in Florida, we *cough* they *cough* decided we could't just go to Universal Studios and call it a day when all the ~real~ roller coasters were in the other park, Island of Adventures. I just tagged along for Harry Potter World;) Thus, as a farewell, instead of spending the last day in the sun, we made the trek back up through the mobs of people and cars and worked our way through another Disney park. And although I'm not usually one for theme parks, this one had a lot to offer and was definitely much better that the first we went to. Harry Potter world ain't got nothin' on Universal!

First of all, Island of Adventures is waaaayyyy more packed than Universal. Which I suppose is normal considering it's bigger and has more attractions. And second of all, its got Harry Potter World!! You're going to have to excuse me while I fangirl because when it comes to Harry Potter, I'm all in. If ever I could choose to be someone else, hands down no argument it would be Hermoine Granger/Emma Watson. 

Look Hogsmeade! And the Hog's Head!

Obviously the train was there, and although there was a conductor, Platform 9 3/4th sadly could not be located. Or maybe I didn't look hard enough...

Of course we got Butterbeer. And of course I kept that mug. Duh. It really is as sweet and rich and butterscotch-y as Harry/Ron/Hermoine made it out to be. So decadently good I couldn't finish it by myself.  

More Hogsmeade because it was just too realistic and because I wish I could live in a place this beautiful in real life. 

Honeydukes's candy parlor was visited and if the line hadn't been so darned long I would have bought everything, including Fizzing Whizbees, Cauldron Cake, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs... Seriously, I could have bought out that entire store without so much as a second thought. 

Then there was the castle. Oh Hogwarts, swoon.  We waited about 45 minutes to tour the castle (it's another ride/simulator) and my goodness it was the best ride I was on in Disney. It was phenomenal. Amazing. Perfect. There are no better adjectives to describe it. First while you wait, you get to go inside the castle and tour and see Dumbledore's study, and the Gryffindor commons, and the talking paintings, and so on and so on. Then, for the actual ride, you sit down and then you proceed to dip down and back and spin and god knows what else as you fly over Hogwarts on a broom, beat Slytherin in a game of Quidditch, and fight off Dementors. I'm telling you: coolest. ride. ever!

there we go much better!

we sure know how to pose for a photo...

As for the rest of the day, I'm pretty proud of myself, and you guys should be proud of me too! I only skimped out on two rides because I would have been crazy to go on them. Otherwise, I did (among others) the Jurrasic Park one which I though was going to be a simple log boat ride that only splashed you a little bit. Oh no, was I wrong. Turns out they failed to mentioned to me that it drops eight fricken floors and gets you soaked from head to toe. The worst part of that surprisingly wasn't the drop. The worst part was that I was considerably smaller than the people I was sitting with so when they lowered the bar, there was enough space to fit another one of me between my actual body and the bar so when we dropped the eight floors I swear I almost flew out. The only good part of that ride though was the picture they snap of you: all of our faces were priceless, I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy it! 

The two roller coasters I didn't ride on were the other water one above which, although not higher than eight stories, definitely shot you out much faster than the Jurrasic Park one. And the The Hulk which was a giant green monster of death that shoots you out at lighting fast speed then proceeds to spin you an ungodly amount of times, all while you're upside down. Nope, those two weren't for me. I just sat patiently and waited for them with Davis' mother (another fellow roller coaster un-enthusiast) and tried to catch some last sunshine before we left. 

Before we left, we also saw The Eight Voyage of Sinbad stunt show which was your regular show featuring a damsel in distress, a hunky hero, and an evil queen and her minions. O and don't forget the goofy sidekick! But nonetheless it was a good performance and the stunts were pretty impressive. After watching Sinbad, the clock had stricken six something and we were all on the consensus that after 9+ hours we were ready to go back home and crash. We rounded out the night by heading home, making some pizzas, and playing family catchphrase. And then after everyone went to bed the girls and I stayed up much too late talking, not packing, and discovering the slow motion camera on our phones. Was it the best decision ever made? no. Was it the most fun? probably, yes. 

Successful day 2 of Disney: check.

Successful last day in Florida: check. 

Am I going to miss it here: you bet your bum, check. 

Florida, it's been real.