Thursday, July 21, 2011

Universal Island's of Adventure Day 3

We woke early the next day to find ourselves already in Tampa.  The kids made a bee line to the safe where we had locked up their cell phones for the week.  We didn't want 500 "accidental" texts flooding in while in international waters.  They were soooo happy to be back in touch with friends.  We packed up what little we had left in the room and headed down to the Unicorn Cafe for our last breakfast.

We waited around until our number was called for departure.  We showed our passports and all important papers, had our carry on luggage scanned and off we went.

Waiting in line at the Port for our transportation was absolutely MISERABLE.  They had 500 people waiting in line to get into an 8 person van.  They would look at us and say " There will be another van momentarily".  Well, THEIR momentarily translated to be 20 minutes or longer.  I was exaggerating when I said 500 people, but there were A LOT of people.  We finally pushed and shoved and got on the tram to pick up our rental car.

We were on the road and headed to Potter.  I was excited to go back to sit in Hogsmeade and have more Butterbeer.  On our way we stopped at this ridiculous Mcdonalds.  It was massive.  It was Chuckie Cheese x10.  They had really good food, but it cost us more to eat there than it would have cost us to eat inside the park.  Regardless it was yet another new experience to add to the list.



Once inside Universal we rented a wheel chair and headed straight to Hogsmeade.  It was nice to leisurely walk around and see the things we didn't get to see the last time.  We bought some more souvenirs, drank Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice.












 We shopped in a few more shops, rode the Hulk and Rock It one more time and then called it a day.

From there we dropped off our rental car and headed to the airport terminal.  It was nice taking our time, we ate dinner inside the airport and relaxed until our plane arrived.

By the time we arrived in Dayton we were ready to be home, ready to see all our animals and ready to sleep in our own beds.  There were still times, days later, where I felt as if I was still rocking on the boat.  Funny how you adjust to certain things without even realizing it.

This was by far the best vacation we have ever been on as a family, and we have been on a lot of great ones.  It was a wonderful mix of family bonding, meeting new friends, time for Les and Nick to hang together, and time for Greg and I to go to shows and "date" a little while on vacation.  We were blessed to say the least, and we are thankful for the experience.

I feel there will be more cruises in our future, and for SURE more visits to Hogsmeade. :)

1 comment:

  1. What a wonderful trip! Gee, I wonder how many days it will be before you pack your bags and you're off to another beach adventure......SMILE!

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