We left Epcot Tuesday and moved on to Universal where we made our way into the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. In the unlikely event that there is someone who doesn’t know about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it is a major section of the Universal theme park that was added in the Spring of 2011. A very dear friend of ours feels that a mere 20 acres devoted to Harry Potter isn’t nearly enough and even on a Tuesday that wasn’t during a holiday period, it was fairly crowded. My husband is the big Harry fan, and he agreed that they did a nice job of presentation of the books and movies, although it didn’t really include much from the final two books. However, since it took nearly three years to get everything built and operational, it couldn’t include too much about the final books. Interestingly, they present Hogsmead with snow on the rooftops and yes, as you pass through the entrance the locamotive to the train and a part of the station awaits you. Since my husband is the big Harry Potter fan, please excuse any terminology errors I make.
Anyway, the wide street (still crowded) is lined with shop fronts from the books/movies on both sides, wagon kiosks selling Butter Beer and pumpkin juice. We declined to try them so I can’t tell anyone what those taste like. Only three-four of the shops are open and two had long lines to get into. However, there were a few additional spots in which to buy wands and owls.
There was no way I was going on the Dragon Challenge and waited as my husband did the ride with a couple of upside down and corkkscrew twist moves. The Hippogriff ride isn’t supposed to be quite so intense. Now you come to Hogwarts and it is impressive. You can choose to take the castle tour with the ride, or just the tour, or I think just the ride (but I’m not totally sure about that). However, if you take the ride, you need to get a locker for purses or bags. The lockers are fingerprint activated and are provided free for about an hour. Okay, we were set and began our winding way (yes a long line), through what was an excellant rendition of Hogwarts with props and film clips until you reach the spot for the ride. Once you are strapped in, Harry greets you on his broomstick and you do indeed zoom off. It was most assuredly at the peak of my tolerance, but I made the twisting, turning, action-packed ride without too much concern.
After we emerged through the gift shop, we meandered back to the entrance of Hogsmead and decided not to stop in the Three Broomsticks for lunch, but instead headed to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Cafe. After all, enjoying Jimmy Buffet means we didn’t have to make an immediate transition back into adulthood.
