A Savanna, A Wizard, and Oodles of Food - AKL/DxDP/WWoHP (COMPLETE!)

[Marsheliz]

I'm not a huge Harry Potter Fan either but it does seem super cool! I havent been to Universal in years and would love too, but I have a feeling I need to wait until my children are older! I dont think they would be old enough to do much!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Super glad you really enjoyed Forbidden Journey. It is without question one of the most amazing "journeys" I've seen. They truly hit a home run with this.
That castle is spectacular! (Though I still have more love for Cinderella Castle)

You did exactly like me. Ride it... then jump right back on!

 

[pascalstongue]

Your photos and description of the Forbidden Journey makes it sound so amazing. I can't wait to go on this in May!

Lol at having to wear a fanny pack. I will have to ensure that DH is wearing his shorts with the massive pockets the day we go to IOA. I assume that would be ok to keep a camera in there?

 

[YCFAN]

Call me a geek but it was fanny pack all the way for me. I didn't even have to worry about the locker line because of it. While everyone else was waiting in line for the lockers, I went straight on the ride. It really is an amazing journey and the attention to detail is phenomenal.

 

[RachelNinja]

It stinks that the waitress you had at Brown Derby ruined the experience for you. I understand they can have bad days too, but it bums me out when they don't realize (or don't care) that they can so easily spread their own grumpiness to others and make or break their day!

Oh no! You have to go back and try those cupcakes!

I've watched the Cirque du Soleil show called "Wintuk" in NYC when we took the middle school there for our Christmas field trip. They are definitely very talented, but I have to admit the only reason I was willing to go was because as a teacher, I didn't have to pay! I was interrupted a few times with bathroom breaks because the kids don't all go to the bathroom BEFORE the show when we told them to. Anyway, I'm curious to know what makes the show in DTD so much more special because I've heard it's just much better!

Such a diehard fan to resort to using a fanny pack to take pics of the castle! Haha, I probably would have done the same thing because I'd feel SO weird without a camera! How in the world are we Disney fans supposed to go through a queue or on a ride without a camera?!?

Unfortunately, I'll never be able to actually ride the ride since I do get motion sickness at times, and I wouldn't want to risk feeling sick on vacation. I wish I could experience it though! My cousins who went on it said it was so realistic. One of them said that when the dementors came towards her and were so close, she wanted to shout out expecto patronum, haha.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Now, don't hate me, but the entire Harry Potter series passed me by. I've never read any of the books or seen more than 30 minutes of the movies.

However--HPland at US seems incredible. I really hope that Disney will move ahead with an expantion geared a little more toward adults (Star Wars would be soooo much better than Avatar) and do it as well as it seems that US did HP.

I appreciate and understand the sacrifice that you made purchasing and wearing the fanny pack. You are a dedicated HP fan and Trip Reporter. Great photos!

No hate here! I know not everyone is as big of a Harry Potter nut as I am, but I think even a non-fanatic would appreciate the fantastic detail found in the Wizarding World. I would love an adult-centered attraction at Disney as well!

Thank you for appreciating my sacrifice! There was NO WAY I was going to miss photo opportunities of my Harry Potter experience!

I'll admit, while I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fan (I've only read the first book, and I think I saw 2 or 3 of the movies) and I don't know all of the details your photos are showing, I do think it's awesome how much a HP fan like you loved the ride!! That really shows how well-done it is!

Hahaha yes, any and all fashion trends can be cast aside in the name of photography!! The fanny pack sounds like it was definitely worth it!!

It's always risky to be so excited about an experience before you have it - but I'm thrilled that the Wizarding World lived up to (and often exceeded!) all of my very high expectations. It was SO MUCH FUN to be thrown into that world for a day!

As for the fanny pack, it was definitely worth it!

I'm not a huge Harry Potter Fan either but it does seem super cool! I havent been to Universal in years and would love too, but I have a feeling I need to wait until my children are older! I dont think they would be old enough to do much!

There are several sections of Universal and Islands of Adventure that are kid-centered (such as Seuss Landing and Toon Lagoon), but there are several big-name rides that involve fairly decent height requirements. Waiting a few years might not be a bad idea - they'd be able to experience many more attractions!

Super glad you really enjoyed Forbidden Journey. It is without question one of the most amazing "journeys" I've seen. They truly hit a home run with this.
That castle is spectacular! (Though I still have more love for Cinderella Castle)

You did exactly like me. Ride it... then jump right back on!

They really did hit a home run! I thought both the queue and the ride itself were incredible!

Considering there was such a short wait, NOT riding it again wasn't even an option! We should have ridden it a third time later in the day... next time we will!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Your photos and description of the Forbidden Journey makes it sound so amazing. I can't wait to go on this in May!

Lol at having to wear a fanny pack. I will have to ensure that DH is wearing his shorts with the massive pockets the day we go to IOA. I assume that would be ok to keep a camera in there?

Both the Forbidden Journey and the rest of the Wizarding World WERE fantastic! I'm so excited for you that you get to go! You'll love it!

I think the shorts will be okay? I think you can get away with it if they have a button closure on them, but I'm not sure if they don't. I think everything may have to be "sealed" in order to walk through the ride? (I'm sure the rules are clarified on Universal's website, or perhaps on the Universal section of the DISboards!)

Call me a geek but it was fanny pack all the way for me. I didn't even have to worry about the locker line because of it. While everyone else was waiting in line for the lockers, I went straight on the ride. It really is an amazing journey and the attention to detail is phenomenal.

I'm glad the fanny pack works for you! It sure was nice to have for our Universal day (and was much nicer for my shoulder than my usual park bag!). Going straight on the rides would be great!

I agree - the detail really is phenomenal!

It stinks that the waitress you had at Brown Derby ruined the experience for you. I understand they can have bad days too, but it bums me out when they don't realize (or don't care) that they can so easily spread their own grumpiness to others and make or break their day!

Oh no! You have to go back and try those cupcakes!

I've watched the Cirque du Soleil show called "Wintuk" in NYC when we took the middle school there for our Christmas field trip. They are definitely very talented, but I have to admit the only reason I was willing to go was because as a teacher, I didn't have to pay! I was interrupted a few times with bathroom breaks because the kids don't all go to the bathroom BEFORE the show when we told them to. Anyway, I'm curious to know what makes the show in DTD so much more special because I've heard it's just much better!

Such a diehard fan to resort to using a fanny pack to take pics of the castle! Haha, I probably would have done the same thing because I'd feel SO weird without a camera! How in the world are we Disney fans supposed to go through a queue or on a ride without a camera?!?

Unfortunately, I'll never be able to actually ride the ride since I do get motion sickness at times, and I wouldn't want to risk feeling sick on vacation. I wish I could experience it though! My cousins who went on it said it was so realistic. One of them said that when the dementors came towards her and were so close, she wanted to shout out expecto patronum, haha.

It's too bad that our Brown Derby experience was sub-par. I'd love to give it another try sometime. As for the cupcakes... they're on my list for next time!

I have not seen any other Cirque shows (although I'd like to!) but I did think La Nouba was incredible. It was such a FUN show and full of so many interesting acts and such beautiful music and costumes. It was great!

You should definitely still walk through the queue of Forbidden Journey even if you can't ride it. You can see nearly all of the details before you duck out! (It's too bad you can't ride it - it was fantastic!)

Expecto Patronum! I LOVE IT!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

A Flight and a Challenge
Day 5— - Part III

With two trips on Forbidden Journey under our belt, we continued on to the other big attractions in the Wizarding World.

We started with Flight of the Hippogriff.

Flight of the Hippogriff isn't a great ride for thrill seekers - —the closest Disney equivalent would probably be The Great Goofini/Barnstormer. However, it'’s worth riding once just to see a few of the sights!

While walking through the queue you see one of the Halloween scarecrows:

And past one of Hagrid’'s cart collections:

You even walk right past Hagrid'’s hut! This was so much fun to see!

The ride platform also has quite a few fun details, many of which you could envision hanging from the ceiling of Hagrid'’s hut!

The best part of our ride is that we got lucky… - we got the front seat!

Yay for the front!

Hello, Buckbeak!

For those of you not “in the know,” Buckbeak is the well-known Hippogriff in the Harry Potter series. He has to be part of his own attraction, of course!

While enjoying our pleasant ride, I grabbed a few more photos including another view of Hagrid’'s hut:

As well as excellent views of Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade village:

Flight of the Hippogriff isn't a terribly exciting ride (especially after experiencing Forbidden Journey!), but I would still recommend trying it if the lines aren't too long. You get a lot of great views of the Wizarding World and it’'s easy to get pictures as it’s a slower moving ride! You don't even have to put anything in a locker!

(continued in next post)

 

[emmysmommy]

oh my gosh! I've never been a Harry Potter fan but having raised 4 kids I've seen a few of the movies. Your description of the Forbbiden Journey is giving me a craving to ride a really sweet broomstick! Love the updates! And we totally understand about the fanny-pack - it's justified for teh photos.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

(continued from previous post)

Our next stop was Dragon Challenge, a pretty serious roller coaster.

The entire attraction is themed for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (book four of the series). The book features the Triwizard Tournament, a competition among the three wizarding schools of Europe— - Hogwarts, Beauxbatons Academy, and Durmstrang Institute. The winner of the tournament becomes the Triwizard Champion.

I really enjoyed the queue for Dragon Challenge:

It was so nice to wander through!

Throughout the queue are a fantastic collection of support banners (which would have been prevalent during the tournament):

You also pass along the back of Hagrid'’s hut (as the Dragon Challenge is located next to the Flight of the Hippogriff):

You even get to see the Weasley’s Ford Anglia:

After you pass the car you enter the interior portion of the queue:

Welcome, champions!

Once you enter, there are many more artifacts from the Triwizard Tournament, including the Goblet of Fire:

The goblet chooses the champion that will represent each school in the tournament.

Here are the Golden Eggs, which play a role in the first and second tasks in the tournament:

You also see the the Triwizard Cup:

Finally you reach the endpoint of the queue. This is where you decide whether to ride the Hungarian Horntail or the Chinese Fireball (the names of two dragons that were part of task one):

Here’'s a peek at the ride vehicles:

Anika and I rode both sides of the ride (we had to thoroughly experience the attraction, of course!). I believe the Hungarian Horntail was our favorite, but both sides were worth riding!

The Dragon Challenge is another “put your stuff in a locker” attraction, so my nifty fanny pack kept my camera safe during the ride.

Although the Forbidden Journey was still our favorite Wizarding World attraction, we really enjoyed the other two attractions as well. They are also very well themed and chock-full of fun Potter details. The Dragon Challenge is also an excellent thrill ride!

With the major attractions completed, it was time to tour Hogsmeade village!

Up Next: The Sights and Shops of Hogsmeade

 

[shan23877]

I've read a lot of TRs that include the Wizarding World, but I have to say that yours is the best! Your photos (God bless that fanny pack!) and descriptions make it really easy to picture something that I've never experienced!

I do love a good coaster. I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy the rides as US very much.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

The best part of Flight of the Hippogriff is def Buckbeak (other than not having to use a locker, lol).
I hope you bowed!!!

Dragon Challenge (or Duelling Dragons for the old schoolers) is for sure a great ride(s).
I did like it better when they ran simultaneously but I do understand why they changed it.
But it was truly something else to have the other coaster whip by you only separated by, at times, one foot of space.
Regardless, I love inverted coasters so it definitely gets a thumbs up from me!

You really got some great pictures Jen. Really nice!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

There are so many details in the HP area, it's really cool to see all of your pictures!!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

oh my gosh! I've never been a Harry Potter fan but having raised 4 kids I've seen a few of the movies. Your description of the Forbbiden Journey is giving me a craving to ride a really sweet broomstick! Love the updates! And we totally understand about the fanny-pack - it's justified for teh photos.

The Forbidden Journey was excellent! Both the ride itself and the details leading up to it were SO well done!

I'm glad everyone understands about the fanny pack!

I've read a lot of TRs that include the Wizarding World, but I have to say that yours is the best! Your photos (God bless that fanny pack!) and descriptions make it really easy to picture something that I've never experienced!

I do love a good coaster. I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy the rides as US very much.

Thank you, Shannon! The Wizarding World was pretty darn incredible, and I wanted to make sure to record the memories the best I could!

I'm afraid my attention to detail at Universal dwindles once we leave the Harry Potter section of the park...

The thrill rides at Universal were pretty darn fantastic!

The best part of Flight of the Hippogriff is def Buckbeak (other than not having to use a locker, lol).
I hope you bowed!!!

Dragon Challenge (or Duelling Dragons for the old schoolers) is for sure a great ride(s).
I did like it better when they ran simultaneously but I do understand why they changed it.
But it was truly something else to have the other coaster whip by you only separated by, at times, one foot of space.
Regardless, I love inverted coasters so it definitely gets a thumbs up from me!

You really got some great pictures Jen. Really nice!

Thanks, Rob! I was pretty proud of the Buckbeak picture - I literally had one shot to get it, and it turned out great!

I wish we'd been there in time to enjoy the actual "dualing" dragons - as fabulous as the ride was, it would have been cooler to zoom right by the other coaster!

There are so many details in the HP area, it's really cool to see all of your pictures!!

The details were incredible! Universal really knocked it out of the park when they created the Wizarding World.

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[SimplyGoofy]

joining in

Thanks for joining in!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

To my wonderful readers...

I'm sorry that I've been so absent this month! I promise to get back into the posting groove... at least one post (maybe two!) will be coming up tonight!

Stay tuned - more Harry Potter coming up!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hello, Hogsmeade!
Day 5 - —Part IV

Having already experienced Hogwarts, it was time to venture into Hogsmeade!




Although I wasn't surprised given the detail of the attractions (and queues!) we'd already experienced, Hogsmeade was magnificently done. It really felt like you'’d been plopped in the middle of the village!




Here’ are a few views from the other direction:




Butterbeer, anyone?




The main highlight of Hogsmeade is the collection of “real” shops straight out of the books. These include Zonkos (the joke shop), Honeydukes (the candy shop), and Dervish and Banges (which has a selection of clothing, wands, and other wizard goodies). There are also two eating locations from the books, Three Broomsticks (a quick service location with a selection of British and Americanized food) as well as the Hog'’s Head pub. The other highlight is Olivander’s, the wand shop where one lucky visitor has a want “choose” them.

They created fantastic store fronts throughout the rest of Hogsmeade in order to fill in the rest of the village. They included great items like clothing (from the movies!), books, cauldrons, and plants:






The plant shop even had a moving mandrake! It was awesome!




After our general viewing tour we jumped right into the shops. As everyone loves a good laugh, we started with Zonkos:




Here are some overall views of the shop:




Every section of the shop was filled with fun and funky items, many straight out of the books:




They even had U-No-Poo! Hysterical!




And Anika tried on a hat:




There were also a few fun details in the shop, such as good wizard reminders:




But, be careful… the walls have ears!




Extendable ears! Love it!

(continued in next post)

 

[SimplyGoofy]

(continued from previous post)

Honeydukes, the candy shop, was right next door to Zonko’s. All you needed to do was turn around!




Now this is my kind of shop… - sugar, sugar everywhere!



They had many of the favorite treats from the book available for purchase, such as the Sugar Quills:




Fizzing Whizbees:




Tooth Splintering Strong Mints:




and Ton-Tongue Toffee:




However, the treats that made me most excited were these:






CHOCOLATE FROGS and BERTIE BOTTS EVERY-FLAVOUR BEANS!

Holy cow, I was so excited to see those treats live and in person!

(Of course, Anika and I each left with a Chocolate Frog and a package of Every-Flavour Beans.)

Here’s the outside of the shop, in its pink and green glory:




I just loved the windows in this shop:




I had to pose with the chocolate frog that came out of the box!




Next up was Dervish and Banges. There was a wonderful sitting area under the overhang. It would be a great place to rest and enjoy the surrounding sites!




I didn'’t get too many pictures of the interior of the shop because it was SO CROWDED!




There were SO many fun things in Dervish and Banges! Along with the selection of Harry Potter t-shirts, wizard robes, and wands, there were also fun items straight out of the series. I came very close to buying a Remembrall:




It was also delightful to see the Monster Book of Monsters!




We did not visit Ollivanders for the wand show, but Anika still selected a wand!




There are two different wand options in the Wizarding World… you can pick a wand from a favorite character (Harry'’s wand, Hermione'’s wand, Draco'’s wand, etc.), or you can pick a “unique” wand that’'s yours. The employees in the shop ask things like your birthday in order to direct you toward “your” wand. They make a big deal of removing it from the box, having you swish it, and see how it “feels” to you. It’'s a pretty fun experience!

Look who snuck in to Dervish and Banges while we were wand-picking… - it'’s Ollivander! How fabulous is that?!




We made our final selections, which included each of us buying a wand. (When in Rome, after all…...) I also purchased a Gryffindor t-shirt, a few postcards, and a deathly hallows keychain. I get a lot of comments about that keychain!

Goodbye, Dervish and Banges! You were awesome!




Overall, the shops were excellent. The attention to detail was stunning (no surprise there) and it was fabulous to see live versions of the items from the books and movies. My only gripe (one shared by others as well) is those shops are SMALL. Apparently Jo Rowling wanted them to be authentic and didn't want them to feel like a theme park shop. Although I think that's a nice thought, those shops felt crowded in very off-season early February... I can't imagine trying to shove through them in July! However, even if your trip is during a busy time, put on your big-girl pants and fight the crowds! Exploring the shops is a wonderful experience and is not to be missed!

As we'd eaten so early that morning our stomachs were telling us it was time for lunch! Of course, this Harry Potter fan was certainly not leaving the Wizarding World for lunch. Onto Three Broomsticks!

Up Next: Lunch at Three Broomsticks

 

[shan23877]

Even though most of the merchandise went a bit over my head, those shops look amazing. I can see how a HP lover could get lost for hours in there. So many unique things!