A Visit with Mickey and Harry

Please pardon my recent absence... last week I went straight to a work conference when I got back into town, so this is my first chance to tell you about our trip!

Derek had a conference in Orlando last week. I told him when he went a few years ago that if he ever went back that I would have to go with him. And I also told him that we would talk divorce (kidding, of course, but I would be very sad) if he visited Harry Potter World without me. Sooooooo we worked out a way for me to do both! It was my early birthday present. :)

We flew out really, really early last Sunday, a day before the first sessions of his conference started. When we got to Orlando about 11 a.m., it was UGLY. Rainy, muggy, nasty weather really doesn't put you in the magical Disney spirit, but it actually worked in our favor. We dropped our bags at the hotel and took a cab straight to the Magic Kingdom. Apparently the weather scared off all the other visitors because we really might as well have had the whole park to ourselves! The weather cleared up and cooled off, and we waited no more than five minutes for any ride we wanted to check out. How amazing is that?

It was such a fun day, and most of Disney World was just as magical as I remember it being when I was a kid. The only thing I don't remember being as great this time was Space Mountain. But really I think I'm just old, so the rough roller coasters just hurt a little more on the ole bones.

We finally left the park as the fireworks were starting at 9 after riding every single ride (minus the little kid rides) that the park had to offer. Eight long hours at Disney World will wear a girl out.

Monday morning Derek went down to register for the conference, then we hit Universal Studios as soon as the gates opened at 9. First stop: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, of course!

This was just as cool as I had hoped and dreamed it would be. Very, very cool. If you know us well, you know that both Derek and I are big Potter fans, so this was so much fun for us to visit together. The only thing negative I can say about this park was that it wasn't bigger. I just loved every bit of it, and to be such a small part of the overall park, we spent about 90% of our visit there. We even were able to ride their big Hogwarts Castle ride twice. WE. LOVED. IT. (Nerds, I know...)

Here we are enjoying some Butterbeer (tastes like cream soda) at the Three Broomsticks.

After a little more exploring and a LOT of sweating (it was bright and sunny on Monday and about 90-something degrees), we again wore ourselves out and headed back to the hotel. Derek went to the conference that afternoon while I spent some down time at the huge pool. It was quite relaxing after the two days of trucking it through theme parks.

Monday night we went to a really nice steak dinner with some of Derek's co-workers then called it a night pretty early. I left Tuesday morning just as his conference got in full swing. It was a quick trip, but so much fun! I'm so glad I got to go, and I'm especially glad I got to nerd out at Harry Potter World with my favorite Potter fan. It was priceless.