May 2011: One Year Ago Today- Part 3

May 1st 2011 was my very favorite day of my second trip and we did not set foot on Disney property AT ALL! I know, I know- blasphemy!

In any case, this was my first day ever visiting Universal Studios and we had the 2 park pass so we were able to totally GEEK OUT in the WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER!!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!! Non-Disney Magic!

In any case, I got up and checked out all the swag I'd picked up on our 2 days in Disney and then enjoyed some hotel coffee and one of the muffins I'd picked up from Main Street Bakery the day before. I then text the student I was with and we met out in the lobby of our floor and headed to grab the bus (It was the DECA Day at Universal so we also had transportation here). We headed right for Islands of Adventure and spent the first half of the day in Harry Potter's world!! I love love love loooooved every bit of it and have so many pictures I will let the pictures do the talking for our first half of the day here:

I was on a total Harry Potter high at this point.  Aside from riding every ride in the area, investigating all the shops and buying tons of souvenirs and taking tons of pictures I just took the time to enjoy the ambiance... enjoy being in Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and all my favorite places from the wizarding world.

Wow.  That is my review of WWoHP- just wow.  If you love these characters and this amazing story, go here. Please.

Just like Disney, Universal was fairly empty.  We headed over from Islands of Adventure Park into Universal Studios by way of Seuss Landing. "I speak for the trees!"

Once we got into Universal I immediately spotted Julie Andrews "star" at my feet. :)

Then we decided to grab a bite to eat at the faux "Mel's Drive In".  This was really great.  I highly recommend it and not just because I am a Mel!

After lunch we still had a solid chunk of day before the buses returned to pick us up at 7:00pm.  Off the top of my head I remember riding The Mummy twice, Jaws, Simpsons, Twister, Men in Black, and Shrek. Oh and how could I forget- the Lucy museum!  The sun was high in the sky and bright and it was the perfect day for trying out a new theme park resort! 

After we headed out of Universal we checked out the Pointe Orlando area so we could grab some bottled water somewhere nearby and some snacks and dinner. A lot of the students had had to compete on these day by the student I was with had to compete the next day AND I had to proctor the next day so we had lucked out with full days of fun (besides our state meeting and the opening ceremony).