Well hello there Main Streeters! How the heck are you? Good I hope! It’s Wednesday and time for our weekly check in! I hope all my friends to the North are doing ok in the snow and staying safe and warm. It’s such a surreal thing to see the snow on tv and online instead of being in the middle of it, that’s new for me! It’s been chilly down here in Florida, but we can’t complain. So, what’s been going on in the past week here? Lots of stuff, let’s chat!
We have been back in Florida for just over 3 weeks now, and we’re finally getting back into the swing of things. The first two weeks after our Michigan trip felt like we were playing catch up, but I’m finally settled back in. I wanted to start off the year by focusing on our websites and getting more pictures and content, so we’ve been going out and about a lot this past week. Last weeks blog, I told you that we finally went to Universal Studios and got to check out Diagon Alley. Did I mention how amazing that was? Well, this past weekend we headed over to Islands of Adventure to check out the other half of the Harry Potter fun. Just like Diagon Allen, Hogsmeade was out of this world. The castle facade where Hogwarts resides is a sight to see, it’s incredible. We took the train over to the other side as well, and I wasn’t disappointed one bit. If you haven’t done the Harry Potter stuff at Universal yet, you really should. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. I’ll warn you though, the ride inside Hogwarts is very realistic and it can give you the spins, I’d take some motion sickness meds ahead of time! Another great area that my boys enjoyed was the Marvel Land at the park. I have huge Marvel fans in my household, so they loved it. I really wish Disney could incorporate this Marvel fun into their parks, it would be a welcomed addition. The merchandise is great and the rides are fun. I highly recommend it!
After our visit to Universal Orlando, we decided to get back to our main focus, Disney! I hadn’t gone to see the progress on the taking down of the Sorcerer’s Hat in a couple of weeks, so we wanted to go and check it out. Upon walking into the park, the sight of the half taken down hat kind of takes your breath away. My little guy gasped and put his hands over his mouth. He said “Mama, the Hat looks so sad, I feel bad for it!” I have to say, my nose burned and my eyes teared up, because he’s right. It does look sad. My kids aren’t old enough to know Hollywood Studios before the Hat appeared, so it’s odd to them to see the construction, or deconstruction as it may. I keep joking about the rumor that John Stamos bought the Hat and is taking it to his house. Well, the cuts in the metal and holes underneath speak otherwise. The top of the hat is still together and sitting next to what’s left, but the rest looks pretty bad. I’ll be glad once it’s down, it’s too sad to keep looking at. I know a lot of people are glad to see the hat go, and get the park back to it’s original state, I get that. The sentimental side of me hurts a little, just because I don’t do change well, but I’m looking forward to what’s to come.
As you know, construction is EVERYWHERE across Walt Disney World. So, I decided to keep venturing out to see what kind of progress has been made. My next stop was at the Magic Kingdom, I had to go see if Walt and Mickey were still boxed up. Yes, they’re still in a box…… my friend said we need a hashtag of #freewalt! He’s boxed to keep the statue safe from all the construction going on around the area. It looks like they are making some progress, so that’s a good thing. I really think the Hub area is going to be beautiful once it’s done, so that’s exciting. We’ll be watching and waiting…… in the meantime, #freewalt should totally be a “thing” if you ask me!
Speaking of construction walls…… oh boy. Animal Kingdom. Construction wall capital of WDW. We headed over to Animal Kingdom yesterday to take a peek. More walls went up since our last visit, which makes it harder to maneuver around. I feel bad for people coming there on a shorter trip, or people who won’t be able to make it back for a long time, too many walls are up, which makes for bad picture taking truly. We headed over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch because it’s off the beaten path and away from the crowds. I consider myself a seasoned Disney veteran, but I’ve only been back to Rafiki’s twice… yes, I said twice! It’s so much fun back there! The area where you can mingle and pet the animals is a great time! I’m going to write a blog about the whole experience, and I plan to take my boys back there soon since they’re never been. I mean, who wouldn’t want to pet a pig or take selfies with a goat? You know you wanna!
Well, that’s it for this weeks Florida Living update! I had fun writing this weeks installment. As always, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading each week and following along on our adventures. Our Main Streeters are the best, there’s no denying that! Until next week, I’m sending you all lots of love and pixie dust! See Ya Real Soon! ~M
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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