Universal Studios 2015 & Halloween Horror Nights!

Ok so I'm so behind on blogging. I'm sorry. I promised an update on this trip and here it finally is!

As usual, we leave the island the day before, shop for the last couple things we might need, go to bed early and get up at 3:30 am to get to the airport at 4. Our flight left at 5:15 to Toronto.


We didn't have much time there. We did end up getting Starbucks and eating that on the plane. Thankfully because that tiny pretzel package wasn't going to do much. 

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale at around 11. We actually found our friends in the airport. We were in separate shuttles, so met again in the lobby of our hotel. 


We stayed at the Lowes Royal Pacific right on the Universal grounds. It was a really nice hotel with a nice pool and our room was lovely. 

We spend that day wandering around City Walk, eating and shopping. We even spent some time at the pool, soaking up some vitamin d before it becomes unavailable in Canada! 

We ate at a place called the Cowfish. It was awesome. I loved it. I cannot wait to have sushi again! Yum!! 

We went to bed pretty late that night, considering all we had planned for the next day!

We got up early on Saturday to take advantage of our early park admissions. We were able to get into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter an hour earlier than the general public. Which means 7 am. We did it though! We had breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron and it was really tasty! I had the Mushroom and Leek Pasty. I'd like to have one now! Haha!



We spent the day wandering between both parks, riding all the rides we wanted to do, some more than others. We rode the Dragon Challenge coaster a total of 8 times between both days. We did Ripsaw Falls and the Jurassic Park ride and I got totally soaked. We went to eat after that, and I was still soaking wet after that, so we went back to the hotel so I could change. It's pretty convenient to be on the resort that's connected to the park!


I'd say that my favourite rides were obvoiusly the Dragon Challenge, plus the Gringotts ride, the Hogwarts ride, and the Mummy. I wish the Hulk was open, but it is closed until next summer. We referred to it as the coaster that must not be named the whole trip. It's a good ride too!


My least favourite was hands down the Shrek one. Come on Universal. Seriously. And Twister. How old is that 'ride' anyway??


On the Mummy ride, I lost my glasses after the first couple quick turns, but somehow Erin caught them between her feet. It was a miracle, because I needed those things! It was sunny!


I'm not sure we even had an official dinner that night. We had ice cream every day from Cold Stone. Yum!

That night, was probably the best night ever. I'm a TOTAL Harry Potter fan, so this is going to sound totally stupid to pretty much everyone else, but we all got Butterbeer and sat against the wall and waited for the sun to set and the lights to come on in Hogwarts. That part of the park is SO well done it looks amazing. I realize it's not as big as it looks, but they are pretty stinking smart to be able to make it look so good. Also, we were really tired, and sitting was nice!



I hadn't seen Diagon Ally yet, and it was awesome! I loved going in and out of the shops and looking at everything. It was so well done! They even had Knockturn Ally! And the Knight Bus! And the people who work there are in character! I was seriously considering quitting my job and going to work at Hogwarts. Incidentally, I told Harper I was going to Hogwarts when we left on this trip, and now she thinks I work at Hogwarts and asks me if I'm going there every time I go to work.


We went to bed decently early that night. We were all pretty beat.

We got up and did it all over again the next day. We rode all the rides we liked best again.


I don't know if you've ever looked at the Rock It roller coaster, but that thing is straight up. I didn't like that. It felt like you were going to fall out backwards. The rest of the ride was awesome though!


That afternoon we went and sat by the pool and rested for a bit because at 6:30 Halloween Horror Nights started.


We got express passes, and it was SO worth it. We got in way faster than most people and we could skip the 2 hour lines in favour of 20 minute ones.


I think my favourite haunted house was the 25 Year Anniversary one. It has monsters/bad guys from the last 25 years of Universal movies/TV. That one had weeping angels. Scary!!!! And clowns! And...santa. Yeah.


In between each haunted house were scare zones, which were the most scary to me, because I kept trying to see the people dressed up and wasn't focused enough to see everyone, so they easily jumped up and scared me. One of the areas was really nicely done with floating pumpkins and hay stacks but I couldn't get pictures because people kept scaring me. There were SO many people there, it's easy to jump out at someone!


By the end of the night (1 AM) I was so tired that I didn't even care if they jumped out. I was so ready for bed. Going pretty much straight from 6 AM until 1 AM the next day (38 000 steps on the Fitbit!) and I was done.


We had to get up at 4:30 to get our shuttle to the airport, so we got 3 hours of sleep before we flew home. It was a LOOOONG day. I kept thinking "I'm too old for this" but I'm not. This is the time when I SHOULD be doing this! So I shall!

I've got another crazy adventure planned for March! Can't wait to tell you all about it! 

Comments

  1. A weekend away at Universal? THAT'S AWESOME! Have to admit,kind of jealous. I'm a HUGE Hogwarts fan and that butterbeer is DIVINE!

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  2. What a wonderful weekend you had!! Your halloween eve also looks so fun. I love all the places you visited on your weekend. I am also going to visit LA soon. Actually I am going there to visit some garden Los Angeles event venues for my sister’s engagement party. Hoping to find a beautiful venue soon!

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