We are from the Midwest and have been on several cruises (Princess, Carnival and NCL) and have been extremely anxious to try Disney, even though their price is crazymoney...but it is Disney, right?? There were five of us traveling on this adventure and we shared one room, myself, husband, daughter and two granddaughters ages 7 and 10.

Decided to go in January (due to the price), hoping that a snowstorm would not cause us issues getting to our destination. Therefore, we booked the airfare for Monday, January 9, 2012, just in case of a snow/ice storm and that would give us a few days for a cushion if the weather turned bad. No bad weather, so we made it to Orlando and rented our vehicle and checked into our hotel, Quality Inn & Suite Universal Studios on Monday.

We went to Universal Studios / Islands of Adventure on Tuesday. I was a little concerned that one day at Islands of Adventure would not be enough, but didn't want to buy tickets in advance due to the rain in the weather forecast. One day was plenty. We got there around 11:00 a.m. and left at closing time. By the end, we were actually struggling to find something to ride that we had not yet ridden or seen. This was a great day to go as there were virtually no lines in the park until you got to Harry Potter World. Even then, we did not really stand in line for anything except the Castle and that wasn't really standing in line. The line to get in just goes on forever as it wraps what seems like half way around the castle then back to the front and then to the back again...crazy layout, but I leave that to the architects. We are not Harry Potter fans, but the kids are and this was their trip. They LOVED IT!!!! Read more