Universal Studios

I finally figured out how to link this AWESOME video Gavin made for Brooks to surprise him with Universal on his birthday!

To give you a little back story…

Ellis has been asking to go back to Disney World, but since we’ve already been and we’ve also been listening to the Harry Potter stories, I told her we should go to Universal Studios instead. She was all about it at first, and the plan was for her and I to go on her 10th birthday, just the two of us. Well, she all the sudden decided she wanted a room makeover and party with her friends instead. I was of course bummed, since I’ve never been to Universal and I’m even more obsessed with Harry Potter than the kids, that was until…Brooks said he wanted to go!

The timing was perfect when he told us this because, it was a month before his birthday, which is also 2 weeks before Christmas, and he had hardly any gift ideas to give us and his million family members. He was excited about the idea of going, but a little sad about not having a birthday party and not getting any gifts from us, so that’s when Adam suggested he bring a friend. He got super excited about that idea and immediately thought of Gavin, who also happens to love roller coasters! Of course Gavin was on board right away and super stoked! I got with a Disney planner immediately and booked the plane tickets and Hard Rock Hotel for the three of us (well Adam and the planner did, lol).

Off we go to Florida! 30 degree temps to 70, yes please! I’m so proud of myself for getting all 3 of us on the right plane. I’ve been spoiled with Adam and all of my friends taking care of my travel details for me my whole life!

Brooks was ready to go and Gavin was a little tired after our 4am wake up call!

BIG SURPRISE- the day before we left I was talking to Julie and asked her why in the world she wasn’t coming with us. She talked to David and within 30 minutes had booked a flight to join us! She had to leave from a different airport, but her flight was only 45 minutes behind ours. Her joining us was the BEST decision ever! Not only did I have another adult with me to calm my anxiety, it’s also much better to have 4 people instead of 3 for all the rides!

We checked into our hotel by 10am and were off to the water park by 11!

It was a little chilly when you got wet, but the water was heated! The water park had been closed due to weather the whole week, and just so happened to open up the day we arrived, and then closed back down the rest of the time we were there. It was definitely meant to be! Santa couldn’t let those tickets he bought for Brooks go to waste!

This volcano had several slides going through it and was so cool! I love how clean everything was. Disney definitely pays attention to all of the details!

Silly boys having fun while we wait in line…

Julie being there forced me to ride most of the rides, which I’m so grateful for. I had just as much if not more fun than the boys!

Gavin and Brooks got along great and had so much fun together!

I absolutely LOVED getting to spend this one on one time with Brooks!

Santa gave him this Harry Potter shirt, but it’s definitely more fitting for Ellis or Shep, lol. Brooks is such a good kid!

Hang on tight!

Universal actually has two theme parks (3 if you include the water park, Volcano Bay), Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. In the middle of both theme parks is a really cool area called “City Walk”, which has all kinds of awesome restaurants and shopping. All of these were with in walking distance of our hotel, which was super convenient and incredible! After our fun day at the water park, we went back to our hotel to shower and change, and then we walked to City Walk for dinner and dessert!

Of course we had to take pictures in front of the famous Universal sign!

Best Mommy/Son trip ever!

Brooks called this the Wonka chocolate factory! Such a cool restaurant!

We had to go back every night to get the BEST chocolate bar he’s ever had!

Here’s a view of the factory during the day! We had to walk past it to get to the Islands of Adventure Theme Park in the morning!

Staying at the Hard Rock Hotel allowed us early access into the parks AND Express passes! We decided to go to the Islands of Adventure park first since they have the most popular ride, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure! It’s the only ride you can’t use the express pass for, and already had any hour wait an hour before the park even opened!

I was SO giddy walking into Hogwarts for the first time. Disney really does a phenomenal job recreating every little detail!

They have so much entertainment while you wait in line, it’s almost like you want to wait in line so you don’t miss the cool stuff along the way. These were the dragon eggs from Hagrid’s motorbike ride!

Even the seats on the rides are incredible!

We seriously felt like we were in London at Hogwarts!

The Monster Book of Monsters for the Care of Magical Creatures class!

Chocolate Frog from Honey Dukes was a must!

And of course a butter beer!

The castle!!! I want to go to school there!

The cool stuff while waiting in line for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Ride!

Dumbledore!

It’s a little wobbly, but Julie was able to record the whole ride!

My face, lol

Jurassic World was our next favorite part of Islands of Adventure and the VelociCoaster was Brooks’ favorite ride of all the rides. There were only two rides I chickened out on and the VelociCoaster was one of them. It goes up to 70 miles per hour, that’s a big nope from me!

The Hulk was the other ride I refused to ride. Julie and Gavin said it made them nauseous with all the twists and turns, so I took their word for it and opted out!

The second day was definitely more chilly than the first. It was in the 60’s, and these crazies still rode a water ride!

Dr. Doom’s Free Fall was another nope for me at first– just look at how fast this thing shoots up and then falls…

Julie, Brooks, and Gavin made it look so fun though (to be continued…)

After riding all of the thrill rides we wanted to at The Islands of Adventure Park, we decided to take the Hogwarts Express over to Universal Studios!

It was so cool and all the special effects were awesome!

The boys stopped and talked to the headless driver from the night bus (it’s in the Harry Potter books)!

I have no idea how they do this, but it’s so cool!

Waiting in line for the old school Simpsons Ride. There’s not as much cool stuff to entertain you while waiting like the newer rides have, but they made some pretty funny jokes!

They got to meet a real live transformer!

The 3-D Transformers ride was pretty awesome too!

After almost 12 hours at both parks we finally got to enjoy a nice sit down dinner at this place called CowFish. They had burgers and sushi (hence the name), which was perfect for both kids and adults!

Then of course we had to go back to the chocolate factory for these ridiculously delicious shakes!

That’s a wrap on our second day! Time to crash at the hotel, which we did immediately!

The plan was to get up at 6:30 to get in line early for the Hagrid’s Motorbike ride from the day before. Brooks and I both woke up completely exhausted though, while Julie and Gavin woke up bright and chipper and ready to go– darn those morning people! We opted to sleep in while they went ahead of us, and then didn’t wake up again until 9:30, nearly 3 hours later– oops! We took a water taxi to Islands of Adventure to meet up with them as soon as we got up and moving!

Our first ride of the day was the Storm Force Acceleration– think spinning tea cups, but much faster. I was determined not to be a chicken on the last day and say yes to all the rides (well all except the VelociCoaster and the Hulk)!

First up, I decided to give Dr. Dooms FearFall a chance, and boy am I glad I did! It was so much fun that I immediately wanted to do it again!

Then we went back to Hogwarts to check out Olivander’s Wand Show.

They choose one person in the audience from every show to gift a wand to, and unfortunately none of us were chosen. It was still a pretty cool show though!

And then of course we had to buy the boys magical wands!

There were interactive things all over the park you could use the wand for…

Back on the Hogwarts Express to head over to Universal!

We completely missed Diagon Alley the day before (there are no signs and it’s hidden behind a brick wall), and man am I sooooo glad we found it on our last day. It’s even cooler than Hogwarts! I still seriously can’t believe we almost missed this entire Harry Potter section of Universal…

Even the stores are incredible!

It was in the 50’s our last day and we brought no coats with us. Brooks was fine, but I HAD to buy a Gryffindor beanie to help warm me up!

Lunch at the Leaky Cauldron was by far my favorite food of the trip! Beef stew and sticky toffee bread pudding was delish!

Using his magic interactive wand again…

Waiting to get squirted with water, lol…

Every detail is just insane. There were floating books, hidden dark alleys, and magic around every corner!

They even had this dragon on top of a building that breathed an insane amount of fire every fifteen minutes!

Gringott’s bank!

And now waiting in line for the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringott’s 3-D ride, which might have been my favorite ride! That or the Revenge of the Mummy ride that I have no pics of.

Had to check out the Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast, even though it was a “kiddie” ride it was still pretty neat!

Faced my fear and road the Rip Ride Rocket because Brooks begged me to. It was fun, glad I did it, but I was one and done. Brooks and Gavin rode it like 3 more times, lol!

Julie headed back to the hotel early (that 6:30 wake up call caught up to her), while Brooks, Gavin, and I shut the park down! We were having so much fun and didn’t want it to end! Our flight got canceled the next day because of the bad weather in Dallas, but we were thankfully able to get on Julie’s 6am flight. The four hours of sleep we got was totally worth shutting the park down! Of course we had to make a pit stop to the chocolate factory on our way back to the hotel too! The sign in the background says it all, it was definitely an EPIC trip. I loved every second of the one on one time with Brooks. He’s so good and easy and the perfect travel partner! This is a trip I hope he carries with him and remembers for the rest of his life! We are BIG fans of Universal and will definitely be back!

Meanwhile back in McKinney, this is what we came home to…

I’m not going to lie, I was super anxious about leaving Ellis, but she had an absolute blast with Maddie and Shep and the Daddy’s! It was really good for both of us to spend some time apart.

The Daddy’s took the girls to Main Event and spoiled them rotten while Shep was at a birthday party!

Adam also bought this insane new golf simulator for the garage!

The boys are supposed to be able to use it for baseball too!

Got home from an incredible trip to Universal and then got to celebrate Brandy at a surprise dinner! It’s been a while since all 9 of us baseball moms have been together! One year ago around this time we were all celebrating in Mexico! I think I’ve cracked the code on the perfect time to travel. Right after the holidays everything is WAY less crowded!

I love my friends!

If you thought this post was awesome just wait for the next one! Best weekend ever post coming soon….