You know that moment when your flight doesn’t actually leave
until it was scheduled to land? Yeah, that happened on my way to Florida. But,
that’s much better than CANCELLED, like I saw on the screen next to so many
flights on the Departures screen. Maybe it was just so I could relate to my
best friend Janna and her husband Jeff who took a red eye in :)
I decided it just gave me empathy for my best friend Janna and her husband Jeff - I got three hours of sleep in a bed, but they had a four hour red-eye and got very little sleep.
We met at the Orlando airport, took a taxi to our resort hotel, grabbed our (included) express passes, and headed over to Universal Studios to enjoy the rest of our hour early admission to the park. And indeed, the adventure did begin!
It was an beautiful sight to see the "spell limit" sign and the (fake) snow capped buildings welcoming us to Hogsmeade.
We went over to Hogwarts Castle and on our first ride.
After exploring Ollivanders and a few other shops...
...we took a ride on the Hogwart's Express to head over to Kings Cross Station and visit Diagon Alley
Kings Cross Station really looked like being in London, just not quite as big. They also had a cool replica of the Knight Bus:
We had our first order of Butter Beer while we were in Diagon Alley. When we ordered, the server asked if we wanted it cold, frozen, or ice cream. That's when I knew I'd be having Butter Beer at least 3 times. I started with the cold option.
We walked around other parts of Universal Studios next and the minute we sat down for one of the 4-D rides, we all realized just how tired we were. So, we walked the 10 minutes back to our hotel and took an afternoon nap!
It was the perfect choice, both so that we were rested for the rest of the day, and so that we were able to see the park at night - when it looks super cool!
To be honest, we could have done the two parks in 1 day - mostly because a) we had an express pass and b) it was not very busy (thanks to a combo of school being back in session, our first day being a Friday, and going after Labor Day - most people we saw and heard were speaking languages other than English). But, it was nice to not feel rushed, and to be able to go back and see the things we wanted to see in more detail.
I was especially glad we went back to Diagon Alley during our early admission time the second day. The shops were really neat to explore without so many people in them - a fact I didn't fully appreciate till we went back later on Saturday and could barely move around.
Gringott's Bank was particularly striking, with the large dragon perched on the roof:
Just across the street is the Magical Menagerie, where we talked to one of the workers that has been with the same store since the Harry Potter portion of the park opens, and loves it.
He told us the story about the dragon and the ice cream cone. When they first put the ice cream cone on the building kitty-corner from Gringott's it was about 4 times the size it is now. And the first time the dragon blew fire (yes, it really blows fire) the ice cream cone dripped plastic down onto the street. They re-made it, much smaller, and now you would never know there was ever a problem!
A few more highlights:
Throughout the park there were places where people with wands could make magic happen - like this one that cause water to fall from the inside of a metal umbrella:
In Knockturn Alley they have some pretty creepy items and stores - they did a great job in setting the atmosphere!
Outside one of the bathrooms there was a neat witch painting on the wall - and when I went to take a picture, I saw the mirror - so fun!
Self-knitting needles! At first I wanted them, and then I realized I like knitting too much to give it up to needles to do it themselves :)
What a relief - to know that there is a place where wayfaring wizards are welcome!
It turns out we waited in there longer than we likely needed to because there were sound effects like it was storming inside so we thought it was still really coming down outside. At least it was fake weather - and we got to enjoy a little more time at the park!
I decided it just gave me empathy for my best friend Janna and her husband Jeff - I got three hours of sleep in a bed, but they had a four hour red-eye and got very little sleep.
We met at the Orlando airport, took a taxi to our resort hotel, grabbed our (included) express passes, and headed over to Universal Studios to enjoy the rest of our hour early admission to the park. And indeed, the adventure did begin!
It was an beautiful sight to see the "spell limit" sign and the (fake) snow capped buildings welcoming us to Hogsmeade.
We went over to Hogwarts Castle and on our first ride.
After exploring Ollivanders and a few other shops...
...we took a ride on the Hogwart's Express to head over to Kings Cross Station and visit Diagon Alley
Kings Cross Station really looked like being in London, just not quite as big. They also had a cool replica of the Knight Bus:
We had our first order of Butter Beer while we were in Diagon Alley. When we ordered, the server asked if we wanted it cold, frozen, or ice cream. That's when I knew I'd be having Butter Beer at least 3 times. I started with the cold option.
We walked around other parts of Universal Studios next and the minute we sat down for one of the 4-D rides, we all realized just how tired we were. So, we walked the 10 minutes back to our hotel and took an afternoon nap!
It was the perfect choice, both so that we were rested for the rest of the day, and so that we were able to see the park at night - when it looks super cool!
I was especially glad we went back to Diagon Alley during our early admission time the second day. The shops were really neat to explore without so many people in them - a fact I didn't fully appreciate till we went back later on Saturday and could barely move around.
A few more highlights:
Throughout the park there were places where people with wands could make magic happen - like this one that cause water to fall from the inside of a metal umbrella:
It was fun to pretend to ride along on Hagrid's bike:
Towards the end of the second day, the clouds rolled in and we got kicked out of line for the dragon roller coaster ride due to lightning that was within 5 miles. Then the rain came pouring down. And we ducked inside to seek shelter.
Eventually we made our way to the Leaky Cauldron and got our final order of frozen Butter Beer (my favorite variety) while we waited out the rain.
It turns out we waited in there longer than we likely needed to because there were sound effects like it was storming inside so we thought it was still really coming down outside. At least it was fake weather - and we got to enjoy a little more time at the park!
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