Islands of Adventure
After pretending we were students at Hogwarts and wandering through Hogsmeade for hours and hours, we visited the other parts of the Islands of Adventures.
Our favorite was the Marvel island and the Hulk ride was really good.
Toon Lagoon was pretty fun too and where all the water rides are located. We all got free Express Passes for one ride because the Jurassic Park ride broke down and we’d waited thirty minutes. We used the passes to cool off on Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barge and got soaked! With the Orlando heat and humidity, we didn’t need towels to dry off.
We even made it over to Seuss Landing and rode the Caro-seuss-al. It was really cute. And no, we were not the only adults without kids riding the carousel.
The best part of the trip was the freedom to be young at heart.
The next time we head back to Orlando, it will hopefully be with FB.
TIPS FOR FUTURE ST & CAROL
- Wear comfortable shoes! I’d recommend foamy flip flops that are easy on your arches. Unless you spend more money on an Express Pass, count on waiting on line and being on your feet for over an hour at a time. Definitely buy an Express Pass if you hate waiting on line – we will definitely do this next time.
- Pack light. It’s super hot in Orlando, so don’t bother packing fruits and other snacks. They will get really gross in the heat. Bring a small cross body bag so you can easily fit it into the lockers. My sisters and I all carried small bags and all our stuff fit into one locker. No reason to spend more bucks than you need to.
- You can totally see the whole park in one day. We purchased a two-day ticket for Islands of Adventure because we were afraid we wouldn’t have enough time for Harry Potter (we’re already established that we’re nerds). There is no need for that. We should have purchased a two-park, two-day ticket.
- RENT A CAR. This tip is in all caps because cabs are very expensive and after a whole day waiting on lines at a crowded theme park, you will not want to walk anywhere. Trust me, 0.3 miles feels like forever after waiting on line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
We went to Hogwarts!
Actually, we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando. Same diff.
When we got into the park and made a bee line for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It really was magical. The architects and designers were clearly fans of the books. Their attention to detail was unbelievable, I tell ya.
Here we are at platform 9 ¾. Please ignore my shorts… please. They looked okay in the dressing room. Unfortunately, I bought two pairs. You get to see these unflattering mom shorts in beige too. Lucky you.
Check out all the wand boxes in Ollivander’s.
The Three Broomsticks serves above average theme park food.
We had to try the frozen butter beer. I had the shepherd’s pie while Kim had the cornish pasties. Despite the rave reviews about butterbeer, we weren’t particularly fond of it – too sugary. We would not recommend the fish and chips. Very soggy.
ST preferred the Hog’s Head brew from the Hog’s Head tavern.
The next day (yes, we bought two day tickets), I had the roasted chicken and ribs. The pumpkin juice was not as sweet as the butter beer, but still a bit much for me.
Melody went to town on this turkey leg.
There are technically four working shops within the Hogsmeade – Zonko’s, Honeydukes, Ollivander’s, and Dervish and Banges – but it’s more like two because the shops are all connected.
Honeydukes had lots of stuff that was from the movie. There was also weird junk like Clippy’s Clip Join Clippings, which was just licorice.
Hagrid’s rock cakes! The lady at the counter said they were like scones.
ST finished a box of Peppermint Toads in about 5 minutes. They were quite yummy. The Honeydukes chocolate, on the other hand, gave us both tummy aches.
Cauldron cakes! I couldn’t resist. It was actually quite good. In general, I thought the prices were quite reasonable. This was $4, which is about the same as the cupcakes at Butter Lane in Park Slope. The cauldron cake was better, in my opinion.
Some stuff was out of place – Ton Tongue Toffee belongs at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, since Fred and George invented them.
DO NOT BUY CHOCOLATE FROGS FROM HONEYDUKES! We waited until the end of the day to buy our chocolates because we didn’t want it to melt. In the gift shop by the exit, they sell chocolate frogs for $4.95 less! At Honeydukes they cost $14.95 while at this random gift shop they were $9.95.
Zonko’s had a bunch of filler stuff like whoopee cushions but they also had pygmy puffs and sneakoscopes. Pretty cute.
The line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was very long. The wait time can be up to 90 minutes or more. Fortunately, our wait was only 75 minutes. Unfortunately, that is still a LONG time. The ride was really good even though it made us super dizzy. I wouldn’t recommend riding it at the beginning of the day – you’d need to rest for quite a while. We rode it towards the end of the day, had a few drinks, and then went back to the hotel.
As you wait for the ride, you go through the halls of Hogwarts. There were lots of talking portraits and other details like the house points:
The pensieve…
And random statues like these:
It was pretty dim in there so I couldn’t get pictures of everything but there was also Dumbledore’s office and a classroom.
We also loved the Dragon Challenge ride. The wait was always 10 minutes and it was pretty good. There was a model of Arthur Weasley’s flying car:
We skipped the Flight of the Hippogriff because word on the street was it was for babies.
My sisters and I have wanted to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter since it opened almost two years ago. This was definitely a bucket list trip.
Oh, The Places We’ll Go!
ST and I love traveling. Our jobs provide us with ample vacation days. Here are the places we visited during our first year of marriage:
- Puerto Vallarta (our honeymoon)
- El Paso, Texas
- Roma, Italy
- San Francisco, California
- Pocono Mountain, Pennsylvania
- Honolulu, Hawaii
As we were discussing our plans for future vacations, we began brainstorming fun vacation spots with you. Here’s what we came up with:
Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico – This place is AMAZING. It’s a huge cave in the desert that was discovered in the 1920s. There are stalactites, stalagmites, bats, ponds, lakes, and all sorts of mining artifacts left over from the original discovery of the cave. These images were captured with my trusty waterproof Olympus Stylus digital camera that is now swimming with the fishes at Kailua Beach Park in Oahu. Farewell, old friend.
