Orlando again

We went to orlando again for an overnighter.  It was such a horrible week it was nice to leave it behind even if it was just for 30 hours.  We lost Sugar (our 11 year old greyhound) on Monday.  
We flew into orlando and drove over to universal.  We got into the park at about 1pm. We started in the older park so we could take to new Harry Potter train over to the Islands of Adventure.  It was pretty cool.  The train really is moving, and they show a video on the window to make it look like we're leaving Hogwarts and pulling into London.  On that side, we explored the new Diagonal Alley, which is behind a very nondescript wall, but once on the other side, the whole Harry Potter experience comes alive.  There are dark magic back alleys and lots of stores and details to explore.  We're kind of Harry Potter geeks, so we had to look at everything.  The wands that you can buy have interactive spots to cast spells, a lot of them have water involved.  The dragon is huge and loud, and if you're under him when he spits fire, you can definitely feel the heat. The ride , Escape from Gringotts, is awesome.  I wish it were a little longer, but again the detail is just amazing! I almost wished it broke just to be able to look around!  We ate at the Leaky Cauldron, and since they mixed up our order, they gave us a free dessert.  The food was ok for an amusement park, but I said to bubba that we waited there longer than we did for the ride. Oh, about that, we took the single rider line, we did not get to ride together, but we got on the ride at least a 1/2 faster... It's the way to go if you don't have kids.
The real reason we went, was to see Mannheim Steamroller.  They put on an excellent show that lasts about an hour, and it's included with the admission.   Well worth the trip.
We left the park and went to our favorite Mexican restaurant in the area, AgaveAzul.  It's usually that or in the same parking lot is a bar-b-que.  It's usually one or the other.  It was a nice break, and the sun was out all day!  That seems like an oddity these days in Boston!



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