Universal and Harry Potter!

A couple of weeks ago, the Harris family embarked on yet another memorable vacation. As a family of 12 (missing Greg, Tisha, and Kate), we went to Universal Studios to explore Harry Potter World and some of the other attractions...and they did not disappoint. We had a BLAST. The day after our adventure at Universal Studios, we boarded the Disney Fantasy for a seven-night cruise (more on that later). :) 

Friday, July 22nd:

Walker tried to be grumpy. He succeeded. But he also had some fun. :) 

waiting on Ella's parents and brother :)

sweet girls, minus Kate :(

our view upon entering Harry Potter World

This Ukranian Ironbelly dragon sits atop of Gringotts Bank in Diagon Alley and blows simulated (but very hot) fire every so often. It's crazy!

These animatronic goblins greeted us just before our "Escape from Gringotts" ride (which is housed inside the Gringotts Bank). It was so cool...these guys look very real!

Holograms were everywhere...take this newspaper, for example. (Hence the black rectangle...holograms do not show up in photos!) 

Mysterious shadows, talking behind closed doors. I have not read any of the Harry Potter books, but I was certainly taken with everything. So much detail and thought went into every aspect of this place. It was incredible! 

Butterbeer! It is a non-alcoholic, sweet, caramel-flavored drink topped with whipped cream. It was delicious.

The Taco

our family in front of the fire-breathing dragon

using magic wands and making words appear

Even Walker enjoyed it!

just making some magic happen

Walker, Lainey, and Ella

We had to wait on the "9-3/4" railway platform for the Hogwarts Express to take us from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade. :)

aboard the train

Hogwarts

Switching gears...

The DeLorean. I loved the Back to the Future movies!

a transformer, at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park (next door to Universal Studios)

very cool, very large, very realistic

sweet Cousin Cally was befriended by a character from SpongeBob SquarePants (I don't know its name)

Ben and Walker with Chief Wiggum from The Simpsons

This picture makes me laugh so hard. Lainey seems to be the only one legitimately having fun on this ride.  (Second row, second from the right.) The Harrises/Cooks sat on the second, third, and fourth rows.

Surprisingly, Walker did pretty well visiting the theme parks. We were all so proud of him for only melting down a few times. His favorite ride was the "E.T. Adventure" (circa 1990). Basically, there were a lot animatronic E.T. characters (see the picture above) alongside a very slow-moving ride where we were pretending to ride a bike through the night sky. Anyway, I love that he loved this experience the most. Lainey went for the big and bold experiences, while Walker stuck to the safe and predictable. Such a perfect metaphor for their different personalities.

And. This! This is the giant roller coaster that Lainey, Ben, Brooke, Collin, our guide Jay and I rode at the very end of the day. It's INSANE. Lainey cried the entire way up (it was straight up) and I closed my eyes. I couldn't even handle it. I'm too old for roller coasters! But after all was said and done, Lainey loved it. I'm in awe of that girl. She is fearless!