Florida Vacation Day 2

The first full day we were there, we went to Universal Studios. We found out at the gate that we had accidentally purchased tickets for Universal Studios HOLLYWOOD, not Florida. Whoops! Wrong end of the country! After we got that straightened out, we headed in the park for a day of fun and sun. Trace has just started getting into Harry Potter, so we headed straight there. They had a village that is exactly like Hogsmead straight from the movies! They had rows and rows of shops and stores, the Gringots bank and a huge Dragon on top of the tallest building that breathed real fire!
At the wand shop, you could buy a wand that when you waved it in a particular pattern in front of the different windows outside the shops, the windows would react. Just like real magic! It was fun to see everyone waving their wands in front of different shops and seeing how the windows reacted. We didn't buy a wand since the line was really long and they were very expensive, but we did enjoy watching others with theirs.
Inside the "Gringots Bank" there were trolls that were keeping the books and spoke to you about the origin of the bank. As we walked through the bank to the ride in the back, we passed desks where trolls were working and they had newspapers strewn across them and the pictures in the newspapers moved! Just like in the movies! I just couldn't get enough of that cool technology! I didn't go on many rides with Trace and Kevin because of my recent back surgery, but I walked with them through the lines to see the cool sets they had along the way and get the whole experience.
After we had explored all we could in Hogsmead, we made our way to the REAL train station to go to the famous school castle, Hogwarts. Sure enough, it was located at the 9 & 3/4 platform and a real steam train! When you enter the train, they place you and your party inside your very own cabin and they shut the door. When the door is closed, you can hear famous Harry Potter characters talking outside and on the way to Hogwarts you see escaped chocolate frogs jumping on the closed doors and on the way back the Death Eaters make an appearance outside your cabin! On the other side of the cabin there is a "window" in which you can see owls and Harry Potter flying along with you to the school. So many attention to details and really cool effects! I loved it!

While walking through the park, we ran into the Grinch, and since Trace's favorite Christmas story is the Grinch whole stole Christmas, we just HAD to get a picture. The first of many photo stops on this trip! We walked a little farther and saw a chance to see Spider-Man too!

Next we went to the cartoon and Dr. Suess areas, during which Trace found a unique way to pass the time in lines.

Hang on Trace!

We decided to catch a performance show called "Animal Star". The show featured different types of animals, some of which have been used in television and movies. When they asked for a child volunteer, Trace raised his hand and was chosen! Out of hundreds of kids! The host asked Trace to tell a small white dog named Kelly to retrieve two articles of clothing and then the dog would go grab from a box the items that Trace requested. (He told me afterward that he asked the dog to get a hat and a shirt.) The dog went over to the box, grabbed a hat and brought it back. Then the handler told the dog to go get the second item and the dog came back with a bra! Trace started to laugh and turned bright red. The handler said; "Trace! This is a family show! Why would you ask the dog to bring that back?!" Then another dog with a tutu came out on stage, grabbed the bra and ran backstage. Trace was laughing so hard!
Then they had him hold out his hand and flock of doves flew right over him and one even landed on his head! At the very end of the show the handler gave him a large amount of food in his hand and told him to get ready for a VULTURE to fly from the back of the stadium onto his hands. When the vulture took flight, he stood there bravely and at the very last moment, he dropped the food and ran to into the stadium where we were sitting and the vulture landed on the tree behind where he was standing. Everyone burst into laughter! At first, I thought that he had ruined the show, but he told me that it was the plan for him to run all along, he followed instructions perfectly and was a great little performer!

Later that night at dinner, I had the most amazing crab cake burger. It was so pretty I just had to take a picture, and I was not disappointed when I bit into it. Yum!

After the sun went down, the entire park had a Mardi Gras parade right through the main thoroughfare. The dancers on the floats threw out bead necklaces and Trace ended up with an entire neck full! Such a fun first day!