Universal Studios

For Christmas, Katie gave me a trip to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios in Florida. We are both huge Harry Potter Fans and were super excited to go.

While the trip was only three days, it was the longest we have ever been away from Fox and leaving him is never easy.

There are two Harry Potter Worlds, one in each Universal Studios Park, Diagon Alley and Hogwarts/Hogsmeade and they are connected by the Hogwarts Express, a train you can take from one world into the other (if you have tickets to both parks). 

On our first day, we started out at 12 Grimmauld Place (for all of you Harry Potter Fans out there).

Followed by a Visit to the Knight Bus!

Katie loves to buy souvenirs! And while she didn't buy this Nimbus 2000, she bought the rest of the store...almost! 

Welcome to Diagon Alley!

You can't visit Diagon Alley without trying a Butterbeer! While Katie loved it, it was too sweet for me. She said it tasted like dulce de leche ice cream. 

Strolling through the park was amazing, I loved every minute.

Next stop was the Hogwarts Express. It was a really cool ride and Katie's favorite (besides Jurassic World, but more on that later).

We decided to visit Hogwarts and Hogsmeade the next day and finish up the rest of Universal Studios (where Diagon Alley is located) first. 

We took this picture for Fox because he loves Curious George! 

It wasn't very crowded and the weather was nice, but if you've ever been to Disney, Universal Studios will disappoint you. Besides Harry Potter World, which was truly an unforgettable and amazing experience, but other than that, there wasn't too much to do in my opinion and the customer service was not comparable at all. 

The next morning we slept in, since we never get to do that at home and made our way to the other park. We stayed at one of the Universal Studios Hotels, so they had a shuttle for us to go back and forth, which was really nice. You could've walked too, which we did on our last day there, but it was pretty far. 

We loved the Dr. Seuss World they had there and just kept talking about how much fun Fox would've had there. While we enjoyed some alone time, this would've been a great trip to take him on, because they had so much to do for his age. They also had a Curious George and Barney Section which are two of Fox's favorites, so we were both sad that he wasn't there to experience it with us. 

And then it was time for Hogwarts!

Katie loves dinosaurs and she was so happy that they had a Jurassic Park Section at the Park! 

We rode some water rides after this picture and got drenched, so it was time to go back to the hotel to change clothes and have dinner, before returning to the park for their Mardi Gras parade and "The Fray" Concert.

It was a great trip and we had a lot of fun! We got to eat meals in peace and quiet, sleep in, having conversations without being interrupted and we even saw a movie in the theater one night, which we haven't done in a year. 

But I can also tell you, that we were both so happy to get back to Fox and when he ran into our arms and just laughed and laughed, it was an amazing homecoming!

While he was happy that we were back, he didn't want to leave Grandma's House, which made me very happy, because I knew he had fun and didn't miss us much.