Orlando Theme Parks

We traveled to Orlando for our 2018 fall break. We spent 2 days at Universal Studios and 3 days at the various Disney parks. The weather was warm and wet, including a glancing blow from Hurricane Michael as it hit the panhandle. Other than having to don our ponchos for a while each day, and putting up with a few ride closures from time to time, it really didn’t impact us. Universal is pretty much dominated by Harry Potter, and the boys fell right in step. We rode the Escape from Gringot’s, the Forbidden Journey, and the Hogwart’s Express multiple times, among the other rides.

At Disney we had one day each at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Movie Studios. Star Wars is to Disney what Harry Potter is to Universal. Our entire day at Movie Studios was filled with Star Wars adventures, starting with meeting Kylo Ren. When he came into the room, both boys froze. Neither one said a word during the entire meeting, and Alex couldn’t take his eyes off of him (see the picture below). The climax at the end of the visit was having the boys participate in the “Trials of the Temple”, which is a Jedi Training show where kids get to battle Darth Vader and Kylo Ren. The video clip below shows the highlights.