We arrive to an already formulated line to get into the park.  As soon as the gates opened EVERYONE was headed to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  I mean nobody went to the other attractions. When we arrived in HogsMeade, we were very impressed.

Our first ride was The Forbidden Journey.  For those of you familiar with Soarin’ at Walt Disney World, it was like that but not as good.  The main problem was being jerked around so much and by the time you focused on the screen, you were pulled away from it again.  Not one of our favorites. I know that it is not the majority opinion for those who have enjoyed the ride, but that is how we felt.

We then got in the line for Olivander’s.  This is an area where up to 35 people enter the shop at once and ONE person is picked to go through the wand selection process.  Wouldn’t you know that our very own Taylor was the one selected.  The man took her through a few spells and the selection was complete.  Then everyone is moved into this closet of an area to pick their own wands.  The wands were ridiculously overpriced at $31 a piece.  We purchased Taylor’s wand and left the shop.

We then moved over to the Flight of the Hippograph, and TESSA RODE HER FIRST REAL ROLLER COASTER.  She absolutely loved it, screaming for joy the whole ride.  Mommy went and got us some ButterBeer.  It was very sweet, and we weren’t big fans of it.  Her and Tess finished most of it. For $5 for a small cup, Universal is certainly trying to recoup on their $260 million investment in the Harry Potter area.

We checked out HoneyDukes and a few of the other areas and then headed over to the Jurassic Park area.  We rode a cool water ride called Jurassic Water Adventures and got completely soaked. We decided to have lunch and head over to the Cat N The Hat area for Tess to play.  The kids had a great time there as well.

It was now about 2:30p, and since our plans were changed from going East towards HHI to see my nephews, we started heading north.  Our initial goal was to get to Valdosta.  Well it then became Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and then Lexington and before we knew it, it was 5:00a and I had driven the whole way back from Orlando.  Getting up at 6:00a that morning and driving all night and arriving at 5a took me back to my college days.  I am not as responsive to all-nighters anymore.

I woke up a couple hours ago and still feel lousy.  This is going to be another long day.

I will do final entry for this trip later this week and summary our unforgettable cross-country adventure.

More then…