Bahamas Cruise 2026!!
For our 25th anniversary & Trek's celebration of his retirement from the USAF, we took a family cruise to the Bahamas. We invited extended family to come & many did. But the first leg of the trip, we did an adventure with just Trek & I & the 4 kiddos still living at home.
We left on a Thursday morning & took the train to the airport. The main train line was down that day, so we had a friend take us to the front runner train which took us to main street Salt Lake City where we transferred to the green line & got to the airport safe & sound. During the train transfer, Trek was able to show us the building his new job is in. He now works from home, but on one day a week, he drives to the main building in Salt Lake. He's pretty excited about his new job.
Everything went smoothly at the airport, minus the fact that Trek had his drone in his backpack & didn't take it out with his other electronics, but it was a minor holdup. We stopped by the USO to play some chess & eat some snacks before our flight. We got the kids some Burger King before we boarded just in case no food was offered on the flight & we were ready to vacation! We made it onto our flight to Orlando, ate the 2 bags of chips we were offered to sustain us for nearly 5 hours, & were ready to party when we landed at 11:30pm.
It took us over an hour to get our checked bags & rental car at the Orlando airport. It was insane how poorly run the rental car place there was. By the time we left the airport in our rental van, it was 12:45am. We drove to our cute little air bnb & got there by 1:20am. They had Disney themed rooms. They whole place was darling. We got everyone settled & in bed by 2am.
The next morning we woke up bright & early, grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonalds, & headed to Universal Epic Universe. We parked in the huge parking lot & walked for what felt like forever to get to the park entrance. It was really fun seeing people dressed up in Harry Potter, Mario, & even How to Train Your Dragon clothes. It made me wish I had put something together for us. I, of course, was in a Harry Potter shirt which made me happy.
Our first stop was the Harry Potter Ministry of Magic Paris portal. Each area of Epic Universe has portal entrances with really cool symbols & quotes on them. For this one it said:
"For in dream we enter a world that is entirely our own."
"For in dream we enter a world that is entirely our own."
It's symbol was a wand held high in the air.
The whole area was beautiful. It felt like Paris in the 1930's. The buildings & the paintings were awe inspiring & we took several minutes taking it all in. We knew the ministry of magic ride was the longest line in the park (which is why we went there first after the park opened), but it was important to slow down & appreciate the beauty of the experience too.
I may have cried a little bit. I've always been a sucker for magical things. Places like this are truly magical in my book & my emotions get the best of me. My kids always laugh at me when I tear up. But it was truly a beautiful, magical place.
Our first stop was the ministry of magic ride. The line was an hour & a half long so we braced ourselves for a LONG WAIT, but I was very surprised at how much there was to see in this line.
First of all, after waiting outside in a line for a while, you enter the main building through the fireplaces; aka "floo powder." That alone was magical & the kids loved it.
Video: The Kids Transport via Floo Powder
Once you've "traveled" by floo powder, you find yourself in the central area of the Ministry of Magic. It was gorgeous. Emerald green bricks everywhere, towering office buildings that disappear into the clouds, statues, office memos flying around, & of course a giant poster of Dolores Umbridge fixing her hair as she prepares for her trial. I loved how magical they made it feel.
Video: Entering the Ministry of Magic Main Hall
That portion of the line was the longest & we felt it. Our legs were tired & we started doing leg stretches to keep us going. After that main area, there are several smaller rooms that you weave in & out of, & eventually you wind up in Umbridge's office where there are several cats & moving pictures of cats, her house elf, & lots of pink.
Shortly after her office, you reach the actual elevator shafts where you finally sit down & experience the ride. It was a really great ride, though short for the 1.5 hour wait time. I think one time was enough for me, but we are glad we did it. The kids really enjoyed it.
After the ride, we explored the area a little bit & grabbed some butterbeer to enjoy. It was delicious.
The ministry of magic ride is the only ride in this part of the park, so we looked around at some shops, then said goodbye to Paris before heading to our next portal.
Next up was the Isle of Berk (aka How to Train your Dragon).
"We, my friends, have dragons!"
The portal itself had a viking wooden statue with a dragon painted on it.
Taya was VERY excited about this land.
Whomever designed these sets are incredible. We felt like we walked into the movie. My kids were loving it.
There were dragon animatronics everwhere.
There was NOT a lot of shade in this land, so it was SUPER hot. Every time the kids tried to sit down on a bench, it burned them. They kept wanted to take pictures with benches burning them.
We got really excited when we saw Hiccup & Toothless (& Rufnut & Tufnut). That Toothless character was amazing. We decided not to wait in the 2 hour line to see him up close & were very happy to admire him from afar.
Our first ride in this land was Rufnut & Tufnut's boat adventure. We waited in line well over an hour, but it wasn't terrible because there was shade in that line which helped a ton.
While we waited in line, Craiger saw Astrid crossing the bridge above us. He yelled "Astrid! Astrid! I love you!" She turned to him, gave him a look, & said "Everybody does." We laughed SO hard. I'm so glad I got a picture of the look she gave him.
The ride was a little boat ride where you shoot water at targets along the route. Several of the boats broke down multiple times which was a bummer. The first boat we got on was broken so they took us off & put us on another one. The ride itself was fun & thankfully it got us a little wet. Sometimes we'd just shoot the water so it would get us wet to relieve some of the hot sun. I wouldn't say it was worth the hour wait, but we are glad we did it.
After the boat ride we ran right into Rufnut & Tufnut which was fun. We got to talk to them for a minute.
We then got into the line for the dragon rider roller coaster. The ride literally broke down 3 times while we waited in line. We finally decided to get out of line so we didn't waste any more time waiting. We decided we'd come back & try for the roller coaster later in the day if there was time. We said goodbye to Berk & headed for the adventure we were all waiting for . . .
Marioland!!!
"Here we go!"
The portal had rainbow road, some warp pipes, stars, coins, & fire flowers.
This was going to be a dream come true for Canyon especially.
Before we walked through the portal, Canyon & I bought power-up bands for extra adventures. Canyon got Donkey Kong & I got a Princess Peach band. They are little bracelets that look like watches that allow you to play a bunch of bonus games throughout the park. Every time you see a question block, you hit it with your fist & coins are loaded onto your powerband. There are hidden mini-games throughout the park that you can play to unlock a bonus ride that only power up band users get to ride/play. We were ready to GO!
Of course you have to go into a warp pipe to get into Mario land. It was perfect.
Video: Warp Pipe to Marioland
I cried like a baby walking into this land. I know how much my boys love Mario (& I love it too), & it was beyond magical. It was like walking into a video game. Pictures just don't do it justice.
Video: Entering Marioland
And of course the first thing we see is Mario & Luigi.
And some question blocks. . . I let Taya be in charge of my power-band to collect all the coins & bonuses for me. (She was very excited to do that.)
The kids were starving & the heat was raging. There was NO SHADE in Marioland so we were dying. We promised Canyon we'd eat lunch here so we found the adorable Toadstool Cafe. It was crazy expensive, but we knew it would be. It was our one splurge for the day. You wait in another line (about 30 minutes) & your order your food through the app. Then they seat you in this adorable little restaurant that plays Mario music at little wooden tables. The whole thing was like a cartoon. It was adorable.
The one thing we weren't prepared for was the MUSHROOMS. Every single item on the menu had tons of mushrooms in it, on it, or as the seasoning. I laughed because my kids hate mushrooms (Trek & I love them). We got burgers & sandwiches with mushrooms, fries with mushroom seasoning, kids meals with mushrooms, corn, & broccoli, & spaghetti with spicy mushroom sauce. All of it was delicious. The kids thought maybe mushrooms aren't quite so bad. It was a super fun lunch.
Canyon & Taya collected a bunch more coins & then we learned that there are "stamps" you can collect with the magic bands as well. They make magical things happen around the park, so they were having fun with that too. After lunch we headed to Donkey Kong country because we heard the roller coaster was a ton of fun. We got in line when it said the wait would be 1 hour & 20 minutes. Boy was that wrong. The ride broke down SEVERAL times while we were in line. At the 2 hour mark, we were trying to decide whether to just leave or to wait it out. Most of our day had been waiting in lines & we had only ridden 2 so far (it was already 3:00pm). We waited, & waited, & sat on the floor while we waited. We stayed in the line & at the 2.5 hour mark, we finally got moving again & were able to ride the roller coaster & it was a ton of fun. I think it was one of the better rides we rode that day. Definitely not worth a 2.5 hour wait, but I would wait 90 minutes for it. It was a fun ride.
There were 2 or 3 more rides in Marioland that we wanted to ride, but we only had a few more hours until the park closed & there were definitely other lands to see. Canyon really wanted to continue finding mini games, but the bigger boys wanted to ride the GIANT roller coaster in the Celestial part of the park, so we decided to split up so everyone could enjoy their remaining time in the park. Taya & I opted to stay with Canyon & do all the fun Mario stuff. Trek took the boys to Celestial to ride the giant roller coaster there.
Taya, Canyon, & I had a blast. We went shopping in some of the Mario stores, then Taya & Canyon played the mini-games needed to ride the Bowser Jr ride (which is only for power-band owners). We did every mini game they had in the park & we all did them together. It really was a TON of fun.
We did the Goomba game, the Bomb Challenge, the shell POW game, the color block game, & the slot machine. There were a few other smaller games as well, but they all were a ton of fun. Each one had a small line, but only 5-10 minutes long & you could do the games as many times as you wanted. It was great.
Video: Taya & Canyon Play a Mini-Game
Video: Bomb Mini Game with Taya, Canyon, & Dani
After the mini-games, Taya went back to Berk to shop for How to Train your Dragon things while Canyon & I stayed to ride the Bowser Jr. ride after completing all the mini games. It was so much fun doing it just the 2 of us.
It was more of a game than a ride, but we loved it. You go into a room that looks like a wrap around movie theater screen & the lights are shining so that your shadow appears on the screen. Then a bunch of "bad guys" fill the screen & you have to move, jump, & duck to avoid getting hit by the bad guys. You can jump & punch them to defeat them or duck to avoid getting hit by them. If you get a certain amount, then you fight Bowser Jr's shadow. Canyon & I both defeated him & won the game. It was a blast.
Video: Canyon Hits the Jackpot
We finally met up again & decided to all go on the big yellow roller coaster together. The boys had ridden it a few times & told me I'd love it so we all got in the line (which was only 5 minutes!!) & rode it together. Taya stayed shopping (she hates roller coasters), but we got Canyon to ride it. I think it scared him to death, but he did it & he was PROUD he did it. I was SO proud of him. He conquered his fear of roller coasters in the biggest way possible (that thing had 8 or 9 loops). We were all cheering him on.
Then Taya joined us again & all 6 of us went to the "Classic Monsterland." This land was NOT busy at all. And it was pretty amazing. We walked straight onto the Monsters Unchained ride with no wait whatsover. It was a FABULOUS ride too. One of my favorites for the day. I highly recommend this one. It had all the classic monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, the Invisible Man, Swamp Creature, & more. Incredible ride.
We had time for one more ride before the park closed so we ran back to Berk to see if we could ride the dragon rider roller coaster. We got into line with our fingers crossed that it wouldn't break down. Sure enough, it broke down. . . multiple times. We almost left again, but the line started moving just as we were going to leave so we held on & miraculously, we made it on before the park closed. And let me tell you, that was a fabulous ride. We all loved that one. It was the best ride we could have ended our day with.
After the ride, we shopped around Marioland one last time before the park closed.
And we found this little headband that reminded us of Lorien (it's a little chef!).
We caught the light show as the park closed which was beautiful.
Video: Epic Universe Light Show
We left the park (it closed at 9pm), then drove back to the area our air bnb was at, grabbed some Taco Bell for dinner, took some showers, & were sound asleep by 11pm.
It was such a fun family day. I'm so glad we did this.
