Family of Four: Disney and Universal!

COVID interrupted our planned Disney trip in 2020 which made us even more excited to go this year! We went the week before Thanksgiving again since it's a low-crowd week and temperatures are great. This trip we were focused on Harry Potter (Universal Studios) and Star Wars (Hollywood Studios). We had a 3-day pass to Disney, 2-day pass to Universal, and a pool/rest day in the middle. The resort we'd originally planned on wasn't opened back up yet but we were happy at Saratoga Springs (the kids loved their fold-down bed!).

Disney isn't doing fast passes anymore but I wrote a ride or restaurant we had reservations for on each link of our countdown. Owen was right when he said, though, that the real thing is better than looking at it online.

The fall leaves made it a beautiful view from the air!

Don't be fooled by the kids appearing to hold hands. It lasted 0.7 seconds.

We were excited to be able to use Disney Express transportation as it will no longer be free at the beginning of the new year.

The weather was perfect! We did wear our hoodies throughout most days in the morning, as well as in chilly buildings. It only sprinkled some on our pool day.

The main pool at Saratoga Springs:

Disney isn't doing dining plans at this time (which always included a dessert) but we'd signed up for a Disney VISA after our last trip and had earned quite a bit of rewards money that covered a lot of our meals. A friend told me that you're not ready to go to Disney unless you can stand in front of the toilet and flush $20 bills without flinching. I'm not sure I got to that point exactly so I was glad when Chris was the one to see the totals. We definitely ate well!

Flashback to 2016:

I'm not sure why Willow insists on losing teeth while we're on vacation!!

We stayed on the 1st floor of the building to the right of the large tree.

Our first park pass was for Hollywood Studios. The Toy Story land has really developed since we'd been there last. My favorite ride in that area is definitely still Toy Story Mania. Lines averaged 45 minutes since you couldn't skip any lines unless you purchased Genie+ which we did our 2nd day only. A lot of the rides do a great job of having cool things to see while in the line to help pass the time.

Masks were required while indoors at Disney and were optional at Universal.

They didn't have characters walking around to interact with but you would find them occasionally in lofted areas like this:

The Star Wars area was also developed a lot since we'd been last and it was incredible! The more you looked around, the more details you saw.

We approved of all desserts we ate!

We caught a few character parades.

We all enjoyed the blue milk!

All of the parks were decorated for Christmas already :)

We had reservations at Mama Melrose, where we ate on our first trip. Here's a flashback to Owen eating pasta last time.

Thanks for the shirt, Morgan!!

We did two days at Hollywood Studios back-to-back in order to get our Star Wars fix. We got Genie+ on our 2nd day, hoping to use it for the Rise of Resistance but they weren't offering it as an option that day and the line didn't go under a 2 hr wait. I think not being able to do that will be my greatest disappointment of our trip but we just couldn't justify over 2 hours in a line.

The Beauty and the Best show was great (and sitting down was always appreciated!)! Check out a song here and here.

Owen brave wearing his Yoda hoodie around Kylo Ren and drew his attention.

This must be "Sprite" in Star Wars language.

Willow loved kicking us into Light Speed on this ride!

While attitudes weren't great 100% of the time, the kids showed their gratefulness through random hugs, holding hands, and "Great day of Vacay" song like this.

The kids have never been on a roller coaster that went upside down and swore that they hated them without even knowing. We went on the Rock n Roller Coaster, not telling them what we predicted it would be like (dark and upside-down). We'll say they survived but the look on Owen's face proves their fear while riding it.

It's worth a closer look ;)

We loved the new Slinky Dog Dash ride and wish the line wasn't so long or we would've enjoyed riding it again!

At each Photo Pass spot in the Star Wars area, they'd have you put up your hands to use the force. The results crack me up.

We were all exhausted by the end of the day!

The kids had some schoolwork to do since they were missing a week of school. Owen did a great job of staying on top of his chapter book assignments without being prompted! Most of Willow's was online and done after we returned home. We're grateful to have such hard working students!!

The next day we spent focused on Harry Potter at Universal Studios.

You could almost miss the entrance to the whole Harry Potter area because it just looks like a brick wall but once you weave through it, it opens up and you truly believe you've just entered Diagon Alley! Like the Star Wars area, there were tiny details all over!!

The Butterbeer was delicious!

The librarian at my school made these "Mischief Manager" shirts for us!

Floor to ceiling wands at Olivanders!

They choose one person in the small room at Olivanders to have a wand "pick them." Owen was picked!!

The wand that picked Owen was "Oak with Dragon Heartstring." See description below.

Willow picked out a wand made of willow based on it's description (also below).

When you purchased a wand, you received a map of about 16 places around the area where you could do a spell and cause something to happen. Owen really enjoyed doing it! Check him out here and here.

Knockturn Alley

Calling the Ministry of Magic!

After experiencing everything in Hogwarts we explored the rest of Universal. Willow quickly learned that you could predict the intensity of the ride based on whether you needed to put your backpack in a locker before entering (it wasn't 100% foolproof though). We enjoyed this construction show called Beat Builders.

They had a full-blow Macy's parade through the park! It was awesome!

We saved some of the confetti as a souvenir!

Christopher Martin...

The water show was amazing!

They did a short show for a lot of their movies!

The next day we went to Islands of Adventure. They have Harry Potter stuff there too. We bought the 2-park pass so we could ride the Hogwarts Express train between parks, which we all enjoyed.

Hagrid's roller coaster ride was Chris and my favorite of all time! It had all the best roller coaster features all in one ride. We rode it to start and end our day. I knew that one was going to be intense when they wouldn't let me hold the Go Pro, then told me I couldn't have my hoodie tied around my waist. Willow and I lucked out being in the front on the first ride, then Willow and Chris got to be in the front on the 2nd ride! The line was about 45 minutes each time but there were super cool things to see all through the line.

These cool shirts were made by my librarian as well!

Welcome to Hogsmeade!

We had the family meal at Three Broomsticks and it was amazing....and HUGE!! We would've loved to take the rest for leftovers!

The damage we were able to do:

Inside the castle was amazing! The ride too!

After we experienced all of Harry Potter world, we checked out the rest of the park.

We got a *little wet!

The Grinch musical was great!!

We'd seen the dog and dog trainer in the animal show earlier!

We had a reservation at T-Rex that night. It's another one we'd enjoyed last time but worth the 2nd time!

Always save room for dessert!

Tuckered out!!

We were ready for our pool/rest day! We had a slow morning then checked out the Sky Liner (gondola) to see what it was like. We enjoyed a quiet ride on the bus (we had it to ourselves!), time at the pool, then a water taxi ride to Disney Springs to do some shopping before dinner.

Owen voluntarily said "I'll take a picture of you two!!"

We enjoyed being able to take the water taxi to and from our resort and Disney Springs!

The Lego store "sensed" which Lego minifig you were!

Flashback to 2016:

We loved our dinner and dessert at Planet Hollywood! Willow's nachos were HUGE and I would've shared with her except I was super excited to try Guy Fieri's hamburger with macaroni and cheese on it (it was worth it!!).

Owen filled his non-eating time with being mesmerized by the gigantic screen.

This was Willow's plate AFTER she ate AND took a container of leftovers "just in case." It really could've fed all 4 of us!

We had to save room for dessert! They were both amazing!!

Our last park day was at Magic Kingdom at Disney. We rushed right to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which said was an 80 minute wait that ended up being 45, so we rode it twice in a row!

Owen braved the teacups with me while Chris and Willow stayed in the first part of the line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

It's a good thing we have a few years to work on her driving!

Flashback to 2016:

We couldn't pass up cooling off with a Dole Whip!

I do love a good "aim and shooty" ride!

Flashback to 2016:

Clearly this picture wasn't Willow's idea ;)

We stayed for the fireworks that night, although I didn't like them as much as the first time. This time there seemed to be more lasers and the castle was used as a screen for projected images a lot. It started misting at the beginning of the show but was definitely rain towards the end. We ended up missing the last few minutes of the show in our escape to the bus.