We arrived early on a warm Friday morning so we could get on the ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey without having to wait too long. After walking through most of the park we finally encountered this...
Despite being one of the first groups through the gate, a posted wait time for Forbidden Journey was already at 60 minutes. 
The main entrance into Hogwarts which leads to the ride inside. Although it was a lengthy wait (which came to about 45 minutes) the line was always moving and there was lots to see. 
There were many rooms and hallways with portraits and some the portraits were talking and having conversations with each other. In a few of these pictures, you can tell which ones were actual screens and others just an ordinary photograph. 
Here in Dumbledore's office, you can barely make him out on the balcony area. It's an actual screen and he's talking to us. It is very realistic. Not pictured is another area where Harry, Ron and Hermione also appear on a screen.
You are greeted by the sorting hat (which talks to you) right before you enter the area to get on the ride. 
Forbidden Journey was the most high-tech, interactive ride I had ever been on. It takes you through several locations and situations from the books and still held lots of surprises. It was worth the wait and the tour through the castle is just as good. Now onto Hogsmeade!
The village was very detailed and true to the books. It was also pretty tight quarters. I read that when the park was being built JK Rowling wanted to keep the charm of the village and therefore didn't want anything mega-sized to accommodate the crowds which eventually led to crowded streets and lines just to get into the stores. 
One of many Butterbeer carts around Hogsmeade.
Lunch at the Three Broomsticks! We decided to have an early lunch at the well-known restaurant. They had offerings of meat pies, roasted chicken and fish and chips. We all three had the fish and chips and it was very good with big pieces of fish and chips that were more like wedges than fries. DeMarco and I also had a butterbeer. It came two ways, DeMarco had it "cold" which was just like soda and I had mine "frozen" like an Icee. The cool thing about DeMarco's cold version was that it stayed frothy at the top just like beer and didn't fizzle out. The taste (to me) was much like cream soda but sweeter but not sickly sweet so that it overpowers the drink. Very tasty! 
The Owlery. Here this was an open air seating area where many could just sit on wooden benches to rest or get cooled off from the heat. But once you look up into the rafters you can see that you're not alone!
My mom and DeMarco at the entrance of Hogsmeade.
DeMarco with the Hogwarts Express conductor.
Some random notes:
There were two other rides in the WW that consisted of the Flight of the Hippogriff which was a small (kid-friendly) roller coaster and Dragon Challenge, a steel roller coaster that had many loops and corkscrews. Because of limited time we skipped these rides because of the long lines.
DeMarco attended a wand presentation at Olivander's Wand Shop. He waited up to 30 minutes to see a 5 minute presentation. You can ask him what he thought of it if you would like to know more.
Overall we had a great time in Florida and the Wizarding World was the highlight of our trip.
I will leave you now with this picture of DeMarco and his two favorite Disney characters.
Happy Travels!
2 comments:
So fun!! I am glad you guys are back safe and sound. A little jealous, but I will get there SOMEDAY!! :)
What an awesome trip! My boys are a little jealous :-) Love you!
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