Orlando (Day 5)--Universal Studios

After four days in the parks of Walt Disney World, we were headed to the Universal parks for our last two days in Orlando.

In front of the Knight bus at the entrance to Diagon Alley

I think we could have spent an entire week just exploring The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in both Universal Parks.  Universal has recreated Diagon Alley in the Universal Studios park, and Hogsmeade in the Universal's Islands of Adventure park, with the Hogwarts Express train running between the two, which you can ride if you have a park hopper ticket.

It has been a few years since we were "into" Harry Potter, but it was still pretty **magical** to wander around and immerse ourselves in these fantastic worlds again.  The entrance to Diagon Alley was very discreet, as one might expect, but we finally found it (!) and went inside.

Shoulder-to-shoulder crowds in the alley

Looking up the street towards Gringott's

Fire-breathing Ukranian Ironbelly dragon

The line at Ollivander's wand shop stretched around the corner, and kids and adults alike were wearing their Hogwarts robes and using their newly purchased wands and maps to cast spells and perform magic (e.g., turning lights on, making water run off an umbrella, etc.).  We didn't buy the robes or wands, but we did affirm our loyalty to Gryffindor house with other souvenir purchases.

And Butterbeer . . . someone should write an ode to the virtues of Butterbeer!  Cold and creamy and insanely sweet?  I don't even WANT to know how much sugar is in it, but one thing's for sure, it tasted amazing after two months of eating no sugar.  We bought the souvenir mugs so we could keep getting cheap refills of the delicious concoction that is Butterbeer.

We peeked inside the Leaky Cauldron as we passed by, but there was no hope of getting a table to eat there.  We also took a walk on the "dark" side through Knockturn Alley, mainly because it was a cool place to escape the heat.

[Side note:  As we later found out (the next day), the "dark arts" in Diagon Alley were actually being practiced in broad daylight and not just in Knockturn Alley.  Watch your credit cards if you go there!  We charged our purchases at the Butter Beer shop and one of the souvenir shops, and someone must have "skimmed" our card info, because later that day we got notification that someone was trying to use our credit card at a Walmart in Michigan!]  

Waiting at Platform 9 3/4

Because we were so spellbound by Diagon Alley, we decided to board the Hogswarts Express at platform 9 3/4 at the King's Cross station to check out Hogsmeade right away, instead of waiting until the next day as previously planned.

Inside the station with the Hogwarts Express

Aboard the train, which itself is a "ride"

Hogsmeade was just as enchanting!  We wandered around a bit and then ate a nice lunch at the Three Broomsticks before being caught in a tremendous thunder, lightning and rain storm that sent us hustling back to the train station to ride the Hogwarts Express back to Diagon Alley.

Hogsmeade village

Lunch at the Three Broomsticks Tavern

Entrance to Hogsmeade village

Hogwarts Castle

Photo op with one of the conductors at the station

Besides Harry Potter, we also enjoyed lots of other things at Universal Studios that day, including the Shrek 4D ride, Minions Mayhem, the Blues Brothers show, the Simpsons area and meeting SpongeBob!

Barney the cop from the Simpsons

O telling SpongeBob he was his favorite character

"F is for friends who do stuff together . . . ."

The weather was forecasted to be rainy into the evening, so we scurried back to our hotel and once again watched an amazing sky show of thunder and lightning accompanied by Disney parks fireworks from the safety and cozy comfort of our hotel rooms.