Theme park fun and alligators

After starting off my Disney journey at Tokyo Disney in January 2024 and continuing with Disneyland Paris half a year later, I had been dreaming of ticking off Disney World in Florida! ✨ After booking the most spontaneous trip to Florida just days before our departure, we quickly settled on at least visiting Magic Kingdom and the Universal Studios as we love rollercoasters. Now, I will say that in terms of rides, Islands of Adventure at Universal definitely takes the crown but we ended up going on the Monday right after the holiday break, which unfortunately turned out to be the busiest day of that week :/ Nonetheless, amazing rollercoasters! For me as a big Potterhead, getting to see the Hogwarts Castle and Hogsmeade was a definite highlight as well as Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure despite the long wait times. In terms of thrilling rides both the Incredible Hulk Coaster and VelociCoaster are a must! We did Dr Doom's Fearfall a couple of times as the wait times were relatively short (10 minutes). Beautiful view over the park especially at night-time If you decide to go on Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls be warned that you will definitely get wet - and not just a little! 🌊 Magic Kingdom was a more family-friendly alternative with all of the standard rides that you know and love. The new Tiana's Bayou Adventure ride was a beautiful experience with great views, music and a less wet but still splashy experience! In terms of merchandise I had high hopes for MK but I think after having experienced the extraordinarily cute and unique merchandise in Tokyo, the US merch just didn't excite me as much especially not for the incredibly high prices :/ The fireworks were breathtaking and everything I had hoped for if not better! 🎆Beautiful soundtrack and I loved Tinkerbell flying above our heads! If you are looking to take a break from theme parks for a day, I can highly recommend visiting the little community of Winter Park. They have some cute cafés, art galleries, little shops and a particularly well-organised and unique book shop. Unfortunately, we weren't there for the Sunday markets but I've heard good things about them as well. Given that we were flying in and out of Miami, we also took a day trip into Everglades National Park for a little walk starting from the Shark Valley visitor centre. The entrance fee was 30USD for us as we entered by car. If you don't feel like walking you can either rent bikes or hop onto their little tram, which will take you all the way to the observation tower and back. We encountered about 26 alligators🐊 within the first 4km of our walk but then decided to turn around as the parking lot closes at 6pm. All in all it's a nice walk but the scenery does get a little repetitive, which is why spotting the different wildlife is super fun! Obviously, we couldn't leave Miami without also stopping by Miami Beach. Just like expected it was very touristy but the beach itself actually wasn't that busy so we opted to walk along the shore for a bit. Lots of restaurants to choose from and we did pass by a drag show on our way back to the car :)) 🌈 All in all, a perfect break from Europe's cold January though admittedly, Florida's 3°C at night and 12°C on some days weren't much better during our week there :)) #trip #disney #nationalpark #usa #familytrip #winterescape #spontaneoustrips #harrypotter #universalstudios