i did no travelblogging from florida! do you know how hard it is to travelblog in a house with 8 other people? well, i could’ve made it work, but i was feeling the FOMO.

day 1:

we flew out of terminal 2 at MSP, which was a breeze. no line in the bag check and security took like 5 minutes. i ended up taking a shuttle from st. cloud to the airport, which i would definitely do again! it was especially nice because nate could have the car all week and i could park the truck at the shuttle place.

we flew out at 3ish and landed in florida at about 7:30 ET (jumped ahead an hour). then it was chaos while liz tried to find us at the rental car counter. but we connected (obviously) and got our two cars. jane’s license expired and so she wasn’t able to drive, which was ok. we didn’t do a ton of driving.

then to the pretty awesome for the price airbnb, which had a wonderful heated pool on the first night and no subsequent nights. #thankskim liz and i went grocery shopping at walmart at 10 p.m. then it was time to get to bed because the next day was disney!!

day 2:

so, consensus is that no one has to go back to disney. i mean, it was a good thing to go and check out magic kingdom, but it’s not worth the price to get in, in my opinion. after we got through parking, through security, and over the lake (talk about a rigamarole), the main street was full of shops with fancy-pants adult items, like crystal figurines and $200 canvas artwork and jewelry that i would be afraid to wear if i bought it.

i didn’t ride any rides, so i beat it after trying to be with everyone else, just so i could walk through the park and take a look at everything. i ended up finding gaston’s tavern, so i bought a coffee and a souvenir gaston mug and parked it in the corner. it wasn’t much longer when jane called and said “where are you i have to get out of here” and so she and i sat in the tavern for a bit, then took a walking tour of the park. we went up the swiss family robinson tree house (fun!) and then walked through the pirates shop, where we each bought pirate hats to wear for the day.

meanwhile, the other were in line for rides for hours!!! dumbo took two hours! unbelievable! after that, the kids and dudes took a break while the ladies went for fancy lunch in beast’s castle!! if we were able to do THAT without a park ticket, i would do that again. food was delicious, there was grey stuff (delicious – just ask the dishes), and we got a bottle of champagne. plus, jane got a free glass and some extra grey stuff because birthday. we were in the WEST WING which was spooky and thundery, and the beast made an appearance!

we visited gaston’s tavern again, then took a train ride!

then everyone else came back, and the park lit up for the night. there were fireworks and another ride, and jane, emily, and i decided to go check out the pirates of the carribbean ride while blues went shopping for his pirate hat.

we headed back across the lake right at closing time after jane, blues, and emily rode the teacups (i did not due to not wanting to get sick).

so, fun, but i don’t think i need to go back! there were no characters out (needed to stand in a line for a meet and greet), and there were SO.MANY.STROLLERS. omg.

day 3:

i woke up EXCITED for this day because i KNEW what universal held in store. the night before, liz was like, eh, if we don’t leave til noon, whatever, but jane and i got up and said LET’s GOOOO. (liz did say once she got into HP land that ok, she understood why we were antsy to get there.)

security was easier, and it was a faster trek from parking to the park.

jane and i recreated a few pics! then we booked it to HP!!

the main park has daigon alley as the HP park, which was actually pretty cool. it was PACKED though, as i would expect the actual daigon alley to be. it was hidden behind a brick wall right next to #12 grimmauld place and across from the knight bus. first things first: butterbeer!!! then, second things second: robes!

(this is actually real beer, which came after two glasses of butterbeer and with a plate of bangers and mash in the leaky cauldron.)

i bought a $300 gift card so i could get a free wand, and totally worth it. i got my robes, a shirt from borgin and burkes, gifts, socks, etc. plus my free wand!

jane and i sat in knockturn alley for a bit, as it was a little out of the way and dark and danky.

the lines to the rides were much faster than disney, and the kids and other adults went out and about to get on some rides outside of HP. meanwhile, jane and i wanted a quieter bar to sit at, so we ventured from HP and ended up at an irish bar with a pretty awesome musician. and some good drinks!

toward the end of the night, they went on the HP ride again, and i walked through with them all to check out gringotts bank. when it was time for them to get on the ride, i just headed to a side room and waited! that was nice that i didn’t need to go on the ride to see the stuff.

we headed out about 8 p.m. and got home at a reasonable hour! the girls swam in the cold pool and craig played with his fart gun (yes, fart gun). fun day 3!!

 

time for a break while i process that i’m not in warm, sunny florida anymore 🙁