We arrived at Hard Rock Hotel Saturday afternoon. Ate at Margaritaville's w/husband and kids 12 and 6. Food was good, videos were fun. (Used a complimentary margarita coupon I found online.) Went back to hotel and watched Star Trek movie at the pool. Was glad to see that they leave the slide open at night. Kids loved it and watching the movie was very relaxing after long drive.
Got to IOA at 7:20am. They opened the gate at 7:30 and we rode Forbidden Journey a few times. (My daughter rode six times in a row before we proceeded to Olivander's). I liked it the first time, but after that it started making me nauseous. Too early in the morning for that kid of motion.
Olivander's was cute when you wait 20 minutes but I'm not sure it's worth the line that formed throughout the day. Went back and rode the Flight of the Hippogriff four or five times, checked out the rest of the shops, and had an early lunch at Three Broomsticks. Lunch was excellent, butterbeer and pumpkin juice were yummy, and we vowed to return to Hogwarts at night.
We had FOTL for the rest of the park, but the lines looked pretty light. Someone told us that the lines had been much crazier the day before. Maybe we hit it right by going on a Sunday in late August, because we really did all rides multiple times and had plenty of room in Harry Potter.
Mythos closed at 6:30 even though we had gone in and asked during the day and they had told us 7:30. The other sit downs in the park were also closed. That and the condition of some of the bathrooms were the only down point.
We returned to Hogwarts at night, studied more of the shops and windows, bought more souvenirs, and did the FJ again. It really is fun to walk through slowly, so it was kind of nice to wait on an actual line, even if it was a light one. In the morning we went through so fast that we didn't take time to hear the story and enjoy all the subtleties.
Overall, it was a great day at the park.
Got to IOA at 7:20am. They opened the gate at 7:30 and we rode Forbidden Journey a few times. (My daughter rode six times in a row before we proceeded to Olivander's). I liked it the first time, but after that it started making me nauseous. Too early in the morning for that kid of motion.
Olivander's was cute when you wait 20 minutes but I'm not sure it's worth the line that formed throughout the day. Went back and rode the Flight of the Hippogriff four or five times, checked out the rest of the shops, and had an early lunch at Three Broomsticks. Lunch was excellent, butterbeer and pumpkin juice were yummy, and we vowed to return to Hogwarts at night.
We had FOTL for the rest of the park, but the lines looked pretty light. Someone told us that the lines had been much crazier the day before. Maybe we hit it right by going on a Sunday in late August, because we really did all rides multiple times and had plenty of room in Harry Potter.
Mythos closed at 6:30 even though we had gone in and asked during the day and they had told us 7:30. The other sit downs in the park were also closed. That and the condition of some of the bathrooms were the only down point.
We returned to Hogwarts at night, studied more of the shops and windows, bought more souvenirs, and did the FJ again. It really is fun to walk through slowly, so it was kind of nice to wait on an actual line, even if it was a light one. In the morning we went through so fast that we didn't take time to hear the story and enjoy all the subtleties.
Overall, it was a great day at the park.
