Harry Potter & Coronado Springs

Right after we got back from Michigan, Dylan and I only had a two day break before getting back in the car and heading South to Orlando. I had a wedding to go to over that weekend, so I figured that I would make it a working trip as well! It just really stinks that  my job requires me to go play at Disney World! Oh, darn!

But since I knew it was going to be really hard to do all of Disney with a 1-yr old, I asked my mom if she wanted to do Disney with us! And she also brought a family friend, Cindy, with her! But I’m getting ahead of myself. Mom & Cindy didn’t show up until Friday evening, and Dylan and I headed down on Wednesday so that we could go to Universal on Thursday with Mike and Terry.

I hadn’t seen any of the new Harry Potter stuff yet, so I asked Mike and Terry if they wanted to make the journey through Hogsmeade with me! They had been there before, but they were more than happy to take the venture with Dylan and me.

My honest review? What was there, was done really well. It looked amazing and there seemed to be no detail missing. But, I think I was under the impression that there was more to it! There was the main attraction (the ride inside Hogwarts), two rollercoasters (one of which was not a new ride, it as just rethemed to Harry Potter), one restaurant, and only a couple shops. Although, I have been told that there will be more in the future. I guess Universal is even contractually obligated to build more!

I think my favorite detail, or styling choice, is that they chose to make it Winter. Since there will never be real snow in Orlando, it was really neat to see it on the buildings throughout Hogsmeade. In true never-missing-a-detail fashion, they even made sure that the snow sparkled in the sunlight, just like real snow.

Me & Mike with our Butterbeer

We also had to make a stop at the Butterbeer cart. They serve Butterbeer two ways, frozen (like a slushy) or carbonated (like soda). We, of course, got both to get the full experience. The vendor told me she liked the frozen one better, but I think I liked the carbonated one. They were both really good, but I feel like you got more of the flavor with the carbonated one. It tasted like Cream Soda with a butterscotch twist. REALLY good! I didn’t get a chance to try the Pumpkin Juice, though…maybe next time!

Dylan at the Three Broomsticks

We had lunch at the Three Broomstick, which was really good! Funny fact: they don’t serve soda in the Harry Potter area. I guess it was a decision made my JK Rowling. She was, apparently, very specific on what kind of food and drink should be served. We had a really great lunch before heading out of Harry Potter World.

We had to make a stop in the Dr. Seuss area to try a ride for Dylan. He had never been on anything, so I was excited to try. We headed over to the Carousel. He was really excited about all the bright colors and music and just wanted to get on one of those crazy looking creatures! We mounted him up on the blue animal thing that he was pointing at and strapped him in! He like it…until it started going. He FREAKED!! But we had to suffer through the whole ride because the animals go up and down and he had a safety strap on. When he realized that I wasn’t going to rescue him, he leaned out screaming with is arm wide open to Terry hoping that he would help. Poor Dylan! At least we got a couple cute photos before it got scary.

Later in the afternoon, Dylan and I went to Matt & Brittany’s apartment and got Matt to go swimming with us! Dylan is such a little fish! Then the 3 of us headed out for dinner with Phil & Natalie (the soon-to-be-wed couple) and their families. We stopped back over at Matt & Britt’s after dinner because Brittany was finally off work and Dylan needed to use up some of his flirtatious energy on her! It was such a busy day, but we had so much fun!

Coronado Springs Resort

The next day, we checked into Coronado Springs Resort. I had never stayed there before, but Matt used to work there. So he stopped over to give Dylan and I the grand tour. I had never really explored there before so it was nice to have someone around to take us around all the cute courtyards and pretty spots. I’m so glad that I got some Matt-time in. He’s the brother I never had - I’m lucky to have him as one of my closest friends. (Thank goodness he found such an awesome wife so I can love her too!!)

Mom & Cindy at the hotel

That night, through rain delays and crazy crowds at the airport, we finally picked up Mom & Cindy! We took them back to our hotel and took them for a twilight tour of the grounds. I’m so happy that my mom and such a great family friend could be there for this trip. Dylan was incredibly spoiled with two Grandma’s around all week! Now it was really time for me to get down to "business"…and for us to get into some Disney fun! Stay tuned for more Orlando stories…