Harry Potter, Spider-Man, Minions and more

Today started with breakfast at the Gingerbread House. They are sponsored by Perkins and are run almost entirely by volunteers who serve all the families staying at Give Kids The World. People come from all over to spend some time volunteering at the village. We have met "Angel" volunteers from Toronto, Texas, and Idaho just to name a few. Richie enjoyed some yummy looking waffles.

Then we headed to Universal's Islands of Adventures and booked off to Hogsmede and Hogwarts castle. Everyone seemed to be in this particular part of the park, it was packed even though everywhere else we went the remainder of the day was pretty sparse.

Our Guest Assistance Pass got us escorts to the front of every line, often by way of fancy back entryways. Alyssa was very upset that she wasn't tall enough for the Hogwarts ride. But all was forgiven when they got to go to Olivander's Wand shop and pick out their own. It was a tough set of choices but Richie took home Fleur's wand, Reese chose Harry's wand, and Alyssa took a fancy to Hermione's wand.

We rode many simulation-type rides. The overall favorite was Spider Man 3d. But we became minions at Despicable Me, agents at Men in Black and very nauseated at The Simson's simulated roller coaster ride.

Shrek and Donkey shared a few minutes with us, while Richie took the opportunity to make jokes that made Donkey laugh.

We stopped in the late afternoon for a rest only to realize we were in the perfect seats for a parade of Superstars.

We returned to the GKTW village in time for a Halloween party and trick-or-treating. Some of the Universal characters left their day with us to meet us back at GKTW tonight!!

Below are the highlight pictures!