Slytherins Unite

Speaking of witches.. I guess I should finally post this overly-detailed bit that I wrote in October which has just been sitting in my "Drafts" since then..  

  On Saturday, October 8th (2016), my cousin Lindsey came down from Georgia and spent the night at our house. We went for a walk and ran an errand to Publix, then watched the comedy mockumentary "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" with our dinner of popcorn and fruit-filled popsicles.

  That Sunday morning I got up at 5:40 (her idea!) but it was fine and I didn't feel tired. She drove us to the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal and she checked in. The girl helping us was super nice and put me and Michael down as the kids in the room so we could get free Express Pass cards for the rides!! And she gave us leis when we were done. I asked for green to keep up my Slytherin theme. Lindsey is a Slytherin too, hooray!! 

Slytherins: ambitious, shrewd, cunning, resourceful, show leadership, achievement-oriented, and will do anything to get their way. They also have highly developed senses of self preservation, meaning they tend to hesitate before acting, to weigh all possible outcomes before deciding exactly what should be done. Sounds like me to me.

   After repetitive confusion (I almost always get the Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure entrances mixed up) we met up with Michael around 7:20 and started with the rides!! Minion Mayhem, then took pictures in New York by The Mummy where they had some Halloween Horror Nights cages set up. I had to take pictures in front of them since that's the closest I'll get since I went in 2009. Michael went with his friends on his birthday. 

  We walked around London/ Diagon Alley. I stepped aside to the child swap area while they rode Escape from Gringotts. Fun fact that I can now write about: The announcer mentioned that pregnant women are not recommended to ride the coaster because of the drops and Michael whispered in my ear so Lindsey couldn't hear, "That could be you." We didn't know at the time that I actually was! ;) But that's not why I didn't ride it. We took more pictures (I was happily surprised with how many pictures Lindsey took!) and then rode the Hogwarts Express over to Islands of Adventure. Michael and Lindsey rode both of the Dragon Challenge roller coasters, then we met up with Lindsey's friend, Terri. They were roommates in college at Valdosta. I'm not sure if I had met her before, but I've seen her in pictures.

  Michael got food in Jurassic Park while we rode The Forbidden Journey in the castle and Flight of the Hippogriff (my favorite). We walked through Atlantis and made a reservation for lunch at Mythos, then continued on to Superhero Island where Michael got his Express Pass activated. We rode Spiderman (Lindsey said they are re-making that series for the third time in 15 years!! The Tobey Maguire version was first released in 2002) and then waited together while Lindsey and Terri rode The Hulk. Michael was getting really tired by then from all the sun exposure, plus he burnt his neck and the top of his head and feet while power washing our driveway the day before. He still said the sunburn wasn't as bad as that time without "suncream" (I heard some British people call it that) when we went kayaking in Catalina! 

   We walked to the Dr. Seuss area where Michael was an extra sweetie and got pictures with the Grinch and a dog with a top hat. Michael told me that he wondered if someone he knew was in the costume since they kept giving him hugs and high fives, but he never got a text from any friends about it during the remainder of the day. We also went on the Sneetch ride where the narrator was talking about different sounds instead of the usual story about why the Sneetches have green stars on their stomachs.

  Then it was time for lunch at Mythos. Michael got his usual Pad Thai and I got the flatbread, wondering most of the meal if I should have ordered the tomato basil soup instead. (That's what I got when we went with Ryan and Ben in December 2014 and it was really good!)

  After lunch, Terri left to get back on the Hogwarts Express to meet some other friends, but we wanted to go on the new King Kong: Skull Island ride before we left for the day. That is located in the Jurassic Park area and was pretty good. The jeep thing we rode in held 72 people. It seemed like it would be better if it held about 18, but phew! Something else easy for me to ride. We rode the Hogwarts Express back to Universal, shared a Butterbeer, and walked to the Halloween Horror Nights tribute merchandise store area. After taking half of a step in and seeing a 6-foot-tall murderous clown, I waited in the hallway for them. We said goodbye to Lindsey before she got in line for Rip Ride Rocket, and walked back to the car. With how tired Michael was I was surprised he didn't use the moving sidewalks. More steps for me, which I tracked all day with my Fitbit Flex.

** A few nights ago Lindsey texted me to let me know that Tom Felton (who plays Draco Malfoy in HP) is joining the cast of The Flash, for Season 3!! Michael and I have only watched the first episode (mainly bc Sebastian from Glee is the main character), but I'll definitely have to watch this new season.