I will admit it.......I was probably one of the last people to jump on the bandwagon and read all of the Harry Potter Series. 4 months ago when I solidified plans with Grandma Lynn to make this trip happen one of the biggest highlights was going to be a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Now Niki is fully read up and studied on all things Hogwarts. She had been to the World before, owned a wand and quite honestly grew up with the stories. There was NO WAY that I was going to show up to Hogwarts clueless about the details. So I borrowed the big box of books from my girlfriend and set myself a schedule to read over 4000 pages of HP before October. It was NO easy feat and as I wrestled with the last 3 900 page books, I had to find my IRONMAN determination. Life has been so busy! Reading time is hard to find a lot of.
I DID IT....and not only did I finish the books, but with all of Bob's travel, I was able to watch all movies in between editing pictures and Momming. Nevermind that I watched the last 2 movies on the plane out to Florida. I showed up prepared and I am SO GLAD I did.
I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 months spent immersed in Hogwarts. What a great story, what an EPIC adventure. So much in those books. So much greatness, and boldness, and fun.
So Monday of our trip, we headed to Diagon Alley to catch the Hogwart's Express to Hogwarts. Before heading through the "Wall," we stopped for a picture with the Knight Bus. I was so excited in this picture.....Universal Studios made it all.....even a Grimmauld Place with a peaking Kreacher!
Upon entering Diagon Alley, our first stop was Ollivander's Wand Shop. That is the one big thing that I wanted, a wand from Ollivanders.
Before entering the shop for purchasing, we went to a show where we met The Wandmaker himself and watched as a little girl was magically matched with a wand. Oh how I wish I had been chosen, but then realized I was a 35 year old woman who didn't look nearly as cute!
I bought my interactive wand (Luna's Wand) and we moved along through the town.
YES, there was a fire breathing dragon sitting up top of Gringotts Bank. It was INCREDIBLE and such a fun part of the story. That bank was exactly like the movie and housed the amazing Escape from Gringotts ride which was quite honestly my favorite of the day. So glad I knew the story!
Following the ride Niki and I did a wee bit o magic ourselves using our wands and the interactive map of magic. Throughout the town there are places where you can actually do a certain spell and something happens. In this pic we were turning on lights in the tower.....
Here we were making an umbrella rain......
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Here we were trying to make a bird fly out of its cage (I need more practice here)....
And here we were down in Knockturn Alley working to make the heads stop singing annoying little songs!
In these two, Niki and I were practicing "Aguamenti!" which makes water jump out of the fountain and spray people. So fun!
Nikki and I steered into this and were told by a few of the smaller kids that we needed to "wait our turn." Rules, Rules..... We had a blast playing in Diagon Alley.
Next stop was Hogwarts and we got had to take the Hogwarts Express. I made it through the wall the first time and ended up on platform 9 3/4. It was all so magical and besides the enormous crowds of people you felt like you were there and part of the story.
We arrived in Hogsmeade and meandered our way up through the snowy buildings to find the school.
And it was everything it should be! Hogwarts complete with amazing ride, classrooms, Dumbledore's office, the greenhouse and the hallways. What an amazing day and I cannot WAIT to go back when my girls are older!
We spent the rest of our day catching some of the big roller coasters in Universal Studios. It was hard to leave Hogwarts, but the Jurassic Park Ride, The Hulk Ride, and King Kong made up for it. We finished the day on a water ride. Disney water rides get you sprinkled, Universal rides get you SOAKED. We were drenched. After that ride we cashed in, went out for some not pizza food and called it an early night. What a trip it had been.........and we aren't kids anymore!
One for the record books. Having adventures and making memories!
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