Let the Memories Begin!

We're back from Florida and had an amazing time. We were all pretty exhausted by the end of the trip but it was well worth it.

As soon as we landed we headed to Universal to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The park was really magical and brought the books and movies to life. Even though we got stuck on the ride in Hogwarts, we all really loved it. We cooled off with frozen butter beer and checked out some of the shops. Elizabeth and I had found really fun owl earrings that wore during the day that I wish we had taken a picture of. After riding the Hippogriff we also rode the Jurassic Park ride and a very wet water ride that left us soaked (although we were grateful to cool off from the Florida sun). By then we were all pretty exhausted and headed to the hotel to relax before conquering Disney the next day.

Hogwarts at Universal Studios

Our hotel was great! We stayed in the Toy Story section of the Disney All Star Movie resorts. P and I may have been the most excited to stay here as the Toy Story series is one of our favorites. The room was decked out in Toy Story bedspreads and it really felt like we were in Andy's room. Here are a few pics from the hotel:

A view of Woody from our building

Buzz was attached to our building

Hanging in RC the race car

Friday was a whirlwind day. We got to Epcot by 8am to take advantage of the extra hours for hotel guests and ride Soaring, Finding Nemo and the Test Track. We also walked around the shops in Epcot Paris. Afterwards we walked to the Beach Club resort for lunch and ice cream at Beaches & Cream and then took a boat to Hollywood Studios. I had never been to this park before and it was one of my favorites! Despite a bad thunderstorm delaying us for an hour, we got to ride all the rides we wanted to - Star Tours, Muppets 3D, Toy Story, and Tower of Terror. After Hollywood Studios we went back to the hotel for dinner and to rest. Then we headed to the Magic Kingdom and took advantage of the after hours for hotel guests. It was so magical to be there at night and see the castle lit up. We stayed until the park closed at 3am and rode all the great rides - Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Toy Story, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh. Below are some pics from the day:

P and I in front of Epcot Paris

Mickey sundaes after lunch

Elizabeth and I ready to go

P and Elizabeth at Hollywood Studios

P and I at Magic Kingdom

On our last day we visited Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom again. It was very hot on Friday but thankfully another storm came through to cool things off in the afternoon. The safari ride at Animal Kingdom was really amazing this time as almost all of the animals were out, it was incredible! We were able to rest in between the parks again so that we would be refreshed for a last visit to Magic Kingdom. Here are some pics from the day:

Elephants on the safari

Black rhino on the safari

Giraffes on the safari

Animal Kingdom with the Everest Ride in the back

Inside of Splash Mountain while there was a commotion downstream

I am so grateful to P's parents for including me on their trip. It was so much fun and I'm looking forward to going back with them again in the future!

It's Restaurant Week in DC this week and we have plans to go to two of favorites tomorrow and Thursday with our friend Jessie and Elizabeth. This upcoming weekend we have Aubrey & Brent's baby shower and Allison's birthday cookout. Our summer is ending with lots of excitement!