Make A Wish {Wednesday at Universal's Islands of Adventure}

**wednesday, february 19, 2020**

Wednesday of our Make a Wish adventure found us deciding to see how Universal treated wish families.  We quickly realized the treatment rivaled...and maybe even slightly surpassed...that we received at Disney.

(I know, is that even possible?)

With two days of admission to Universal Orlando Resort parks, initially it was a toss up for us deciding between Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios to base our day in.  In the end it was a loose plan for the rest of the week that had us spending our "fly home day" in the other Universal park that steered the decision.  Nicholas loves "get wet water rides" and all of the ones at Disney were closed for refurbishment.  That meant we needed to hit Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges on a day we weren't getting on a plane, so to the Islands we went!

While several of us were itching to head straight to Hogsmeade, we found ourselves passing through Suess Landing on the way.  So of course we just had to walk through the Truffula trees.

And ride the Caro-Seuss-el.   

Because where else can you ride n aqua mop top or a dog-a-lope?

Or an elephant bird (from Horton Hears a Who) or a cowfish (from McElligot's Pool)?

We thought we were done exploring Seuss Landing, but then we saw The Cat in the Hat.  And since most of my crew cut their reading teeth on adventures with the mischievous feline and his friends Thing 1 and Thing 2, we couldn't just walk by.  

It was truly the book come to life, just as quirky and fantastical as I remembered.  

After checking out the whimsy of the land (and rehydrating one of the kids ~ who shall remain nameless but hopefully learned you can't run several days in theme parks without drinking enough water) we continued the quest to find butterbeer.

Anxious for that creamy treat as we were, we had to pause to visit a favorite along the way.  

yes, i was humming 'i like to move it, move it' the whole time
no, i'm sure Julian doesn't get tired of that...

Finally...but before butterbeer we wanted to take a magical journey.

A motor bike adventure to be more specific.  

This was where we truly learned just how amazing being a wish kid family at Universal really is.  The posted wait time to get on one of Hagrid's magical bikes was 185 minutes.  Hesitantly we approached one of the attendants and when they saw Nicholas's lanyard, they called for an escort.  To our surprise, the escort began to walk us up the exit ramp.

From there she took us through a few closed doors and before five minutes had passed we found ourselves strapping our seatbelts for an amazing adventure!

I love rollercoasters.

And I've ridden plenty of them in my life.

But this one was one part roller coaster (super smooth I must add), one part movie story, and one part unexpected thrill ride.  Easily the best overall ride experience I've had in any park.  Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure sets a new standard for theme park experience.  

And the family felt the same.  So much so that we tested Universal's policy and asked to ride again immediately after getting off.  They smiled, called another escort, and within 15 minutes we had squealed to our heart's delight twice on what would later be deemed everyone's favorite ride of the trip.

We considered going again, but for two factors.  One, we were concerned too many other guests hadn't moved enough and would catch on to our perks of skipping the line in what was now a 210 minute wait.

And two, had I mentioned butterbeer?  After all, it was getting hot and frosted beverage was calling!

Everyone feeling refreshed, it was time to take a Forbidden Journey through Hogwarts.  

Again with the amazing privilege.  Posted wait time for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was 160 minutes.   Upon approach, we were walked through some passageways starting near the exit of the castle, whisked through "staff only" doors...

....and boarding our seats in the Great Hall within minutes.  

Bless our oldest.  She's really not a fan of roller coasters (though she said she'd ride Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure all day long) and also doesn't care much for motion simulators.  Her expressions are typically priceless on rides.  

Thankfully she's all about the theming and loves amusement parks despite her aversion to rides.

well, all about theming, not so much 'mama-razzi'

We took time to cast a few spells that we had missed on our previous trip.

Thank goodness for wands that don't "expire."  Certificates for interactive wands at Ollivanders for Christmas of 2018 were worth the investment, especially considering that they got us through two visits to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter...both in 2019 and 2020!

The attention to detail in making the world of Harry Potter come alive is mind-blowing and I could have stayed in this section of the park much longer.  But there was still a good bit of Islands of Adventure to explore, so we said Cheerio to Hogwarts and re-entered the muggle world during the jurassic period.

To Nicholas's delight we got tot take a river journey through Jurassic Park.

As water rides go, at least this one gives a real thrill.  Initially there's a fake out drop which turns out to be just a few feet and then without warning there's a T-Rex head followed by a 85 foot plunge.

We got splashed just enough to feel a bit of relief from the Florida sun and made our way on toward Toon Lagoon.  Nicholas and his "let's get soaked self" was SUPER EXCITED to see folks with dripping clothing get off Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-rat Barges, but we had blood sugar levels crashing and it was time to eat.  We tried the line, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today," at Wimpy's and despite having to pay a hefty sum to feed our crew, we enjoyed our burgers and fries as we overlooked the end of the bilge-rat ride, trying to memorize where we were most likely to encounter large amounts of water.

Appetites sated, it was time to get wet. 

Mission accomplished.  (thankfully we had taken off our shoes and socks and tucked them in the compartments of the ride to keep them dry...sloshing shoes are no fun)

Leaving wet trials behind us, we made our way through Skull Island (where we rode Reign of Kong...it got a "meh" out of most of us) and into SuperHero Island where our Marvel fans geeked out a bit.

We had a web-slinging adventure with Spider Man, learned what Gamma rays would do to our bodies with the Hulk, and half the crew experienced the power of Storm (what can I say, I just don't enjoy spinning rides like I used to ~ besides, someone has to take the pictures).  

 

That adventure wrapped up, thanks to our Make a Wish passes, we walked the loop, experienced all the rides (many of then twice), eaten lunch and had several snack stops all in less than five hours.

We considered heading back to Give Kids the World village at that point, but we did have hopper passes, so...

We put Nicholas in the stroller and picked up the pace to get back to the Hogsmede Hogwarts Express station.  (His distinct lack of endurance is a constant reminder of why he qualified for this trip) A few minutes on the train (read, a few minutes off our feet) and we were walking the streets of Diagon Alley.

The dragon on top of Gringotts remains impressive even if it isn't the first time you've seen it breathe fire!

Again with the wands.  With no real time constraints, everyone got a chance to try several spells before we took a side route into Knockturn Alley.

trying to rain on his sister...she got out of the way in time

when good girls go bad...

After making our escape from Gringotts and casting a few more spells, it was time to ride the Express back to Hogsmede.  Platform 9 3/4 still impresses!

Though we were tired, walking back through Suess Landing, the High in the Sky Seuss Trolly Train Ride caught our eye.  Again, no time constraints...why not? 

This would have been GOLD back when our crew was little.  But despite this ride being geared to tiny tots, Ian and I found ourselves delighted to see various books of our childhood come to life as we rode around and above the creative world of Dr Seuss.  

Eight and a half hours after we entered, we found ourselves happily 'Universaled-out' (okay, that may not be a real term, but it should be) and barely looked over our shoulders to watch the fireworks over Hogwarts in the distance.  After three days of hitting parks hard, my legs were tired, but I came to realize how this trip is about more than just the wish kid.  It's about the whole family.  We were carefree on this venture because everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) we could want or need was taken care of and so we just got to enjoy it all...even walking in step to the piped in Suessical music as we exited the park.

One part of Universal that we didn't explore were the shops of Port of Entry.  So many cool things we could see as we quickly passed by the doors.  Only a tiger could slow us down from our next goal.

Dinner followed by ice cream (because if it's available...) at Cafe Clayton back in the Village.  Several took advantage of all the Papa John's pizza they could eat served up by Mama Merry's Pizzeria, but others filled up on Boston Market's rotisserie chicken, mac and cornbread from Katie's Kitchen.  (side note, Boston Market provides their family style meals at GKTW by raising money through their seasonal coupon book sales sold in all Boston Market locations across the country)

The day already held so many wonderful memories, but the most special of the entire trip was in store for us on our walk back to our villa in Banyan Park.  We stopped by the Castle of Miracles and were directed to find Nicholas's star in the Star Tower.  

Stellar the Star Fairy had taken his star and placed it in the Borealis section of the Star Tower.  His will permanently twinkle along with over 130,000 others, a poignant reminder of just how many critically ill children have had a magical week at the village in the past 26 years.  We are honored to be part of that number and vow to return one day in volunteer status to help spread the cheer and joy we experienced in our time there.