Trip to Orlando - Day 2

This was a long, but fun day!

I'm going to mention the things we did today, but I'm going to focus on the Hogsmeade portion of Universal Studios. Tomorrow will be Diagon Alley!

We woke up at 07:00 this morning (or 04:00 Vancouver time) and headed down to the Best Western continental breakfast. It was pretty typical - bagels, muffins, sausages, waffles, etc.

We went to the information desk at the hotel and asked for the best walking route to Universal. As we were talking to the man, he said, "WAIT! Just catch the shuttle!" At that exact moment the free shuttle to Universal pulled up. PERFECT!

We made our way into Universal with no idea what to expect. It's so grand and bright and loud! It wasn't very busy in the early morning which was perfect.

We b-lined to Diagon Alley first, as we had to get there as soon as possible! We were some of the first tourist there. I'll go into more detail tomorrow, but we went on the Escape from Gringotts ride first. Unfortunately, when we were about to get on the cart, it was delayed for about 30 minutes due to technical difficulties. Good thing we were the first ones to go this morning! As for the ride... you'll have to read tomorrow to find out!

We enjoyed some treats and touring around Diagon Alley before hopping on the Hogwarts Express and heading over to Diagon Alley. I don't want to give away too much about the ride on the Hogwarts Express, but they kept us entertained!

Excited about getting on the train

Platform 9 3/4? Think you're bein' funny do ya?!

The Hogwarts Express!

We made it into Hogsmeade and it was just exactly as it is in the movies. They did such an amazing job with the details and ambiance in the park. We ended up pretty quickly at the Duelling Dragons roller coaster. For this ride it was mandatory that you lock up your bags in the free lockers provided. They're locked using your finger-print, which is pretty cool! 

Honeydukes!

Chocolate Frogs!

Post Office!

The Three Broomsticks!

Zonkos Joke Shop

There are two roller coasters here: the Hungarian Horntail (blue coaster) and the Chinese Fireball (red coaster). We went on the Horntail first. Without giving too much away... you're sitting in the car with the track above you and your feet are dangling. I have never been on a roller coaster that intense. I love rides, but I don't think I could do that one again. They kept you guessing as to where the track was going, and threw you around like crazy! Right away after we got off the Horntail we went on the Chinese Fireball. This one was more my speed. Still a ridiculous roller coaster, but slightly less rag-dolling (for lack of a better word!).

After the Duelling Dragons, we caught the end of the "Triwizard show" on the stage. Some gentlemen from Durmstrang and ladies from Beauxbatons did some showing off of their talents. 

From here, we headed to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. We just shared chicken tenders and salad. I had a beer as well, and David had a Butterbeer. Butter beer is very tasty. It's sweet though. Too sweet for me. It just tastes like a Butterscotch Life-saver to me!

Like I said before, the detail they went into is unbelievable. Even small details such as Moaning Myrtle talking over the speakers in one of the public washrooms. 

After a little break at a quiet picnic area behind the Hogs Head Pub, we headed to the Hogwarts castle. We had heard about a secret castle tour from Karen and Darcy. We asked an employee, and he opened up a secret line-up area for us. We got to go through parts of the castle at our own pace and have a private, self-guided tour. There were many more really cool details such as talking portraits and holograms of the Harry Potter actors. 

Break time!

The talking portraits. Hard to see in the video, but it's cool. I promise.

After our secret castle tour, we went on the actual Forbidden Journey ride. I don't want to give too much away, but it's similar to "Soaring over California" in California Adventure.... on steroids. I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face. It's definitely not for those who get motion sick though. I don't typically, but even I felt a little queasy after. David was pretty well out for the count though! Haha. 

We were both exhausted by this point in the day but we quickly watched the Frog Choir's performancet. It had been a lot of walking, and it was 30+ degrees! We decided to slowly make our way to the exit through the Islands of Adventure park. We hit some areas like Jurassic Park (mostly the main ride to cool off) and then another water ride in Dudley-do-Right area. I'm not sure what that is, but we got SOAKED!

At the end of our long day, we headed back to the hotel and I was determined to open that wine! Thank you to Monica, who suggested pushing the cork in. We used my toothbrush to jam the cork in, and my tweezers to sneak down beside the cork to release the pressure from the bottle. 

Cork just floating away!

We brought the wine and some cards down to the pool and enjoyed some time together swimming and relaxing by the pool with just the two of us. It was a nice break after the craziness of the park!

Finally, we had some dinner at the pub across the lot again, and now it's time to sit down and watch some episodes of Suits together! We just realized there are more than 10 episodes in Season 4!