December Magic in Balmy Florida
In between a two-week December stint for work in Florida, Juliette joined me over a weekend for some fun theme park action at Universal Studios and Disney Magic Kingdom. While we love a good adventure, there’s still something to be said about knowing exactly what to expect during your time in a different place and having a great time. The last time we visited these theme parks was in 2016 with a few good friends from Austin and the timing and availability this year made for a great long weekend. What made this trip especially awesome was the fact that we were visiting during the holiday season and got to see everything dressed up for Christmas!
Universal Studios
You can’t help but feel like a kid again when stepping foot into Diagon Alley at the crack of dawn on a misty Saturday morning. Universal Studios certainly did Harry Potter World right at their main theme park. To get an even better experience, we highly recommend staying onsite at the Universal Resort if you can since it will grant you access for an extra hour to the park. This is especially useful with how crowded the Wizarding world of Harry Potter gets during the day and lets you fully experience Gringotts (our favorite ride), Knockturn Alley, Kings Cross Station, etc. Just make sure to LOOK OUT FOR THAT DRAGON!
Another strong recommendation is to bite the bullet and purchase park tickets that allow you to transfer from the main park over to Universal Islands of Adventure where they have Hogsmeade and Hogwart’s Castle. This lets you transfer park-to-park on the Hogwarts Express. Definitely worth the extra money to go back and forth as needed! We also think the butterbeer tastes better on this side of the park. 🙂
That said, don’t miss out on other fantastic rides like Revenge of the Mummy (Universal), and the Incredible Hulk Coaster (Islands of Adventure). Overall, it seems that the day at Universal just flew by and as night fell, we settled in to watch the incredible light and laser show play over Hogwarts Castle. We then relaxed with a few beers and some good food at the NBC Sports Grill.
Disney Magic Kingdom
Always a great stop, but not necessarily our favorite, we did spend a day in Magic Kingdom. Each time we visit it seems to get crazier and crazier. This time I feel like we spent most of the time waiting in line for things- the mine ride, the fireworks, etc, but were able to use our fast passes for Space Mountain. It also struck us how unusual it was to be there as adults without kids! But still a great overall day reliving much of our childhood, and WOW what a spectacular end!
Disney Springs
I would say that my favorite part of the Disney portion of the weekend was in Disney Springs, an entertainment district located in the resort. Here we ate dinner and listened to Irish music at Raglan Road Pub, did some strolling through the Christmas tree forest, snagged a piece of free chocolate at the Ghiradelli store, and found a few ornaments and gifts to take back home.
All-in-all, this weekend was a great, quick distraction from what had become an incredibly busy December. I’d stay for another week in Florida while Juliette would travel back to Austin before welcoming in Christmas and New Years! Stay tuned for some New Years fun…
-GP