Life on the Clayton Farm: Universal's Islands of Adventure

Thursday we planned to spend the day at the Universal Studio parks. Once again, we didn't even scratch the surface of all there was to do and see. In fact, we only made it to Islands of Adventure...and only part way through that. However, what we were able to get to was a whole lot of fun. The morning was a little rough with a bit too much fighting on the way to the park, and the weather was a bit too hot and humid throughout the day, but overall, it turned out to be a fabulous day.

Jacob has been reading the Harry Potter series, so he was thrilled to learn that "the Wizarding World of Harry Potter" was in Orlando. He had been excited to see this from day one. However, I insisted that this day we would start in an area that would be fun for the little ones as well. Luckily in order to get to Hogwarts, you must pass right through Seuss Landing. Perfect!

Seuss Landing was awesome. I love Dr. Seuss and his crazy creativity anyway so I loved the way this part of the park was built and decorated. Everyone enjoyed all there was to see. This guy was standing outside one of the rides and as you would walk by, he would gently throw the ball to you...even if you weren't paying attention to him. It was actually kind of funny to watch people's reactions. My boys of course thought it was great. They all took turns throwing the ball into the net. Bryce thought it was great to watch!

The Cat in the Hat ride.

The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train. Annalise was too small to go on this one, so we took turns going with the boys. Bryce actually got to sit in his own seat. He did pretty well.

We had a treat in Seuss Landing, went on a couple of other rides and then into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. They really have done an amazing job with this part of the park as well. I'm not a Harry Potter fan, but even I was impressed with all they had done. It was also fun for Jacob to see so many things right out of the book and to have him tell us all about it.

We started off with a frozen Butterbeer! Oh man, that stuff is delicious. I was hooked from the moment I tasted it. Jacob made sure to ask the man who was selling it what was in it. He was very relieved when he found out that it did not have alcohol in it. =)

Dragon Challenge. This is a high speed roller coaster ride, actually two that intertwine. Unfortunately, none of the kids could go on this, but John did and said it was great.

Waiting for our turn on the Flight of the Hippogriff

Hogwarts Castle

This was a truly amazing castle. You first walk through the different rooms and then get to the ride called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The ride was incredible. Very different than any I have been on. It is amazing what they can do these days!

Bryce was a good sport most of the day although there was not one thing that he could really participate in throughout the entire time at the Harry Potter part of the park.

Before leaving Hogwarts we ate lunch in the Three Broomsticks. We had a delicious lunch of ribs, chicken, corn, potatoes, and of course more Butterbeer. We passed on the pumpkin juice though!

It was crowded in here, but nice and cool, so when Bryce fell asleep in my arms, we just let everyone take their time eating and enjoyed the atmosphere. John's Aunt Victoria came to spend some time with us here also. She came when we were just about finished eating. She sat at the table with Jacob, John, and Annalise and shared their meal with them. Then a funny thing happened. I hope Aunt Victoria doesn't mind my sharing this, but it made such an impression on William that I have to write it in here as a memory for us. The ladies behind William in this picture were sharing the "Great Feast Platter".

They finished their meal and left while we were still there. As we were getting ready to leave, Aunt V came over to our table to see if we had any leftovers, when I said that we had already given ours to John she looked over onto the table where the ladies had been and realized there was still some food there. She went over and helped herself to it. The funny part was William's reaction. He just sat there very still and looked at me, and said, "did she really just eat food off of those people's plates?!" He put into words exactly what I was thinking. =) He was horrified. I just said, " she sure did...welcome to the Laney side of your family!" Aunt V made sure we knew that it was her sister who had taught her to do that. So funny. Not something I would do, but then again...to each his own I guess!

Spencer was too short to go on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride and was very upset about it. While I was on the ride with William and Jacob, John took the other kids into Honeydukes sweetshop. They had Acid Pops, exploding bonbons, Cauldron Cakes, treacle fudge, Fizzing Whizzbees, Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, and Chocolate Frogs. John bought Spencer this lollipop and bought a chocolate Frog for the other boys to share. It even had a wizard trading card in it. He decided to stay away from the Every-flavour beans!

Spencer was nice enough to share with William.

Mmmm...my Butterbeer!

All of us outside of Three Broomsticks. Aunt Victoria was really great about holding Annalise and helping with all of the kids.

They went to a lot of work to make everything as real as possible.

On our way out of the park, we passed back through Seuss Landing. As we were walking, we saw the Cat in the Hat. Anytime we would see characters, they let us move right up and talk with them. We didn't ever have to wait in line. I felt bad for the people who were passed by, but no one seemed to mind.

Bryce totally loved the Cat in the Hat!

Next we saw the Grinch

After seeing the Grinch, we were told that there was going to be a short show in just a few minutes. So we decided to stay and watch it.

I'm glad that we stayed. During the show, one of the park workers came up to me and told us to go with her after the show and she would get a private session with the characters once they were finished talking with the kids inside.

They met us behind the building and talked with us a little and then took some pictures for us.

Here we are with Sam I Am, Cat in the Hat, the storybook reader, Grinch, and Thing 1 and 2! It was great!

We were also told that on the other side of the park, there would be superheros out meeting people soon. When we got there, we just saw one at first. It took us a while to figure out who this was. No, this is not Captain Yellow Underpants, this is actually cyclops from X-Men.

Jacob saw Dr. Doom's Fearfall and instantly wanted to ride. Why he likes these things I will never know! William would have ridden also, but wasn't quite tall enough, so Jacob and John rode together.

While we were waiting for them, an employee told me that soon the Marvel Superheros would be coming back to that area and if we waited, they would let us meet with them. Soon we saw all of them coming back on their quads. I thought that was kind of funny!

There was another MAW boy ahead of us and then we went in to meet them and for pictures. They were all very nice and made sure to tell the boys who they were.