Hollywood Studios and a Star Wars Geek Out

Hollywood Studios is Chad's favorite park and while it is undergoing a lot of construction, there was still plenty to do and see.

We are very excited about all the Star Wars additions that are happening to the park and in several years there will be much more of an expansion with an entire area of the park designated entirely to Star Wars (just another reason to plan another trip to Disney for us! :)).

 I wish you could hear Mitchell laughing when this happened.  This storm tropper walked up to him and Mitchell has a picture of him inches from his face/phone.

 We usually don't wait in line to meet characters, but Mitchell and I waited for about 15 minutes to get this photo with Kylo Ren (and mom appreciates Mitchell geeking out with me over all the Star Wars stuff too.)

 And we rode and saw many rides/attractions other than Star Wars, even though most of my pictures seem to be Star Wars related from our day in this park. :)

Lots to do and see at Hollywood Studios....and of course a family picture in front of another Christmas Tree to end our day.

Fireworks and More Magic

Another highlight of our vacation was the fireworks and Disney Wishes VIP Dessert Party we attended at the Magic Kingdom.

 This wasn't an event that was included in our dining plan, but we found it was well worth the extra expense...especially on a busy evening at Magic Kingdom.  We didn't have to worry about fighting the crowds and had a table right next to the water with an amazing view of my favorite...the castle!

We were pretty proud of Collin who finally seemed to kick his fear of fireworks at this event.  Although we weren't for sure how it would be leading up to the show...

 But once the show started, he loved it!  And like everything else Disney...it was incredibly well done.

 After the fireworks we took advantage of the extra magic hours for those who were staying on resort properties and rode a few of our favorites again. 

 We did not see any firework shows or get to see the Magic Kingdom and all it's evening lights during our 2014 visit so this was something we were sure to make a priority this time around with Collin being a few years older (and bolder).

While we didn't close the park down, we still stayed until almost midnight.  It was a late night in the park...but worth it!

Harry Potter World .

During our vacation, we ventured off the resort for a one day trip to Universal Studios.  During our first visit to Orlando in 2014, we just stayed in Disney Parks so we extended our trip by one day and used Uber for our one day visit to Universal Studios.

I think what we were most excited to see was Hogmeade, Diagon Alley and of course, Hogwarts!  I had never read the Harry Potter Series until Mitchell was old enough and started to read them several years ago.  I decided to read along with him and we both flew the series, watching the corresponding movie after we had both finished each book.

 Both Mitchell and I were so excited to visit Universal Studios just to see everything associated with the books/movies..

Having 15 months to plan for (and pay for) this trip again, meant that we could start reading this series out-loud with Collin so both he and Chad would know (and be ready to geek out too) all things Harry Potter.

 No. 12 Grimald Place with Kreacher peering out the second window if you watched for him!

 The night bus....talking shrunken head included!!!

 Escape from Gringots....this was probably our favorite ride overall at Universal Studios.

 Diagon Alley.  Including all of the shops from the movies where you could (of course) buy everything a young witch and wizard might need.  While we successfully dissuaded the boys from using their money to buy a wand (yikes it was expensive) we did walk away with a pigmey puff, tri wizard cup, chocolate frog, Berts Ever Flavor Beans and a golden snitch.

 And no visit would be complete without a ride on the Hogwarts Express after walking thru Platform 9 3/4.

Visiting Universal Studios was a pricey one day trip.  You have to purchase park to park tickets to be able to see all of Harry Potter World (and ride the train), but visiting on a day where the crowds were very light, we were able to see and ride almost everything on our list for the day.

There were too many amazing details to all add to one post.  At Hagrid's Hut, you could hear Fang inside barking.  Weasley Wizard Wheezes had everything item you could think of mentioned in the book and even did a special (and loud) adoption ceremony when you purchased a stuffed pigmey puff.  When you dialed the 4 digit number inside the telephone booth just outside Diagon alley, you hear a message from the Ministry of Magic.   I was glad I had did quite a bit of reading on these kinds of details via Pinterest before our trip!

Even the butter beer was good!  The frozen version was the best and while we didn't buy any pumpkin juice or gilly water, it was all available.  No detail left out...3 of the 4 Bunger's were geeking out for most of our time exploring Harry Potter World!  To be fair, Chad really enjoyed it as well. :)

Rides

Part of  our reasoning for going on this trip the week before Thanksgiving is because Disneyworld  decked out for Christmas (even more magical than just being at Disney to being with...which is pretty magical.)

But going to the parks before the actual holiday weekend means shorter lines and more opportunities to ride our favorite rides!

Some of our favorites including the iconic rides I remember riding in the 80's

And Collin showing how much braver 2 years have made him taking on the rollercoasters....

He actually loved almost all of the roller coasters this year!

And he and I only opted out of 2 (and I was happy not ride these too). Holy heights!

This last picture below is one of my favorites from our ride pictures from Disneyworld.  The Seven Dwarfs Mine is still a very popular ride (with long wait times even when the park isn't as busy) but thanks to me getting up early and being on-line to snag a fast pass for this ride at the precise moment they were available for our trip.... it was even nicer that we didn't have to wait in line for this ride over 60 

minutes like we did on our first trip to Disney!