Life is Just a Bowl of Berrys : Harry Potter World

For my 60th birthday, I wanted to go to Harry Potter World. So Monday, Sept. 30th, we drove up to Orlando and spent the evening with President and Sister Berry (aka. Mike and Beth Ann) at the mission home. It was wonderful to see them and spend the evening with them. We got to stay in the GA room (General Authority). There's a bathroom connected to this bedroom, so it's perfectly private.

The home is beautiful! We were able to enjoy a lovely dinner with them and three young men who serve as President Berry's assistants.

The next morning we went to the temple and enjoyed an especially awesome session. The new film is so beautiful, tender and thought provoking. I cried through most of it. It is so well done.

After the temple it was off to Universal Studios. We paid for the "Islands of Adventure" where Harry Potter World is. We could have paid for the whole park, but it was after noon and I really didn't think we would be able to get our money's worth. Of course we walked straight to Harry Potter.


It's amazing!

I really wanted to see inside the castle. The ride signs kept warning people about motion sickness, so I asked about it. Oh, it's not that bad, I was told. It's a simulator. So I thought I could handle it. Mark, wisely decided not to go with me.

I'm so glad he didn't! I got so sick!! Towards the end, I'm not kidding, I really thought I was going to lose it! I just kept praying: ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease don't let me throw up! I actually gagged, but thankfully managed not to completely lose it! I was queasy for quite a while afterwards though.

So sadly, I have come to the conclusion that I can no longer do any of those high-powered rides most people find so thrilling. And again, sadly, that was what the majority of the rides at Islands of Adventure is.

We did find other things to do however. Probably my most favorite place next to Harry Potter was Jaurassic Park. We went on a water ride that was similar to Splash Mountain at Disneyland. Dinosaurs would pop out of the water from time to time and at the very last minute before plunging down the final portion of the ride, a Tyrannosaurus Rex reaches down to get you. We also got our DNA and picture that showed us what we would look like as a dinosaur. Funny.

Cool.

We also enjoyed the "8th Voyage of Sinbad" live show at Lost Civilization. We sat in the wet zone and got pretty soaked! All fun.


At the Lost Civilization.

We walked around the park several times, so we did go back to Harry Potter World a few times. The shops were cute. After I got over my queasiness we had dinner at The Three Broomsticks. It wasn't long after that before we left to go home.