Adventure Is Out There!

I have been so busy getting ready for Christmas that I am just getting around to posting on our amazing Orlando trip!

Jeff and I have wanted to go to all the Orlando theme parks since they opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, however long ago, and this year we were finally able to do it!! Woot!

Over the last few months I've planned everything ten million times....because that's what I do. Then on November 30, 2012 we set off for our adventure.

The first day on our trip we went to EPCOT...because that is what Tour Guide Mike told us to do! Thank you Tandy at work for letting me in on this little website secret!!

Epcot was pretty awesome...except for the fact that we walked 7 miles that first day.... just inside this park! Um...we were feeling pretty old by the end of that day. Achy joints and all. My favorite part of EPCOT was the World Showcase. This is where they have all the different countries. There weren't really any rides here just shops and excellent food. Oh, and amazing fireworks at night.

This was an awesome troll at the end of a ride in Norway...Ok I know I just got finished saying there weren't any rides and they really are more like old people rides not ride rides. Any way, this ride in Norway was in a little viking ship and it takes you through troll country, the fjords, etc.

It was kind of cute but super anti climatic. Oh, and the narrator totally sounds Swedish NOT Norwegian. I still make fun of his voice.

Cracks me up!

BTW We have a troll that looks just like this at my parents house....

This is a Stave church...well, its a likeness of a Stave church. They are amazing and beautiful in real life.

Inside this one they had displays of viking statues. They told about a few of the vikings in history.

Jeff and I barely got away with our lives.

One of the vikings they told about was Erik the Red....yeah he is TOTALLY my great great great great, some odd, great grandfather. True story!

I think that Norway, Germany, and England were my favorite countries in Epcot. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that I have been to these countries in real life...

Naw! I know I am biased towards Norway but Germany had the best food and England had the best musical entertainment.

When we ate at the Norwegian castle restaurant we were graced with a fabulous buffet of yummy Norwegian foods like shrimp salad, cucumber salad, smoked salmon, poached salmon, Gietost (brown goat cheese), fresh breads, etc. Delicious! AND that was just the appetizer portion!

All this wonderful Norwegian food made me want to go to Norway for real!

Oh, we also were visited by the Princesses. HA!

The second day, we went to the Magic Kingdom...Florida's version of Disneyland.

My first impression of the magic kingdom was...holy crap we have to park where and ride a shuttle to where in order to take a ferry or train to get to the freaking gates!?!?!?!?!

Yeah, the parking lot was a JOKE!

When we finally got into the park, we were disoriented and tired from the trek to the gates.

It looked like Disneyland but was deceiving because it is so much bigger and spread apart. Not to mention, the layout is different.

The verdict ...Disneyland is better. ;-)

Except for maybe splash mountain. The MK splash mountain was awesome. WAY better. Oh and the castle. Cinderella's castle was AMAZING!

They posed us by the way...

While we were there they had the new Fantasy-land grand opening. Disney added a new Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant in Beasts castle...which was so cool. It was made up Disney style to look just like the inside of the castle.

We ate in the ballroom, but they also had the West Wing and other castle rooms. It was just plain cool! Did I mention that it was cool? It was so cool!

The new Fantasyland also had Gaston's tavern which had an amazing special drink. It was like a carbonated apple, mixed with roasted marshmallow flavor, topped with a whipped passion fruit cream. Ok, so it sounds weird but it wasn't. Just trust me!

Then there was this great new Little Mermaid ride that was so adorable. I made Jeff ride it twice. I also loved that it had Prince Eric's castle on it.

Ok, so the new Fantasyland and the Cinderella castle were pretty epic. I guess MK wins on those things.

In December they close the MK park early on certain nights and have Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. They dress the castle up in "ice" and pass out cookies and hot coco. It was pretty fun. I mostly liked the pretty castle. It was a bit difficult to enjoy hot coco when it was 75 degrees with 60% humidity. Meh, what do I know.

The next few days were spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom. Hollywood studio's was pretty much like California Adventure but much smaller and they have the Star Wars stuff there. It definitely didn't need a full day.

Now, Animal kingdom, on the other hand, was one of our favorites. Except for the part where I barfed all over some of the tropical vegetation in Asia. All, I have to say is, if you have a weak stomach do not, DO NOT ride the Everest roller coaster Backwards twists and turns through a dark mountain does not end well for the one with motion sickness.

Aside for the incredibly embarrassing barf, Animal kingdom was fantastic. It had beautiful landscaping of the tropical variety and was made to look like you were in either Africa or Asia, depending on the side of the park you were in.

Yes we met Doug and Russel. Be jealous.

The tree of life was one of my favorite things. It was so beautiful. It had carvings of animals in the trunk.

I also was a BIG fan of the African safari.

Holy Crap! Are you guys on picture overload yet? Don't worry we are almost done. :-)

After our Disney adventures, we excitedly spent time at Universal. Oh happy day!! I was beyond excited for Harry Potter. Eeeeeeeeee!

The Universal parks in Orlando are ten million times better than the one in California. Seriously! Ten million times better! They were so much fun!

There was a Dr Seuss town (or whatever) and it was all done up Grinchmas style. Loved it! So Cute!

See?! So Cute! Ok, I know, I know. You really wan't to see Harry Potter Land. (That's what I call it any way). You SHOULD want to see it! It was beyond fabulous. It was small...it's true...BUT still SPECTACULAR! Everything I had hoped and dreamed...except for maybe more gift shops.

BTW, chocolate cauldron...blek. Bertties every flavor beans....great, except for earwax. Fizzing wizzbees...super yummy. Imagine chocolate with poprocks inside. Mmmmhmmm. Chocolate frog...to be determined. Let's hope the chocolate is better than the cauldron.

Mmmmm Butterbeer. It was like a slushy cream soda with butterscotch flavoring and a butterscotch whipped cream on top. So Yummy!

We ate at the Three Broomsticks. I had that massive turkey leg and it was delicious!

The castle was so much better than I had imagined.

All I can say is, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was pretty darn MAGICAL. Bah! could I be any more cheese ball....yes, yes I could. Just give me time.

Now the last day in Orlando we decided to take a much needed break from the amusement parks and headed to Discovery Cove.

We were able to snorkel, feed tropical birds, float around the lazy river...which ended up being not very lazy and rather long... and swim with the dolphins.