Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure Part One

Many months ago, Tom and I planned a trip to Florida to check out Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure with Grandma Susan and all four kids.  We managed to keep it a secret from Collin, Reagan, and Katelyn until the day before we left.  Tyler had to know ahead of time so that he could make arrangements for school and work.  Tom did an awesome job talking to the kids about Universal, showing them videos, and getting them excited about going there sometime in the future, without letting them in on the fact that the trip was already planned!  When we first mentioned Universal to Collin, he said he had no interest in going there; Tom managed to turn that around into pure excitement and anticipation!!!  I swear that man can work magic when it comes to the kids, especially Collin.

Anyway, on March 2nd, the kids came home from school, did their homework, Reagan went to field hockey, and they never noticed my frantic state of getting ready for a trip.  That evening, we broke the news and they were shocked and excited!  Originally we thought about just waking them up on the 3rd and telling them we were going that morning, but we had a 7:00 AM flight, which meant they really needed to get to bed early (that wouldn't have gone over well without a reason) and we were also nervous about waking them up early with a surprise and them being a bit stressed about no time to adequately prepare.  It was the right decision.  Everything went well that night and the next morning.

Airplane selfie:

Kate did SO well on the plane!  There was some turbulence during our flight and most of us had some nasty ear pain, but otherwise the flight was fine.

We stayed on park property at the Loews Royal Pacific.  Our room wasn't ready when we arrived, so we left our luggage there, ate lunch, changed in the lobby bathroom, and headed to Universal Studios.

 I guess I was tired, because I only took a few pictures that day.

Kate, Grandma and I caught the parade the first day.  The fish hugging Kate was part of the Spongebob Float.  The parade was short and cannot even be compared to the amazing parades Disney creates, but it was fine for Kate; she enjoyed it!

Later in the day, we finally checked into our room.  We had a beautiful suite; it was nice to have so much room!  There were two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, and a dining room/living area with a pull out couch.

There are two parks within the Universal Studios theme park - the original Universal Studios park and Islands of Adventure.  On the second day, we went to Islands of Adventure.

Seuss Landing was beautiful, and perfect for Kate.

 Here are a couple other pictures from the second day; these were taken in the Jurassic Park area:

In the picture below, you can see Tom and Tyler, but Reagan was behind them too!

They were so wet after that ride, that they decided to try the People Dryer.  It didn't really dry them, but instead only made them a little warmer while still remaining very wet.

 Kate wasn't wet, she just wanted to try the people dryer.

I think Collin and I were in line for Spiderman in the above selfie.  Fun ride!

I am going to write a separate post about the Harry Potter attractions, our favorite restaurants, and my overall thoughts on the trip, but I'm ending this post here.  I'm so behind on posting!!!