Welcome back to the recap of our Disney World/Universal Studios large family vacation. We are loving our accommodations at the Westgate Lake Resort and Spa in Orlando, Florida.
You can read about our first night here in Orlando for my birthday dinner at the Shogun Japanese Steakhouse here.
After dinner, we all headed to bed to get a good night’s sleep before heading to Universal Studio’s Islands of Adventure in the early morning.
Universal Studios is a favorite of most of the kids because they love roller coasters!! We have a couple of not so loving roller coaster people so we hung back and held all the phones, purses, etc.
Here is the whole gang bright and early ready for some park fun!!!
First ride for the brave roller coaster people was The Incredible Hulk Coaster. Lots of twists and turns after you’re shot out of a canon-like tunnel that begins the ride. Sound fun??
The LOML and I and Daughters #1 & #2 went on The Amazing Adventures of Spider-man ride. It’s not a rollercoaster, just a 3-D ride through NYC fighting the bad guys.
When we were leaving, we ran into the two sweet girlfriends who really don’t like roller coasters either. So we did Spider-man again with them.
When we came out of the Spider-man ride the second time, they were clearing the roads for a mini parade of superheroes.
The whole crew headed to the King Kong ride where he defended us against dinosaurs. A fun ride for everyone!
The scary part of the day came on the Jurassic Park River ride.
It’s a water ride that has a down fall. You know, that roller coaster feeling when you feel like you’re falling to your death? Most people find this feeling enjoyable. I just don’t want to die!!! Getting off the ride, my knees felt like jello and my hands were shaking.
Then we headed to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter where we rode the Flight of the Hippogriff which is an outside tiny roller coaster that even I could do. It moves fast with twists and turns but no down falls. I hate down falls!!!
Here’s everybody waiting for the ride.
Notice the guys are all wearing soccer jerseys from different soccer teams. While walking around each park, if they saw another soccer jersey, they would yell the player’s name. We learned that most people have no idea what they’re wearing until someone points it out.
And here we are going up!
Son #3 and Daughter #2
Then we waited in line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The wait was over 100 minutes but it was worth it! It is a motion-based dark ride that takes you, on a broomstick, through Hogwart’s Castle and beyond.
Lunch Time!!!! We ate at 3 Broomsticks which had English pub food. The LOML and I ate grilled Chicken salads,
Son #1 had a huge Turkey leg (and his girlfriend fought for a few bites). The food and service was great!
After lunch, we were really hot so we thought, “Let’s get wet!!” So, off to the Popeye and Bluto Bilge Rat Barges. This is a barge ride through lots of different opportunities to get soaked. Not only was there water coming into the barge from the wild river, but there were also people above us shooting us with water guns.
Here’s a before (dry) and after (wet) of our gang.
Some of us wanted to visit Suess Landing where we rode the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride.
The boys tried multiple times to ride Hagrid’s Magical Creature Motor Bike Adventure but it was closed every time they checked.
So they got their fill of roller coasters by riding the Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls log flume. They got a little bit wet!
Then all of us did the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman ride.
The boys ended their day riding the Hulk again but this time they brought their sister(Daugher #1). Very brave girl!
After a fun-filled day at the park, everyone headed back to the apartment where we enjoyed some Chinese take-out and video games.
We had so much fun today in Universal Studio’s Island of Adventure. Tomorrow we’re headed to Magic Kingdom. Come back and see how we spent our day. Hopefully, it will inspire you to do your own Disney vacation.
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Love y’all,
Linda
Some roller coasters are still fun to me. What is not fun in having the restraints that come down over my chest. I do not like those at all! We are Disney people, and I sometimes choose what I want to ride at the moment based on how I will be secured. It looks like your family had a Ln excellent time together. Maybe I will get to see your MK tales!
Looks like you had a great time! My family loved Universal even more than Dinsey 🙂
Linda, it looks like you all had a great time! I would love to go to Universal Studios..it looks amazing!
I live in California and live our theme parks. But I DEFINITELY want to visit Orlando for theirs. They look amazing and so different.
Looks like a fun time was had by all!
So glad you all had an amazing time! We finally visited Universal Orlando Resort earlier this year and ~ oh, my goodness ~ riding The Incredible Hulk Coaster was one of the scariest things I have ever done!!! It was amazing, but definitely increased my blood pressure. LOL!! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!
You are a much braver woman than I am!!!
What a fun day! I’d love the Harry Potter rides.
So fun! The Hulk is my absolute favorite ride there!
I’m just now starting to plan a trip to Orlando in January. Seeing this post and all of your great pictures is making me so excited!
Hey Christa~Have a great time!!!!
So fun! What a great place and great vacation!!
It looks like you had a great day! I haven’t been to Universal yet since my daughter is not big on thrill rides, but she is nearly old enough where I would feel comfortable to let her wait for us. We hope to try Universal someday!
I can’t wait to go to Universal! I’m not really a rollercoaster person, but it’s good to hear there’s something for everyone 🙂
What did you do for large family vacations when the kids were younger? This looks like so much fun, but I have 5,5,7,12 year olds along with several teens.
Hey Karla~It really is tough and expensive to go on vacation with a large family so we would do a lot of day trips to the beach or the mountains and go hiking. Every three years we would do one big vacation like Disney or Maui. We would just save up. When the kids were little they were pretty easy to please, anything different was a vacation for them. It’s really fun with a big family!!
This looks like a total blast! I know my family would love this! I can’t wait to share it with them.
I love Universal and can not wait to go back! It looks like you guys had a fabulous Vacation!
Thank you for sharing your adventures. Bluto’s looks amazingly fun!
Hey Lisa ~ Bluto’s was definitely my favorite especially in 90 degree weather! It felt great!
Now that looks like a fun time. Your pictures really tell a story! I wouldn’t have ridden the Hulk!
Fun, I need to go back when my kids are taller to get on the big fun stuff!!!
Looks like you guys had a great time! Great pics too!
Looks like a fun time was had by all!!
Looks like you had a blast! I enjoy Universal but I’ve only been to the one in Florida once. Is there a back lot tour like in California or is it just an amusement park?
Hey Melissa ~ No we didn’t see a back lot tour for Universal. Years ago, we did a back lot tour at MGM Studios. They got rid of that in 2014.
Looks like fun! I’m looking forward to going to Harry Potter World some day!
Hey Katie ~ Harry Potter World was a blast!!! And of course the butter beer is yummy!!! Hope you get to go soon.
This looks like so much fun! I can’t wait until my kids are a little older and we can go and ride the coasters at Universal!
I loved roller coasters when I was younger. For some reason the older I get the less I like them…! Not sure how that happened. I think I’d be holding the purses and phones, too. 🙂
Hey Laura Lee ~ I’m just like you. I grew up going on Space Mountain over and over again when I was in high school. Can’t do it anymore!!