Entry #4 - Universal: All things Wizarding World (including food)… and not much else, and an impromptu trip to the Port Orleans
So, let me preface this entry with a little more background on me and my husband.
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Since we are 31, we were the perfect age to have grown up with Harry Potter. We are basically the same age as Harry, and we were the target audience for each book. So, we love them… and we love the movies.
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Our friends and family (particularly his) are also gigantic HP fans.
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Unrelated to HP, I am a huge roller coaster fan, but I will admit I am also a bit of a roller coaster snob. I blame my childhood, as I was raised going to Cedar Point 1-2 times each summer. For those who have never been, Cedar Point is in Ohio and is, arguably, the best park for roller coasters in the world. For that reason, I do tend to be a bit “roller coaster pretentious.” I also tend to value a true ride over a simulator because that’s what I grew up loving - both through Cedar Point and Disney.
I tell you all of this to explain why my husband and I went to Universal Studios and basically ignored the entire park except for Harry Potter… With a very full trip, we just didn’t feel a need to squeeze in a lot of things just because they were there.
Now, the other big deciding factor was my husband’s (and what turned out to be my) physical state. He had been awesome on the first two days of the trip, but even with the afternoon playing golf, I could tell he was wearing down. So, after fireworks on MK day, I spent some time with the Universal plan and did some prioritizing.
Our plan had us arriving at opening (for us) and spending some time in other parts of the park before heading back to Diagon Alley. For me, it was important to do Diagon Alley first because, even though it opened second, that’s the way it works in the stories - London-Diagon Alley-Hogwarts Express-Hogmeade and Hogwarts. In the interest of my husband’s sanity, I decided to cut the attractions we had scheduled before Diagon Alley and just focus on Harry Potter. So, the new plan was to arrive in time to head to Diagon Alley at 10AM (according to the TP) - focus on Harry Potter… then leave, or he may leave and I may stay, etc.
We drove to Universal, leaving at about 8:00. We parked and made the trek from the parking garage to the entrance… feeling very very non-VIP I might add. We had no early entry, no express passes… we were basically the peons of Universal Studios society. To be honest, I had prepped my husband, telling him that the day would probably be the most difficult day because we had no perks of staying at a resort here. So we were prepared to wait in lines, stand in the sun and pretty much do what we had to do all in the name of Dumbledore’s Army… We stopped to grab some Starbucks on the way in, and as if to confirm my worst fears, I promptly dumped half of my orange juice down my dress.
Tiny silver lining of Florida June heat? When you dump orange juice down your t-shirt dress and rinse it off in the bathroom… thus soaking half your dress… it’s actually slightly refreshing and you dry really quickly.
We arrived at the ticket area and had to pick up our tickets… this proved to be the first line of the day. Though it was extremely frustrating to watch far less organized tourists dig for confirmation numbers (mine was in my hand ready to go on my plan for the day… which was laminated…), I will take this moment to acknowledge all CMs and employees at both Universal and Disney. God bless you and your patience as you tell people all day to do the obvious (have a confirmation number ready, stand behind the yellow line, etc.). My only consolation at this point was the the e-kiosks were also backed up. So at least we chose the right line.
Finally, after turning down a dining plan sales attempt at the ticket booth, we made our way into the park - starting with Universal Studios.
Now, at this point, I was a little stressed. It was already 9:30, and I’m not very good about waiting in things like ticket lines. However, my nerves were quickly calmed when I realized that even at 9:30, the park was fairly empty… Hadn’t it opened at 9:00?? My only reasoning was that everyone must be in line for Minions and Rip Ride Rockit… both of which we had decided to bypass.
We made our way, leisurely, back to Diagon Alley stopping for one ride along the way… E.T.
Now, this ride made my list because it is one of the very few rides I actually remember from my very first trip to Orlando at the age of 7. It is supremely weird and really only for those who love ET or who love nostalgia and dark rides. The line is actually quite good - especially considering how old it is. The first half of the ride is fabulous… and the second part, once you get to ET’s home planet, is just super super weird. We walked right on, despite the fact that TP had warned me of a longer wait in the morning, and then continued our beeline to Harry.
We made it back to Kings Cross Station and the London facade. We watched for Kreacher in the windows of Grimmauld place and then headed between the brick walls and entered Diagon Alley.
It really is quite beautiful, and they have done a spectacular job bringing the world of the movies to life in a theme park. I was prepared to have a long wait - since we actually got to Diagon Alley before TP recommended. However, after a quick check on the Universal and Liners apps, we decided to start Diagon Alley with the ride, rather than explore first.
Escape from Gringotts was absolutely spectacular. First, we did basically walk on. The only time we took in line, we took because we were taking in all the details in the cue. The bank is beautiful and the goblins are very impressive. I loved the pre-show. The elevator effect (think Haunted Mansion stretching room on steroids) before getting to the ride vehicles was a nice surprise, and the ride itself was simply mind-boggling. The combination of the roller coaster and simulator effects was impressive and very well done. I loved the characters - especially Bellatrix - and they did a wonderful job incorporating a ride with an existing sequence in the movies. All around great experience.
If you have not ridden it, do NOT watch a video before you go. Let it be a surprise. I know some people worry about motion sickness and the fact that it is technically a roller coaster, but I found that the motion and visuals are so well matched that it does’t actually feel like either of those - it is truly simply a thrill ride. There is a plot, you are in danger, and that’s what you experience… you don’t really experience the feeling of a simulator or a roller coaster.
Anyway, after that experience we made our way out to Diagon Alley to explore. We walked through the shops, got ice cream at Florean’s (delish!!! I had the the earl grey and clotted cream flavors), enjoyed some butter beer, and then searched out Knockturn Alley. We explored Borgin and Burke’s, then headed back to take another quick look around before getting a ride on the Hogwarts Express.
So far so good for being Universal peons.
At this point, my husband realized he had lost his entry ticket (probably thrown away with a receipt), which was a big problem - we thought - considering you need to have a park to park ticket to ride the Hogwarts Express. Luckily, there is a staff member at the ride that is able to assist. He took his finger print and using our confirmation number (laminated card to the rescue again!) he invalidated the old ticket and printed him a new one.
We walked through the cue to the train - again, no waiting… this was between 11:00 and 12:00… and hopped on the Hogwarts Express. It is a delightful little ride, if only a wee bit claustrophobic, and certainly beats walking from one park to the other. If you find that it is a long wait and you would prefer to be moving rather than waiting, you are not missing a whole lot by not riding it both ways, but I would definitely take the time to ride it at least one direction (we found Kings Cross to Hogsmeade to be more interesting).
Upon arriving at Hogsmeade, we took the time to walk around a bit and slowly made our way to the castle. Checking on the wait time, it was only 10 minutes, so we went ahead and hopped in line. Again, basically a walk on, with delays only to watch and listen to the talking potraits and other parts of the pre-show in line. We got to the ride, and this was where I got nervous.
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I have a horrible fear of spiders and knew, from research and friends’ accounts, that Aragog the gigantic horrible spider (that as an adult I still cannot watch in the movies) made a pretty dramatic appearance.
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It was going to be a bit of a crapshoot as to weather or not this ride made me a nauseous. Like I said, give me a real actual tangible thrill ride any day, but simulators just make me nervous - sometimes they get to me sometimes they don’t.
We strapped in, with a father daughter team who seemed nervous too, and off we went.
Now, I was not as much of a fan of the story line for this ride (you are there for a tour of Hogwarts that goes a little crazy - and our three heroes have bewitched a bench for us to fly on). However, the effects, again, are very cool. The simulation on this ride, again, was very smooth and very well-synced with the visual; so I did not at all get nauseous from the movement. Also, thanks to my research, I did not have to confront Aragog…
How to avoid the spider (and you know still ride the ride): 1) Enjoy the ride and wait for the dragon. 2) Once you see the dragon on screen, wait until you see the set piece dragon. 3) Close your eyes and keep them closed until Hermione is DONE talking… ask your seat buddy to give your knee a squeeze when it’s okay (just be clear that you want all spiders gone before you open your eyes… my husband was not aware of this so gave me a false signal once… not cool).
He is not very sensitive about my spider issues… but even he admitted that it was pretty terrifying and would have completely freaked me out.
With Forbidden Journey checked off our list, we headed out of the castle and noticed that Flight of the Hippogriff was a walk-on, so we enjoyed that ride as well. From one serious Harry Potter fan to another - you can completely skip this ride if the line is more than 15 minutes. The ride is truly a kid’s coaster and with all Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley have to offer, you don’t really need to spend time here unless it is a short wait or walk on.
At this point, even I was feeling a little shady, so we decided to stop for some food at the Three Broomsticks and collect our thoughts on what to do next (everything had been walk on - so our TP was basically out the window at this point).
We decided to head to Jurassic Park and ride the one other ride that was on our list outside of Harry Potter and then return to begin finishing up our day in the Wizarding World. Jurassic Park was also a less than 10 minute wait, and it really is a great way to cool off. If you have kids or family members that are nervous, if they do Splash Mountain, the drop is comparable.
There are just some scary dinosaurs in place of Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit.
Back in Hogmeade, we rode Dragon Challenge (both sides - we preferred the blue one) and then hopped the train back to Diagon Alley - this time waiting for about 15 minutes.
In Diagon Alley, we picked up our Christmas ornament and then stopped for a drink and something more to eat at the Leaky Cauldron. With that, by about four o’clock, we were good to go.
Two random notes about the Wizarding World:
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We much preferred the Leaky Cauldron to Three Broomsticks. Three Broomsticks seemed to have more selection, but the quality of food at the Leaky Cauldron was a bit better for us.
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I went back and forth lots of times on whether or not to get an interactive wand. If you are only spending a day there, I would say skip. Most of the wand locations we saw had a couple people lined up waiting to try. For us, it would not have felt like a good use of our time. I also don’t think we would have done it enough to get our moneys worth out of the wands. I tried to find one on Ebay, but there seem to be too many people willing to pay face value for them (so if you want the risk you might be able to resell) even on Ebay.
My overall impression of Universal:
It has been a long time since I’ve been to Universal, but I have to say that I was just not very impressed with what it has to offer. I think I like the Harry Potter lands because they have staying power - something that will always be there, that it is truly part of our entertainment culture… and always will be. I think what turns me off about the rest of the park is that there doesn’t seem to be an overarching, higher calling. To me, at Disney, each park has a higher purpose. Magic Kingdom is about wishing, dreaming and believing in your happily ever after. Epcot is about a love for the world and hope for a better future. Animal Kingdom is about nature and learning to live with your natural environment. Even Hollywood Studios - though seemingly always searching for it’s purpose - has a feeling of the Hollywood dream where movies aren’t just entertainment but are larger than life stories of heroes and underdogs. Universal, feels - to me - a bit like a mishmash of whatever the most recent box office hits have been, and it’s hard for me to get on board with that… but that’s just me. They’ll still get me through the gate for Harry.
OUR RELAXING EVENING
After our day with Harry Potter, we headed back and took a nice nap at the campsite. As we got closer to the evening, we started to think about dinner - considering heading back to Disney Springs. Instead, I suggested we go take a look at the Port Orleans resorts. I had told my husband that that would be my pick for a place to stay if we picked a hotel next time, and I had heard that the food there was pretty good.
We had a lovely evening walking around both the French Quarter and the Riverside - would be curious which one people prefer and why - then stopped for cocktails and dinner at Riverside. The lounge there has a lovely cocktail menu and Boatwright’s was a nice, relaxing impromptu treat. Without an ADR, we were told we may have a 20 minute wait but ended up waiting only 5 minutes for a table. We had a dinner of fried seafood appetizers, catfish and jambalaya… with no room for dessert this time.
It was a much needed relaxing evening, and I think it was just what my husband needed: to see ways our next Disney trip could be more relaxing. My plan was working
Up next:
Hollywood Studios - with lunch at the Brown Derby and another half day for my husband