Harry Potter, a bit of MNSSHP, Shades of Green - Fall 2017 Pre-Trip AND TRIP Report!

We rode Gringott's in the single rider line. As before on the Mummy ride, we whipped through the line and yet were still seated together. I didn't mention before but I'm bosomy and was wearing a fanny pack so as not to have to use the lockers. I learned to quickly LIFT the fanny pack above the area where the clicking was occurring, pretty much right under my bosom. That allowed for a good fast click.

We finally got a shot of the dragon breathing fire!

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More shopping, more spells, and we were ready for a snack. I got a Cauldron Cake! It was just chocolate cake with yummy frosting, but just LOOK at those frosting flames! It turned out that it was encased in a re-usable silicone cauldron, and included instructions on how much cake mix to put in it to re-use it.

I, being a serious and mature adult, immediately decided to re-purpose it as a witch cauldron in my American Girl doll collection. It's the perfect size!

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Focus not on my unladylike stance and chin wattle, and instead on my fabulous Felicis Felicitas vial necklace! I made my niece's lanyard from a piece of ribbon I bought on Ebay; it has the shields of all the Hogwarts houses on it.

My sister took this cool "Wayfaring Wizards Welcome" shot. I'm not even sure I saw this! There are so many nooks and crannies and things to see in the Wizarding World, you could see something new every time, I'm sure.

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With the little niche in the wall, it reminds me of a courtyard in Venice (or anywhere in Italy).
 
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We knocked around Diagon Alley, doing spells, and then really checked out Knockturn Alley. ("Nocturne" - get it? Rowling is so clever!) We shopped at Borgin & Burkes, found all the spells, made the vanishing cabinet do its thing, and met a very in character, spooky witch.

This photo shows one of the entrance/exits from Knockturn Alley and I believe the coveted, shady benches are right inside here:

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We took our final train ride to Hogsmeade, and I gave out my final Platform 9 3/4's tickets. My niece gave out the most of her 'house business cards' so I ended up giving her $10 as a prize. (I had set aside so many little gifts for her, I didn't have a separate prize.)

We did more spells in Hogsmeade, and met this lovely witch:

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Then all too soon, it was time to say goodbye to the Wizarding World for this trip. The first day at Universal, we just darted to the area, bypassing everything at Islands of Adventure and Universal on the way in and out. The last two days, we went on rides leading in and out, and eventually circumnavigated both parks, riding all the things we wanted. (I spaced out ET, though, and I wish we had ridden that because I'm pretty sure that's an old ride on its way out. I had been on it before, but it was niece and sis's first time at Universal, and I'm afraid it'll be gone by the time they return.)

Next up: The rest of the park!
 
We bid a fond farewell to the Wizarding world, and exited in the direction of Jurassic World. We rode the river ride, and then my sis and niece went on again, while I tried to get a shot of them coming down the flume. (Well, I got a thousand photos of other rafts, first.) Here's my sister, fleeing from a wayward dino:

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For this ride, I came prepared and had a disposable raincoat, and stayed dry. I wish I had one when we were on Dudley and Ripsaw the previous day. Those are FAR wetter rides!

We doubled back and headed into the next land, which is sort of an amorphous mystical realm. We weren't interested in the two 'stage shows', so we checked out the talking Mystic Fountain, and headed to Dr. Seuss world.

A cool statue:

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Well, this was my previous trip report, and it looks like I just... ran out of steam? Was home and already planning the next Big Trip?

Suffice to say, we rode a few things in Seuss Landing, made our way out of the park, and hit Menchies again before our final shuttle back to Shades of Green. While waiting for the shuttle, I got a call from our airport shuttle company, lining up our ride back in the morning. The time they gave us seemed to be cutting it awfully fine, for the trip to the airport, and adequate time to board our plane. When I tried to get an earlier time, I couldn't.

Was it still a bit of payback from when I wasn't 'respectful' enough for the owner, the time I spoke to them prior to the trip? By the time the van came to take us to Sanford Airport (LATE), I was anxious. By the time we were in very heavy, slow moving traffic, I was more anxious. By the time we nearly missed our flight, I was apoplectic! The driver did confirm that the owner often answered the phones (hence the prior crazy rudeness) and was an irascible sort (hence purposefully (?) sending our return shuttle late, late, late). He did say the owner had a sick child, which ameliorated it enough for me that I didn't immediately flame the company on these boards.

But for our next trip (coming soon! March 2019!) we'll be taking a different shuttle company, and not the one that shares a moniker with Florida...
 


I’m glad you came back to share the ending to the past trip

What a idiotic thing for the company to do and delay your pick up time !

That had to have been a horror for you

Have a great vacation this coming March
 
Thanks, Macraven! So excited for our next visit. Just me and my daughter, who's a good traveling partner.

We haven't been to Orlando as a duo (just on huge family trips) since she was 8 - 20 years ago!

Off on our Next Big Adventure!
 


Just fiinished reading all this, what a fab report and some brilliant photos as well!

Do you still have the same glasses, if so I'll easily be able to recognise if you if we do cross paths in March, fingers crossed!
 

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