If it is any indication just how very exhausted we are after our first day at the parks, this post coming two and a half hours after my normal posting time should be a hint. I originally planned to wake up at the crack of dawn and haul the kids to our hotel for early Checkin at 6:30am to hit the parks with Early Park Admission at 8am, Express Passes in hand.

Instead, my kids will stay sleeping soundly for three more hours while I run to get gas, pick up some basic meds for headaches and muscle aches, snacks, basic lunch items, and water, and run by the hotel to get our passes for the day.

Have you ever made a decision as a parent that you believed at the time was right, was gently nudging your children towards something positive that they may not have the foresight to understand? Only to realize you became blinded in your discernment of the signs of what was really happening? What do you do then? Do you charge ahead, certain you were right or at least act like you were right to save face?

Over the last five years of single coparenting, I have learned that sometimes our children need to hear us sincerely apologize and say that we made a mistake. It not only is respectful to them as a human, but I know it is teaching them to be better humans in their lives.

But I am getting ahead of myself. I started with the end of our day and not the start.

We arrived around 7:30am, parking in Purple Spider-Man 451 section of the garage. After taking a quick picture to remember our spot for later, we travelled down the moving walkways and to CityWalk to begin our amazing day. There are two parks at Universal Orlando, Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios proper. We veered to the right and headed to the latter knowing there were some instances regular ticket holders were let in right after Early Park Admission goers.

I snapped a few pics at the iconic globe outside the gates, and a sweet single mother offered to take one of all three of us. She did a great job.

We waiting patiently, standing back from the lines forming for early admission at 8am. We were taking today slow and steady, enjoying our surroundings. At promptly 7:59am a person stepped out and projected across the small crowd, “If you are here for early park admission, that will be over at Islands of Adventure park. This park opens at 9am.” Amid groans and despair of many waiting in line, we exited back to CityWalk.

Knowing we really only cared to start in the US park to see Diagon Alley just as Harry Potter started his journey, we had some time to kill. So we decided on some highly recommended breakfast, at Voodoo Donuts.

Taking our bigger than one hand sized donuts and bottle of water back to the gates, we marked our spot in line and sat down to enjoy. This was the last water I bought before the end of the day, something I thoroughly regret.

On to Diagon Alley, but first we slipped over to Minion Mayhem right inside the gates and got in with no wait. We stopped off to have an animated conversation with the Knight Bus voodoo head. Again a nice family offered to swap taking each other’s photos.

Entering Harry Potter world, we first went into every shop we could, taking it all in. We saw Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes among others.

One shop we found our first souvenir for Ada, a Hufflepuff pin, so everyone “would know she was a real Hufflepuff.”

We eventually made our way to Gringott’s Bank for the first HP ride in our adventure, and were dazzled by the details.

Ada later read there were 62,000 crystals in the bank’s chandeliers. The ride was fantastic and fueled our excitement for the day. We perused more shops and made our way to the Hogwarts Express at Kings Cross Station, platform 9 3/4.

We entered Hogsmeade and made our way to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. The lines were long but moved quickly. You stand in winding lines for everything we found out. Noah had the rotisserie chicken, spare ribs, potatoes and corn on the cob. I had the beef pasties with garden salad, and Ada had chicken fingers. We ordered it with the grapes and applesauce but it came with fries, so they corrected it and she got both. Noah and I opted for frozen butter beers and Ada got the original.

With the heat of the day bearing down on us and ready for a break, we headed to Ollivanders to have our wands choose us. Ada was chosen by Luna Lovegood’s simple shirt wand with a fluted flower as the handle, and Noah was chosen by the noble Albus Dumbledore’s Elder Wand (will get pics today as we were starting to slow down on pictures and focus on making it to the car).

After a welcome break back at the condo, and missing the rain storm in the parks, we returned to Islands of Adventure just as rides were starting back up. We took advantage of a short queue for the Amazing Spider-Man ride and finally headed for Ada’s first ever real rollercoaster, The Flight of the Hippogriff.

We jumped over to HP Forbidden Journey with a short wait time and bumped up the intensity with a topsy turvy experience there. Ada’s confidence was building, but still cautious.

We saw the shortest wait time so far for the most sought after HP ride in the park, at 75 minutes for Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure. It was 7:15, meaning we would be finished around 8:30pm in time to wind down and watch the Hogwart’s castle light show before heading home.

And this is where all my good sense parenting went out the window. Knowing this ride was possibly a one time opportunity and a step up from the Hippogriff rollercoaster, I encouraged and urged us onward. Shortly after getting in line, Noah let me know his head was starting to hurt. Ada was getting more and more introspective as she saw elements of the ride whizzing past.

We committed to the wait and wound through the area, seeing Hagrid’s Hut.

And I got a great picture of the castle.

But then we entered some cavelike tunnels. The lights flickered for effect and the sound reverberated everywhere. In front and behind us were lively park goers, yelling and playing around. Noah’s look started to change from pleasant to agonizing as his headache worsened. Ada was exhausted. But once we were in the cave tunnels, we didn’t have any way but through.

The kids and I powered through and made it to the front. The motorbikes and sidecars come through next to a moving walkway to get on. It is a quick process to get in, pull the locking bar down and head out for the ride. I made sure Ada was secure and asked Noah in front if he was good. Then I asked Ada, “Are you ready for this?” She looked up and said “No, no I am not.” Thinking it was a joke, I carried on and said “Here we go! Just hold on! You’re really doing it! Riding a coaster.”

It went SO fast, it went backwards, and around tight corners, and even dropped the whole track in a surprise. As I looked over mid ride, I saw Ada hunching over, hands over her face, ready for the ride to be over. We made it and Ada looked up with tears in her eyes, “I realized I am NOT ready for real rollercoasters. I wasn’t joking mom when I said ‘No. No I am not ready.’“

My heart sunk, and I saw Noah and his head hurting him even more. I stopped them just outside the ride and said, “Kids, I am so sorry. I made a mistake and didn’t listen to the signs you were giving me to turn around and pass up this ride. I feel bad that I pushed you to go forward.”

We grabbed our things from the lockers and headed to the closest place to fill the souvenir cup. The kids waited in the shade while I got ice water and we slowly made our way to the front of the park to leave, taking several breaks because Noah was in a lot of pain and feeling light headed. Just before the exit to the park, I stopped in guest services and went to the First Aid because I wasn’t sure he would make it all the way to the car without passing out.

We got some Tylenol for Noah and directions on rehydrating and avoiding heat exhaustion. Ada stayed quiet and let me tend to Noah. After several more walking breaks along the way, we made it to our car and air conditioning. Noah reclined the seat all the way back and rested as we drive back to the condo.

It was then I decided I wouldn’t wake the kids at 6am the next day to start out the gate with Express passes and much to do. Ada and I talked about some of the lighter rides we could do the next day, and we scratched the big coasters from the list. My kids are so thoughtful and caring that they said they didn’t want me to feel bad, and they wanted me to still get to go on the big coasters during our visit.

We made it back and everyone started recovering, though Ada couldn’t shake the constantly feeling as though she was moving or floating or spinning all the way up to bedtime. I remember that feeling as a kid after an amusement park all day.

On to the next day and better choices. Continual water, smaller rides, and some interactive wand play on the horizon. Many good life lessons learned… by me.