March 15th – Spring Break in Florida

We surprised the kids by heading to Orlando and checking into Cabana Bay Resort early. I got the reservation through the NAS ITT office using my Florida Residency ID – it was cheaper than the Military price.

The kids were able to spend hours at one of the pools before it was time for dinner at Olive Garden. The pool had a lazy river and the resort sells inflatables rings so we bought 2 for the kids to share and take turns. If you have your own definitely bring them and ask them to blow them up with their air machine.

The room was nice and clean with 2 queen size beds. We brought Ella’s fold out foam bed, pillow and blankies and she slept on that (I’m not sure how long more we can get away with reserving a double room with having 3 kids!!) It had a fridge & coffee maker but no microwave.

We purchased 2 resort cups and were able to get free refills of any fountain drinks or coffee while we stayed there! We choose not to purchase the dining plan on this trip. We brought lots of snacks and fruit from home and planned to eat breakfast in the room every morning. We planned to eat snacks throughout the day and then have lunch or dinner at the park. The boys used their gift cards and pocket money to purchase interactive wands from the Resort Store. They were very excited about the prospect of casting spells in the morning.

March 16th – Park Day 1

We woke up at 6am and got ready, ate breakfast and headed for the shuttle, but not before grabbing our coffee at the Bayliner Diner. Staying at one of the Universal Resorts allows you early entry to Islands of Adventure an hour before the park opens to the public. The shuttle left at 7am and it was a quick ride to the drop off point outside City Walk. We made our way to the gate and got our military tickets converted to the park tickets. We had purchased our 1 day get 2 days free park to park tickets from the Mayport base ITT office (Adult $136 Child $130)

The gate opened at 7:50 and we immediately made our way to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter- Hogsmeade. The boys began using their interactive wands to cast spells at the designated areas throughout the park. We then got in the 5 minute wait time line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, we had to use the child swap as Ella was too small but that then meant the boys could ride twice! It was a wonderful ride to start the day. We then rode Flight of the Hippogriff and Ella loved it and we were able to ride it twice as there was no one in line! We had to try the famous Butterbeer and it didn’t disappoint – all the kids loved it. Our fave was the frozen Butterbeer. We then headed to catch the Hogwarts Express train from Hogsmeade Station over to King’s Cross Station in Universal Studios. We spent the rest of the morning wandering around Diagon Alley, exploring and casting spells along the way. We sampled some chocolate frogs and called MAGIC from the phone box. We ate lunch at The Leaky Cauldron where we had fish n’ chips, bangers and mash and tried the very weird Fishy Green Ale! Food was good but portions were small and the atmosphere was great. We left Diagon Alley and caught the Beetlejuice performance, and Ella made her film debut in Disaster we then headed towards Curious George Goes to Town play area. The kids spent over an hour in the Man in the Big Yellow Hat’s Ball Factory where they blasted and launched thousands of foam balls at everyone and anyone. We decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel via the The Hogwarts Express. We had to jump through the platform 9 3/4 which was super fun for the kids.

We got back to the hotel and the kids headed to the 2nd pool with the waterslide and swam and splashed until the sun went down! We ate Pizza poolside and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs at the outdoor movie pavillion. I snuck out to get a nighttime hot chocolate!

March 17th – St. Patricks Day

We were all kitted out in our best St. Patricks Day attire with tutu’s and tiara’s!!! We again got the shuttle to the park and by the time we got to the park the gates were already open at 8am. We got our picture taken and then decided to purchase the Star Card which is all our photos taken in the park and 2 prints ($80) My first regret is that we didn’t purchase it on day 1 but oh well, we will next time! We headed to Marvel Super Hero Island and met Spiderman, rode on his ride. We wandered through Toon lagoon and decided against any of the water rides as we saw everyone coming off of the soaked to the skin! We the discovered dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and rode Pteranodon Flyers, played in the Camp Jurassic playground and visited the discovery center where Kian got to name a new baby dinosaur hatchling! We ate lunch at Croissant Moon Bakery. We ordered the kids special, paninis, sandwiches and a fruit cup.  It was really reasonably priced and the service was quick. We also purchased the park refillable cup and refilled it with whatever the kids wanted. My second regret is that we didn’t purchase it on day 1! But again, lesson learned for next time! We then headed to The Hulk ride so daddy could ride it while the kids continuously went on the Storm Force Accelatron ride. This was the worst ride for mommy and she won’t be going on it again! We spent some time in Suess Landing, rode all the rides and caught the show and met all the characters. We spent the evening wandering around Hogmeade and Diagon Alley again before eating our Irish Dinner at Finnegan’s Bar and Grill. We had the Shepards’s Pie and the Dingle Pie, both delicious, the kids had the fish and chicken tenders, all plates were cleared! It was getting close to 9pm when we left but we headed to the Revenge of the Mummy ride and were able to ride it twice before it closed. at 9pm. We headed outside and watched the Finale – Synchronized water fountains, fireworks, movie clips and music. It was fun but not spectacular! We fought the crowd and made our way to the shuttle back to the hotel where everyone conked for the night!

March 18th Rest Day!

We all slept in, ate breakfast and headed to the lazy river pool for the morning. The kids made friends with lots of kids and were able to go to the lazy river by themselves and check back in throughout the morning. Leif left and grabbed snacks and food for lunch so we went back to the room and rested for an hour, ate and then headed to the water slide pool for the afternoon. Again the kids were able to swim and play safely at the pool. We left and got ready for dinner at the nearby TGI Fridays. All had an early night.

March 19th Park Day 3

We packed up everything into the car and headed for the shuttle. The hotel allowed us to leave the car in their parking lot for the day which was a great plus! Today was the day that we were going to do all that we hadn’t done yet as it was our last day! We headed to See Shrek and Despicable me, Twister. We stopped into the American Express Lounge for ‘lunch’.  We had made reservations at Mythos so we climbed aboard the Hogwarts Express for what must have been our 10th trip! The service was extremely slow and we spent 2 hours in the restaurant, luckily we weren’t in a rush but it might not be the best place to go if you are on a time crunch. Food was great and dessert was warranted as the kids had behaved the entire time!! We returned to Kings Cross just in time for the Parade. I waited in the Despicable Me Minions Mayhem 85 minute wait line while the kids watched the parade!! It was a small one with only 5 floats! The Minions ride was fun and then we did the Transformers, ET, Simpsons, MIB. We made our way towards the exit before the fireworks but stopped off to get our Christmas Ornament….probably should have gotten it earlier as the checkout line was another 20 minutes wait! But we headed back to the shuttle and loaded up the car before driving the 2 1/2 hours home! Exhausted but our hearts full of fun.