A rambling account of Universal, Sea World, and Disney (Epcot & Magic Kingdom I)

Universal -
Stayed at Universal Lowe's Royal Pacific hotel which means we can walk to the Island of Adventures in 10-15 minutes, or take a water taxi (!!) there. It also means that we get to go the Wizarding World of Harry Potter an hour before it's open to the public, and have express pass to every ride! So, 7:45am, and we are racing from the water taxi dock to Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. 7:55am, Evelyn and Daddy are already on the Flight of the Hippogriffs. It was a mild roller coaster, really, nothing fancier then the kiddie ones at Canobie Lake Park, but it was much higher and bigger in scale, which caused Evelyn to deem it "too fast", and made her "a little bit scared". Daddy went on to tour Hogwarts. Then, Lauren and Mommy got in line to visit Ollivander's wand store. The wait was long. But we had fun in the line just goofing off and finishing our breakfast croissant (the bag of grapes was the best deal I've seen in theme parks). The little demo in the store (small, cramped, dark, but quite faithful to the book) was short but Lauren found it very amusing (Mommy is jaded and all too aware of the fact that the store owner is but an actor following a script). Frozen butter beer is very yummy (even if the weather is still a bit chilly for any frozen drinks). Daddy's Dragon Challenge ride was terrific (he rode the blue this time, I think). The store displays in the Wizardy World are whimsy and fun (Lauren was deeply worried for the crying Mandrake. "Where's the baby's mommy?" Mommy wishes there's more to the displays besides a few store fronts.) Then, the crowd began to really thicken, so we went to Seuss' Landing and rode - One Fish, Two Fish (once, cause Lauren doesn't want to get wet), the carousel (twice), the Cat in the Hat (three times -- we all really loved it), and the trolley train ride (four times -- we all really, really loved it). The rides incorporated the rich materials from Dr. Seuss books, and the colors, oh the colors and shapes are fabulous. We went back to the three broom sticks for lunch. Evelyn LOVED the kid's chicken legs meal. She devoured it and decided that that's what she'll get next time (if we ever come back while she's still kids-meal-age). Daddy's chicken and ribs (ribs especially) and mommy's Shepard's pie were also good. Lauren liked the apple sauce and grapes... Poseidon's Fury was a lot of fun, to Mommy and Daddy. Both girls freaked out over the darkness and loud sounds. The parents thought Pteranodon's Flyers would be fun and exciting to Evelyn since it's really a high hanging glider and Evelyn loves to swing. Nope. She decided that it was too fast and so, scary. However, we saw a dinosaur hatch in the Discovery Center, so Jurassic Park wasn't a complete bust. Besides, Evelyn had her first Churros, and that girl is sold on it. Walked back to the hotel to play in the heated pool and then ate at the Island again. No hula dancer tonight to our disappointment. The one the night before was wonderful.

Sea World --
Man is this a huge park! Beautiful and big. We visited the aquarium, saw the sea lion and otter show, watched as sea birds try to find crumbs under our lunch table, played at the kiddie rides (Sesame-Place-attitude attendants) and play area (the favorite is probably the 3 story tall slide - both girls went on it 5 or 6 times), watched the Shamu show (Lauren fell asleep before the show ended), and visited sharks and dolphins. Finally, we went back to our hotel, fetched the luggage, and moved on to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (Boma -- YUM!).

Epcot --
Lauren only likes Mikey and Minni, and find Donald huggable but marginally. Pluto and Goofy are dogs. Not friendly enough. However, fishes are fun. Lauren rode Nemo three times (once with Evelyn, Mommy and Daddy, and twice with Daddy while Evelyn and Mommy went on Soarin). Soarin? Gorgeous! Too bad the wait was so long that there's no chance for multiple rides. Evelyn did get to go twice though (Lauren is too short to go on so Mommy and Daddy had to take turns). Rapid Rider Switch pass for rides? awsome!! Evelyn got to sit up front at Crush Talk. Lauren stayed there until the show started, then she burst out crying and ran off to look for Mommy (very scary for Mommy to see). Malstorm was still too much for Evelyn. Lunch with the princesses was fabulous. The food was great and the princesses were very nice. Snow White even pointed out to Evelyn that they both have short hair, wear head bands, and has blue tops on. Evelyn's skirt also matches her cape color. Lauren went on the grand procession with the princesses even though Evelyn sat it out. Evelyn loves how the water fountain sprays water all over the place ("is it raining?" asked Mom). Mexico's ride with the three Amigo's was well received, even though it started out dark, and that there was a volcano on the background painting. Imagination was fun. Captain EO was skipped over because "loud noises and darkness may be scary to young children". Spaceship Earth no longer scare either girls. Daddy got to Test Drive and go on a Mission: Space. Evelyn and Lauren explored the climbing structure in the Mission in Space building. Lauren was doing really well until she bumped her back while being high up. Then it was Mommy poking into the kid size structure trying to guide her out through voice. Evelyn eventually got her down, yelling, at the same time, "NEXT TIME DON'T CLIMB DOWN THAT WAY!" Evelyn got to have churros again. Evelyn made a new friend on the bus ride back to the hotel. They took turns telling terrible knock-knock jokes that make absolutely no sense. We had a full day's activity and skipped midday break. Couldn't believe everyone did so well with it.

Magic Kingdom, I --
The rides that ended with Lauren saying "I want to do this again": Winnie the Pooh (rode it twice), It's a Small World (rode it twice; Lauren danced and sang along the second time), Peter Pan, Cinderella's Carousal (of course), the mad tea party (3 times, twice consecutively in the evening), Buzz Lighteryear's space ranger spin, Aladdin's magic carpet ride, and even Pirates of the Caribbean (Evelyn hid with hands over her ears the whole duration and never wanted to go on it again). Philomagic made her very worried for Donald, but that was the first 3D movie that Evelyn truly enjoyed. Snow White was too scary for both of them. Upon Lauren's request, we went on to the People Mover which Evelyn would love for all of us to ride again just so she could see Lauren's cow-bell-eye frozen expression upon finally exiting the dark area within Space Mountain. The breakfast in Cinderella's castle was fun, but Lauren ended up busy eating her French Toast sticks rather then take pictures with princesses. Should Mommy be glad that at least food still counts more then the fancy princesses. Jasmine told her that Abu could stuff 12 grapes in his mouth. I hope that did not become a challenge or an inspiration. We saw all the Disney characters, and even a moving, talking trash can which greatly amused Lauren. We made a makeshift dinner out of one giant turkey leg, popcorn, a pretzel, and a corn dog. Both girls liked the turkey leg, especially Evelyn, making Mommy pleasantly surprised. With the mid day break, during which Evelyn finally tried out and fell in love with the pool's slide, we were able to stay for the fireworks and be greatly amazed by it. It was spectacular. But by then Lauren was too tired, so she was bothered by the loud noises and spent most of it hiding with hands over her ears in the crook of my neck. She fell asleep before we even got out of the park (which took some time what with the crowd).

Baby's been excited and moving as well. He is constantly on me and Lauren's mind (I keep reminding Lauren about it since when I hold her, she's effectively squishing baby) even when we are busy playing.