It was a Universal Studios and Island of Adventure weekend!
Friday/Friday Night
A couple of friends and I had planned a quick weekend trip to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in Orlando, so Friday morning we got on a plane and headed that way!
We had a layover in Charlotte…
… and then we were in Orlando! We got to our hotel, got semi-unpacked, freshened up, and headed out to City Walk. For those wondering, we stayed at Loews Royal Pacific. We had reservations at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium at 6:30 but were able to do a little shopping beforehand.
After eating, we did a little shopping at Toothsomes
…and then headed back to the room. Traveling is tiring!
Saturday
Saturday was our Islands of Adventure day. We ate breakfast at the hotel, and then walked to the park. This is the park where Hagrid’s is, and since it is the only one that doesn’t have the express pass, we hit it up first.
We knew that even after waiting the 2 hours (yes…2 hours), we would still be able to ride all of the other rides because we had the express pass lanes. On the way through the park, to get to Hagrid’s, we passed through Seuss Land 🙂 we actually passed through another time or two
We ate lunch at FireEaters. It is my favorite quick-eat place!
I did not get pictures but, in addition to Hagrid’s, we rode, in no particular order, Jurassic World VelociCoaster, Harry Potter & the Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff, Skull Island: Reign of Kong, The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, and The Cat in the Hat.
At some point, we passed back through Seuss Land and made a stop for some sweets…
…saw some Seuss characters…
…and did a little shopping.
Once we left the park for the day, we headed to our reservation at BigFire.
After dinner, it was back to the room for the night!
Sunday
This was our Universal Studios day! We started the day out with breakfast at the hotel, and then we headed to the park. Upon entering, you are immediately in Minion land.
In no particular order, we rode Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Villian-Con Minion Blast, Revenge of the Mummy (rode it 3 times!), E.T. Adventure, Fast and Furious: Supercharged, Men in Black Alien Attack, Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Transformers: The Ride 3D.
Like the other park, this park has different areas within the park. One of my favorites is Diagon Alley. This is also where we ate lunch – at the Leaky Cauldron.
We left the park and headed to our reservation at Vivo. Sadly, I did not get a picture of anything at Vivo but we all agreed that this was our favorite. The food was DELICIOUS! Before heading back to the room, we did stop at Voodoo Donuts. There are so many to choose from but my favorite is their apple fritter.
After picking up those carbs mentioned above that we didn’t need HA, we headed back to the room for the night, and to pack up for the trip home.
*linking up with Holly & Sarah for Hello Monday!
