Monday, our last full day in the park, was the rainiest of days. Each day they shut down the outdoor rides for storms in the area, but Monday had it the most. Luckily, we had accomplished most every ride we wanted to hit, so this last day could be slower and more exploring. We slept in a bit, then took the water taxi to USO. The lighting was lovely while waiting for the boat, so I took a lot of pictures.
We returned to Transformers, then shared a cubano sandwich and fruit cups while watching the Transformers characters perform.
We went to the Horror Make-up and Special Effects show. I think Jack was the perfect age for the comedy, he was laughing a lot and was truly interested in all the gimmicks they showed us.
The kids hate character interactions and were annoyed that I forced these pictures with the Despicable Me parade.
What a surprise, we’re back at Diagon Alley! More dragon viewing, another ride on Gringotts, and some sweet treats.
They each got a Cauldron Cake, I got a pumpkin cake, Sam got a caramel apple, and Jack got a chocolate frog. The sky had opened and the rain poured down. We hoped it would let up so they could perform The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which wasn’t listed as canceled. Alas, we gave up when it was 10 minutes. We took the Hogwarts Express to IOA.
We wanted to do more rides, but everything was either closed or a very long wait (all the traffic gets pushed to indoor rides when it rains). We found burgers in Jurassic World and the kids played in the science center.
Sam found this outdoor playland that was open despite the rain. It was very cool! A good break for him, I think.
Back towards the park entrance, hoping the rain would stop (no luck) we went to Spider-Man again. This time masks off for the picture!
For some reason the Storm Force ride was open when nothing else was operational. It was basically a walk-on because it’s a tea-cups type ride. I happily took pics from the side-lines.
Sam picked out a couple comics from the comic book store.
We bid adieu to Ben, who was tuckered out for the day. I took the boys over to Hogsmeade to ride Forbidden Journey for the third time. The rain finally stopped so the lines were shorter, as people migrated to those outdoor queues.
The picture line was having trouble. After impatiently waiting for me, I told them they could ride Hippogriff by themselves. Delighted, they scurried across the grounds to the coaster. I finished up in time to see them ride and take some pics. They are in the very back car of this train:
Here they are, so proud of their ride without grown-ups.
We agreed there was only one way to close out the night – another ride on Hagrid. The sunset was beautiful as we made our way there. There was even a rainbow!
When I got home to download all the photo package photos, I found there were two mp4 files of Hagrid. I was excited to see video, and then totally bummed about the outcome. What good is taking video of an outdoor ride if you don’t illuminate it at night?? Both files looked like this:
Jack wanted a picture with the train engine parked in Hogsmeade, and then we walked back to the hotel for our last night.
Tuesday we flew back to Colorado, but not until the afternoon! We spent the morning in Diagon Alley one final time for a little more shopping, more spells, and to watch the Tales of the Beedle the Bard.
One last blow of the dragon, and we took our butterbeers out of the wizarding world and back to the normal world.
We had lunch in the City Walk shopping center, took a car to the airport, and had a rather unpleasant flight home. But let’s not think on that. I’ll try to remember this as our farewell to Florida instead:
I’ve really enjoyed these vacation posts, even though Sam seems to be miserable the entire time. 😉
Thanks! I actually thought Sam comes across happier than I remember, because there are no pics of him trudging from location to location. That was the worst part for him 😅