Seeing hogwarts castle without going on Forbidden Journey?

[kaisen]

Hello all,

I'll be going to islands of adventure for the first time this may. Because I suffer from bad motion sickness, I think I'll be skipping the Forbidden Journey ride.

However, being the big harry potter fan that I am, I was disappointed to find out that the castle is part of the line's queue. Is it possible to tour the castle without going on the ride?

Thanks!

 

[krayzmelmel]

You can fall in line and then "decide" not to ride at the last minute....

 

[bumbershoot]

And you can ask the Team Member outside about the castle tour, which allows you to see most of the castle but not IN the line (and possibly in the way of people trying to get to the ride).

 

[Baby Pluto]

They have plenty of emergency exits so as you approach the ride, just ask for the nearest exit and head out. Nobody is going to make you go on the ride or be disproving.
It's not a sight to miss, the inside of the castle is so amazing!! Heck, I'd walk through there a 2nd time while you're at it!

 

[atomicgirl]

As PPs said, you can always just wait in line & not ride....the exit is nearby.

Alternatively, you can ask the worker out front about the castle tour, and then you can go through the castle at your own pace. DH & I did this with our kids, as one was too short and the other had no intention of riding. They loved the room with the gallery of talking portraits & wanted to stay there for a long time. The only thing you might miss this way is the sorting hat....he is at the very end of the queue, right before you get on the ride.

 

[dfriia]

I did both ways. I asked for a castle tour with no ride and went through a shorter path. I went again through the regular ride line and it was a longer path that saw a few different things than the castle tour path. When I could hear the sorting hat and was at the chicken exit that I asked for, there were few people waiting ahead of me for the ride, so I nicely asked if I could just walk up and see and photograph the sorting hat. The "student" there looked around and then told me to hurry and go ahead and do it. I was very appreciative. Loved the hat!

Blog entry with the castle tour photos
http://roadtripswithbob.blogspot.com/2010/12/debbie-turns-52-in-hogsmeade.html

Blog entry with the ride line
http://roadtripswithbob.blogspot.com/2010/12/hogsmead-part-2.html

 

[heidijanesmith]

I did both ways. I asked for a castle tour with no ride and went through a shorter path. I went again through the regular ride line and it was a longer path that saw a few different things than the castle tour path. When I could hear the sorting hat and was at the chicken exit that I asked for, there were few people waiting ahead of me for the ride, so I nicely asked if I could just walk up and see and photograph the sorting hat. The "student" there looked around and then told me to hurry and go ahead and do it. I was very appreciative. Loved the hat!

Blog entry with the castle tour photos
http://roadtripswithbob.blogspot.com/2010/12/debbie-turns-52-in-hogsmeade.html

Blog entry with the ride line
http://roadtripswithbob.blogspot.com/2010/12/hogsmead-part-2.html

You can do this for the other WWoHP rides too, DH does not like the coasters on the Dragon Challenge ride. He got to walk through the queue lines and then took the exit before getting on the coaster. The queue lines are totally worth a walk thru, many cool HP items along the path.

 

[mjohnson96]

My dad has a hard time walking due to back surgeries but he wanted to see the castle. They sent us through a walking tour only area and he was able to take his time and see castle without having to wait in line, it was almost closing time when we did this that night. It was great to just see the look on his face when he was walking around, he had that kid in a candy store look and it was priceless!

They also gave him a wheel chair for us to help him through the castle, there was one other group there doing the same.

 

[mjohnson96]

duplicate

 

[hpriamson]

When taking the castle tour, make sure to hang out a while in the section where the Four Founders portraits are talking to each other, and listen to the entire conversation. You'll hear some interesting opinions of Muggles in there.

 

[Malakaiii]

This is what I plan on doing too, since I'll be 28 weeks pregnant and not allowed to ride!