I'm back! And tan!

Guys. If you ever get the chance you must visit Universal Studios. MUST. Before I had stepped foot onto the park I was just expecting to see Harry Potter world and be done, but honestly I think I had more fun seeing everything else than the Harry Potter part.

Even though a lot of my friends had told me in advance that the Harry Potter portion was small, you really can’t comprehend how microcosmic it is compared to everything else until you’re there to see it for yourself. That being said, if you’re a hardcore Harry Potter fan like me you’ll definitely be impressed by their attention to detail on everything. The architecture was spot on, Buckbeak was believable, and the Hogwarts castle (and talking paintings!) make you feel like you stepped into one of the films. Sadly, I wasn’t able to go inside Olivander’s because the line literally was the length of the HP park; however I did manage to squeeze into the other shops. I also managed to ride The Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff three times each.

The Butterbeer was yummy, but it was basically just butterscotch flavored soda with a cream topping (btw, I love butterscotch flavorings). It’s $10.50 US for 12oz. in a souvenir mug, so it’s kind of one of those “one time” things. Speaking of prices, I brought $80 with me (which was less than what I brought with me to Las Vegas) and I spent about $78 and got ¼ the amount of souvenirs that I bought last year. Everything there was EXTREMLY overpriced; the quality was mid-grade. I got a t-shirt, the Butterbeer, and my friend Rebekka’s birthday gifts and that was it. Overall I’d give my HP Universal experience a 8/10. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel (which was awesome) and all of the service people were super nice. Also, in order to get to the park from the hotel you had to take a water taxi, which ran until 2am. Judge me if you want, but anything boat related I get super excited about for some odd reason…

One thing I found interesting about my stay at the park was the fact that 80% of the people there weren’t American. While I was there they had SIX Brazilian tour groups, not to mention various Europeans and Asians who were taking their vacations there as well. Oh man, I’m going to miss those beautiful, gorgeous, HOT Brazilian guys. Ah, and all of the lovely French men were appreciated as well. According to my dad, due to the fact that the American economy is worth shit right now foreigners are taking advantage of the fact that the American dollar is so low. BTW, if China buys out America I’m probably going to move to Australia or New Zealand. Just saying.

Anyways, my grandparents were awesome and paid for Express passes that let us cut in most of the lines; however there were a few rides that you had to wait in line for despite having an Express pass. In the three days we were there my sister and I managed to ride all but three or four of the rides at the park (unfortunately Jaws was broken :( ). I’m pretty roller coaster-ed out. Also, next time I visit a theme park I’m not taking my sister. She was a mega bitch most of the time and complained and whined until she got her way despite the fact that this trip was MY senior trip from my grandparents. Also, sharing a bed with her SUCKED--- she kicks in her sleep and steals the covers. I woke up cold almost every night and had to steal back a portion of the blanket so I wouldn’t freeze (my family cranked the AC every night) and then she would kick off the remaining blankets in her sleep and blame me in the morning for stealing it. It’s so hard to not be petty around her. I seriously thought about cutting her hair in the middle of the night, but luckily I had enough self control… I’m so glad that she’s leaving for Houston in a few days.

Horrible sister aside, I did get to work on my tan while I was in Florida, and I am now a toasty golden brown. I took advantage of the weather (which was a lot nicer than Texas’) and went to the pool as often as possible. I’m so lucky that I don’t burn like the rest of my family. The worst that has ever happened to me was when I spent the entire day at a water park with my friend Hannah and I got a little pink, and peeled a little. Gross, I know.

Currently I’m trying be more interesting while writing this, but honestly I’m so tired from travelling that all I want to do right now is crash. I guess I’ll just leave you guys with these pictures.

The only thing that bothered me was the fact that at certain angles you could see palm trees surrounding Hogwarts...