For our second park day we decided to start in IOA. Left the hotel just after 8:30. Got to park entrance around 8:45 and were let through the gates about ten minutes later.
Went straight to Amazing Spiderman and rode it twice with no wait. It is one of our very favourite rides and was just as good as we remembered.
Next I sent DH and the DDs to ride Incredible Hulk. I don’t do big coasters, so I rode Spiderman for a third time. That took me less than ten minutes. I wound up waiting about ten more minutes for the others to get back.
We did Kong next. It was a good ride but not one I need to do again. As we walked towards Hogsmead we stopped for a snack from one of the kiosks, churros and brookies. They really hit the spot!
Once in Hogsmead we rode Forbidden Journey again. The Express Pass is great for getting you on that ride quickly. I was beginning to feel the effects of that many simulator rides so I sat out while the rest of the family rode a second time.
Spent some time exploring the village and casting spells before taking the Hogwarts Express over to USF. Rode Escape from Gringott’s again once we got there.
By now we were ready for lunch so we decided to try the Leaky Cauldron. We had a very nice but very expensive lunch. The Ploughman’s has a nice salad, Scotch eggs and some good cheeses. We popped into a few of the shops to look around. Good timing as a brief sunshower occurred.
Left Diagon Alley to hit a few rides we missed yesterday: MIB, Simpsons Ride and Transformers 3D. We had a blast on MIB, enough to do it twice even though none of us could really figure out exactly what we were doing! DH and I got a kick out of Simpsons since we’ve seen so many episodes of the show. The girls liked the ride despite being unfamiliar with the series. Transformers was another I could take or leave.
Weather was looking unsettled again so we ducked back to Diagon Alley to purchase some Hogwarts shirts the girls wanted and get ice cream from Fortescue’s. They have some very cool flavours. I was a fan of the Sticky Toffee Pudding.
Headed back to the hotel after that for a break. It was about 3:30. Unfortunately the pool was closed because of lightning in the area so we just relaxed in the room for a couple of hours.
Supper was at Toothsome’s. Another great meal. The only problem was that they had a lot of interesting looking desserts and we were all too stuffed to try any!
We decided to head into IOA after supper and check out Hogsmead at sunset. We got a picture with the Hogwarts Express conductor before taking it back to USF. Wandered around Diagon Alley checking it out at night. It looks amazing with the streetlights lit up.
Finally headed back to the hotel to call it a night. Tomorrow we will spend the morning in the parks before transferring over to Disney for the next week. Hoping to hit all of our favourites before leaving.