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From Donna and Clyde: We have been off the grid for a while as we have been so busy, but we are nearing the end of a long and fun week of theme parks and shopping in Orlando, and fly to San Francisco early tomorrow morning. It is Memorial Day tomorrow and the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge celebration weekend, so San Fran is likely to be in party mode when we arrive.
We started our week of Theme Parks at Islands of Adventure at Universal, which ended up being a favourite and earned a second day. It was a special highlight for Molly because it is home to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We then went to Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom at Disney where the gorillas were a particular highlight (and the Everest ride), Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios at Disney, Blizzard Beach Water Park at Disney and we have spent today at Epcot.
Epcot has seemed a bit more laid back and quieter than the other parks, but that is probably because of its size rather than a lack of people. We have been impressed that the merchandise sold at the "countries" at Epcot is definitely the real deal and is the same merchandise we saw or bought when we visited the actual countries.
Overall, we preferred the Universal Parks to Disney as they had more adventurous and thrilling rides and attractions, but we have enjoyed the whole week. Blizzard Beach was great yesterday, as it was the first day that we have not been REALLY, REALLY hot. The weather has been fantastic the whole time we have been here, with temps in the mid 30s the whole week and just one 30 minute thunder storm, which conveniently struck when we were indoors.
In addition to the parks, we have also indulged in the other pursuit that Orlando is famous for - outlet mall shopping. This has resulted in a few luggage issues, but nothing that an extra suitcase hasn't fixed.
From Molly: We went to theme parks this week and did lots of shopping. My favourite park was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (no surprises there). I got a new Thumper soft toy and a Thumper t-shirt at Disney.
From Toby: We went to the Theme Parks and my favourite was Islands of Adventure. It had the Hulk Ride which goes from zero to forty miles per hour in two seconds. Blizzard Beach had Summit Plummet, which is the second tallest and fastest free fall slide in the world.
Highlights of Orlando:
Best Theme Park:
Donna: Islands of Adventure
Clyde: Islands of Adventure
Molly: Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Toby: Islands of Adventure
Best Ride:
Donna: Ripsaw Falls at Islands of Adventure
Clyde: Incredible Hulk at Islands of Adventure
Molly: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Toby: Tie between Incredible Hulk and Summit Plummet
Best Shop:
Donna: Nike and Adidas for the bargain running gear - can't wait to get back to long runs when we get home - had an epic fail on finding any of my favoured running shoes though!
Clyde: The ones where Donna didn't spend any money - but the tennis shop was good (Donna: read "cheap" for "good").
Molly: Dervish and Bangs and Harry Potter
Toby: Honeydukes at Harry Potter
- comments
Tessa IM SO JEALOUS!! we are missing you so much Molly and cant wait until you get back! XXX <3 Tess
Franny Molly you are soo lucky!!!!!!! OMG im so excited to see you im counting down the days only 4 more days!!!! We all miss you sooo much :( Luv you, Franny
Room 7 What awesome adventures! You are so lucky to get to go to all these adventure parks. When will you be back? It must be quite soon! We cant wait to see you :)