Back to Orlando

My family and I go to Orlando pretty frequently. Every time something new is added to those parks, we make an effort to go. This time it is to see the new Harry Potter park in Universal Studios. This time it is modeled after Diagon Alley. I did love the first Harry Potter park but it was surprisingly small when I first went. Anyway, this does live up to being hidden like the true Diagon Alley because I actually almost walked right past it. The wall is unassuming and I thought it led to some bathrooms.

I spent way too much money on the new interactive wands, which my brother immensely enjoyed. The Gringott's ride was really cool. Anyway, the whole area was kind of magical since everything was so in character. I really did feel like a muggle stumbling into a mythical place. I wanted to buy everything but my mother said she would refuse to be seen with me if I bought a robe.

Anyway, we went to other parts of the parks too, of course. My brother finally got over his fear roller coasters, well mostly. He reluctantly agreed to riding what he calls adult roller coasters, ending up enjoying it, and we rode that hulk roller coaster more times than I could count.

We also explored some other areas such as downtown Orlando, an area I'd love to explore more of in the future. We also went to look into the Winter Garden but it was Thanksgiving so not surprisingly, everything was closed. I tried to warn my mom but she insisted on going to check it out anyway.

It was only a short trip, just a few days. We spent a lot of time just lounging and relaxing at the resort. It was a nice break from working. We still got home early enough to attend Thanksgiving dinner with our other family members and stuff ourselves with turkey.

I'm pretty much backtracking through all the things I've been meaning to post about. There is still more of this past 2016 I want to cover!