We got some catching' up to do - Days 3-5

Chuck:

I can't believe that it's Saturday already. The last few days have been really full with activity and I haven't had time to post. So we just finished our four days playing at Universal Studios, and The Islands of Adventure, with the highlight being The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We were a five minute walk or a quick water taxi ride from the parks and Citywalk where we had some great dinners, saw the Blue Man Group and afterward hung out at the Hard Rock Cafe. I am getting tired now so I think Ill go to sleep and keep working on this tomorrow. In the meantime I have published a gallery of pictures we have taken so far so the pictures can "speak for" what I am too tired to write. I'll add descriptions tomorrow. Here is the link.

http://gallery.me.com/chazzinchico#100827

Day 2: My Feet Proceeded Me Into Space

Chuck:

OK, I'll have to say Chantal has influenced me greatly when it comes to roller coasters. We road five times today, although we could have ridden more. We rode "Dragon's Challenge" at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter three times, two of those in the front seats. It's one of those coasters on which your feet dangle into space, and on top of that, in the front seats it feels as though you are flying as you have nothing in front of you except... well nothing. When you finish climbing over a hundred feet up you suddenly drop, and spin, and twist, all at the same time. As the saying goes "what a rush."

We also went on the Incredible Hulk Coaster, in the front row, which is one of the funnest (is that a word) roller coasters I've ever been on. We started the day off, early, by getting early admission (a perk for being a guest at The Hard Rock Hotel) into Universal's Islands of Adventure Park, where Harry Potter World, as we like to call it, is. We headed through the village of Hogsmeade, which includes all of the cool shops from the Potter saga like Honeyduke's, Zonko's, and The Three Broomsticks to Hogwarts Castle to ride "Harry Potter The Forbidden Journey", a truly magical experience that would thrill any fan of the Potter series. To complete the day we had dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville where we, Chantal and I anyway, had a couple great Margaritas and scrumptious dinner while watching Jimmy Buffet perform on big screens and people on stilts leading the diners in song and yours truly in dancing with a giant salt shaker and embarrassing at least one of my daughters to no end. That's why we are calling this vacation "epic" I guess.

Chantal:

Highlights for me included dancing and playing the air guitar in the elevator in my socks...alone :) Also going roller coaster crazy with dad today. Margaritaville was awesome. Gotta love some good music, yummy margaritas and delicious ribs! Harry Potter World is so cool! Can't wait to try a butter beer tomorrow!

Day 1

Chantal:

We arrived here at the Hard Rock Hotel at about 6am Florida time (3am Cali time). We were lucky enough to be able to check into a hotel room right away to sleep after pretty much traveling all through the night.

Fun Fact: The Hard Rock hotel here in Orlando offers a wide variety of brand new Fender guitars to choose from that for a $1000 deposit you can take to your room during your stay with an amp and headphones (as to not disturb the other guests). CRAZY COOL!!!

After some mix ups about our room we finally got settled in and went to "The Kitchen" the hotel restaurant where we had a buffet breakfast feast (complimentary of the hotel after our room mix up). When we returned to our room to catch up on some sleep a candy platter with chocolate covered rice krispy treats, a handwritten apology card and complimentary drink cards from Amy were delivered to our room. Amy was the Hard Rock Hotel employee who checked us in at the butt-crack of dawn and dealt with and accommodated our...let's just say neediness.

Chuck:

Yes Chantal tells it well. Sleep deprived, but ripe with anticipation about our adventure we caught up on some sleep before heading off to City Walk, an entertainment and dining area just up the river from the Hard Rock. Yes, a river runs throughout the Universal Orlando property, and we got there by taking a water taxi on which Chantal received her first boat driving lesson. Luckily she chose the correct button to toot our horn at another water taxi instead of blowing up the boat, according to the Skipper. We braved a very chilly evening, for Florida anyway, and perused the many shops and venues and then ate at Pastamoré, a great Italian Restaurant. We're chilling in the room now and getting up early to head over to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and hour earlier then the rest of the Muggles. (Staying on the property gets us into the park before the general public)

Kyra's Highlight: Our visit with a friendly family from New Hampshire that we met at Pastamoré who was finishing up their stay and gave us some useful tips and information about how to make our time at Universal Studios and Harry Potter World a success.