Spring Break Trip 2025, Days 1 & 2: Universal Studios

Friday, March 14, 2025

Erik and I got our blood drawn in the morning. It didn’t hurt, and it was really quick. After that we went out for brunch a few stores down to First Watch. I ordered avocado toast. The rest of the day was spent packing and cleaning and packing some more. We loaded up and picked up Elisa and Ian at the school at 1:30. Elisa found her missing lunchbox in the lost and found on the way out. Nothing too eventful at the airport; Erik and I got some food at 4 Peaks Brewery. Erik got the fish n chips, and I got the chicken strips. I shared with Ian. The fries were really yummy. The plane ride wasn’t anything to write about. I was super tired the first half, and I ended up with a crick in my neck from trying to sleep with no head support. The rest of the flight I goofed off with Ian, listened to some music, and didn’t read a single word in my library book. We got to Orlando pretty late, thanks to the 3-hour time change. By the time we got to our hotel (Surfside Inn) and ready for bed, it was past 12:30 am.

Ian entertained himself on the plane by blowing lots of bubbles with his gum.

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Our Universal Studios day! We all woke up early, despite going to bed so late. Erik, the kids, Grandma, and Grandpa ate some donuts and chocolate croissants at the breakfast place. We were hoping to get in a big ride like the Velocicoaster or Hagrid’s Motorbike ride in. When we go there, Hagrid's was closed down, and the Velocicoaster had over an hour wait time. So much for waking up early. Most of the day was spent waiting in lines, of course, but we managed to cut out a significant amount of time by going in the single rider lane. Even though we were seated by strangers, we were still able to ride in the same car most of the time.

The kids ate their grab-and-go breakfast in the hotel lobby.

Our first stop--Hogsmeade in Harry Potter World

On the Hogwarts Express!

I could see Elisa while riding Escape From Gringotts

The Simpsons ride was fun!

For lunch we ate at The Simpsons Food Court. Gabe and Ian had the Krusty Burger, Elisa had a huge pink donut, Erik had the chicken and waffle sandwich and clam chowder, and I had the black bean burger. Erik also ordered a Flaming Moe, an orange drink with dry ice, and the cup is for keeps. All in all it was good/ok food, but definitely not great food.

Eating at the Krusty Burger. It was fun, the food was ok. The kids liked watching the Simpsons cartoons they played on a loop while they ate.

More and more rides in the afternoon. I think Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike ride was the best ride in the park. My least favorite was the Transformers ride/Spider-Man ride—I don’t like things flying at my face nor to I like being jerked around. Plus I don’t care for Transformers or Spider-Man to begin with.

The DeLorean from Back to the Future! Erik really likes that movie. I'm not sure about Gabe.

I was bored in line, so I took some pictures of Gabe and Ian. They both chose, independent of each other, to wear their Mario Kart shirts.

I saw Ian and Gabe on the big screen walking out of the Minions ride. I'm the dork with the pale legs and nerdy shorts.

For dinner, we ate at Three Broomsticks. Elisa, Erik, and I all shared a plate. Elisa ate most of the meat off the plate despite telling us she wasn’t hungry. Erik ordered every type of butterbeer item of the menu, plus some pumpkin juice. I liked all of it, but the warm butterbeer was my favorite and my least favorite was the pumpkin juice. Even though we all shared, it was still a lot of sugar!

 

That's a lot of butterbeer items!

We decided we were done with the park after we had finished dinner. We had ridden all the rides we could, our feet hurt, and we were tired. We went back to the hotel; it was past 7pm anyway. On our way out, we stopped in a shop with a bunch of Super Mario stuff, as per Ian and Gabe’s request. Grandma gave Gabe some (early) birthday money, so he bought himself a Yoshi stuffie. He wanted an orange Yoshi shirt, so Erik said he would buy it for him for his birthday. Ian always has plenty of money saved up from his piano stickers, so he chose a Super Mario blanket. We all went to sleep pretty much right away after getting to our hotel room—theme parks are tiring!

 

I spotted this display on the way out of the park. I looked for the Hoey magnet (for my mom--her great grandma's maiden name was Hoey, from Ireland) but unfortunately, I couldn't find it, so we'll have to settle for this picture.

Ian trying on a silly toad hat at the Mario store. He bought himself a blanket instead. Gabe picked out a very orange Yoshi shirt. Since he didn't have enough money and his birthday was coming up, Erik said he'd buy it for him as a birthday gift. Elisa wasn't sure if she wanted the velociraptor mask or not.

Getting ready for bed. But first, silly time with Ian!