A Visit to Harry and Bart

If I had to write an school report about what I did on my Christmas vacation, it would be filled with descriptions and tales from visiting Universal Parks and Resorts (not to be confused with Universal Studios, the people who actually make movies) in Orlando. I was able to spend about a week with my parents in St. Petersburg, Florida for Christmas, and, being the active and interesting people we are, we decided we had enough time to spend a few days on the other coast. They don't let me go to school anymore--something about aging out--but I'm excited to recount the experience for you here.

The primary goal in going to Universal, of course, is to see Harry Potter. What's the point otherwise? But you know, while Harry was, as you would expect, fantastic, it turns out that Universal is so much more than that. Universal Orlando resort is made up of multiple parks and hotels, and you would truly need days to have a chance of getting to see everything. The two major parks are Universal Studios, Orlando, which opened in 1990 and includes actual production studios in addition to exhibits to help guests "ride the movies;" and Universal's Islands of Adventures, which opened in 1999 with six "islands" designed to emphasize a journey of exploration. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened as the seventh island in 2010. In addition, there are a million (only a slight exaggeration) restaurants, stores, and various and sundry other things to see. In 2011, approximately 30.8 million guests visited the Universal Studios theme parks, making it the third-largest amusement park operator in the world, and it was the only theme park in the Orlando area that actually had increased attendance after September 11.

Mom made sure we would get the most from our trip by reserving a room at one of three hotels on the property. This meant that we could park once and go back and forth between the room and the parks as often as we liked (by water taxi; a lovely path to the park was available, but why would we do that?). So, on a bright but chilly Friday morning before Christmas, my parents and I, the dog, and four or five suitcases took off for Orlando. After bragging to everyone I knew that Florida at Christmastime generally means 70 degree weather, the weather had chosen these few days to make a liar out of me. We bundled up in jackets and sweatshirts (except the dog, who already had one) and made our way through the desolate flatlands that is I-4 from Tampa to Orlando.

Lucky enough to get into our hotel room early, great discussion ensued over which park to visit first. One of the fabulous things about staying at a hotel on the property is that we got Express Passes, which not only got us into the speedy line at most of the rides but also got us into the park an hour before everyone else the following morning. Deciding that this privilege should be reserved for visiting Harry at the Islands of Adventure the following day, we settled on Universal Studios. Dad was especially excited about this, as it is home of the Simpsons ride. "Trust me, it's the best!" he enthused.

The first order of business was lunch, as none of us had eaten yet that day. There are a ton of restaurants outside the parks, but once you're in, your primary food groups consist of pretzels, churros, hot dogs, and turkey legs (I know, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself). We located a lovely cafe where we could grab not only a sandwich but a table in direct sunlight, much appreciated in the chilly air that Floridians were sure came directly from Canada but was likely only about 55 degrees. This proved fortuitous, as it had us moving towards the Simpsons ride just in time for a front row seat at the character parade. What with no longer being 10 years old, I didn't recognize most of the characters, but that in no way detracted from the dazzle that was the parade. The music had us tapping our toes, the costumes dazzled, and the dancing was soon imitated by those in the streets. The video above will give you a taste of the incredible talent to which we were witness.

After a stop to battle with the Terminator, we finally made our way to the Simpsons ride. Really, you can't call these activities rides.  There are stories, artwork, videos, animation--half the time, it's not you that's moving, it's whatever you're watching. Loving the express passes we had, we quickly got to the front of the line that led to Krustyland, the low-budget park created by that much-loved clown. Not wanting to spoil, I won't share details, but essentially, I sat in a box that shook me around while watching fast-moving animation on a screen in front of me. You know how, when you're on a roller coaster, and you're breathless, scared, and thrilled all at once, you tend to start laughing? I couldn't stop! That is, until my stomach dropped. I was distressed to find that, while I loved doing things as a kid that made me dizzy, I'm no longer able to handle that round and round and upside down feeling anymore. The ride ended and I began breathing deeply. "Are you okay"?" my parents asked.

"It was great!" I responded. And it was. Amazing, in fact. As we continued around the park, I realized that nothing Universal does is done halfway. Nothing is just a ride, but a story, with clever, funny scripts, awesome animation, and beautiful music and special effects. It's rare to find so much talent all in one place. Maybe I admire all this creativity so much because the only thing that comes out when I take pencil to paper is a stick figure. 

The rest of the afternoon saw visits to the Men in Black exhibit, Disaster! movie, and the Macy's Christmas parade that used actual floats from the original parade in New York. After a rest at the room (they wouldn't let us nap on one of the floats), Dad and I had dinner at a restaurant designed around the NBA and NBA memorabilia. Good thing, because we'd need the energy the next day.

In Dad's ideal world, that would have begun around 6am. Our express passes would get us into the park at 8am, an hour before everyone else. Mom and I were having none of that. By the time we rose, Dad had gone on to the park and been on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride at least once. Returning to the room to pick us up around 9am, we all made our way over to Islands of Adventure. Agreeing that if we did nothing else, we needed to get me to Hogwarts, we headed all the way to the back of the park (kind of the like the milk that everyone needs is in the back of the supermarket).  There's nothing that can explain what it's like to walk into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Truly amazing. Walk through Hogsmeade, have a butterbeer, browse in Oleander's shop...it's everywhere around you, and that's all before you get to the castle. While there's always a long line to get into the castle, there's plenty to see while you wait. As we stood in line, I was terribly amused to see a couple of escapees from Azkaban ahead of us and trying to get into the castle. We saw talking portraits, Harry, Ron, and Hermione on a balcony wishing us luck, and even Dumbledore. No one offered me a wand. We were finally buckled into our seats and set off for a wild ride. As with everywhere else in the park, it could only be described as amazing. The animation was terrific, and other than that roller coaster feeling that had me breathing deeply again, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was better than any of the movies because you truly felt like you were flying with Harry. I truly can't adequately describe it here, but if you like flying with Hippogriffs, I highly recommend it.

After some lunch, we checked out a few of the other rides and exhibits, then went back to the room for a nap. I really liked this staying in a hotel on the property stuff. We went back in the late afternoon, checking out Shrek and the Despicable Me rides (I must immediately add Despicable Me to my Netflix queue). We got to see the entire Christmas parade this time (I can still hear the music in my head), and then hung out for a concert by Manheim Steamroller, which Mom had been hoping for but wasn't sure we would get to do. Making our way out of the park, we decided on dinner at Bubba Gump's, where I spent at least five minutes trying to figure out why someone had left a suitcase with a box of chocolates left on the bench outside the restaurant. We all failed the Forrest Gump quiz given to us by the waiter but thoroughly enjoyed dinner. After a good night's sleep, we headed back to the other coast.

I couldn't possibly express how impressed I was with Universal. The dancing in the parades, the animation in the videos, the creativity of the stories. It's so real. You can't NOT be there, totally, and I'm all about being present in the moment (well, I try to be). Don't wait. Run, don't walk. Let the kid inside you out.