We left Salt Lake on Thursday the 11th at midnight. As we boarded the plane we were all given a sleep kit which consisted of an eye shade and ear plugs. I have never been very good at sleeping on airplanes so the sleep kit provided a ray of hope that I might be able to actually get some sleep. Those hopes were quickly dashed when I realized that even though it was quieter and darker on the plane, I was still not in a comfortable sleeping position. I think I managed about 45 minutes of very restless sleep throughout the entire flight. As soon as we landed we headed for our hotel to see if we could get an early check-in. Luck was on our side and we got a room right away. Since we arrived before the park was open everyone wanted to take a power nap before heading to the park. While a nap sounded like a great idea I was worried that if I went to sleep I would not be able to get going. So after everyone finished with their power nap we headed for Universal Studios. After a groggy walk to the gates the energy of the situation took over and the fun began. We spent all of Friday, Saturday, and Monday exploring Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The other portions of the park were fun, but hands down the best part was all the Harry Potter attractions. I think we could have spent all three days in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and not been able to absorb all of the details. Rather than droning on about all of the details through some pictures. Enjoy:
Getting into the park.
Remember we parked by the giant angry dinosaur
Ticket in hand and ready for some fun
Our first close view of Hogwarts from a prehistoric or Jurassic angle
Leading up to Hogsmeade Village
The bridge into the village
Welcome to Hogsmeade
Entertainment in the village was provided by......
The proud sons of Durmstrang and .....
The lovely ladies of Beauxbatons Academy
The view of Hogwarts from the village
Strolling past Hagrid's Hut while waiting for a ride on a Hippogriff
No trip to Hogsmeade would be complete without some Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer
The only snow in Florida can be found on the rooftops in Hogsmeade
Leaving Hogsmeade and Hogwarts to head London
We didn't have the energy to walk from Hogsmede to London so we headed to the train station
The Hogwarts Express waiting to take passengers back to London. This was a genius move by Universal. Not only was this a fun attraction, but it allowed them to have a piece of the Harry Potter experience in each park which means you have to purchase a park-to-park pass. I think they thought this one through!
On the other side, Platform 9 and 3/4
I think Ruth was excited to be in London when we only had to pay for a trip to Florida
Despite the crazy look, I am also excited to be here
Watching people pass through the barrier between Platform 9 3/4 and Kings Cross Station
This isn't the best shot, but people would evaporate as they hit the wall.
Inside Kings Cross Station
Rachel trying to find a way into the Ministry of Magic
The London crowd flocking to the Knight Bus
Looks like Ruth found the entrance to Diagon Alley
Our first glimpse into Diagon Alley
Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes
Checking to see what wands are on display in the window of Olivanders
Ruth sneaking off to explore Knockturn Alley
Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and another view of Diagon Alley
It looks like Gringotts has really turned up the heat on it's security
The dragon on top of Gringotts would actually shoot out flames, but I was never able to get a photo of it. I didn't get to see it breath fire until our third day in the park. We would wait outside and watch for a few minutes, and it seemed like every time we stepped inside a shop or got on a ride it would breath fire. It was almost a running gag because I kept missing it.
The impressive chandeliers in the lobby of Gringotts
The goblins hard at work balancing the books. I'm sure this is what some people think accountants are really like.
Even though we did spent a lot of time exploring Harry Potter World, we did explore the rest of the park
Universal was all decorated for Christmas including a small wreath on their front door
Rachel walking like an Egyptian through the park.
It was a close call, but I manged to get away with taking a break in the No Standing Zone
Jaws was a little upset because they took out his ride. We tried to cheer him up with a granola bar, but I don't think it helped.
You just can't have Thing 1 and Thing Two without the Cat in the Hat
Marianne finally has her shot at stardom. We went through the Disaster Experience, and she was selected to participate in the filming of the ultimate disaster film.
We spent three days of our Orlando trip enjoying Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, but we did take a break from the action on Sunday to make a trip out to Cocoa Beach. It was a nice relaxing change of pace, and the view was great. Hopefully these next photos will give a glimpse into our beach day experience:
Just a few days after our trip to Temple Square we got back together with Ruth's parents and headed for Las Vegas (Betsy and Chris also came with their kids and Ruth's Uncle Jim and Aunt Deanna, but they traveled separately). It probably seems a little ironic to transition from talking about the gospel and temples to Sin City, but we headed down to see the Utah Utes play in the Las Vegas Bowl to see the U face off against an old Mountain West foe in Colorado State. It is always fun to go to a game, but there is always a little more hype and excitement associated with a bowl game. The Utes really shot out of the gates and I think caught the Rams off guard. It looked like it was going to be a complete blowout in the first half, but as the game went on CSU got a little traction and made a game out of it. The coolest thing that happened outside of the game itself was related to the flyby that happened before the game. During halftime they brought out the pilots who participated in the flyby, and when they announced the last pilot he flashed a U sign and the announcer mentioned that he was a University of Utah alumni. That got a really big reaction from the crowd. Once again I am getting long winded, so here is a few shots from the game:
The crowd on their feet in the opening moments of the game
The game is over and the celebration begins
The presentation of the trophy. When they were making the game MVP announcement, they noted that Travis Wilson was the first quarterback in Las Vegas Bowl history to have three rushing touchdowns. He definitely upped his game here and was deserving of the MVP award.
After the game was over we headed back to our hotel to meet up with Ruth and Marianne. Ruth's parents and her Aunt & Uncle were supposed to head back into Las Vegas after the game to go to dinner and a show, but Marianne was feeling under the weather by the time we got to the hotel. Since she wasn't feeling up to leaving the hotel I got to fill in for her. We met up with Jim and Deanna and went to the Legends in Concert show at the Flamingo. It was a concert put on by a series of impersonators. They had a mix of classic and modern artists, but my favorite artist of the night hands down was Bobby Darin. After the show we went to Harrahs for dinner at the buffet. I felt bad that Marianne wasn't able to participate, but I sure had fun. The next morning I got to explore the grounds of the hotel with Ruth. We were staying at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa, and it looked more like Italy than Henderson Nevada. Here are a couple of fun shots from the grounds:
Ruth taking a turn on Santa's throne
The hotel actually spanned the water in part of the lake
Private beach. Check!
What desert oasis would be complete without a massive waterfall
With all the impressive scenery of the hotel, none of it looked better than Ruth
Our final adventure of the month, unfortunately does not come with any pictures, so if you want to navigate away from the page now I will understand. We did get to go to Blanding and spend Christmas with my family this year. This was the first time since 2009 that I was able to be home on Christmas Day. To make it even sweeter, the whole family was there. We weren't sure if we would be able to get Zeb an his family up because of Zeb's responsibilities as a Resident at the hospital in Mesa. Luckily he was able to break away and spend Christmas with us. Once again we were spoiled for Christmas and got more than we needed, and definitely more than we deserved. The thing that I was most excited about this was the grill we got from my parents. I have been wanting to get a grill since we got married, and now we will have the chance to work on my grilling skills. The only bad part about being home for Christmas was having to leave. It is always hard for me to leave Blanding and my family because I don't get to see them as often as I would like. We wound up having to leave a little earlier than we had hoped because we were trying to get ahead of a snow storm that was moving in. I think we were being watched over because it didn't start snowing until we hit the point of the mountain. We felt truly blessed to enjoy safe travel, especially considering how much traveling we did this month. We also feel extremely blessed to have such good families to spend time with, and enjoy life with. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this a December to remember!
