Cheating on Disney
Today is a day I have waited for since June 18th, 2010. We were visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter this very morning! I had many moments of guilt planning this part of the trip. I am a die-hard Disney park fan and think visiting other parks while in Orlando is somewhat blasphemous. Seriously.
Ironically, this was
my big wish granted on this trip. I read my first Harry Potter book and was hooked! I thoroughly enjoy the books and the movies. We have a group of adults in our community who share my enthusiasm for the series. None of them are crazy, none of them are weird. We just love life, and love the things we love in life! This is evident in the fun we all had during our Harry Potter Party this summer! (ok, each of us is a little weird, but I embrace my inner weird-ness!)
So, way back when I added a 1 day-2 park pass to Universal Studios and boy, were we excited to see this new park! *guilt*
I woke up 2 minutes before our wake-up call from Stitch and was happy to be feeling about 75% better. Today was going to be a fabulous day! We showered, dressed and hurried off to breakfast:
We kept a close eye on the time because Mears was slated to pick us up at 8:20 and take us to Universal! It was part of a package I purchased through
AAA and I assumed when I scheduled our pick up for 8:20 that a car would be coming to pick us up. By ourselves. I was wrong. Around 8:35 I called to check on the status of our ride and it was at this point I was informed that it was indeed a bus coming to take us (and many, many more) to various spots, with Universal being the last drop off. Bummer. I was hesitant to ask any of the CM's about transportation to Universal because I really felt guilty about going. Hahahahaha. Mears was 22 minutes late and I wouldn't chose to travel this way again. I chose our pick-up time hoping we would walk right in when it opened but unfortunately we were 28 minutes late.
But that won't keep us down!
2 days before we left for vacation I started trying to figure out a game plan. I looked over the maps, not knowing which rides were a must, and was overwhelmed with trying to decide what we would ride and when we would ride it. So we agreed to head straight to WWoHP and spend as long as we wanted there and then anything else we got to ride was a bonus! I have never walked so blindly into a park before and felt a little unsettled.
We made it! We are really here!!! Islands of Adventures holds a World of magic and imagination...and I can't get to it fast enough!
We quickly made it to Dr. Suess Land (I don't know the technical names of all the Universal stuff, so I am sorry if you are greatly versed in all things Universal Studios and are offended. Feel free to make as much fun of me as you want):
We had to walk past many attractions to get to the WWoHP and I promised the kids we would return to anything that caught their eye, but we have to go the whole way back first!!! With each step I got more and more excited. I could barely breathe. My kids were excited and they really like Harry Potter, but this was MY thing and I felt like I was 11 years old taking the Hogwarts Express for the first time! What would it be like? Would I love it? Was it worth the extra money and the day spent away from Disney?
And then far away in the distance I saw it. I saw the top of Hogwarts Castle. It was beautiful!!! We were close...and getting closer with every step. I purposefully didn't look at any pictures before we went. I wanted it to be a magical moment...and it was. It really was!
The Hogwarts Express was the first thing that greeted us and I seriously thought I might pass out!
It was like stepping into the book. It was everything I had hoped, and more. They captured the feeling and the magic in a way I thought was impossible.
We hurried on over to the Dragon Challenge and really enjoyed the line. There was no wait
cool1
so we could speed through and stop at the fun things in line!
In line with the Castle in the background:
I was so excited it looks like my cheeks are going to pop:
Arthur Weasley's Ford Anglia that Ron and Harry flew to Hogwarts (the engine was running and the lights were working too):
We rode the right side and then less than 5 minutes later we rode the left side! This was by far the smoothest "dangling" roller coaster I have ever experienced! We all gave it two thumbs up! We never got to "duel" with the other coaster, but it was a great ride!
After the coaster we walked around and just soaked in the Harry Potterness of it all!
Off to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey!
We might as well have been in the actual Hogwarts Castle...it was that amazing! In my opinion Disney could not have done a better job at putting this World together. It pains me to say that, but Universal really knocked this out of the ball park. Good job Universal, good job!
A lot of the paintings actually moved and interacted with one another:
Dumbledore's Office (it's hard to see him, but he was talking while we filed past):
One of the classrooms:
The sorting hat was amazingly realistic. I was ready to be sorted and I know I would have ended up in Gryffindor:
I know I'm pretty darn close to the photo limit, so I guess I will have to start up again on part 2...
UP NEXT:
Cheating on Disney ~ Part 2
I made DBF ride it when we were there because I wanted to say a proper goodbye
I think that is a very worthy wish.
I have had them as long as I can remember and they got even worse with the birth of my second child. I see a neurologist and I take Relpax for when I get a bad headache and it really helps me get through them and it isn't a narcotic and it has very few side effects. I was even on a daily preventative for many years, but I'm not now. So I completely understand about your migraine and I hope to be reading that it got better as the trip progressed. 
Drinking my Butterbeer whilst standing in Hogsmeade, it was magical! Michael and Elsa loved their drinks too, but they probably could have shared one. It was super sweet and wonderfully butterscotchy. I, on the other hand, had no trouble finishing my frozen treat. It seemed a bit less sweet than the soda kind. We sipped while we watched some of the Hogwarts Choir:
