mardi gras at universal studios

a few fridays ago (march 9) little sis and i got on a plane and headed down to orlando florida...the reason for our trip? a concert of course!...haha!!!...big time rush was set to have a concert in universal studios on that saturday...they were so great the first time so we hopped on the chance to see them again!...we stayed a few days after the concert so we would be able to go to the parks too...i guess we'll take this vacay review on a day by day basis!

friday
our flight wasnt until after 830 so we didnt get into orlando until late...we got to the hotel around midnight and proceeded to check in...(btw we stayed at the royal pacific...a little expensive but it was great...i would recommend it!)...we were pleasantly surprised when we were awarded a free upgrade to the club level room...that was great because there was a free continental breakfast every morning for the guests on that floor...this ended up saving us a lot of time and a lot of money...so yay!!!

saturday
we woke up, ate our free breakfast, and headed over to the park for what we knew was going to be a loooong day...the only thing we had planned for the day was standing in line...we got there at around 10am and there was already about 150 people in front of us (the park opened at 9)...so we got on line and waited and waited...

it wasnt as terrible as i thought it would be...we brought cards...so we played war and spit...we also had little sis' brand new ipod...so we watched an episode of big time rush (appropriate right?!)...since it was a mardi gras celebration they had a whole bunch of entertainers on stilts walking around....so that was fun...also the line moved to new locations a few times...the first time we moved was around noon...and then at 5 we were let into the place where the concert was held...i thought they let us in a little early cause the concert didnt start until 830...once we were in that spot there was no moving...

the line at around 3pm

the crowd behind me at the concert

when we were let in the center section was about 4 or 5 rows deep already...so i went over to the side a little bit...we were FRONT ROW!!!!...we werent in the center but who cares cause we were in the front...based on the previous btr concert i went to i knew they would more than likely be coming off the stage...and sure enough they did...they were all right in front of me at one point or another...i even got to touch them a few times...excuse me while i allow the 12 year old inside of me to squeal...*eeeeekkkkk*....haha!!!

none of my pictures came out very good but you get the idea

the concert was great!!!...those big time rush boys really are great singers and performers...im in love!...haha!...we had a great time at the concert...we even met a few more 20+ rushers...they were great!!! (wow...i just said great A LOT...oops!...haha!)


sunday
we wanted to get up and be at the park by 8 when the park opened for people staying in the universal hotels...i heard that the wizarding world of harry potter gets really packed really fast and getting there early is really the only way...unfortunately the alarm we set didnt go off...we ended up getting there around 930...it didnt turn out too bad, thanks to springing ahead that night i think most people were off to a late start...also it was raining so the park was way less crowded than normal...

anyway when we got there we went directly to harry potter...i was so excited!!!...it was so cool...walking around hogsmead and seeing Hogwarts was amazing...i felt like i was really there...they had all the shops from the book, like honeydukes and the three broomsticks...they even had butterbeer...i was totally geeking out seeing everything...the best part was the ride...the line took you through hogwarts castle...you go through the dungeons, then to the green house, then to dumbledores office, then threw a hallway with talking and moving portraits, then to the defence against the dark arts classroom (where herminone makes it snow!) then to the griffindor common room, then you see the sorting hat, then to the room of requirement...this is where you board the magical bench and the ride starts...its a super fun ride!!!!...even if youre not a harry fan i think you'll still love this ride!!!...its def worth the wait!....

thanks to the rain the the park was pretty empty so we were able to get through everything pretty quickly...by lunch time we went on all the rides at islands of adventure...we would have gone on the roller coasters a few more time each but the rain hurt...when we went on the hulk i felt like ice pellets were attacking my face...i couldnt even keep my eyes open because it hurt sooo bad...of course we laughed about it the whole time but it really did hurt!...haha!...

after we went to lunch we headed over to the other park...we were able to get through all of those rides too...i think my fav over there is the mummy ride...its an in the dark coaster and tons of fun...there was a new roller coaster that we went on...it was a lot of fun and a little different...you get to pick a song you want to listen to and there is a camera that films you the entire ride...i thought that was pretty cool!

that night we ate dinner at nba city...neither of us care all that much about basketball but i read a lot of reviews that said it was good...so we went there...and it was good!...great food and reasonable prices...we were happy campers!!...

monday
since we got to everything on sunday we went through and went on all the good stuff again...but the park was way more crowded so it took us a lot longer to do things...we started with harry potter again...we waited 20 mins sunday for the ride...monday we waited 1.5 hours...when we got off the line was twice as long and we could barely walk through the hp section...it was sooo crowded...good thing i was able to find the secret butterbeer line thanks to laura's tips!...if not i think the line for that was about an hour!...crazy!!!

besides harry potter we hit up all the other awesome rides in islands of adventure, ate lunch, then header over to universal to do those rides again!...eventually we went on everything we wanted to multiple times so we headed out...we walked over to the hard rock hotel...we thought that there would be a lot of cool stuff there...yeah, not so much...we were a little disappointed but at least we burned off some of the ice cream we just ate!...haha!!!

despicable me ride coming soon!

that night for dinner we went to the latin quarter...it was good but a little pricey...there were a lot of awesome reviews for it...it was good but not omg amazing...Chevy's in linden is just as good...and much cheaper...

tuesday
we didnt do anything on tuesday except for go home...boo!!!

well thats it for now...ill be back soon!!!