When the birthday girl got up, she got a special breakfast: Munchkins! All of our Boston-born girls love their Dunkin Donuts.
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| Birthday breakfast for the brand new one-year-old! |
After breakfast, we set off for Universal. Making a great day even better, we were joined by Nickie, a very dear friend of mine from college, and her husband Steve, who live outside of Fort Myers and made the drive up to spend the day us.
Our first stop in Universal was Seuss Landing. I was anxious to get to Harry Potter world, but Seuss Landing was pretty cool itself, was more age-appropriate for the girls, and we had to go through it to get to Hogwarts, anyway! Also, first thing in the morning, there were NO lines. (I think that was the only time that happened the whole week we were in Orlando.) So we got (unexpectedly) SOAKED on the One Fish, Two Fish ride, zipped through a life-size version of The Cat in the Hat, and rode a carousel full of Seussian creations.
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| We had these rides in Seuss Landing almost entirely to ourselves! |
When I couldn't stand it any longer, we walked up the path to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter...
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| Entering Hogsmeade! I was giddy. |
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| All aboard! |
In a word: Amazing!
The rides really weren't anything spectacular (although we didn't ride the roller coaster that actually went through the castle -- it had a two hour wait!) and it was a little too crowded (long lines kept us out of Ollivander's), but I felt like I had stepped into the imagination of J.K. Rowling (or onto the movie set, anyway) when walking through Hogsmeade and looking up at Hogwarts. The detail that went into the design of the whole thing was super impressive.
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| Hogwarts! I SO wish I could attend... |
Because the wait for the main roller coaster ride was so long (and I don't think the girls could have ridden anyway), we opted to take the "walking tour" of Hogwarts. Really, you just walk next to the line waiting for the roller coaster, but it was still neat to see the talking pictures and other Harry Potter stuff throughout the castle. We also had a butterbeer in Hogsmeade, bought a chocolate frog and some Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans (which look suspiciously like Jelly Bellies) at Honeydukes, and walked by Hagrid's hut while we were there.
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| Nickie and me enjoying our butterbeer: Cheers to catching up with old friends! |
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| The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. WONDERFUL! |
AND, Amelia rode her first real rollercoaster: the Flight of the Hippogriff. Nothing that went upside down or super fast, but it was a real rollercoaster! She said that it was fun, but she did not want to ride it again. In all honesty, I think her favorite part was seeing the huge hippogriff sitting in its nest while we waited in line. She kept asking if it was "real." J
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| Amelia and Nickie post-rollercoaster ride. Amelia said it "shook up her brain"! |
After a leisurely lunch at a covered picnic table down an alley and behind Gringotts Bank (they've got a perfect set-up back there), the grandparents took the girls back to Seuss Landing so we could ride a more adult rollercoaster. After wandering through the underground line for what felt like miles and hours (since you couldn't see far enough ahead of or behind you to judge how far you had to go or had already traveled), we made it to the Dragon Challenge. I really love a good rollercoaster. The more loops and twists and corkscrews, the better!
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| The birthday girl at lunch |
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| Tip for tackling theme parks with little ones: Bring some new little toys with you. Giving the girls new toys at the parks kept them from begging to buy thing incessantly and also provided sufficient entertainment when in long lines! |
We met back up with the girls and the grands at Seuss Landing, where they had ridden the Sneetches ride and were having a blast at the If I Ran the Zoo play/water area. I guess we should have brought their swimsuits, but they didn't mind getting their clothes (extremely) wet. It was hot enough that I kind of wished it would have been socially acceptable for me to do the same...
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| Getting soaked and loving every minute of it. |
We walked through Marvel Super Hero Island on our way out of Universal, and got lucky -- Spiderman had just arrived! We waited in a not-too-long line so Amelia could meet him and have him sign her autograph book. After three days at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, Amelia's main concern when we were in the Wizarding World was where Harry Potter was, and she was bummed that we never found him, so Spiderman was a good consolation prize. J After that, we finally made it back to the car. It was a very busy first birthday for Louisa!
No birthday would be complete without cake, though, and our little one-year-old got her very own cupcake back at the hotel. Louisa was completely unsure about what to do with the candle (we blew it out for her after she tried to grab the flame), but the same was NOT true for the cake or the frosting. I felt a little bad that she had a store-bought cupcake for her birthday -- her sisters have always had cakes that were homemade and somewhat elaborately decorated -- but Louisa didn't seem to mind in the least!
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| She is not timid. And/or she just REALLY loves sugar. That's my girl! |
Yes, she went straight into the tub after she finished her cake. And after she was adequately cleaned, Louisa even got to open some gifts! Nickie and Steve brought her a set of squeaky rubber blocks and a stuffed purple dog that can be programmed/personalized. Both have become favorite toys, but especially that dog. I'm not sure if it's because it says her name all the time or because it plays the Itsy Bitsy Spider (currently her favorite song), but she LOVES it.
Altogether, I'd say that Louisa had a pretty great first birthday. At least, I thoroughly enjoyed it! Too bad she won't remember it, but we'll just have to take her back another time...
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