Orlando, part two

Another view of Hogwarts.  One thing I LOVE about the new theme parks being developed these days is how smart they are in creating the rides.  There is so much to see and do while you are in line, you hardly realize you're in line.  In fact, one time we toured through all of Hogwarts during a busy time, taking in all of the moving portraits and various props from the movies.  Then when we returned to do the ride once more, it was far less busy and so they'd blocked off chunks of the line - and it was really disappointing to miss that section.  Who knew we'd be craving longer lines???!!!

There's very few actual rides in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but there is constant amusement throughout.  We caught a dance show from visiting students, and also a rousing performance from the Hogwarts choir (including the singing toads!)

We also enjoyed a great 30 minute puppet show, and evidently there were many more shows we could have watched - just ask any of the costumed staff for times and details.

As I mentioned, the train ride itself is quite an experience - we rode back and forth a few times

The girls loved passing through Platform 9 3/4.  It's actually just an open doorway, but they added a mirror to create the illusion that people are walking through the brick wall.  So fun:-)

There goes Kea.....

As you can imagine, there is PLENTY you will be tempted to buy in the many stores.  We had a robe from years before, and actually had wands from our previous visit.  However, one thing they've added with the expansion of the park is interactive wands that you can buy at one of the wand shops, which comes with a map of places throughout the park that you can do spells.  If there is one thing I would recommend you saving your money to buy, it would be this wand.  It was such a big hit with all of us, kept Ryland entertained for hours, and it was very impressive to see everything they had created.  There are also extra spots to use the wands, which workers throughout the park were happy to point out to Ry......

This one was by far Ryland's favourite spot, he returned again and again.  When you stood in the right spot and waved the wand as shown, water would squirt out above and get an unsuspecting passer-by.  You can see why Ry LOVED it:-)

This one had eyes opening and closing, another had a bunch of metal come together to create a set of full armour.  

Here are photos of a feather pen in a store window, which Ry successfully levitated....

Some stars were illuminated after the spell, an umbrella rained down, birds started singing......just a small snipped of the adventures Ry enjoyed with his new wand.  AND at some point it stopped working as the tip had gotten scratched, so he was told to just bring it back to a wand store and the tip was replaced once again.  Which was just awesome.  These magical touches really made our visit so much better.....

Kea enjoyed tasting all of the treats she'd read about in the books.  Butter beer is always a must when we come, we all prefer the frozen version and this time we splurged on some butter beer ice cream.  Super sweet, but tasty. Gilly water tasted an awful lot like regular water, pumpkin juice was a big MISS with everyone (blech!) and this time we all enjoyed trying Fishy Green Ale (a green drink with blobs of gel at the bottom.  We were expecting bubble tea, but actually the pearls exploded in our mouths for a little surprise kick!)

Best of all, though, was the butter beer:-)  And nothing beats a butter beer moustache....

Another cool detail was the fire breathing dragon in Diagon Alley - you can hear a rumble as it gets ready to hurl out its fireball, and crazily enough, you can feel a blast of heat as it passes over you.  I don't know how they did this, but it's super cool!

Another thing we'd read about was going to Gringott's Bank and exchanging US money for Harry Potter money.  It would have been much cooler if they had coins, the paper money was a bit bland and disappointing, but it added to the experience to have a different currency!  It can be used anywhere in Universal as well, which was really no problem over a few days:-)

Being a letter writer, I also wrote a bunch of postcards and had to mail them via owl post - of course!!!!  You can buy special Harry Potter stamps here as well, but since they are three times the cost, and I'd need a tonne to get the cards to Canada, I opted to get regular stamps elsewhere in the park and then bring the cards here to get them individually stamped with the Owl Post crest.  I was told owls carry the cards out and time the dropping of the mail to land in a US Postal truck en route:-)

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of details, seeing as it's months later now, so feel free to ask specific questions if you want to know more.  We all thoroughly enjoyed our time here, and encourage everyone to come explore the magic of the park on your own.  And let us know what you discover, as I'm sure we'll be making our way back in another year or two!!!!  We have a pretty crazy Harry Potter fan in our midst, and she's definitely converting her siblings:-)

Orlando, part one......

From Washington we drove south - and drove and drove and drove.  Wow, was it ever a loooooooooong day in the car.  But oh so worth it, once we arrived at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios (Orlando)!!!!!  We had been a few years ago, to spend time in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.  But now they've expanded and created a whole second part - Diagon Alley and Kings Cross Station.  

In order to see both parts of the park, you need to buy a park-to-park pass - which is more expensive, but well worth it as both sides offer very different experiences.  And it means you can take the Hogwarts Express train, which in and of itself is an adventure!  (be sure to go both directions, it's a different experience each way)  We loved the rides, but most of all, we all just loved walking around and taking in the magic of the place.  As you can imagine, I took a bazillion photos and I'll share a few here - along with various tips for anyone wanting to plan a visit themselves.

Owls everywhere we looked, often with heads moving to make them seem so much more realistic.  So magical.

The book of monsters, don't get too close!

We made a point of eating lunch at the various cafe's in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.  We loved the Leaky Cauldron the most - and the pub fare was rather tasty.  I found the quarter chicken with veggies the absolute best deal, with so much food I couldn't finish it all!!!!!!  The ice cream shop had fun flavours, with a much more British flair like sticky toffee pudding, lavender, clotted cream, etc  Yum!

Across from the entrance of Diagon Alley was the Knight Bus.  The driver was super friendly, and even had the shrunken head with him.  Right next to the bus was a red telephone box.  We'd been told to dial the Ministry of Magic for a message, but the phone was not working when we were there:-(  

Kea was so excited to peek into the knight bus - one of our favourite scenes from the movies:-)

We had so much fun at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes - lots of cool tricks, props from the movies and great candies.  On a tip from Tiegan's teacher, we opted to buy a package of fizzing whizbees which were a huge hit.  Basically chocolate bees with pop rocks in the middle, a party in your mouth!!!!

We also watched someone buy a Pygmy Puff, which was so much fun.  You get to pick a name, they ring a huge bell and make a lot of noise announcing the new adoption of your pet.  If I could have stomached the idea of one more stuffed toy in our house, I would have gotten one for Tiegan, but we lived this experience vicariously:-)

We LOVED just wandering around the streets, looking at the various buildings and reading all the signs.  They put so much thought and attention into the building of this place.....

Trying out Hagrid's motorcycle.....the kids loved getting to check out all these details they remember so well from the movies.

House-Elf placement agency, so fun:-)

*I* really want one of these station wagons for the family.....if only:-)

Stay tuned for part two with more tips -