Universal Studios Florida
After experiencing our first taste of Disney World in 2018, I was ready to fly back to Florida and discover what other secrets it held. This wonderous state is full of hidden gems, but I quickly set my sights on Universal Studios. I wanted to experience more magic with my kids while they were still kids and do something they would really sink into. Plus, I remembered traveling there as a child… One memory in particular stood out. I was twelve years old and sitting on a large yellow raft. A giant T Rex hovered over me. Its jaw opening wide… And as I descended down, down, down, surrounded by screaming voices, a cold wave of water smashed directly into my face. I emerged soaked, despite my clear, plastic, overpriced poncho. This was Jurassic Park River Adventure. And it’s now located inside Islands of Adventure, one of Universal’s two parks.
When people think of taking their kids to Florida, they automatically think of Disney. They think of Magic Kingdom with its Cinderella’s Castle and Mickey Mouse Ears and Dumbo the Flying Elephant. And I totally get it. Disney is a magical place. But after living in this incredible state for two years, becoming season pass holders, and experiencing both Universal and Disney over and over again… I have to be honest. In our world, Universal is just as magical as Disney. And in several categories, it’s actually better.
Also, today’s Universal Studios is not the Universal Studios of the early 1990s.
What started off as one small theme park with a few rides now consists of two theme parks, a water park, and a central hub known as City Walk. Universal Studios opened in 1990, City Walk was added in 1999 along with Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay was added in 2017. These parks are all fully fleshed out. Each their own experience. And that’s we love about walking into them… that feeling of being transported into a different world… a world where anything is possible. While Disney is known for this, walking into Universal makes you feel this way too. Only instead of princes and princesses, there’s Spiderman and Transformers. Instead of stepping into Star Wars, you’re riding the Hogwarts Express into Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Instead of Woody and Buzz in Toy Story World, you are surrounded by prehistoric dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. One is not better than the other; they are just different. And that rush of fun and excitement you feel when you step into a new world… it happens at both places.
Back to the summer of 2019.
We were sitting on our stone patio in Connecticut. Kroy was a few months old sleeping on my chest and Camilla was playing with Shane. And I decided we were going to Universal. This Winter. With a 9 month old and a four year old. Right before Christmas. We were going to experience all of the magic and wonder of Christmas at Universal without all of the crowds that occur during Christmas week. Yes. It was happening. There was just one issue… how were we going to pay for it? We were new parents for the second time and we didn’t exactly have thousands of dollars saved for a vacation. No money? No problem. It turns out that Universal sets up a payment plan with you when you book a package with them. You can literally pay over time. This was not something that Disney offered when we traveled there.
So we booked a week at Lowe’s Sapphire Hotel, breakfast with the Grinch, dinner with Captain America… and waited four long months…
Labor Day Weekend happened. Halloween happened. Thanksgiving happened. And before we knew it we were sitting in Bradley International Airport, a baby strapped to our chest, a toddler holding our hand. Excited. Ready.
“Jet Blue to Orlando”
Here we come…
To be continued…