Okay, we were finally here. The reason for this Orlando trip. I remember how both my kids loves Harry Potter last year, how Rio knew all the spells, how Rio and Reina picked out branches from the mountains and carved their own magic wands. And this year, he seems to have outgrown everything magical... I knew if we didn't go now, we would forever miss that window where a child lives "the fantasy." We missed it with Thomas the Tank Engine, captured it with LEGO and barely caught it with Harry Potter. Even if you are not a big Harry Potter fan, just think of the Wizarding World as a special recreation of a magical old English town.
This is Hogsmeade, the town outside the boarding school where Harry and his friends go.
This is Hogwarts castle, the school and the setting for most of the stories. It is also where the park has Forbidden Journey, the most amazing amusement park ride ever. Hiro, who doesn't know any of the back story, was so blown away by the ride, he RAN to do it again. It is virtual ride interpersed with real sets and the alternation between the two takes your breathe away. The average wait for this ride is still 90-minutes to two hours. If you stay at an Universal Partner hotel, you get early entry which means you get into the park at 8 am, an hour before the regular crowd. This allows people to do FJ and line up for the Ollivander Wand Shop before the masses. Some people have pointed out that if you are there right at 9 am, the crowds aren't too bad either. After 10 am though, it all becomes a mess... The experts then recommend coming back at 5pm after everyone else has done Wizarding World.
This is the infamous Butter Beer. Though it makes small appearances in the films and mentioned in the books, the park made it really famous! Reina is sipping the carbonated version and Rio is holding the frozen type. They both taste distinctively different and both are worth trying. The foam is creamy, like dairy creamy, like the foam from ice cream sodas... I don't like root beer or cream soda but Butter Beer is tasty stuff.
If you know the Harry Potter films, you may recognize this as Hermione's gown for the Triwizard Cup Ball. It is absolutely Reina's favorite fancy dress, her prom dress if she would ever go to one...
Doesn't this sales clerk look like a wax doll? He was great in explaining about the Every Flavor JellyBean. They are made famous by Harry offering Professor Dumbledore one and he says, "Hmm, earwax." They have flavors from vomit to diaper wipes here... the bad flavors just taste a little sweet and bitter and the good ones are typical Jelly Bellys.
This is a special moment. Remember the purpose of this trip was to make Rio's childhood magic last a little longer... So he gets picked by Ollivander, the wand maker, to choose a magic wand in the show.
My Internet research suggested that he usually picks a child around the same age as when kids first enter Hogwarts which is 11... Rio is 12, so I knew he had a good chance. Because there were only five kids, and most smaller than Reina, as soon as Rio walked in, Ollivander asked for his name and which was his wand-holding hand without wasting a breathe. The wand-holding question, I think, was to actually determine whether he understood English as a large percentage of of visitors here do not.
Rio got to say several spells which made the bookshelves shake and lights flash and stuff until Ollivander finds "his" wand. The "show" is about 5-minutes but it is a popular attraction with at least a hour wait. By 11 am, the wait must have been close to 2 hours. And if you don't have kids... I wouldn't hang around that long. Of course, you end up buying the wand which for about $20 is not overpriced. Reina opted for a Griffindor journal and quill pen. "I will not tell lies..."
This is the Three Broomsticks which is one of the better amusement park restaurants. We had ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, mash potatoes, fish and chips. I've had better everything elsewhere BUT it was the best park food at Universal.
The Butter Beer barrel and me with my Harry Potter Quidditch t-shirt. Go seeker!
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