You can take the girl out of Disney, BUT

[Wicket's Mom]

You got some cool pictures. Congrats on getting some of them published in the future.

That really looks like Hogworth's, I realaly want to see it. It will probably be a long time, I'm waiting for the crowds to be lighter.

I sure hope that the missing outfit makes it's way back home.

 

[jenseib]

You got some cool pictures. Congrats on getting some of them published in the future.

That really looks like Hogworth's, I realaly want to see it. It will probably be a long time, I'm waiting for the crowds to be lighter.

I sure hope that the missing outfit makes it's way back home.

I was hoping after a year or 2 it would dye down too, but it really hasn't. And now the rumor is that they are putting Diagon Alley in over where Jaws used t obe, so I'm sure it will draw more people once that happens.

 

[francis6306]

I haven't ever seen Harry Potter, so I feel like I'm missing a lot here… But I like the pictures anyway!!

 

[annmarieda]

I am sorry to hear Claire was not picked to choose her wand. Course, I know if it were my kids they would be over the top excited then (for a minute) to buy their own wand... and so not being choses (at least for my family) probably has some benefit too.

All your pics again are amazing... except... well... I am not sure what to think of the one where Chip is holding Perry. Maybe I am just tired after a long day... but it kinda looks... inappropriate? Ok, so maybe I need sleep or something...

 

[natebenma]

Great start at Islands of Adventure! I love Claire's Thing 1 outfit.

I'm glad you got a chance to see the Olivander's show. It is incredible how slllooowwwwwwwwly that line moves. When I would see the line stretching out later in the day, I would think "Oh goodness, you are going to be in line for HOURS! Bail now!"

Great pictures from the walk in and even from the Olivander's line.

That is so cool about the Passporter pictures!

 

[jenseib]

I haven't ever seen Harry Potter, so I feel like I'm missing a lot here… But I like the pictures anyway!!

WHAT!???? The books are better, but the movies are pretty good too. If you ever go on a long car trip just pick up one of the books on CD and listen to it. Thats what I did. I used to drive all daly long for mny job and I listened to all the books (and many more) while "working".

 

[jenseib]

I am sorry to hear Claire was not picked to choose her wand. Course, I know if it were my kids they would be over the top excited then (for a minute) to buy their own wand... and so not being choses (at least for my family) probably has some benefit too.

All your pics again are amazing... except... well... I am not sure what to think of the one where Chip is holding Perry. Maybe I am just tired after a long day... but it kinda looks... inappropriate? Ok, so maybe I need sleep or something...

Great start at Islands of Adventure! I love Claire's Thing 1 outfit.

I'm glad you got a chance to see the Olivander's show. It is incredible how slllooowwwwwwwwly that line moves. When I would see the line stretching out later in the day, I would think "Oh goodness, you are going to be in line for HOURS! Bail now!"

Great pictures from the walk in and even from the Olivander's line.

That is so cool about the Passporter pictures!

Yeah, that line was long and I am so glad we did it right away and got it done and now we can say we've been there done that. It was cute, but not something we need to do again.

 

[pixeegrl]

Love your TR. Awesome pictures and great narration! Can't wait for more!

 

[jenseib]

Love your TR. Awesome pictures and great narration! Can't wait for more!

Thanks so much!

 

[francis6306]

WHAT!???? The books are better, but the movies are pretty good too. If you ever go on a long car trip just pick up one of the books on CD and listen to it. Thats what I did. I used to drive all daly long for mny job and I listened to all the books (and many more) while "working".

I think I thought I was "too mature" for them when they first came out and were beginning to be popular, and I just never have read them. My friend Shelley has read them and seen all the movies. Now, I HAVE read the first Hunger Games book and I want to go see the movie!! I figure HP is one of those things that I might read with Cortlyn when she gets older.

 

[Caretames1]

Really awesome castle pictures! It looks so gothic, pretty neat. Are they as big as it seems?

Crooked Chimmneys.......I'll be good!


Do the wands do something special? I've not read Harry Potter, so I'm not up on HP speak.

If Kadence when into the bathroom and it was moaning....forget it, we'd need a extra set of clothes!


BTW: cute siggy picture!

 

[jenseib]

I think I thought I was "too mature" for them when they first came out and were beginning to be popular, and I just never have read them. My friend Shelley has read them and seen all the movies. Now, I HAVE read the first Hunger Games book and I want to go see the movie!! I figure HP is one of those things that I might read with Cortlyn when she gets older.

I probably would've never gotten into them, but a family friend gave the first book to Michael for Christmas one year. He doesn't read much at all, so it just sat in his room. Then we heard the movie was coming out and we decided to read the book together to prepare to see it. I read the 1st couple of chapters to Paige and Michael each night and then Michael asked if he could read it on his own. And he read it in like 2 days. LOL! Then after the movie I just went and got the book on tape and listened to it and it was addicting.

Really awesome castle pictures! It looks so gothic, pretty neat. Are they as big as it seems?

Crooked Chimmneys.......I'll be good!


Do the wands do something special? I've not read Harry Potter, so I'm not up on HP speak.

If Kadence when into the bathroom and it was moaning....forget it, we'd need a extra set of clothes!


BTW: cute siggy picture!

They are pretty big, but built like Disney where they try to make it look bigger than it is.
The wands in the book/movies is how they direct and use their magic. The ones at the shop are just for play. In the books, the wand chooses the wizard. So when you go to the shop to buy your wand, Ollivander will give you some to flick around and usually if it doesn't fit you, things will fall or lights flicker, etc. When the wand chooses you, you get that glorious music and right feeling.

Myrtle isn't too bad....not scarey at all. She giggles and whines. She's not a scary ghost at all. She's kind of a nerd ghost who wants friends, but she's so annoying that people avoid her. She died in the bathroom many years ago, and in the 2nd movie/book, it explains how she died.

Thanks. I like that picture too, even though Claire doesn't look so excited to be hugged.

 

[jenseib]

The line was only listed to be about 20 minutes for Forbidden Journey. That wasn’t bad at all. I think it was about 8:50 when we got in line and it truly was close to 20 minutes when we rode.

We put the bags in a locker. This was my first locker experience at Universal and it was pretty easy and harmless. I did keep put my point and shoot camera so I could take some pictures of the queue area. They aren’t the best pictures, but better than nothing.
We had no line what so ever till we came into the Greenhouse area.

It is VERY dark in the halls. You have to use a flash for any hope of a halfway decent picture.

Oh, there’s the line….

Even though there is a line, you pretty much keep moving the whole time. The ride is continuously loading, like Haunted Mansion, so the wait isn’t so bad when you are constantly moving.

A quick one with Mommy and Claire….looked how thrilled she is about it.

I have to add……what a dumb idea to make the line go through a greenhouse. Greenhouses are HOT! And even though they had fans blowing in there, it was already warm at 9 AM. I can’t imagine what it’s like in Aug with 105 degree weather.

Skip noticed the guy in front of us was taking pictures of everything and wanted to know why I wasn’t getting as many. LOL! Well my point and shoot takes a few seconds to regenerate after each flash picture…..I would’ve taken more if I could.

This queue is really cool and if you get a chance do go through it, even if you don’t want to ride the ride.
There is a separate queue that they will allow you to go through if you ask (and it’s not too busy) that is just a walk through queue. I had thought about going back through there and taking more pictures, but I never did. It also does not go through every room.

This balcony has the “Fab 3” come out and say something, but they were just leaving as we walked in the room and never came back out before we left it.

 

[jenseib]

We kept moving and I kept snapping as much as I could.

You can’t see this well, but this is the portrait of the Fat Lady.

At one point in the line you are stopped and they wait a few minutes then let you through. They switch you over to a different queue, which I thought was weird. And the single rider line switches too and a 3rd queue is there for child swap people.

Soon enough we were boarding our vehicle and taking off immediately.

I have heard all sorts of things about this ride, but the number one thing was it’s a must do…and it is. It is super cool. I had heard it was a bit scary and intense, so we had Claire watch youtube videos of it so she knew what it would be like…and she almost backed out that day, but we wouldn't let her.
There is a part where the dragon blows smoke right in your face, and it was directly into Claire’s face…and I thought …..”Oh Lord, don’t make her scared”. But Skip reached his hand out and said “hey dude” to the Dragon and she thought that was really funny.

The vehicle is designed so that you really can’t see much of the person next to you, but you can reach over and hold hands….which is what I did for Claire…and she held a firm grip the whole time, but I could hear her laughing as well.
You do go up and down and tilt back pretty far, but never upside down. It’s really hard to explain, but it was really cool. It goes from prop type scenes to movie screens as well. I heard many people are afraid of the Spiders area, and that was nothing to be fearful of. The spiders look extremely fake, even Claire said that. The scariest part is when the Dementors keep popping up at you. Claire said afterwards that she didn’t like that part and closed her eyes through it.

All in all we really liked the ride, but I would not wait over an hour for it. But my limit is usually 50 minutes tops anyways. I do wish/hope Disney gets some sort of ride like this in the future.

We exited and made our way to the lockers, which is a total madhouse of a project. And to get your stuff out of the locker you have to go the computer kiosk again and scan your finger. You are dumped into Filches and that place is just too small for the amount of people coming through.

We hopped over to the line for Flight of the Hippogriff. This line was about 10- 20 minutes or so as well.

You can see a peak of Buckbeak through the trees.

That was another fun little ride. Similar to Barnstormer, but has more kick to it. Actually it was pretty darn fast.

We made our way back to Hogsmeade and used the bathrooms once again. Again, Claire was just curious about Myrtle and why she kept talking the whole time we were in there.

We decided it was time to try some butterbeer. I was told to go into the HogsHead to get it. The lines are shorter and you can use your AAA card and get 10% off. We went in via the Three Broomsticks and asked a TM where it was exactly and she directed us to our right.

I asked Claire if she wanted to share and she said no way. I asked again…in case she didn’t like it, but she was convinced she wanted her own. Looking back, I should’ve just went with my gut and got 1 to share, we could always come back for more. Skip decided he wanted one too, even though he had no clue what we were ordering. We ordered 3 frozen

The verdict………not so great. Skip immediately said yuck. I don’t think it was yuck, but it wasn’t fantastic. Claire said it was the best thing ever….then about 5 minutes later she said she really didn’t like it anymore and didn’t want it. It was just ok to me. Having one was good enough for me and nothing I would rush back to get again.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm enjoying the tour Jen. I'm so glad Claire enjoyed FJ! And I love her reaction to the Butterbeer!

 

[annmarieda]

Having never been to the Harry Potter stuff at Universal, I just have to go off of what people have written about it. People always like that ride...even if it is a bit intense at times. Someday I hope to go. Do you think Claire would have been more into all of this if she had read the books? (I assume she hasn't) I am wondering since dd and she are roughly the same age. Wonder if it is something I should have dd read before going. (and that is IF we ever go)

I have heard butter beer is a like or not like sort of deal. sweet butterscotch? I think I would like it a lot at the beginning...but suspect it might end up being too sweet in the end.

 

[jenseib]

I'm enjoying the tour Jen. I'm so glad Claire enjoyed FJ! And I love her reaction to the Butterbeer!

Thanks. Yeah, it was typical of her. I think she wanted to like it ,but it is something that can get too sweet fast.

Having never been to the Harry Potter stuff at Universal, I just have to go off of what people have written about it. People always like that ride...even if it is a bit intense at times. Someday I hope to go. Do you think Claire would have been more into all of this if she had read the books? (I assume she hasn't) I am wondering since dd and she are roughly the same age. Wonder if it is something I should have dd read before going. (and that is IF we ever go)

I have heard butter beer is a like or not like sort of deal. sweet butterscotch? I think I would like it a lot at the beginning...but suspect it might end up being too sweet in the end.

Claire knows a little about Harry Potter. I listen the books over and over every so often, so though she hasn't actually read them herself, she can't help but hear parts of it when I'm driving somewhere. She has seen bits and pieces of the movies too. I think it's a little over her head yet to read and understand. She liked it there, but there isn't a whole lot in the area to do. $ rides and one is too wild for her (dueling dragons). She had her mind more on Seuss Landing, but she knew I loved Harry Potter so that gave her some excitement.
The butterbeer was too sweet for me. I do suggest trying it, but share one to start.

 

[micandminforever]

I must confess I have never read the Harry Potter books and only watched the first movie. Your pictures are great and the background that you had to explain to Clair also helped me out.

My niece and nephews want to spend a couple of days at the two parks of Universal on our next family trip. They have read all the books and have the movies, but I do not want to miss two days at Disney. We are still talking about it. We may split the older adults stay at Disney and the younger ones drive over to Universal. Of course they want to stay on the grounds for early entry, but are not footing the bill. I have a feeling they will at least be staying at Pop Century and driving over, if they want to try Harry Potter rides. Our last family trip was two nights at Universal and three nights at Disney and my SIL and I said then that the next trip would be all Disney. So I have done all the rides at both Universal parks except Harry Potter section.

My DH are going to Disney in Sept., but when we go there are no thrill rides and with niece and nephews I ride all the thrill rides. For that reason the trips are totally different.

 

[dizneeat]

Love all the new photo in the updates, Jen!

Since I don't know much about Harry Potter, this is so interesting. I love all the queue areas (except the greenhouse idea in the summer )

I love Claire's reaction to butterbeer. She is such a trooper tasting it.

Can't wait for more!

 

[wildcatfan]

I am enjoying your trip report. Your daughter has grown so much! Keep the info coming!!