DISNEY EXTRAVAGANZA part 1: the flight & universal studios

WELL i am just positive you all are hanging by your fingernails on the edge of your seat with such a cliffhanger of my last post regarding the future disney posts... well wait no more and fear not, for the time has arrived! please make your way to the gate because the flight is now boarding (cheeeeese). speaking of which....

we tried to act like cool jetsetters in the airport

and were nearly raptured up whilst on the plane, but luckily reading the raunchiness of bossypants kept me firmly tethered to my seat.

and once we got to florida we were amazed by the plethora of weird gift shops in orlando, and were shocked that our hotel gave our reservation to someone else. *cue jerry seinfeld* so we called every hotel within a 20 mile radius and finally found one with two rooms that were on opposite sides of a complex bigger than the u's campus. it was insane. but who cares? because the next day we were GOING TO SEE HARRY POTTER!

i am telling you, you have no idea how MASSIVE that castle is until you see it yourself. it's huge! (that's what she said) and everything is so extraordinarily realistic and detailed that you really feel like you're there. (like, hello. on flight of the hippogriff there is actually a huge pumpkin in a wheelbarrow behind harid's hut. nerd alert!) 

seriously, look at that! THAT IS HOGSMEADE! it was amazing. they had zonkos and honeydukes and the three broomsticks and ollivanders (complete with a wand-selecting show with all the things that happen to harry) and everything. every shop was there. and honeydukes was every dream come true-- i've never seen such yummy treats! there were cauldron cakes and pepper imps and chocolate frogs and ton-tongue toffee and on and on and on. they were all there. i should have taken a picture but i was too overwhelmed with greedy gluttony to even think of such things!

the four of us went on the forbidden journey ride-- the one in the castle-- and it blew my ever-lovin' mind. you tour the whole castle (i've been in dumbledore's office!!) and then you ride... and honestly, there's no way to even describe it. it's unlike any other ride, but it's also better that any other ride. and for those of you who know me and my love for disney know that's a huge thing to say. while i will always love the matterhorn most, this ride was seriously the most brilliant thing i have ever experienced.
oh, and the dementors probably gave me nightmares.
SCARY.

dad and i went on dragon challenge, a HUGE two track suspended roller coaster that's themed around the triwizard tournament. it's insane--- the tracks wind around each other and it looks like you're about to crash into the other car at every turn. it's mind-blowingly fun. :)
and the queue area is incredible. i was geeking out all over myself. they even had the third floor corridor door with fluffy behind it. dad was laughing at me because suddenly i turned into a drooling idiot, yelling references and squealing at every corner.

and WELCOME STEFAN, the world's most traveled dinosaur!

and we were able to meet up with my dear and darlingest friend APE FACE who, as she says, "looks black next to your paleness." yes, april. yes. i know. it's sort of amazing how white i am. she's living in florida (lucky) doing the disney college program (i would dye my skin and secretly take her place if i could get away with it). it was such fun to spend some time with her while we were there!

while she was with us we were able to ride jurassic park. (she's beyond terrified of dinosaurs, so it was extra entertaining!) marcos didn't seem to understand it is an 84-foot drop so he wrangled us all into the front row thinking it was a nice pleasant boat ride... oh boy. when he saw that drop appear out of the darkness i think i saw his pupils screaming. pure terror. it was terrifying and i couldn't stand up when it was over but it was great and stefan loved being reunited with this old pal.

we also saw these spectacular ruins and the lackluster show inside. boo.

and april and i rode the hulk. yeah. i conquered that beast.

and marcos intimidated this barrel-chested beast. (was he from tooele? ooooooh!)

i chased bubbles around the seuss land

and marcos was a total babe. always.

oh, and we met superheroes after riding the wettest boat ride of all the eternities. marcos posed all cool with his arms crossed next to woverine... and so wolverine wrapped his arms around me and said in the gruffest voice ever, "yeah. go ahead and act tough. i'll take care of the girl!" it was priceless. and we rode the spider man ride that is flies around in front of all these screens and it feels like you really are flying way up in the air-- it scared me so bad! i thought we were going to suddenly drop like the tower of terror or something. and right in the middle of that THE LIGHTS ALL GO OUT and the ride shuts down. i seriously thought we were hundreds of feet in the air and the car is shaking and shuddering and i just about vomited all over everyone. it sucked.
so we rode it again.

and then, because it was grad night and a million horny teenagers ready to get their groove on descended upon the park, it closed at 6 so went to our car and stefan looked at them with judgmental eyes.

and thus concludes the longest blog post in history, written so i will be able to remember every detail when i am old and my brain is a lump of rotten cotton.
get excited, future self, because there are like 17 more of these coming your way!