DAY 1: universal studios and WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER.
after 9 hours of sleep, i woke up at 6 a.m. bright eyed and bushy tailed. after lolling about in bed for half an hour, jane and i leisurely got ready to leave at 8:30 for universal (the park opened at 9). 
let me tell you, if you want to be in the happiest place on earth and not deal with screaming 6 year olds all day, universal is the place to be (so sayeth jane). there were kids, yes, but there were a LOT of adults there. we were sipping our butterbeer, and a woman in her 50s ran over to do this interactive thing. teenagers, 20-somethings, 30- 40- 50- : everyone was super excited to be there. as for jane and me, we could’ve lived in hogsmeade! 


our first stop was for butterbeer, which was DELICIOUS. had to get the commemorative mug while we were there (i asked how much it was, then shook my head and said who cares how much it is? i’ll still get it! [it was $11 w/butterbeer]). 

we took a look through dervish and banges, the owlery, honeydukes, filch’s emporium, zonko’s, etc. etc! didn’t get fitted for a wand, but stopped at ollivander’s and got a wand! hermione’s my spirit animal, and her wand has leaves on it, so i got hers.

lots of HP gear for sale in HP world, and we wanted one of everything. fyi, you can get gryffindor’s sword for $200, displayed on a fancy wooden plaque. there was also a set of bookends that i kind of wanted but couldn’t justify spending $100 on.  
after a once through, we took a walk through the lower lot, which included the jurassic park ride. ended up taking three VERY LONG escalators, along with a pitstop for a scenic overlook along the way.

jane was super excited for jurassic park.

we went to the three broomsticks for lunch! i had fish n chips and jane had bangers and mash, and we shared a pumpkin fizz (which tasted deliciously like fall and almost christmas and sitting in a pile of leaves) and a chocolate trifle (it was good except for the chocolate block on the top). 

then another run through HP before heading to the rest of the park to check it out.


then i made the vital mistake of the day. i decided to risk going on a ride sans dramamine. NOT GOOD. except, the lead up was good. we got to see the inside of hogwarts!

then we went on the ride, which gave me serious motion sickness. about halfway through i thought, “i have made a terrible mistake,” and i focused on breathing. i didn’t have my eyes open at all during that ride. got off and was about ready to start dry heaving in the little witches’ room. 
so, jane and i spent the next hour and a half sitting at a table at the hog’s head, jane drinking a beer and me wondering what i did to deserve this horrible feeling. thank goodness it was one of the last things we did.
we finished up some shopping we had to do in HP world, then we caught the 5:15 trolley to the hotel. i was totally impressed at how much time we spent there! even though two hours of it was spent with me looking green (and feeling like a dementer’s kiss).

definitely want to come back! would even consider braving florida to see daigon alley!