Now that we have completed the first half of this TR, its time to move on to the second half. Our unplanned-planned summer trip to Orlando in August of this past year. What do I mean when I say unplanned-planned you ask? Well, let me explain. As you have just finished reading about it, you will very easily recall that just completed an amazing trip to Disney World in February of 2011. We did not have any immediate (concrete) plans to return to our happy place for at least a year. Its just usually not in our budget.
And yet
..here I am writing about an August trip. Well heres how it all came to be. We had plans to take a summer vacation with my sister-in-laws family this year as we skipped out on that last year. The original plan was to take a nice week long beach vacation, preferably somewhere that we could drive to so we could all save on airfare. The Carolinas and the Jersey shore were all tossed around. Come Fathers Day weekend, there were still no concrete plans and by then, it was most likely way too late to book a decent beach house. Anywhoo, we were all enjoying a nice family barbecue with extended family when I start hearing the idea of visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter floating around.
Whooooooosh. (That is the sound effect of my head whipping to the side that comment came from). I have been dying to visit WWoHP ever since it opened. (GASP! Yes, I wanted to go to the dark side) I am a HUGE fan of the Harry Potter books and live for those weeks when the movies are first released in the theaters. So when I heard that my sister and brother-in-law were debating doing a Universal trip instead of a beach vacation, I whipped my head over to look at my husband. Whooooooosh. What does he think? Can we swing it? Is it too expensive? And Poof! A trip was born.
I wont get into too many of the planning details, but basically here is what we had planned. A quick week long trip to Orlando at the end of August. We would all fly over together via Jet Blue, rent a car, and stay the first four days at the Hard Rock Hotel on Universal Property. We wanted those perks of staying on property. After we had our fill of Uniersal/WWoHP, we would switch hotels and split up during the days. They were planning on doing Seaworld and we were going back to Disney. I mean, seriously, there is no way that we were going to be in Orlando and NOT go to Disney. Our little girl was not going to have that. Shes too smart to be fooled. She knows as soon as the plane touches down where we are. We have her trained.
The plan was to head back on different days, though. The kids needed to be back for the start of school and we were going to stay just a day or two later to hang out. Or that was the plan. A little something called Irene had other ideas
..
So that in a nutshell is how our trip came to be.
And since I am still up, I think Ill just jump right in! It wont be as detailed as the first half, but Ill highlight some of my faves. It may be a bit jumpy because I took a lot of photos with my niece and nephew and dont think Ill be putting those pics on here. Not sure if they would want to be featured on a TR.
First up our hotel. Like I said, we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal. My in-laws stayed Club level and we stayed on a plain old ordinary floor. Cuz thats how they roll. And we werent rollin. (I mean, we did just come back from Disney in February)
Here is our nice room already rumpled around by our little family within minutes.
Did you guys spy Annie and baby Simba on the bed? Yup, they were back for more!
I loved this pillow. How cute is it?
The rooms were nice and the beds were comfy, so I couldnt complain. But honestly, we werent there too much. Because our first day there Poof we were off to check out Hogwarts. We wanted to see what the lines were like and if we would need to get our behinds up and out of bed at the butt-crack of dawn to experience WWoHP. We did have to wait about half an hour after we checked in to the hotel before we got going due to a passing thunderstorm, but we just used it to fuel up on snacks.
Here are some exterior shots of the hotel from the back foot path. Yes, it was a pretty short walk to Universal from the Hard Rock. Not as close as Beach Club to the International Gateway
.maybe the same distance as the Swan & Dolphin to the International Gateway. Not a bad walk at all.
Yes, the clouds were still pretty ominous looking.
Travelling hint for those visiting WWoHP in August go after a thunderstorm, especially if its evening! We got in with about 2-3 hours left before park close and could literally see the flocks of people leaving the park. I think the thunderstorm scared a lot of people off because it was torrential downpours and many of the rides had stopped for the duration of the storm. But soon, the skies parted and I could hear the angels singing
..
Can you hear the Harry Potter theme music in your head? Can you? Can you? Because I can!
We were crossing the bridge into Hogwarts. Hi random lady!
As you can see, it is still not empty and somewhat crowded, but not bad at all for this area of the park. Its hard to see, but the hanging sign says Hogsmeade. Please obey the spell limits. Love it. I die.
We headed straight for the castle. One of the few rides that you cant use your resort perk to cut the line (Universals FP). It was Forbidden Journey time.
Its hard to see in this photo, but the letters on the column would disappear then magically reappear as if being written by an invisible person. It was pretty cool. The line also wasnt bad at all. I think we waited maybe 35 minutes very good for this ride. During the day, it was typically around 60-90 minutes to go on it. We basically walked all the way up to the greenhouse before we encountered a line.
Second tip: dont carry a park bag unless you want to check it into a locker. They dont let you carry bags (no matter how small) onto the rides at Universal.
I cant wait to get in to the castle! My hubby, on the other hand
..a little more nervous.
And where is our little munchkin you ask? She is hanging out with us in line. Apparently, she could go with us all the way to the front where she would then go into a little waiting room where we could do the parent swap. The plan was for me to ride it first and tell my husband how bad it was (he gets motion sickness, can you tell).
I decided to pretend I was in Professor Sprouts class and learning about mandrakes.
See? Mandrakes!
Soon, we were entering the castle! I literally was bouncing around in excitement.
Apparently this guy is the architect of Hogwarts. See the model of the castle in his hand?
You soon see the Hogwarts House hourglass points. Looks like Gryffindor is winning!
Slytherin is a close second, though! Speaking of Slytherin
..
hello there Mr. Salazar Slytherin. Do you think you can point me in the general direction of the headmaster? Look for the phoenix, you say?
Thank you for your help, I found it! I wish we could actually step inside it and spin up to his office. How amazing would that be? How long would that line be? Crazy long.
Up next, an amazing room.
This room was seriously fantastic. ALL of the portraits moved and talked. ALL of them! I knew they were going to do that, but actually seeing it in person was more than I could have hoped for. Its just like walking into the movie. I would have stood there for hours if I could, just to listen to the different people in that room talking.
You soon found yourself in Dumbledores office.
Once you manage to get past the random lady, you can make out Dumbledore up at the top. He was giving us some special instructions. It was fantastic. I should have taken a video of it.
Then you were brought in to the classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts and you get to see Ron, Hermione and Harry. They warn you of the dreadfully boring lecture you are in for and convince you to ditch class with them and go for a broomstick ride out on the Quidditch field instead. Once you enter the Room of Requirement, you board a flying bench for a tour of the castle and grounds, but apparently something goes wrong and you are whizzing around back and forth in a crazy chase, escaping a dragon.
I dont really even know how to begin to describe this ride. Maybe I could say that it reminds of a cross between Soarin' and the Haunted Mansion mixed with the animatronic Yeti and what I imagine the Sum of All Thrills to feel like. I was glad that I experienced it and can definitely see why some people get motion sickness on this ride. I have to admit, that while I enjoyed it, its not something that I would wait in line for an hour or two just to ride it again. The walk through the castle, though, that was worth the wait.
Touring Tip: If you want to see the castle but not go on the ride, there is a separate line just to walk through the castle. You go through most of the same areas inside the castle as the ride line, but you dont have to wait as long since its a separate line.
I survived the forbidden journey!
I wish I was able to visit in the winter. It would have been fantastic to actually be cold (or at least not sticky with sweat) and pretend that I was visiting Hogsmeade in the winter.
We stepped over to the area where they typically hold Triwizard Tournament performances during the day. Since it was nearing the end of the park day, that area was clear. Here comes our first photo of our little girl
.
She was obviously spooked by the interior of the castle. And she did not enjoy the fact that her mommy left her to go on a ride. She always feared for my life when I went on a roller coaster. My little munchkin.
You didnt think youd get past my first day at WWoHP without a spell, right? Expelliarmus!
And yes, I said that out loud many times over the course of the trip.
I was also on the hunt for a Gryffndor scarf. I had a clear picture of it in my head. It was the one souvenir that I wanted. And I found it.
On the snowman. And only on the snowman. Not to be found in a store. I was looking for that exact shade of maroon mixed with the yellow gold and all they had in the stores was a much brighter red. Newsflash Universal thats not what is portrayed in the movies. Get with the program!
And on that note, I shall leave you for the moment. I promise there will be more photos of our little princess to come. I was just extremely snap happy with all of the Hogwarts scenery pics. More on the way in the next update!
So head on over to Platform 9 and ¾ and hop on the Hogwarts Express. (Sorry, I just couldnt resist)
Looking forward to reading about the next trip!
I am glad that you enjoyed reading it. And there is nothing wrong with your confession. I was so excited to go to WWoHP! The tickets are a bit steep, especially if you throw in some Disney parks. But I am glad that we went and I am excited to share our experience with you all. I hope to get started on it tonight if I have time.
for the start of your August trip!
