Favorite Florida moments - December 2014

I finally finished editing our Universal Florida and Disneyworld pictures.  Here are just a few of our favorites.  (If it feels like there are too  many pictures, please know that I only posted about 1/10 of the ones good enough to edit and about 1/100 of the pictures we took!  Also, these are our favorites because they remind us of a fun memory, not necessarily because they are a quality picture. I was the only one taking pictures on the trip, and I am by no means a  pro photographer.)

We pulled the kids out of school the last week of school before Christmas break and took off for Florida. We rented a nice house with plenty of room for us and the Texas Porters, who joined us after a few days. 

We started the vacation with two days in Universal Studios. We were entranced by Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Both were like stepping into a Harry Potter book!

Joseph bought an official Harry Potter wand at Olivander's and was able to use it all over the parks at interactive spell-casting areas.  Pure 9 year old heaven, I tell ya.

This is the Hogwart Express, running between Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. It was SO REALISTIC. We also loved the Harry Potter and Escape from Gringott's rides. They were always crowded, so we made sure we were at the park first thing in the morning. Once the gates opened we ran through the park and jumped on the Harry Potter rides, avoiding the very long lines later in the day.

Knocking on the door at 12 Grimmauld Street (For all you Muggles out there, that's the home first occuped by Sirius Black and then Harry Potter).  Another cool fact, Diagon Alley is tucked away in a street in "London" in Universal Studios. Much like the book, Muggles would never know it was there.  A park employee stood at the entrance and pointed us to a small opening in the bricks which opened into an absolute Harry Potter wonderland.

Ogling Gilderoy Lockhart's picture and butterbeer, which is so delicious that we tried the regular, slushy, and ice cream versions.

The fire-breathing dragon on the top of Gringott's Bank and the Midnight Bus (with a talking head - see it there behind us?)

There really were lots of other fun rides and cute themed areas throughout the Universal Parks. Harry Potter was just the best. But we did especially also like the Mummy ride and the Spiderman ride.

There were so many clever and authentic touches through the Harry Potter areas. The coolness was off the meter.  

Magic Kingdom

Late Tuesday night Dave, Mimi, and kids arrived in Orlando and joined our party. Early the next morning we visited Magic Kingdom for the first of three times. Ah, it never gets old. 

The new Fantasyland  is AMAZING.  Pictured behind the kids, Rapuzel's tower.

And Belle's castle is behind us in the picture:

Aubrey has acted in both Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, so she found lots of things she could relate to throughout Fantasyland.

Pineapple Dole Whip.  Need I say more?

Bailey made this shirt for the trip:  "I'm not tall, I'm King-Sized."

 

Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom

Joseph and Jeffrey did Jedi Training and prepared to battle Darth Vadar. It was so fun!

The favorite ride in Animal Kingdom by far was Expedition Everest. I lost track of how many times we went on it, especially the teenagers!  We also loved the Safari and the boys liked the interactive clues game they played throughout the park.

The Animal Kingdom is my 2nd favorite Disney park, after Magic Kingdom.  I love the multi-cultural vibe.  In Hollywood Studios we enjoyed so many things, including Fantasmic, the Walt Disney Exhibit, Rockin Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, and Toy Story (which was packed with an hour and a half line from park opening to close.  We finally bit the bullet and waited for it.)

EPCOT

We visited Epcot on two different days. Our favorite part was the World Showcase, with elaborately re-created vignettes from countries and delicious ethnic food!  These are the foods we ate as we traveled "around the world": nachos, tacos, delicious black beans, corn tamale (Mexico), eggrolls and potstickers (China), fancy mac 'n cheese (Germany), shawarma and tabbouleh/hummus plate (Morocco), Napoleon and chocolate eclair and homemade ice cream (France - we discovered the hard way that the gingerbread ice cream was way too strong. But the caramel del sel and white chocolate coconut ice cream were delish).  We ate our way around the showcase on two different days. It's a good thing we were walking about 9 miles a day which helped burn off the calories! The only rides which are worth it in this park are Test Track (very cool) and Soarin' over CA (which we have ridden many times in California).

Dan and I were impressed at how authentic the Germany area was. We recognized the castles and the wall in Rothenberg, which were the inspiration.

And now, some re-creation pictures from the trip we took to the same amusement parks in 2007 with the Texas Porters. Sadly, this time around Brandon, Brooke, and Megan weren't with us!

 2007 - Brooke, Megan, and Bailey   

2014 - Aubrey, Sarah, and Bailey

 Aubrey and Sarah

 

 Aubrey - our girl who loves maps.  

Joined in 2014 by her brother and cousins.

In the red phone booth in England (Epcot).  

2007 - Brandon, Bailey, Brooke, Megan, Nate, Aubrey, Sarah, and Jeffrey

2014 - Bailey, Nate, Aubrey, Sarah, Joseph, Jeffrey, Ryan

 2007 - Brooke and Megan (age 13) and Bailey (age 10)

 2014 - Sarah (age 13), Aubrey (age 14), and Bailey (age 17)

We worked hard to re-create this picture but the boat didn't cooperate and come by at the right moment. Oh well!

Back to the 2014 trip only . . . on Sunday we attended church and then took pictures by the beautiful Orlando temple.

We wore the kids and adults out every day. The boys begged to leave the parks by late afternoon so they could go swimming back at the house.

The parks were beautifully decorated for Christmas with huge themed Christmas trees.

 (One more flashback photo) These boys had so much fun together!
2007 and 2014

 

Last ride on the very last of 9 days in amusement parks:  Tower of Terror, three times in a row!!

We had a wonderful time on this trip, and it was even more fun because we were able to spend time with family. Because we had done the same trip 7 years previous, we projected 7 years into the future and realized this:

• It's very likely that Brooke, Megan, Bailey, and Nate will be finished with college and married.  
• Aubrey and Sarah will be 21, almost 22. They will be almost done with college.
• Joseph and Jeffrey will be 16 almost 17 and juniors in high school.
• Ryan will be 13 years old.

Well, doesn't that put things in perspective!  This was such a special trip to take because the coming years will only bring more changes and fewer kids at home.  Memories are priceless and forever.