Trip to Universal Studios Orlando!

So, most of you might have noticed that I've been a little absent in the blog scene the past couple of weeks. My boyfriend and I decided to take a trip to visit Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The trip was kind of a random adventure because plans we had to go somewhere else fell through. Anyway, we had a great time! We stayed at a resort about 15 minutes away from the park to save money and they had excellent room service, a great pool, and even a tv in the bathroom mirror, ha! Since we were also so close to Disney, we had a decent view of their fireworks as well :)

Will and I in front of the Universal globe

We spent the first day exploring the Islands of Adventure side of the park because I was really excited to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! We rode two of the rides there and they were my favorites! Everything looked really cool and I loved the fact that they turned all the little shops etc into actual places you could visit, eat, or purchase souvenirs at. (Forgive us for our appearance, we had just gotten off the river adventure ride in the Jurassic Park area and we got soaked!)

Crossing the bridge into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Walking around The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Inside Honeydukes...so many "Every Flavor Beans"!

We also rode one of the Jurassic Park river rides. It was really cool but we were soaked from the "raft" hitting the water really fast. Since we spent most of our time at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we didn't do much else. Some of the other rides we saw in the super hero area were a bit too crazy to ride, so we decided to just walk around and look at the other attractions.

On the second day, we went to the regular side of Universal. When we first walked in, I wasn't really impressed because it just looked "old"..but we eventually found some fun rides and even a parade that improved my mood. Spongebob was in the parade and I got some video and pictures because I knew my little niece (she loves Spongebob) would like them. I also got her a Spongebob cup with her name on it :)

Spongebob Float in the Parade

We also rode the "Revenge of the Mummy", "Transformers: The Ride - 3D", and "The Simpsons Ride". We did the "Twister" experience, but it was really stupid...by far the dumbest thing we stood in line for. Luckily, we only stood in line for about 15 minutes. Our favorite ride was the 3D Transformers ride! They had an option for "single" riders to skip the line, so Will and I decided we would be fine to ride separately, especially since we didn't have to get in the line that had a wait of over an hour. I think it was so cool because you get to wear 3D glasses and it makes everything look like it's about to fly right in your face!

After riding all the rides, we went to visit the Spongebob store! This is where I got my niece her souvenir cup with her name on it and I took a few pictures. They had a "real" Spongebob and Patrick there but I had a feeling that they were making people buy those pictures instead of allowing them to take their own, oh well. 

The Spongebob Store!

After that we walked around for a little while and somehow found ourselves in the kid area, ha. They had a lot of Barney and Curious George, so we decided to go to the Simpsons area instead. This was definitely one of the coolest areas of the park. They had fun cutouts of all the characters along the fence and they even had a "Kwik-e-Mart", "Moe's Tavern", and other fun places to eat and visit in a food court style full of familiar places from the Simpsons tv show. We ate at "Luigi's Pizza" and it was tasty. We, of course, rode the Simpsons ride where you explore "Krustyland" and it was awesome!

Homer and Maggie

Marge and I!

I had to get a shot with Bart and Millhouse!

We walked around and looked at a few other things along the NBA Citywalk and some of the other shops that they had available. All in all, it was definitely a fun trip! My first time to Orlando and my first time to a theme park in over 10 + years. I had a blast! I just wish we could have stayed longer. I'm definitely glad we decided to stay somewhere nice this time. We usually stay at budget hotels, but having the option for room service and other special amenities was nice :)