The main reason for our visit was to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is divided into 2 sections across the parks: Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Both were completely charming down to the smallest detail and I wish we would have had more time to spend in the different shops. We were not alone in our Harry Potter love -- I would guess 60%-70% of the crowd was decked out in some sort of Harry Potter attire (us included) -- and by the end of the day, we could hardly shuffle our way through Hogsmeade.
I do wish I would have better understood the locker situation before going. At Universal, you have to put your stuff in a locker to ride most of the big rides and at times, the locker lines were a total bottle neck. We ended up going back to the park entrance and doing a full-day locker rental for everything but a phone and credit card. It was nice to be hands-free for most of the day, but it also meant we were pretty cold without our jackets when it started to rain. It wasn't the end of the world though, and Molly got herself a new Minions sweatshirt out of it. Next time, we'll know!
I think the week between Christmas and New Years is one of the most crowded, so I'm happy we sprung for the Express Pass. Without it, we would have been in line all day and only able to ride a few things. The one disappointment was that the new Harry Potter roller coaster (Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure) was not included on the Express Pass. We heard at one point that the line was 5 hours long, so there was no way we were going to be able to fit it in with everything else we wanted to do.
In terms of favorites, I think we all loved the Harry Potter ride in Hogwarts Castle the best (the Forbidden Journey ... you feel like you're flying). The other Harry Potter ride, Escape from Gringotts, was really cool too. I also liked the Transformers ride and Molly was a big fan of the Simpsons Ride. Many of the rides have the same kind of set-up -- you're in a little car that doesn't go much of anywhere, but through use of video and the way they move it around, you FEEL like you're falling or rushing forward, etc.
Here's a recap of everything we did. Can you believe it?
Islands of Adventure:
- Hogsmeade
- Flight of the Hippogriff
- Wand purchase (everyone said we HAD to get this, but I'm not actually so sure ...)
- Jurassic Park River Adventure
- The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman
- Storm Force Accelatron
- The Cat in the Hat
- Dr Seuss Trolley Ride
- Hogwarts Express (Hogsmeade station)
Universal Studios:
- Simpsons Ride
- Kang & Kodos Twirl and Hurl
- Men in Black
- Diagon Alley / Leaky Cauldron for lunch
- Escape from Gringotts
- Minion Mayhem
- Shrek 4D
- ET
- Transformers
- Hogwarts Express (London ... platform 9 and 3/4)
Islands of Adventure:
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (the best!!!)
- Caro-Seuss-el
- Hogwarts castle light show
- A few spells ... then dinner and home!
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| Dinner at the end of a long day - exhausted, but happy |
