The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (155/366)

(156/366)

And we thought we were pooped yesterday.

Andrew and I have been waiting for this day…probably since we figured out I was going to be living in Florida.

We got an early jump on the day because we heard the earlier you get to the Harry Potter rides, the better. Our early jump, wasn’t quite as early as we were expecting, but we still got to the park shortly after it opened. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park is part of the Universal Studios Islands of Adventure park, which is quite a mouthful. As we drove up to the park, we started marveling over this ridiculous roller coaster that was at the Universal Studios park until Hogwarts came into view. We both immediately stopped talking and just yelled, “Harry Potter!” Sometimes I think we’re matched a little too well.

But anyways…we probably strolled into Hogsmeade right around 10 AM and beelined it for the Forbidden Journey ride at the back of the park in the Hogwarts Castle. When we got there, it said the wait was going to be an hour, but that was totally an overestimation. If anything, I wish the line had been a little bit longer because we didn’t really have enough time to enjoy the ambiance and interactive parts of the castle. The ride itself was really cool and Andrew and I stumbled out of there thinking we had made the right choice with our laser-like focus.

We hit up the Dragon Challenge roller coaster next and had an even shorter wait there. We practically ran through the empty maze of line dividers, stopping to see the Triwizard Cup and enjoy the levitating candles. We literally staggered off that ride because we were both so dizzy for the twists and turns and upside down loops.

After that we recovered with a trip to Ollivander’s and perused the area a bit. We also tried the butterbeer! We overheard someone saying the frozen version was much better and since we were pretty much melting in the 95 degree heat, it sounded perfect. I was expecting something cream soda-y and…that’s what I got. But frozen it was really refreshing.

We left that part of the park for a little while and explored the rest of The Island of Adventure. We made stops at the rest of the big rides, including a Spiderman ride that was quite similar to the Forbidden Journey in design, the Hulk roller coaster (awesome!), and a drop tower thing that unexpectedly shot us straight up in the air first. By then I was starving, so we went back to eat at The Three Broomsticks.

We proceeded to get an enormous quantity of food including roast chicken, salad, potatoes, corn, shepherd’s pie, butterbeer, pumpkin juice, and water. The food was actually pretty good. We also discovered Andrew cannot identify the bitter taste. I thought the pumpkin juice was bitter and he thought it was great. So we’re not sure if doesn’t taste bitter or just really likes it. It was weird. He also drank all of the beverages himself. I was sad. And thirsty.

After a few more rides, we made one last stop at Honeydukes (could we not?!) to pick up some candy.

I got a chocolate frog and some fizzing whizzbees which I’ve yet to try. I wonder where this restraint came from?

What an amazing end to an amazing weekend. It’s hard to believe my birthday was three days ago. The past three days were full of fun and surprises, and best yet, Andrew was here to share in them with me. I’m sad it’s over and he’s back at home in Maryland, but I can’t wait for the next visit!