Orlando!

We told our kids a few years back that when they turn twelve they can pick anywhere within the United States to go for a holiday to celebrate. Emma turns twelve at the end of this month and chose Orlando. Being a massive Harry Potter fan she knew immediately that she wanted to spend her time at Harry Potter world in The Islands of Adventure park in Universal Studios. Paul booked our flights and park tickets and then also surprised us with park tickets to Disney World too! Emma was so excited and I must admit - so was I! Paul was a real champ and worked from home for the week while watching the twins and Hayden. 

Once we arrived in Orlando (hired the car, found the hotel and ate dinner) we quickly went to bed knowing that the next day was the start of Emma's adventure. First up - Harry Potter world of course! Emma LOVED it here! She was in heaven and kept getting exciting and pointing things out to me - and even though half the time I had no clue why it was so exciting or what it was (hey - I got excited when I saw Hogwarts - I knew that at least!) It was SO fun seeing Emma's face light up at every turn! 

She rode all of the Harry Potter themed rides, visited Hogsmeade, drank butter beer,  visited the different stores to buy all sorts of sweets, goodies, gifts and of course - a wand and took photos outside of just about everything there! We went back to Harry Potter world multiple times during the trip as this was where our favorite ride of all the theme parks including disney world was located! The dueling dragons! SO MUCH FUN! We must have rode these about 40 times over the three days! At the end of the night there weren't any lines so we just kept riding it!

For the rest of the time at Universal we rode every single ride in the park, visited some gift shops, got VERY wet in the water rides section and Emma even got a spray on tattoo of a butterfly. She had seen people walking around with them and wanted one so bad! We ate at a couple different themed restaurants, watched some shows and for some reason Emma was really excited to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. I guess some friends had been talking about it at school so she said we had to go there! I wasn't complaining though - it was yum! 

The next three days was Disney World! We were both so exhausted from walking around Universal for three days straight that we decided to do Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park for the first day. It was a nice break to swim, relax and float along in the lazy river! We did do a lot of the water slides but spent most of our time swimming and playing in the wave pool. The next two days was CRAZY. We had to fit all four disney parks into two days. Luckily the parks - especially magic kingdom - stay open later so we did have until 1am to get it all done. Animal Kingdom was probably our favorite. We loved the monkeys, the shows and the Everest ride. Hollywood Studios was also super fun as it had the scary rides like tower of terror and the Aero Smith rocking coaster. That one was intense! We took pictures with characters and watched some shows.

Magic Kingdom is huge! We got lost multiple times trying to get from section to section and make sure we rode everything. Its busier here - being the main park, but wait times weren't too bad. The only ride we had to wait for a long time for was the new snow white and the seven dwarfs roller coaster. It only opened a few months back so was busy all night long. Splash Mountain and the Rocky Mountain Railroad were among our favorite rides. Em got a pair of Mickey Ears, we watched a few different parades and again - took pictures with the characters. Emma made sure to get photos with Jake and Sophia - the babies favorite characters! 

On our last day at Disney, Paul surprised emma with tickets to Cirque Du Soleil. We LOVE cirque and as usual - they didn't disappoint! The show was amazing - the clowns were hilarious and Emma had a beaming smile the entire time. Way to go Pauly - best surprise ever! 

All in all the holiday was tiring but an absolute blast! I have decided I am getting too old for six straight days of theme parks and late nights but it was all worth it to see how much fun Em had! Happy birthday kiddo! We sure do love you!