Another trip to Duke... and a detour!

We loaded up the car, and, along with the kids, we traveled to my bi-monthly scan and consultation at Duke. As most of you saw, judging by the number of likes and comments on Facebook (By the way, thank you!) I had another clear scan.

We then traveled down to Florida to visit Aunt Val and Uncle Biff, and take in a couple of theme parks while we were in the neighborhood. Based on my brother's tips, and other reviews from sites like the DIS, helped to determine what rides we would take in.

We only had the time/money to visit two parks, so we decided on the Magic Kingdom, the first and still the best park in Disney World (although I have never been to Animal Kingdom). The other one was a no-brainer. As a family of Potterheads, we visited both Universal parks.

Our first park was the Magic Kingdom. This is the most visited theme park in the entire world, and it certainly seemed that way when we were there. Waits ranged from 30 minutes (even for the "smaller rides") to 150 minutes. Here are the rides we rode in order.

The Haunted Mansion: 45 minute wait. Still amazing. I still can't figure out how they pull off the effects in here today, let alone in 1971 when they built the attraction. The kids loved it too. Although the ghosts are friendly, some of the darker and/or noisy portions of this ride may scare little ones. This ride is a must-see and is worth waiting in line for.

It's a Small World: 45 minute wait. The costumes, images, music and message make this a timeless classic. No one should leave the Magic Kingdom without riding this.

Peter Pan's Flight had a 90 minute wait, so we skipped it. I remember it being good but not great.

We ate at the Columbia Harbour House for lunch. I had a decent tuna salad sandwich, but like any restaurant in any theme park (with the exception of Knoebels), it was very overpriced.

Splash Mountain was closed for repairs, which sucks, because it's an awesome ride. Also, the Hall of Presidents was closed for refurbishment, which is a bummer because it's fun, and I wanted to boo Trump.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: The sign said the wait was 65 minutes, but the actual wait time was about half that. For my money, this is still the best ride in the park. I should begin by saying that my doctor at Duke and I agreed that I could ride thrill rides as long as there were no inversions. Anyway, this is a smooth, impeccably themed roller coaster. It is thrilling, but not too intense, so the younger set as well as coaster freaks like me can all enjoy it.

Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor: 30 minute wait. Like my brother, We were pleasantly surprised by this ride.  You can text jokes prior to the ride and some are included in the show. Sadly (and unsurprisingly), none of mine were. They use a person behind the stage and motion-capture technology (used for Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies) to bring this ride to life. The best gag is "that guy." You will have to experience it to see what I mean. Well worth waiting for.

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin: 30 minute wait. This is a combination of a ride and shooting gallery, similar to "Men In Black" in Universal. Although this ride is newer and is a decent experience, MiB is better.

Space Mountain: I've been on it, meh. Nowhere near worth the 70 minute wait.

Speedway: This didn't work out because you could only fit two people in a cart, my wife had no interest in the ride and I didn't want to send our 8-year-old on the ride alone. Besides, they are supposedly going to wreck this ride for a "Tron" themed ride.

Tomorrowland People Mover: A 60 minute wait to ride a monorail where the track moves instead of the cars? I don't think so.

Just FYI, Stitch's Great Escape, supposedly a lousy attraction, is closed for renovation.

The relatively new Seven Dwarves Mine Train looked interesting, but no ride is worth waiting 2 1/2 hours for, especially a ride I hear is short and underwhelming.

Mad Tea Party: A great ride, but not worth waiting 50 minutes for.

Dumbo: A 30-minute wait for a ride you can go on at just about any smaller park.

The Barnstormer: 45 minute wait. A Goofy-themed kid's roller coaster. A bit short, but our 8-year old loved it, especially the theming, which included "flying" through a billboard.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Still awesome, and made even better with the addition of characters from the movies. The Jack Sparrow animatronic character used facial mapping technology, and nearly looked real.

Sadly, the Jungle Cruise, one of my favorite rides, had a 70-minute wait, the rugrats were getting tired and we wanted to beat the post-fireworks rush, so we called it a night.

Two days later, we found ourselves in the massive parking garage at Universal Orlando, with my cousin Brian along for the ride. The package we got included Fast Passes which are accepted on almost every ride, but even the standby waits were short, ranging from 5 to 30 minutes.

We proceeded into the park and made our way to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Escape From Gringotts: This ride tries to replicate the opening scene from the eighth Harry Potter movie, in which Harry, Hermione and Ron break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. They eventually ride a dragon out of the bank. This is a fun, exciting ride that uses a combination of 3D and animatronic technology. I would wait up to 60 minutes for this ride.

We looked in some shops, including Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. Hopefully the candy sold in the store, such as Puking Pastilles, doesn't have the same effect it did in the books and movies.

We didn't have time to ride all rides at both parks, mainly because they closed at 7:00. We had to pick and choose the rides.

The Simpsons Ride: I don't like this ride on principle because it replaced the fabulous Back to the Future ride, based on my favorite movie. At least the DeLorean and the time traveling steam engine were still there. That out of the way, The ride is a motion simulator using an IMAX-sized screen. This was a funny, crazy ride that is more rough and intense than its predecessor, especially the part where Maggie uses your ride vehicle as a pacifier. Really. I would like to ride this again sometime because I am sure there are a lot of jokes I missed. I would wait up to 45 minutes for this ride.

We ate at Fast Food Blvd. for a healthy lunch. Some of us got the Krusty Burger, which was supposedly good, others got the aptly named Heat Lamp Hot Dog, and I got a Sideshow Bob Footlong, which was loaded with chili, onions and kraut. Yummy. Did I mention how expensive theme park food is?

Men in Black Alien Attack: Like I mentioned before, this is a shooting gallery ride similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride in the Magic Kingdom. This is executed better because of more elaborate theming, targets that are easier to hit, and the fact that the front and back rows compete for the high score, and a high enough score qualifies you to join the MiB. Needless to say, we did not qualify. Lots of spinning, so steer clear if you have a weak stomach. This WAS my favorite ride at Universal (keep reading), but I would still wait a good 60 minutes to get on this ride.

We decided it was time to get to the other park, so we high-tailed it to Platform 9 3/4 and boarded the Hogwarts Express. If you look out the windows, you see projections of London, the British countryside, and the Dementors stop by to try and steal your soul. Also, the Weasley twins make an appearance to promote their joke shop in Diagon Alley.

At Hogsmeade (the village outside of Hogwarts Castle) there was snow on the roofs of the buildings. There was a presentation inside the wand shop called "The Wand Chooses the Wizard" in which a lucky kid is plucked out of the audience and gets to try out wands. Like in the movie, the first two wands break light bulbs and knock things over, and the third wand glows, and is a match for the wizard. To answer a question Adam had, yes, the person chosen to test the wand has to buy it for the exorbitant $40-50 they charge in order to keep it. Our 8-year old and I bought the wand of our favorite character, Sirius Black, and our 7-year old bought Harry Potter's wand.

Also, if you buy an "active" wand, you can wave it at certain spots in the park to cause actions like a fountain spitting water at you, a frog croaking, etc. This was a lot of fun.

Flight of the Hippogriff: This is another good kids' coaster, similar to Goofy's Barnstormer ride. Not as much theming as its counterpart, and it is a short ride, but the important thing is the 8-year old loved it.

By the way, Dueling Dragons is history, and will be replaced by another roller coaster, which could be any number of themes. I won't even try to guess.

We then went to The Lost Continent, where we were greeted by the Enchanted Fountain. Obviously the voice of the fountain was nearby, because it interacted with us. The highlight was when our 8-year old waved his wand at the fountain, and the fountain responded by spitting water at him.

Jaci and the kids went on to Seuss Landing, while Brian and I rode Poseidon's Fury, which is essentially a special effects show with lots of fire, water and lasers. This may be a little dark and loud for smaller kids, and you have to stand for the entire ride. I would wait no longer than 20-25 minutes for this.

We then met up in Seuss Landing. Very good theming. I wonder if the designers of this park were on something...

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: Another small spinning ride like Dumbo. What sets this apart is the fact that water is getting squirted at you from all directions. I was riding with our 8-year old, and, of course, he deliberately moved the fish up and down into the water jets. Guess who was sitting on the outside and got drenched?

Cat in the Hat: A fun family-friendly ride, and a good adaptation of the book into this format, sometimes quoting the book line-for-line. It almost got rid of my memories of the awful Mike Myers live-action movie. Almost. Well worth a 30-minute wait.

We then hopped the train back to the other park, and caught a couple of good rides on the way out.

Revenge of the Mummy: This was my first time on this ride, and is my new favorite ride at Universal. It combines a dark ride with a coaster, and has some crazy coaster elements like drops that seem taller than they are (The longest drop is only 39 feet), launches, helixes, and some genuine moments of airtime. Very impressive for an indoor coaster. I don't want to give anything away, but the last 45 seconds or so are crazy! I would easily wait up to 90 minutes to get on to this ride.

Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon: This entertaining ride, the newest in the park, has the entire theater (72 people) as a motion simulator vehicle. You race the Tonight Show host through the Big Apple as he throws pizza at you, and even uses a T-shirt cannon, reminiscent of Fozzie the Bear's "cheap 3D tricks" in the incomparable "Muppetvision 4D" ride at Disney. This ride may be a bit bumpy for the smallest children, but is not dark or scary. This ride uses a "virtual line," meaning you must have an express pass or reservation for the ride, and there are no "lines" per se. You can freely roam around in the lobby and second floor. In the lobby, which is decorated with memorabilia from former "Tonight Show" hosts (even Conan O'Brien), an "NBC Page" will give you a color-coded studio pass, and you proceed to the second floor to board the ride. Meanwhile, you will be entertained by Hashtag the Panda and/or the Ragtime Gals. Overall, a fun and entertaining experience.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, I wasn't permitted to ride anything that turns me upside down, so that ruled out The Hulk and the Rip, Ride, Rockit Coaster. Also, I heard the Forbidden Journey was a very intense ride, so I skipped that as well. Brian said the Forbidden Journey was less intense than the Escape From Hogwarts, which I did go on. He also said he hated the over-the-shoulder harnesses on the Rip, Ride, Rockit coaster because he kept banging his head on them.

Overall impressions: I liked Universal better because it was much less crowded and the lines were significantly shorter than the Magic Kingdom. I may have thought the opposite if the lines were long in Universal.

The theming in both areas of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was impeccable. The King's Cross station seemed dirty, and Hogwarts (we went through the line but didn't get on the ride) was replicated perfectly, down to the moving paintings, including the Fat Lady. The areas in Diagon Alley had signs for "pram parking," a Britishism for stroller. I only wish they also had "Way Out" (exit) signs and "WC" (restroom) signs. Finally, they needed a "Mind the Gap" sign in the train station.

I have been to the Magic Kingdom a few times, but this time was different because I got to see it through my children's eyes for the first time. They got tired and cranky, but they had a great time. We all saw Harry Potter for the first time, and we were overwhelmed. I wanted a hat and a robe, but the wand was so expensive, we had to stop there. Maybe next time.

Now it's time to thank people who helped us on the trip.

Aunt Val and Uncle Biff: My aunt and uncle graciously let us crash at their place north of Orlando. We basically invaded their house for a week and ate their food. They gave us nothing but hospitality and kindness. Also, there were two pools in their community, one of them heated. I haven't taken a swim for a while, and the dips in the pool felt great.

Jaci: Sadly, my lovely wife was stuck doing all of the driving. I can't drive because of a seizure risk. Some of it was stressful, including the stretch on I-95, America's Main Street.

Fred and Sandy: They visited our house daily to feed the cat, and clean the litterbox. Amelia was considerably more chunky when we got home. Hmmm......

Universal Studios Orlando: Because of my illness, they offered my family 30 percent off two-park tickets and complimentary Fast Passes. Considering the cost of theme park admission these days, that is a good discount. It should be noted that Disney World did not offer anything. In both cases, I won't forget this.

Jill: Jaci's coworker generously donated her vacation time so we could extend ours.

One of Jaci's Facebook friends, who is a travel agent, gave us a gift card for Disney.

Finally, thanks to all family and friends who were excited for us to go, and gave us tips and suggestions on how to navigate the parks.