OMG…..my season passes have paid off and in a BIG way!!!! I went to Universal this morning, to give the kids one last day before public schools get out for the summer and the crowds come in to enjoy the rides with not too long of a wait in line and room to breathe and the best thing happened….
WE GOT TO GO IN THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER!!!!!! (spoilers on how things look below)
OMG, my kids literally freaked out…well okay so did I, I mean we have been waiting since the announcement that it was coming to Universal for it to open and knew it would be crowded when it did, so we knew we were going to have to wait even longer. So imagine my surprise when my sister texted me that they were already in the park and to get there ASAP as the gates to Harry Potter were open. We literally ran all the way to the back of the park and with a grand swoop of a workers hand we were allowed to enter the BEST addition to Islands of Adventure.
I felt like a little kid in a candy store (a feeling I got again a little later on in an actual candy store!), I wanted to run here, go there and do everything all at once. Our first stop though was a ButterBeer cart for our first taste of the delicious brew. It tasted like a butterscotchy, cream soday drink with a distinct buttery end flavor. (I even made up those words to describe it lol)
ButterBeer cart is in the middle
My son and I with our ButterBeers, and my toddler trying to swipe a sip
This place is absolutely amazing! After we got our drinks we headed out to look around. I was super excited to see things that I recognized from the books and movies and was impressed with the detail paid to everything. The castle was majestic, the train was perfect everything was just amazing, I can’t say that enough.
The Flight of the Hippogriff (formerly the Flying Unicorn) was perfect and it had been too long since I last rode it and the transformation was perfect! Hagrid’s Hut is in the queue line and was wonderful. I so wanted to go inside and look around and maybe even see Hagrid himself (wishful thinking)!
Costumed people walking by and Hagrid’s Hut
My kids went into the Castle and went on the ride in there, I stayed and watched the little ones, which I regret because they say that the queue line was amazing seeing all the things inside and the ride was the best they have ever been on, but that gives me something to look forward to doing when I go back. After that we went and bought wands for the kids, they each picked out their favorite from the many that are available. *Little note here…the store is extremely small. I actually got a little claustrophobic trying to get through which is sad because I didn’t really get to look at everything they had, the lines were long to pay and people were standing in front of the merchandise.* We went on to Honeydukes for candy, Zonkos for joke stuff and Dervish and Banges for odds and ends. Again I will say OMG!!!!
Honeydukes from the outside and inside
Zonkos and Dervish and Banges
We really had so much fun, and although no one told us it was time to leave, they did shut down the rides and the crowd thinned out and we knew it was time to go as they were only supposed to be open for a very short time just to test things out. But I tell you what I could tell by the crowd and by my spending that they made good money on Harry Potter stuff! What an amazing time and I can’t wait to go back and neither can my kids! Next time I want to eat at the Three Broomsticks and have some beer at The Hog’s Head Pub. So until next time, I leave you with some odds and ends pictures that I took (I took over 85 of them)….
Hogwart’s Castle and Frogs (no idea what they do, was in line for something and didn’t see)
Cool Wanted poster (moving images of Sirius Black)
Entrance to Dragon Challenge & Ollivander’s Wand Experience
We had so much fun! Thank you to Universal and J.K. Rowling for such a magical place! My kids were thrilled and really can’t wait to go back.
A special thank you to Kodak, the pictures above were taken on a Kodak M530 Camera that I am reviewing, and I am loving the camera and the picture quality and think I have found the next camera we will purchase! Stay tuned for full review!
