Harry Potter World (and the rest of Universal Studios)!
Our "Christmas Trip"! A year ago, when we first told the kids about our plan to live and travel in an RV for a year, we asked them what were some of the things they wanted to see and do. They named national parks, and places of US History and Church History, and they wanted to see and experience new places, and they mentioned it would be fun to go to Harry Potter World. So, we decided that would be a fun thing to do--and that would be their big Christmas present. The intent was visiting "Harry Potter World", which is just a part of Universal Studios. We, of course, experienced the whole park, but were quite impressed and excited about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
Our first day was Monday--and we were excited to hit the park.
Upon our original exploring, we looked up and saw Colton and Daxton scheming away... ha ha! Those two....isn't that what brothers are for?!? :)
It was fun that it was decorated for Christmas, too!
Best ornament of all--reflections of family!
The kids wore Harry Potter shirts for the first day, but Daxton and Sierra went above and beyond! Daxton outgrew his and we got him new ones (of the same favorite ones) last birthday, and Sierra inherited his old ones. So, they got to match--I love how excited she gets to be matching with him, and how sweet and willing Daxton is, making it fun for them!
Entering Harry Potter World's "Diagon Alley" was so fun!
It was pretty magical, bringing the stories to life--
I loved seeing their reactions!
(Look at Ryah grabbing Colton--they were ecstatic!)
There were so many nice touches, making it so magical!
Like the suspended, "floating" Firebolt broom, in the shop window.
And the floating, suspended wand!
We got one of the interactive wands, for the kids to share. They got to go around and do all the interactive "spells"--making the water fountain start...
Making the eyes open and move around--
Making the "rain" fall around the umbrella (Marie kept dry under the umbrella)--
Sierra trying...
She wasn't quite tall enough, so Colton gave her a lift--
There were a number of different spells they could do, scattered throughout. Very fun.
Colton and Daxton, riding Hagrid's motorbike--
We got a couple of classic butterbeers to share--
And the dragon on top of Gringotts....
...being a fire-breathing dragon!
A personal favorite--"Gilderoy Lockhart"!
Flourish & Blotts--
Cute Sierra--
Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!
So much fun! And then we went to "King's Cross Station"....
To go to Platform 9 3/4...
...and take the Hogwart's Express!
All aboard!
On Tuesday, we went back for more!
It was very well done!
Then, we arrived at the other part of Harry Potter World--the train took us to Hogsmeade!
Checking out the magic sweets store--Daxton and the "Every Flavor Beans"
Hogwarts castle!
We went on the Escape from Gringotts, the Forbidden Journey, the (amazing) Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, and the Hippogriff ride...
It was a full day!
On Tuesday, we went back for more!
First off, Jonnie and the older kids all went on some bigger rollercoasters, which Sierra wasn't big enough for. They had a great time!
And then they came and found Sierra and I...
While they were rollercoastering, Sierra and I explored all the fun things in the younger kids' section in Dr. Seuss Land--
Her first time on a carousel!
She was excited, can you tell? :)
And she was excited to meet some Dr. Seuss characters--
We even got to take the tram ride, up in the sky!
We got some great views of the park!
And then we joined up again with the others--
And we all went on the "One fish, two fish..." ride with Sierra--
(Marie and Sierra)
(Daxton and Ryah)
(And Jonnie and I)--
Little Miss Cat in the Hat!
The red-shirt crew!
Day 2 of matching shirts!
Over to Harry Potter World/Hogsmeade again!
Daxton and I at the end of Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure--it is amazing! Seriously, it's one of my all-time favorite rides! Love it!
They have this clever idea now (I wouldn't know how long they've been doing it, but it's new to me!)--called "Child Swap". You can wait in line, all together, and then there's a special room for a parent to wait with a child who can't go on the ride--the other parent goes on the ride, and then presents their "child swap ticket" at the end, and you swap out, and the other parent gets to go on the ride (with the rest of your group) without having to wait in line again. Brilliant! And very considerate. Our kids LOVED it, because for long-lined rides, they could go twice for one "wait". Again, BRILLIANT!
Sierra commented that it should be called "Parent Swap", instead....she has a point! Clever girl!
Sierra with the "train conductor"--he even spoke with a British accent, so she was thrilled and has decided he really is from Harry Potter's World! :)
All the kids!
Sierra was such a good sport, and I was glad for all the fun things she got to do, too.
She liked the stuffed animals--including Fluffy (the 3-headed dog from the first book!)
Another fun day!
The Mirror of Erised.
From the books, you learn how whoever looks in this mirror sees what they most desire. The kids said, "It totally works! I see all my family together!" Nice. Love that.
The boys with Fawkes, the Phoenix!
Ryah, with Dumbledore in his office!
Harry, Ron, and Hermione instructing you, before the Forbidden Journey ride.
We then headed over for other rides--like Jurassic Park!
Truth be told, we rode almost every ride in the park! And there were a lot that Sierra was able to join us on, and she loved that. A number of them do virtual videos, too--
We saw a few characters, as well--
from Transformers:
and Wolverine, from X-Men:
That night, there was a parade that we caught, just as we were heading out of the park.
We got some decent seats, to watch the show--
It was Christmas-themed, which was fun:
We enjoyed having the Christmas decorations throughout the park--
Wednesday was the first of the "free days", and boy, we filled it! Marie was with us for the first few hours, until she needed to head to the airport. So, we focused on the rollercoasters she wanted to do.
We just liked the old truck, with the Christmas trees--very festive!
With Doctor Emmett Brown (from Back to the Future)
This is such an awesome crew! We had a good, full experience and enjoyed it all, together!
The next day (today), we headed down to Homestead, to Miami Everglades RV Resort. We will have a couple days to explore around here.
Sierra had another Harry Potter shirt on this day...and she took out her braids from the night before, and her hair was wavy, "like Hermione". So she wanted to wear a skirt, and she asked Daxton if she could wear his black church socks, so she could look like Hermione's Hogwart's uniform.
She is too cute!
She also has got some groovy dance moves! She would hear the music played throughout the park, and couldn't help but break out into dance!
We headed over to Diagon Alley, to get some butterbeers before Marie left.
We had goodbye hugs with Marie...we are SO glad that she came and joined us for our Christmas present-adventure! It was fun to have her there with us.
Jonnie took her over to get her Uber ride, while the kids and I explored some.
And then Sierra and I hung out, while the big kids went on the Escape from Gringotts ride.
On her broomstick, ready for Quidditch! :)
Casting a spell--"Wayfaring Wizards Welcomed"
Watching the performers--
And then we were off to try some more new things--
The modes of time travel from "Back to the Future"--
With Doctor Emmett Brown (from Back to the Future)
We went on the ET ride, and it had a sweet, magical element to it. We liked it!
And we went to the Curious George kids' section, for Sierra! :)
This ball-shooting area was a blast, too! (love her delight!)
Racing with Woody Woodpecker!
Then, we took the Hogwarts' Express again, and I made sure to capture their "passing through" platform 9 and 10, this time. This was fun--there's a mirror that makes it look like they are actually passing through the brick wall, like how they do in the books/movies.
So clever!
(Colton and Daxton passing through)
Waiting in line for Hagrid's ride...kids sat down when they could. Starting to feel the achey legs from the DAYS of walking...but they never complained!
That night, before we left, we happened to catch some fun things in Hogsmeade.
The quaintness and the lights was charming--
Janson said that he thinks Christmas time is the best time to come to Harry Potter world--it's magical.
I would have to agree!
AND...we happened to catch the lights show on Hogwarts Castle!
It was quite impressive!
We then took the Hogwarts' Express back to the other park, to go back to our car.
Taking the train back, at the end of the day, was a nice way to end the day. It was fun.
We passed through the park, heading to the parking garage, and enjoyed the lights of Christmas decorations--
And the lights show over the water!
Family picture!
A big hug for her big brother, who would carry her when her little legs got too tired at the end of the day (along with her sweet dad)
Daxton "touching" the star on the tree!
Thursday was our last day. Jonnie had to work, and Marie was back home. So, it was me and the 5 kids. We had heard there was stormy rain heading in, so we thought we'd just do a partial day, to get in our favorites one last time.
This was a big week for Colton. At times, he was nervous about the big rollercoasters, but he really WANTED to go on them. He tends to over-think and psyche himself out. But, knowing he wanted to do it, and wanting to give him the opportunity to work through things...we encouraged him. I had gone on the Rip Ride Rockit with him the day before, and he did it!
(167 feet tall with top speeds of 65 mph)
Jonnie and I both had told him that he didn't have to go on these rollercoasters, but if he wanted to, we would be there for him. We also worked with him on focusing on good things, instead of what's scaring him--remembering hard things he's done before, how he felt afterward, that we are there with him, etc.
This was really an opportunity for him to work through something, and not let it overcome him. And boy, did he step up! So proud of him!
He went on Rip Ride Rockit again on Thursday, while I waited with Sierra--
He is feeling pretty awesome--in fact, the Velocicoaster was one he was nervous about and I went with him on his first time. Then, I child-swapped with Janson, and Colton chose to go a SECOND time, when Janson did. And I wasn't there. And it ended up being his favorite ride! So glad!
Colton felt bad that it was scary to him, at first, and not others. But sweet Janson pointed out that he thinks Colton is the brave one--because for it to make Colton nervous, but then he still goes and does it, that takes courage! Good point. Sweet brother!
So grateful for opportunities to help us grow and gain confidence.
We did a number of the favorites and got them in (including one of Sierra's favorites--the Spiderman ride).
We headed back over for a last stop in Harry Potter World.
(Getting more pictures of the other kids in their magical passing to Platform 9 3/4)--
So magical!
We were foiled in our plans, though, as the rain came a little earlier. They started closing down rides, including Hagrid's and Forbidden Journey....so we thought we'd just get one last fun thing, and then go.
And....then that rain turned to a torrential downpour!
So.....we headed out!
We got SOAKED!!
It was crazy. It took a couple of days for our shoes to dry out!
But, hey, it was part of the adventure and the memory!
This is such an awesome crew! We had a good, full experience and enjoyed it all, together!
The next day (today), we headed down to Homestead, to Miami Everglades RV Resort. We will have a couple days to explore around here.
Tonight, we watched one of our favorite Christmas movies--"It's a Wonderful Life"!
It really is a wonderful life...being with this family of mine. And it's been a wonderful year, exploring and experiencing new things together, growing closer and closer. So grateful!!
