I Can't Believe We are Here!

[Seeker615]

Hello

My daughter and I got back on September 3rd from a wonderful visit to Universal and a one day stop at the Magic Kingdom. We had a blast and a few funny mishaps during our stay.

Background - My daughter is 25 and I am 45. I have been desperate to see the new Harry Potter part of the park since it opened and being my daughter is a huge fan too we decided to do a short visit to Orlando and see Hogwarts.

We left on August 29th and drove to Syracuse NY and spent the night at the Best Western right across from the airport. We had a nice meal and walked over to the airport to find our gate for the next morning.

Our flight left at 6am and we were in Orlando at 11:30am. No issues with the flight or the car service to our hotel.

We booked through Universal the Harry Potter Package. Our hotel was the Holiday inn and Suites Maingate. We also had a car service through Quick Transportation. The package also included breakfast at the Three Broomsticks as well as early admission.

Upon arrival to the airport our car service was waiting for us. The gentleman was great on our trip to the hotel. He pointed out various sights and at one point he said "there is what you been wanting to see." We looked over and there was Hogwarts. My daughter and I were both speechless!

We arrived at the hotel and were checked in quickly. Upon arriving to our room we were happy to see we were upgraded to a suite! It was spacious and complete with a fridge and microwave and a great living room.

We quickly unpacked and did a quick lunch at the TGIF that is part of the hotel. After we ate we decided we needed to get to Universal. We took a hefty and a bit scary walk from the hotel to Universal. The walk took about 15 minutes but crossing that highway was not for the faint of heart!

We entered Universal and went to the kiosk to get all of our tickets. As mentioned on Disboards we used lanyards to carry our tickets and cards and to keep our hands free and not have to use a locker we both had small camera bag and I bought those clips climbers use (a carabiner) to fasten the bag to our belt loops. We were good to go.

We got our tickets and headed over to the Studios first...

 

[Seeker615]

We headed over to Universal Studios first.

There was no line at the ticket ares so we got our fingers scanned and headed in.

The Studios are one of my favorite places. The atmosphere feels relaxing and the streets never seem overlly busy. There is so much to look at too.

Sheila wanted to ride jaws first for some reason so started to head to the Amity area. Along the way we spotted the Mummy Ride. There was no wait at all so we headed right in.

Upon entering it was a bit dark and I had a tough time navigating the queue. At one point I thoguht I went as far as we were supposed to go and I stood there for a bit waiting for....(I don't know what I was waiting for...I never rode this before. Another family came through and stood there too until a smart ten year old pointed out that behind me there was more to walk through...yep I completely was not aware of my surroundings.

The ride was fantastic. We were in the front row and had a great experience.

We headed over to Jaws and the line was about ten minutes long. We were almost to the front and then they announced they had to stop the ride due to a storm in the area. We opted not to wait and headed out. A light rain was falling so we booked it over to Men in Black. I loved the way the queue was set up. It was just like being in the movie. After we rode and Sheila beat me as far as score goes I decided I needed to head over to IOA. I had to get to Hogwarts. On the out we took in the scenerary and managed a photo op with Dora the Explorer!

We took a quick walk over to the entrance of IOA. After a quick finger scan we were in.

I have not been to IOA in a long time. It is sensory overload compared to the studios. It was around 4pm and we started to walk by the Marvel area. Spiderman had no line at all so we hopped right on. I don't know if it was me or not but the images seemed a little grainy but the ride was fantastic. It was one of my favorites the first time I visited.

After we got off I had to do a nonstop walk to Harry Potter. We went through Jurassic Park and there it was...I literally stopped and took a bunch of pictures. The castle was beautiful! Onward....

We first headed right over to the castle. I needed to ride this ride right away so we went through to the single rider line. We were through and on within 10 minutes. (the regular line was posting a 40 minute wait.) I took meclizine (2 tabs in the morning) and had no problems at all with the ride.

OMG - The ride was amazing! I felt like I was flying and the screamed at the dragon! Wow he was really close! The spiders didn't bother me and neither did the dementors (though one did startle me a bit)

After waiting for Sheila who proclaimed she loved the ride too but could not get her flip flops off in time (they made it through the ride)we went back through and did a castle tour. We enjoyed lingering at the various segments where Dumbledore talked and Ron made it snow. I loved the talking pictures. It was really like being in Hogwarts.

We left the castle and went into Hogmeade That area was pretty crowded. We took a quick look in the Three Broomsticks and I used the bathroom. (Loved moaning Myrtle) and then we left the area for a bit.

We did dinner at Mythos - We both got a chicken dish and it was very good. The atmosphere is very nice. It was like you were not dining in a theme park.

We walked around a bit in the lost Continent and took a lot of pictures. Then we headed back over to Harry Potter. We managed a quick visit in honeydukes but it was so crowded. We ended up back at Hogwarts and went through the castle on the regular line. It was about 20 minutes total. We saw a few things we didn't see before such as the statues and the house points. Again the ride was amazing! I could ride it over and over again!

After we got done we went and got a Butterbeer in the souviner mug. We went to the Hog's Head and ordered the frozen variety. We took our drinks and sat outside in the back and just enjoyed the scenery. I really enjoyed the butter beer! Yummy!

We headed out after that. We decided to walk back. Not the best idea. It was dark and I have the worse sense of direction ever! Somehow we ended up in the parking lot at Universal and I could see our hotel but a big fence kept us from getting there. We managed to get out and get back but i decided a cab was the way to go after that!

Up next - One day in the Magic Kingdom (or mom I lost my contact lens!)

 

[Marquibiri]

Excellent TR!

I remember last year when I saw Hogwarts from outside the park I was speechless too. My DW was like.. hwat the heck is that...

I love Forbidden Journey. Rode it about 6 times last year... Will ride it twice as much in a couple of days.

We sat comfy outside (back area) of The Three Broomsticks sipping our Frozen Butterbeer just chillin... wonderful!

Cheers!

Marquibiri

HHN21 Pre-Trip Report

 

[Metro West]

Great report so far...keep it up!

 

[natebenma]

I'm so glad to be reading about your trip! Great report so far. You saw a lot of things for your arrival day!

I love the Mummy too! Just a fun, fun ride!

Bummer about Jaws. My husband and I went to the Studios almost 20 years ago (when it was just US) and we were in line for around 45 minutes when it broke down, and never started back up again that day.

What a fantastic lineup at IoA: Mythos and some Harry Potter! Yum on the frozen butterbeer. Yesterday my son asked me to get the ingredients so I could make it at home. I know there are a few recipes floating around the boards.

Looking forward to hearing about your day at MK, but it is sounding a little distressing!

 

[schumigirl]

Sounds like a lot of fun, looking forward to the rest of it

 

[Seeker615]

Thanks all. I will post some more tomorrow. It's been a crazy week. Our area was hit hard with the floods!

 

[AnjieNet]

Hadn't heard that Moaning Myrtle was in the bathroom at 3 Broomsticks! We'll have to make sure that we make a pitstop there. Was there anything besides the statues and the house points that weren't on the castle tour? Plan on doing the tour and single rider only unless the standby line is fairly short at some point but don't want to miss anything special either. Thanks for mentioning Ron makes it snow. Another tidbit I hadn't heard. I'm even more excited to visit WWoHP now.

 

[Seeker615]

Moaning Myrtle can be heard in the bathrooms right next to the three broomsticks.

Make sure you stop and listen to Dumbledore in his office when you go through the castle.

on the stand-by line you go through the greenhouse also. there is not much to see in it but there is some mandrake plants. The statues are all from the movie and I think you also see the entrance to dumbledores office.

Have a great trip. I already want to go back.

 

[Seeker615]

On our first full day of our trip we opted to go to the Magic Kingdom. I wanted to be at Universal our final day and we already had reservations for the Three Broomsticks Thursday.

We used Mears shuttle and had no issues with getting there or returning.

One the ride over Sheila was having some issues with her eyes. They were a bit itchy (seasonal allergies). When we arrived to the ticket and transportation area she went to the restroom to check things out. A few minutes later she came out of the bathroom and announced "mom I lost my contact lens!" I felt so bad for her. We were minutes from arriving at the gates of the park and the only way back to the hotel would be a $30 cab ride and then pay to get back. She opted to go with one contact and make the best of it.

We took the boat over the Magic Kingdom and Sheila was a bit grumpy on the trip over. I can't blame her. Then we get to the park entrance and they were doing their opening show. Next thing I know Sheila is smiling and I think that the day will be okay.

We started out by heading straight through the castle and tackle Fantasy Land first. There was no wait so we jumped on Peter Pan first thing. Then we did Snow White and decided to head over to Adventure Land. I wanted to get on Pirates.

Well here is where my sense of direction got me in trouble again. For some reason I just could not find Pirates. We passed the Tiki Room and the flying carpets and got a few pictures of Alladin but I could not find Pirates! We ended up near Frontier Land and I got out my map. While we were looking at it I felt another presence next to me so I looked up and screamed as I was nose to nose with a cow! (Clarabelle???) My daughter jumped too and the cow and her handler cracked up. the handler said the cow was trying to see if she could help me! i was so taken aback and laughing I never got a picture. I wish I did now! Meanwhile a dance off was taking place in Frontier Land too. I was not aware at first and I thought the characters were coming out for photos. I did get Sheila and Brer Rabbit but when Sheila tried to get a shot of me and one of the bears he up and dissed me! I actually got back-handed (or back-pawed) by him! I guess he needed to get to the show!

We did find pirates and I found my beloved Captain Jack too!
I got a few great shots of him during the Pirates League show.

After we headed over and did Haunted Mansion and then we went over to Tomorrowland and did Space Mountain. After we got off the mountain we took a spin on Buzz Lightyear and then did Monster's Inc. I didn't know what to expect but the show was a riot. I loved how different people were unknowingly on the tv monitors and the captions under them were so funny!

We had lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus. Then we finished up Fantasyland with Mickey's Philharmagic (great show) and It's a Small World (ugh...) We pulled fastpasses for Winnie the Pooh.

We went back and rode Pirates again and I got another look at Captain Jack! It became a running joke between me and Sheila that I wanted to keep heading into Adventureland!

We went back and used our fastpasses for Pooh and then headed to Frontier Land and did Big Thunder Mountain and pulled Fastpasses for Splash Mountain.

We rode the Haunted Mansion again and then needed a break so we went into the Hall of Presidents. This was actually a really good show and we both enjoyed it very much. I am glad we did it.

We used our fastpasses and did Splash Mountain. Afterwards we wandered to ....Adventureland again!!! We actually went and had a drink and a snack and then did the Jungle cruise. (I did see Captain Jack heading onstage for the pirates league!)

By now it was around 6pm. We covered the park really good but we did want to see the fireworks so we did a few things I never did before. We did Tom Sawyer Island which was a very nice little walk around and the other two were the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow. Both were nice surprises. We saw Buzz Lightyear on our venture but lines were too long to wait.

we ate supper in Tomorrowland and then did a few shops and then it was time for the Magic, Memories and You show. We stood on a bridge by Tomorrowland and watched. The show was pretty good. I liked how the castle changed colors and the effects were pretty cool. the fireworks started after and they were only okay in my opinion. Not as nice as I remembered.

After the show was over it was chaos! People everywhere. It was crushing! We made it out in one piece and took the boat back to the transportation area. It was not a nice as it was when we were going to the park. It was very crowded and a lot of tired kids and parents were onboard. It was cute seeing some of the kids asleep in strollers or on parents shoulders.

Our shuttle arrived as scheduled and we made it back to the hotel with no issues. Mears was very reliable for us!

Up next - Breakfast at Three Broomsticks - and Jaws ate my sunglasses!

 

[Seeker615]

One thing I noticed was the lack of spontaneous characters. I miss not seeing random characters out and about. We did see the white rabbit get on the teacups with 2 kids. That was really cute.

I have pictures of my kids meeting characters all through the park when they were younger. I just can't wait in a long line now to get a picture.

 

[Seeker615]

Our third day we had reservations at the Three Broomsticks so we arrived at IOA and made our way to the restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised to find it so empty. With our package through Universal this breakfast was included. Once you arrive at the restaurant you choose between 4 different types of breakfasts. Both Sheila and I chose the traditional American breakfast which has eggs, pancakes, bacon and sausage. After we got our food we sat down and took in the place. It is set up exactly like how you saw it in the movie Prisoner of Azkaban. (In fact all of Hogsmead reminds me of that movie.) Breakfast was pretty good but not very hot. After we finished eating we took a few pictures of the restaurant and then a few pictures outside posing with the Sirius Black wanted poster. (I loved that poster)

After posing for pictures we went through the line for the Dragon Challenge and took pictures of the Goblet of Fire and Mr. Weasley’s car. A park employee was nice of enough to take a picture of Sheila and I together. She was in character as she announced there was something wrong with the camera because our picture was not moving.

We headed over to Hogwarts to ride Forbidden Journey. We decided to the single rider line and we got on together anyway. Wow every time I ride it I see something different. This ride is absolutely amazing! We made out way through the gift shop and headed over to ride Flight of the Hippogriff. This was a cute but zippy little coaster. I was disappointed that Buckbeak was stationed right where you start to go up the hill. I missed a photo-op there.

This area was getting a bit crowded so we headed out and decided to go to Universal Studios. We planned on spending most of our day over there anyway.

Once we arrived at the studios we right away saw Lucy and Ricky heading down Hollywood Blvd. We both had a great time posing for pictures with them and Lucy and both had a good laugh over how we red-heads are double the trouble! As we were making our way down the Blvd a trolley with a bunch of characters started down the street and stopped near us. We got our pictures with Woody Woodpecker, Scooby, Curious George and Bullwinkle. The handlers are great at taking our pictures together so that was a plus.
We finally headed down to see what time the make-up show was. We had about an hour so we went and rode ET….eh…I didn’t like it as much as I remembered and then we did the Simpsons. (That was a lot of fun!) We started to head back for the make-up show and right in front of the building was a bunch of dogs from the animal actors show. I was in Heaven! I ran from dog to dog and made my daughter take my picture with one of them. Then it was time to line up for the show.

Inside the queue area I was not sure where to stand. As we were looking for the right line I felt something touch my arm. I looked down and screamed as it was some creepy hand an employee decided to scare me with. Of course my daughter thought that was a riot! A few other people received the same welcome.

The horror show was a blast! The actor who played Mark the make up artist was a riot! He had the best sense of humor and really made the show. (A word of warning….the humor tends to be a little more adult…nothing too awful but just a heads up.) I decided if we had time I wanted to see this show again.

Sheila really wanted to ride Jaws so we headed over there next. Once again it started drizzling when we got in line. (I don’t think we were meant for this boat ride!) We did manage to get on and off we went. I have to say I do think this attraction is a little dated but still a lot of fun thanks to the boat captains. Jaws is looking a little worse for wear.

As we were getting off the boat I heard a little “ploop” noise and I looked at the space between the boat and the dock and saw a pair of sunglasses slowly sinking to the bottom of the water. I felt the top of my head and my glasses were in place. I asked Sheila if those were hers and she sighs….”yep”. For some reason the noise the sunglasses made and the fact that once again Sheila lost some type of eyewear was really kind of funny. All day we made jokes about Jaws wearing her sunglasses.

It was really starting to rain a bit harder so we quickly made our way over to the Disaster attraction. We queued up and the line was kind of long as people were trying to get out of the rain. After 20 minutes we were inside and the host asked for some actors….I raised my hand when he asked for three villains….

Up next – So you want to volunteer? And also – another trip to Hogwarts!

 

[cuches]

OMG what a wonderful trip report! Making my upcoming trip very exciting I am looking forward to HP but neither my husband or I are very much interested in the movies. I saw the original movie when it first came out a million years ago but that's about it. Will people like us still enjoy he whole experience? I haven't been to UO in 13 years and never been to IoA so we are really looking forward to our weeks stay there

Thanks for the report!
Tina

 

[macraven]

it is great reading your trip report.


can't wait for more of it!!

 

[Seeker615]

Cuches - I think you will really enjoy the Harry Potter area. The theming is amazing and the castle is wonderful - not to mention the ride itself!

Have a great trip

 

[Seeker615]

When I last wrote I was just raising my hand to volunteer for the Disaster show as a villain. A young woman was picked and then a guy was picked and lastly the castmember pointed to me and told me to come on up to the stage. My daughter rolled her eyes as I made my way to the front. (Always a ham my husband says)

The “director” of the so called movie put us through our paces. He had us villains practice our evil laugh…(he was not impressed) and then we were ushered into another room where we saw some presentation about movies and then the rest of the audience was ushered into the room with the sets for the “movie”. Us newly appointed actors were taken to our proper area on stage and as the villains we had to put on white lab coats, goggles and a hard hat. They gave us our cues and we had to act evil (hand wringing and cackling) and then act scared like something was attacking us.

The director called action and we did our reactions. When we did the scared scene plastic rocks fell on our heads. Well they got a good reaction out of me as one bounced off my hard hat!

I met up with Sheila and we went into the “subway car” to view the show. It was pretty funny! Sheila got a good picture of me in my hard hat and goggles….

When we finished with Disaster the rain had pretty much stopped but it was cloudy. We took another ride on The Mummy and then another turn at Men in Black. I wanted to ride Rip Ride Rocket so we headed over. Sadly it was closed due to the impended rain. We headed over to Shrek 4D instead.

Shrek was pretty funny. It is a combination of 3D and the seats react to what is happening on the screen. After Shrek it was really raining so we stayed in the gift shop for a bit. I took a picture of a funny shirt and sent it to my friend back home. The shirt was black and said “Just another sexy bald guy” on it. I thought it was highly amusing I am not sure what he really thought of it….

The rain had pretty much let up so we headed back to IOA. We headed back to Harry Potter and did the single rider line again. We were in and out quickly and we rode together again too! We browsed the gift shops but they were still pretty crowded.

Next we did the Poseidon’s Fury show. It was okay at best.

Sheila really wanted to do Jurrasic Park so headed over. I did not want to get soaked so I asked if we could ride toward the back. We were seated and were off. It appeared some of the effects were not working. The one long neck dino was kind of leaning there and did not move. As we entered the factory the spitting dinos were not spitting. As we headed to splash down I ducked pretty good and avoided getting wet for the most part.

We decided today we were going to catch the 7pm shuttle back to the hotel so we started heading to the front of the park. I wanted to ride the Fear-fall ride and there was no wait so we headed in. Okay…walking through the queue was longer than the whole ride and I was having heart failure waiting for the launch! But wow what a rush for about 3 seconds! The guy next time was cracking up! We all really enjoyed it but agreed it was way to short.

We headed out and caught our shuttle back to the hotel. We took advantage of the living room and ordered a pizza and relaxed for a bit. Then we headed out to the pool and just sat and relaxed. Tomorrow is our last day and we planned on making it a full one!

 

[SharonK0527]

Great update! Sounds like you had a wonderful day!

 

[natebenma]

Woah! I was WAAYYYY behind on your report!

You really had a full day at the Magic Kingdom! You got a lot done!

Too bad about your daugher's contact. Did she have more back at the resort for the rest of the trip?

I loved your Clarabelle story. I can just picture it. So fun when the characters do things like that!

Sounds like the Wizarding World did not disappoint you! The 3 broomsticks is really well themed, as is all of that area. On our trip there, I missed that there are shadows of house elves and owls on the walls.

Really funny comment about the team member and the camera/pictures not moving.

Thanks for sharing about the Horror Makeup Show. We never did get to do this and I am so disappointed!

That's cool that you got picked for the Disaster show!

Bummer about the sunglasses at Jaws. But just think, you can say that a part of you is always there at Universal!

Look forward to hearing more of your report- I promise to keep up this time!

 

[schumigirl]

Good day

I agree about Dr Doom.....we love it.....but it`s waaaay to short......a few more shots up in the air would be cool.

 

[Seeker615]

Natebenmom - We didn't know about the shadows on the walls at Three Broomsticks either...bummer...

Sheila did have another contact so the next day she was good to go!

Do the horror make up show. It is my favorite show in the parks!

Yes we did get a ton done at Magic Kingdom. Its very easy when there is just two of us.