Surprise ... it's Universal Studios

We woke on on Universal Studios Day with much excitement. Hannah and Asher had spent some time reading up about all the things that we could do here. They had come up with a list and top of it was seeing the Harry Potter World. 

First, we had to catch an uber to Universal, an hour or so along the freeway. Terrifying stuff. I do not like the freeway. But we made it and found a whole shopping area before we even got to the entrance. It was filled with large signs and flashing neon lights, plus many, many shops that looked enticing. 

We did make it to the entrance. It was hot and we knew it would get hotter. We had our fingers crossed for some shade but it was exciting to stand at the entrance. It was familiar to me, as I had travelled there many years ago. 

We came up with a game plan, there was a few rides and shows we wanted to see. We started with a fun 4D theatre and then headed to a show. This was a show with animal actors. Eeek!

We found it such a great show. The animals were so well trained. There were cats, rats, guinea pigs, chickens, dogs and a few different birds. The trainers clearly care about their animals and most of them are rescue animals. We really enjoyed it. 

We also got a few cuddles. 

We made it to the Harry Potter World. Another eeeeek!

We headed to the first ride but it was a little scary but awesome. We flew on 'broomsticks' and went up and down and even a little back. The imaging was incredible. You felt like you were actually experiencing the places that they took you. It felt very real.

By this stage we were hungry so we headed to the 3 Broomsticks for a very expensive lunch. Sigh. But at least they had plant options for us.

Hannah had a butterbeer. She seemed happy.

It was then time to head to the 'Studio Tour'. We spotted this on our way through, the list for what was being filmed. Sadly my fav, 'The Good Place' was out on location.

There was a great view out over the mountains. 

We boarded the bus and headed out onto our adventure. It was a pretty cool tour. We saw lots of cool things, lots and movie making things plus we got to experience King Kong and a T-Rex fighting us over the bus, an attack by Jaws, an Earthquake (not so great for some of us who don't like earthquakes) and a few other goodies. Dan and I got a little excited to see the Good Place filming spots. 

After the studio tour, we went down to the 'Lower Lot' for a few adventures. We found someone who quite likes adventure. Asher didn't want to have an adventure with us. 

More fun, at Super Silly Fun Land.

We also managed to find Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, but we couldn't get to close to get a real picture so we settled for a selfie. 

Water World was our next show. I remember this from all those years ago and was excited for the experience the kids were about to have. We choose to sit just behind the green seats, the splash zone. The boys sat behind the girls so that they didn't get wet. 

The set is amazing and the actors are all stunt people from film and tv. And they were funny. So funny. One guy tipped a whole bucket of water on top of someone in the splash zone. A lot of people got wet. 

The show was fun and filled with cool water stunts, flames and other theatrics. We didn't take any photos though as we decided just to enjoy it. 

Hannah was keen to give the Harry Potter ride another go, so we headed back in. 

Spotted some Durmstrang and Beauxbatons on our way through.

Hannah and I found a dress. 

It was now coming to the end of our time. We headed out of the park and back through the mall. Asher spotted this place. 

We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Our waiter was fab and helped us choose the yummiest meal. Turns out it was quite expensive, but ah well, you only eat 3 times a day ...

It was a pretty great birthday surprise.