Our Anniversary Day Trip to Universal Studios

February 25th marks a special day for us – our anniversary! This year, we celebrated 30 years together and 24 years of marriage. The day began with roses, breakfast in bed, and exchanging heartfelt cards.

For our 30/24 anniversary, we chose a simple yet exciting day trip to Universal Studios Orlando. As Universal Orlando Annual Passholders (UOAP), we often find ourselves drawn to this magical place for our monthly travels. It's our go-to spot for fun and relaxation, and our anniversary was the perfect excuse to visit again.

We had dinner reservations at Bigfire, a place that always impresses us with its food and service. We kicked things off with drinks – I enjoyed a refreshing Lakeside Punch while my husband sipped on a Blackberry Citrus. Then came our usual appetizer, the Bourbon cheese fondue with gluten-free bread – absolutely delicious!

For our main course, we decided to switch things up. My husband savored the Dutch Oven Beef Burgundy, and I opted for the Bell and Evans Maple Chicken. I'm usually not a fan of chicken breast, but this dish was moist, tender, and bursting with flavor. A pleasant surprise indeed!

Post-dinner, we strolled into the park. Being pass holders and regulars we are often in no rush to get to anything in the park. Even though we have express passes with our annual pass and are grateful to have them in case we decide to ride that day, we often skip the rides and simply enjoy the ambiance, exploring new attractions and revisiting our favorite spots.

Our first stop was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, my personal favorite. We timed it perfectly to see the dragon breathe fire in Diagon Alley, which for those curious, it goes off every 10 minutes starting on the hour. After soaking in the atmosphere, we popped into Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes for some window shopping. We couldn't resist picking up chocolate frogs and Butterbeer Fudge – which, by the way, pairs wonderfully with a cold Butterbeer!

After leaving the Wizarding World of Harry Potter we continued our stroll around the park heading in the direction of Men in Black. It was a lovely casual stroll and during our walk, we decided to stop in at the Five and Dime to pick up our UOAP Magnets and head home before the Universal's Marti Gras parade started, with plans to skip it this trip and include it in next months visit. Well, the Universe had other plans.

We miscalculated the parade time and found ourselves amidst the festivities. my husband thought it was supposed to start at 6:30 pm, which with the plan we had just made, we would've had plenty of time to get through and out of there just before the parade started. Well, we had the time wrong... It started at 6:15 pm that day and it was 6:19 pm.

However, what was initially an oversight turned into a fun bead-catching competition between my husband and I, so fun was still had! We did eventually make our way to the Five and Dime store to pick up our UOAP Magnets after the Parade ended in Hollywood, and then we continued on our way out of the park.

Nope, not yet. As we were coming up on exiting Hollywood, the beginning of the parade was making its way back around. So we hurriedly found a spot and continued our bead-catching competition. It was a tie, we both caught eight. After the parade concluded we were able to make our way to the Exit and head to City Walk.

Before leaving City Walk we decided to Stop in one of the many Universal gift shops and pick up some swag before making our way to the parking garages and heading home.

Disclaimer: This blog is a personal account of our experiences at Universal Studios Orlando. All opinions are my own and do not reflect the views of Universal Studios or any affiliated companies. Universal Studios, UOAP, and all related marks are trademarks of Universal Studios.