I was provided complimentary tickets to Universal Studios Orlando in exchange for posting our experience. All thoughts and opinions expressed are 100% my own and our own adventures.
We recently went on a little trip to Orlando, Florida. It was such a quiet, calm, relaxing trip and we hardly did anything.
that was a total lie.
This vacation was anything but a real, relaxing vacation, but it was one of the funnest weeks of my life – definitely. Even friends on instagram were saying “You must be exhausted!” because we were literally on the move and having fun the entire week. A blast y’all… a total blast!
And we finished the week off with one of the best days of the entire trip – a day at Universal Studios Orlando and Islands of Adventure. Yesterday, I shared the fun we got into at Universal Studios and today’s post is all about the sister park, Islands of Adventure!
The first part of the park we headed to was Seuss Landing. We knew the girls would love it and I was quite looking forward to seeing it too! Let me tell you, it was fun! It was seriously like we were transported right inside the Dr. Seuss stories that the girls and I love reading together.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish was the first ride we rode that day and BOY was it a fun one! Instead of just being a simple, around and up and down you go, there was a little rhyme being sung through the ride. It was a rhyme about how to move your fish to keep from getting wet by the other fish squirting! It was so much fun riding with Sophia as she squealed “Go up Mom! No, no, no go down!” SUCH a fun ride to not be missed for ANY age.
There’s also a Seuss-inspired Carousel, a fun Cat in the Hat ride, and a roller coaster in Seuss Landing. Sophie was a bit upset she wasn’t tall enough to ride the roller coaster, but the attendant told her there was one in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter she could ride. He was so nice and really made her excited about some other rides that he suggested! That wasn’t the only time we had a positive experience with Universal Studios employees either. Everyone that we came into contact with was so friendly and helpful!
I have to admit, I made a totally selfish decision to come to Islands of Adventure. I simply HAD to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It wasn’t there the last time I visited Orlando, so it was at the top of my list! And oh my! It was a breathtaking experience for sure!
There were so many rides and scenery in this area, I swear it felt like it’s own park! I could have stayed here all day, looking in the stores, drinking butterbeers, but we didn’t, but I sure did live it up in the Wizarding World while we were there! I rode the Dragon Challenge [oh my goodness, I could barely walk when I got off!], then Rob and Sophia experienced the family roller coaster Flight of the Hippogriff! Sophia LOVED it.
Then, I was told I could not miss the Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey ride. But guess what? I did miss most of it… because I had my eyes closed! This ride literally scared me to death!!! And I don’t get scared often, but let me just tell you, it’s one of a kind and a MUST DO at Islands of Adventure [even if you do keep your eyes closed like me]. Rob was hesitant to ride it, he thinks he’s too cool for Harry Potter, but after he rode it he said “I’m really glad you made me ride that. THAT was a great ride!” That’s all we’re saying. RIDE IT.
One of our other favorite parts of Islands of Adventure was definitely Jurassic Park. I loved it because I’m a huge, huge fan of the movie – I remember being scared to death and mesmerized watching it as a pretty young girl [old enough, no worries!] and the girls loved it because they LOVE dinosaurs. Of course, we didn’t treat them as scary and the girls weren’t scared at all.
We ate lunch in the Jurassic Park Discovery Center and explored the downstairs after.
I swear the girls could have stayed there all day. They loved scanning the eggs and Sophia would guess the dino inside. And I loved seeing that can of shaving cream on the left! Such a cool area. We also rode a really neat ride, which was the longest line we stood in all day at about 25 minutes, called Pteranodon Flyers. Sophia and I literally flew over the park as these dinosaurs [or wait, did you know Pteranodons are not actually dinosaurs? Sophia did.] would have! It was a super cool ride!
Before we closed the park down, and we did, we stayed until the last possible minute and they told us we had to leave, Rob took a turn on The Hulk. I was still spinning from the Dragon Challenge, so I skipped out, but he loved it!
I mentioned yesterday that we had dinner at CityWalk, while we waited on our nighttime entertainment. We were so excited for the chance to see the Blue Man Group live!
I honestly don’t even know what to tell you about this show. I laughed until I cried, I was totally grossed out, and clapping so hard at the same time! A friend had told me they weren’t sure if the girls would enjoy and I wasn’t really sure either. But they did! Moreaya clapped along each time, although I’m pretty sure she didn’t know what was really going on. Both of the girls loved the paint, so much music, and the fact that the men were blue! They weren’t nervous or scared at all, like we were worried they might be.
The Blue Man Group Show is a Definite Must-See!
I wish I could show you more pictures of the show, but this was the only portion we were allowed to take pictures, at the end in the Biggest Dance Party! What a FUN time we had!
If you can’t tell from two gushing posts, we absolutely had the best time exploring Universal Studios and I am counting the days until we get to go back and see it all again – and so much that we didn’t have the chance to see!