What a better month for me! I was able to read so much more now that I'm settling into my school year better. Our weekends are so busy but it's perfect.
32. Eight Perfect Murders
33. Imposter Syndrome
34. The Hunting Party
35. Let Me Lie
36. Smile
37. Nimona
38. Local Woman Missing
I got 6 books read this month! I might be able to pull off 50 this year!
We finally went to Universal Studios.
After finishing our four days at Disney, we made our way to the Hard Rock Hotel to meet up with my ex husband and his crew. With an extra set of adults, it was a very different trip than Disney. He offered to have the kids while Nick and I got to go out for a drink. A quick trip to Margaritaville had me feeling less stressed out and we went back and swam in the Hard Rock Hotel pool.
We started the next day at Universal Studios, and went right to Diagon Alley. I've wanted to bring my Harry Potter obsessed girl for years but we never had a car in Orlando before so it was first on our list to do! The kids got magic wands and butterbeer. We saw a dragon breath fire and ventured down Knockturn Alley. Emma really enjoyed taking the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade in Island of Adventure. The adults and Emma really loved the rides at Universal but Tyler and I had a lot more difficulty finding rides that he was okay going on. It made for a very long day and we spent a lot of time waiting around for everyone else to get off the rides. I was surprised by how early the parks close but it meant that we got to swim a bit more before bed each night!
Friday was another day of park hopping (it's so easy since they're so close!) but we took a late afternoon break to relax before going back to Disney for Boo Bash!
I have to be honest though, other than the Harry Potter World, I'd choose Disney any day. More restaurants, more rides that Tyler could do, and just a general comfort level knowing the parks... maybe in the coming years we'll love Universal more but for now, we'll keep being a Disney family!
For years Emma and I have talked about going to Disney's Not So Scary Halloween party, and even though it's smaller and called something different this year, I was beyond excited when I saw that the dates lined up for when we would be in Orlando!
Boo Bash at Magic Kingdom is a very scaled down version of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween. There was still trick or treating, and costumes, and mini cavalcade parades! The lines for rides were almost nonexistent and we were able to go on so many rides! Each kid ended up with a whole bag of candy and got to see four different parades with characters. There were also so many characters throughout the parks. Although you couldn't get close, it was still great to interact with them.
Boo Bash is a seperate ticketed event, but gave us access to the park starting at 7 pm, even though the party went from 9:30-12:30. You can check for tickets here. If we head back again while parties are happening in the next years, we would absolutely go again!
We finally made it back to Disney!
The hope was to go in 2019 but I went with work so the kids didn't get to go. Then I planned on a great trip in 2020 as a "you're amazing for dealing with the divorce and moving and switching schools and I love you" trip. So finally getting to go again was amazing!
Even though we divorced, I thought it was important to invite David and his girlfriend on our trip. Separate but together. Due to some plans they already had, they were only able to join us for the last Disney day but they did invite us to do Universal Studios with them (read more about that here!)
We stayed at the Dolphin Resort, which was walking distance to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. I fell in love with the Boardwalk and Yacht Club hotels in 2017 and loved staying right next to them. With covid still very much a thing, being in walking distance and not using the crowded buses seemed like the best idea.
Surprising the kids was the absolute best idea. Emma's face when she realized we would be in Disney in ten minutes was more than I could have ever asked for. Nick hasn't been in 20 years and watching him fall in love with Disney again was pretty magical.
Our room was gorgeous and thanks to some birthday Pixie Dust, we were upgraded to a hotel room with a balcony that had a view of Epcot's fireworks at night.
We spent our first day eating at Beaches and Cream (finally!) and then went to Disney Springs for some shopping. Our hotel pool was amazing and we spent a lot of time there.
Our first day was at Hollywood Studios. I haven't been since Star Wars area opened and it was only my second time since Toy Story Land opened. The kids and I were excited to ride Mickey and Minnie's Runaway train for the first time and thanks to amazingly short rides we got to go on everything. We walked on to Toy Story Mania and rode it 4 times in one day! Nick and I divided and conquered and he got to run off to the roller coasters while the kids and I did the more subdued rides. One of the most exciting parts of the day was getting the boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance. Tyler was actually afraid Darth Vader was attacking us but was okay after we got off the ride.
That night we swam even more. :)
Day Two was Magic Kingdom! Thanks to the Boo Bash parties already starting, it was decorated with Mickey Pumpkins already! Emma and I have always wanted to go for Halloween so this was a great compromise since I won't miss school for a Disney trip. We rode every ride. We introduced Nick to our favorite rides and favorite snacks. Emma conquered her fear of the Haunted Mansion and David and his crew met us just in time for the fireworks!
Day Three started with a character breakfast at Toppolino's. With covid, many character interactions are limited and the big parades don't happen. You also can't wait in line to meet princesses so this seemed like a great way to see the Fab 4. Since Epcot opens at 11, it was the best way to pass time before it opened. Another great perk was that the Skyliner runs from the Riviera hotel to Epcot so we got to take a quick ride on that!
I was especially excited that the Epcot Food and Wine Festival was going on. The Food and Wine Festival is another thing I hoped to go to for a while! There is so much construction going on but we still had a great day - we rode so many rides and thanks to the Food and Wine Festival, we had so much good food.
Our day ended relatively early and we made our way to the Hard Rock Hotel so we could go to Universal Studios for the rest of the week!
Going to Disney always makes me so happy and I loved sharing ti with my kids. Three days was the perfect end to our trip, but I can't wait to go back again for longer!
We're a year in the house and we've been making our way through each room. I feel like every project takes so long and each project...
