The Incredible Hulk Coaster
christmas decorations in Seuss Landing
I knew we were visiting the Sunshine State but this was our first day without rain, even though Florida rain really doesn’t seem like rain to me. It had been more like a mist. I never felt like my clothes or hair were wet. Although plenty of other folks were wearing ponchos.
So we enjoyed our first day of warm sunshine and opened Universal Studios Islands of Adveture, racing towards the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Duh. We had a 10 minute wait for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. That makes us golden. The ride was another one of those motion simulator rides that make you feel like you are in the movie, flying (on a broom stick?) with the characters and encountering creepy things. Amazing adventure.
The castle in the Harry Potter area is awesome. I later read that you can ask to do a castle only tour, taking time to visit & explore the features of the castle. The village/landmarks/shops seem inline with the books/movies…of which I am not super familiar, actually. I didn’t even know that Honeydukes was a candy store from Harry Potter. Duh. But we definitely spent alot of money there. And I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere of the village (or maybe it was just the Florida sunshine?) The shops are small (like in the movie) and were soon crowded, and the lines for Butterbeer became long quickly, even though I am sure this was a day of lower attendance.
After the Harry Potter ride, we went back towards The Incredbile Hulk Coaster (still fun. I remember loving it when Bobby & I went in 2001.) There was actual signage to secure any prosthetic limbs. I’ve never seen that before. The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman was still awesome, too. The Marvel Super Hero area is just a fun twist anyway, loud music playing and the noise of coasters soaring by. And those Super Heroes are just too cool on their motorcycles. A good place for Bobby to be in case he became overwelmed by fairytales & princesses. Not. He has 8 sisters.
We went back to Harry Potter so we could eat lunch at Three Broomsticks. I desperately wanted to order “The Feast” but was out voted. Boo. We did get pumpkin juice & Butterbeer. And then more Butterbeer. Its like a butterscotch cream soda. Mmmmmm. Wish I had some now.
We also did the 2nd most popular attraction at Harry Potter: Ollivanders, the shop stacked with magic wands. A small group at a time of park visitors enter the tiny shop. The wandkeeper gives someone a wand/ or the wand picks the person kind of thing, similar to the book/movie. A young girl was picked during our time. She was real cute and spoke very little English. Of course you could buy a wand for about $30 if you desired.
As we moved on through the park, ELizbeth could not resist a psychic reading….and then when she was done, I wanted one too! But Bobby made me keep walking.
Our bus ride home was great. Comfy, just the right temperature and good music. I snoozed for about 20 minutes.
We made it to our resort before 7pm. Bobby tended to his blisters and had his own siesta. Elizabeth & I did some on-site laundry. Along the way, we discovered a marshmellow roast. Gotta love Disney World.
Elizabeth was shocked and deeply saddened to learn that her high school, St. Elizabeth Academy, is closing. Huge loss to the community and for some girls who have a hard time fitting in elsewhere, for whatever reason.
I read up on Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the next day. My guide book also mentions what I had heard a few months back, plans for adding an Avatar area (based on the movie.)
And being that Walt Disney World is like Las Vegas and doesn’t sleep, even in the off season, we had dinner at our resort (gotta use those free refillable mugs) and then took a boat ride (a very large pontoon) to Downton Disney. We passed the Disney Treehouse Villas (yep, up in the tree) along the way. We browsed shops and admired all the Lego displays. Incredible.
We went to bed at midnight
Miles: 5
What Time is the 3:00 Parade? 