We're Doing WHAT For My Birthday??? - Final Thoughts

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Great Hogwarts pictures, it is a tricky place to photograph.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Love the greenhouse!!

It is pretty cool as far as theming and does a good job providing shade. That was the downside of the Wizarding World is that other events/attractions in that area didn't offer much in the way of shade.

Great Hogwarts pictures, it is a tricky place to photograph.

Thank you very much Lessa! I'm going to have to go in there with a monopod or something so I can steady the camera and get longer exposures. The ones I tried hand-held just turned out blurry

 

[mnmrmustard]

Right after the Pensieve is Dumbledore’s office; here is a shot with the flash on

…and a couple with the flash off so you can actually see Dumbledore. He welcomes us to Hogwarts and talks about varied info about the school

The bookcase with no flash

…and one with the flash on to get some detail of the room

From his office you wind around a corner into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. They have the sides of the classroom lined with books and artifacts

Hanging above is the skeleton of a dragon

Here’s the front of the classroom with the balcony. Harry, Hermione and Ron come out and tell you about sneaking you out of class for the ride up there. Ron also tries to do some magic, which will alternately cause a lightning storm or make it start to snow in the classroom. The lightning is cool but everyone ‘oooh’d and ahhhh’d’ over the snow.

More artifacts, they love their skulls here

A cool telescope and other apparatus

Here is a shot of the trio talking to us, they sneak in an out using Harry’s cloak

Here’s a slightly fuzzy close-up of them

And the door they sneak in and out of the classroom thru

Some of the curriculum on a blackboard

More gadgets and artifacts

Next up we wrap up our journey thru the castle and take a thrilling ride!

click here to view the next chapter: Day 5 Part 4 – From the Classroom to the Skies!

 

[kaoden39]

That is so cool!! I would love that.

 

[cherbear]

loving the pics...thanks for the update!

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Thank you so much for the tour of Hogwarts, Mike! I gotta go there! Love me some Harry Potter!

 

[Trentmom]

Looks like Roxie had a nice ride

Pictures are great. It really looks amazing there

 

[mnmrmustard]

That is so cool!! I would love that.

It is worth going to at least once, even if you go just for Harry Potter and nothing else

loving the pics...thanks for the update!

Hey Cheri! Happy to see you stop by, glad you're enjoying the pics

Thank you so much for the tour of Hogwarts, Mike! I gotta go there! Love me some Harry Potter!

You're very welcome Nicole, I'll have some more up in just a bit!

Looks like Roxie had a nice ride

Pictures are great. It really looks amazing there

Yes, it was a great scooter, never had issues with it running low or bogging down. Thank you on the pics Kelly, more to come

 

[mnmrmustard]

One more artifact

As we were leaving the classroom I took a shot to get a front view of the hanging dragon

You leave the classroom and go around a corner. They had a cool stained glass window and what was made to look like corridors leading off to other parts of the castle

Ahead on the left you find “The Fat Lady” who guards access to the Gryffindor common room. She takes turns being still and being very talkative

Past her was a closet of school gear

And a bulletin board which included a copy of the Daily Prophet

As you can see from these pics, the picture in the Prophet is a live sequence showing Harry playing Quidditch. Nice tidbit to add more authenticity to the place.

Then next room was set to look like the Gryffindor commons. More talking paintings of course

The fireplace where Harry spoke with the ash projection of Sirius Black

Sitting area

Some books and games

Stairwell leading up to their sleeping quarters

From there we went down a long hallway, Roxy took the lead because she could see a familiar object ahead

And there it was, Roxy had found the sorting hat!

It had a lot to say so we stopped to listen for a minute

After that you are in the last of the queue for the ride. No pictures allowed on the ride of course. I usually just strap my camera over my shoulder and hug it to me on rides such as this. The attendant however must have had VERY strict instructions about cameras and came after me, making me struggle to get the strap back off so he could take it. It was close but he got it.

The ride is a blast as I said before. Great mix of immersive 3D video and large scale active sets that you spin and swoop through.

We came out and right into the gift shop. I say again that this gift shop needs to be about twice the size that it currently is. It is waaaayyyy too crowded in there! We picked up some pins for the girls and I looked for a t-shirt but didn’t find a design I liked in there. We headed out the door and I had a slightly different angle on the castle so had to take a shot

Another Hogwarts Panorama

We walked back down towards the village and took some pics for a panorama. It turned out pretty interesting

Village Panorama Large

As you can see, the crowds weren’t near as bad despite the fact that this was a weekend.

We wanted to get the thrill rides out of the way so we headed straight for The Dragon Challenge (formerly Dueling Dragons when we were last at Islands). They have lockers in between the ride entrance and the Hogwarts Express. We stashed everything …except my camera. I wasn’t going to miss anymore theming.

This tactic paid off as I immediately was given a better view of the castle

And the little roller coaster next to it

Next up we take a tour through the Dueling Dragons castle – AKA Hogwarts Part II

click here to view the next chapter: Day 5 Part 5 – Dragon Challenge AKA Hogwarts Part II

 

[mnmrmustard]

We were heading up the path to the Dragon Challenge (it is a bit of an uphill walk as a warning). There is a nice viewing spot for the castle where I had been taking pics. I took one last shot showcasing both the castle and the Gryffon coaster

From there you travel up the path until it levels up. You are then greeted by Ron’s runaway car

It even flashes its lights and honks and stuff – lol

Off to the left was Hagrid’s shack

Around the bend was the entrance to the Trwizard Challenge “tent” area as seen in The Goblet of Fire

Inside the first thing you see is the goblet the students threw their names in to compete

More props to give the place that authentic feel

A bed to sack out in with your broom nearby

From this angle you can see that they even had the blue flame effect going, just like in the movie

You then head down a corridor and at a turn-around are greeted by the Triwizard cup itself!

More winding took us to the ‘eggs’ that were used in the competition. Too bad Moaning Myrtle wasn’t there to show us how to use them

Around the bend from there was one of my favorite spots, the candle mock-up from the dining hall. With a flash you can see the candles suspended

With no flash and a longer exposure you can see the actual candle light

On the walls on either side were a series of tapestries, I think from the original Dueling Dragons days despite the overlay of Hogwarts crests

Once at the other end I just had to take a couple more shots of the floating candles

Next up, we decide our fate, meet a surprise character, and buy our way from Hogwarts to Whoville!

Click here for the next chapter: Day 5 Part 6 – Riding Dragons, Wizardly Shopping, and On to Seuss Landing

 

[ntikos]

What a great trip report!

The pictures and narration make it feel like I was there with you. Thanks for the effort!

 

[mnmrmustard]

What a great trip report!

The pictures and narration make it feel like I was there with you. Thanks for the effort!

You're very welcome and thank you very much for the wonderful comment! If we can't spend more time there at least we can live the fun through these reports!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

You are making me want to go back to Universal! You got pictures of things I never even noticed while I was there. I would love to go back and spend more time taking in all the details.

 

[mermaid764]

Wow you got such amazing pictures of all the theming, I'd never seen many of these before especially the ones of Ron's car...too cool!

Can't wait for more

 

[Trentmom]

Another great update

You really make me feel like I am right there

Loving the pics

I really like the pics of the floating candles

so neat

 

[mnmrmustard]

You are making me want to go back to Universal! You got pictures of things I never even noticed while I was there. I would love to go back and spend more time taking in all the details.

Hehe, I love the details. I would actually be pretty content just walking around the place taking pictures ...but the rides are fun too

Wow you got such amazing pictures of all the theming, I'd never seen many of these before especially the ones of Ron's car...too cool!

Can't wait for more

Yeah, it was so cool to walk up that path and see his car sitting there winking at us with its headlights

Another great update

You really make me feel like I am right there

Loving the pics

I really like the pics of the floating candles

so neat

That's what a strive for, Mike's walking photo tour of your favorite attractions

Yes, the floating candle room was very cool, and the ride wasn't that busy so we had the room pretty much to ourselves.

Well I'm heading out for a 4 day camping trip to a place with no power/internet/cable. We'll see if we can survive without all our techno goodies

 

[cherbear]

It is worth going to at least once, even if you go just for Harry Potter and nothing else



Hey Cheri! Happy to see you stop by, glad you're enjoying the pics



You're very welcome Nicole, I'll have some more up in just a bit!



Yes, it was a great scooter, never had issues with it running low or bogging down. Thank you on the pics Kelly, more to come

stop by? I'm here for the ride! I will not be going anywhere. LOL I love when I see a new update from you.

AAMMMAAAAZING pictures!! I love it all!

 

[cherbear]

Hehe, I love the details. I would actually be pretty content just walking around the place taking pictures ...but the rides are fun too



Yeah, it was so cool to walk up that path and see his car sitting there winking at us with its headlights



That's what a strive for, Mike's walking photo tour of your favorite attractions

Yes, the floating candle room was very cool, and the ride wasn't that busy so we had the room pretty much to ourselves.

Well I'm heading out for a 4 day camping trip to a place with no power/internet/cable. We'll see if we can survive without all our techno goodies

good luck with that! have a great time!

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Mike... Seriously. You are the trip report MAN!

I love the look on Roxy's face when she is pointing to the sorting hat! Priceless!

 

[mnmrmustard]

stop by? I'm here for the ride! I will not be going anywhere. LOL I love when I see a new update from you.

AAMMMAAAAZING pictures!! I love it all!

Whoohoo! Glad you're enjoying the TR and I've got the pics all uploaded for this day, just have to search my notes and my memories for the story to build around them

Hope to have an update either today or tomorrow

good luck with that! have a great time!

Thank you, we had a very good time. And we didn't really have to "rough" it as we have our bunkhouse-style trailer and Roxy's boss let us borrow their generator so we even had power off and on.

I took quite a few pics while we were there so I may post a couple OT pics here on the TR.

Mike... Seriously. You are the trip report MAN!

I love the look on Roxy's face when she is pointing to the sorting hat! Priceless!

Hehehe, thank you Nicole

Yes, great face wasn't it? She was so jazzed that it talked