Fantasmic Adventures in this thing called life: July 2020: Day 2, Universal

This was our first day to start in the park, and we chose to start back at Universal Studios.

Our girls had their maps out and they were ready to tell us where to go. We were able to direct them a little, and we decided to travel to the right first so that we could ride the Simpsons ride first. LittleCJC was excited to ride this one and neither Patrick or I were so we decided it was better to start the day with it while there wasn't a line. Here's Patrick waiting with LittleCGC.

When we finished riding the Simpsons ride, we moved on to Men in Black. We had to take turns riding both these rides as LittleCGC was not tall enough for either of them.

You know Mom had the best score!

We then made our way into Diagon Alley. LittleCJC was excited to get a wand today. It was the goal of the day, so we got on the wait list and were surprised that the wait wasn't too long. While we waited, we tried the butterbeer ice cream.

Poor LittleCGC missed out on this snack.

After a quick walk around the area, it was time for us to return to Olivanders. At this time, the Olivander's experience was a private show. Patrick and I had seen the show previously on our very first trip to the Wizarding World back in 2010, but watching your kid experience it was so neat.

I don't remember what wand was chosen for her, but I don't think it was the one we ended up with. If you're unfamiliar, you are able to purchase the wand chosen for you, pick your own, or not even purchase any. In the end, she purchased the Hermoine wand. Of course, as soon as she had her wand we had to visit some magic locations.

We also had to take some pictures.

As we left Diagon Alley, we had to stop to see the Knight Bus. The girls loved this, even if we couldn't get them to talk.

After this, we maybe rode Transformers, I don't remember, but I do know that we ended up taking a little snack break in an empty alleyway where we took shelter from a little rain storm.

I don't remember if we stopped to ride Jimmy Fallon's Race Through New York again or not, but we did stop to visit with Hashtag the Panda.

We then decided to take the time for Despicable Me, which ends in a fun dance party.

I believe we also decided to check out Shrek 4D at this time too. This was actually pretty hilarious when the seats move to mimic the horse galloping, since so many seats were empty due to Covid restrictions it was a real loud moment from the chairs. We then decided to take a park break so that we could check into the Universal Hotel. On our way out, we stopped for a few pictures.

I love how LittleCJC thought it would be funny to pretend to wipeout, but when LittleCGC tried to join, she actually fell.

We were able to check in to our new hotel, Endless Summer Surfside without any hassle. These rooms are pretty big for a standard room and they have a crisp and modern feel.

We took some time unpacking and resting a bit.

Our timing was great as we were at the hotel during the daily rainstorm. Once it stopped, we debated just staying at the hotel for the remainder of the day, but LittleCJC was determined that we needed to go back to the park. So, we decided to test out the bus situation and we made our way back to the park. At this time, the bus was empty, but due to Covid, they assigned a seating section as you entered.

Upon our return to the park, we entered Islands of Adventure where I got talked into riding the Jurassic Park River Adventure.

During the Covid times, Universal allowed guest to remove masks while on water rides. I guess LittleCJC decided to leave her masks on, and thankfully, we didn't get too wet. After our trip down the river, we made our way to Hogsmead where LittleCJC had to get another picture with the train now that she had her wand.