Wednesday June 21st: Part 1
***I think we’re in the minority here, but I purchased the summer special photo package and we absolutely loved having it and felt like we easily got our money's worth. We always stopped for a photo on the way in, found many characters with photographers, and are fans of getting the ride photos. The free prints that came with gave the girls easy souvenirs and were quick and painless to get.***
This may have been the only day we actually woke up when we wanted to and were out the door for early entry on time. Arriving at Universal Studios, we stopped to pick up our photo package lanyard.
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KConklin1028, on Flickr
Side question: What is this taxi from? The photographer really wanted us to stand in front of it for the photo.
Although we were planning to go straight to Diagon Alley, we stopped at Despicable Me Minion Madness since the wait was only at 5 minutes. So fun and we really enjoyed the queue!
Then came our first entry (of many, many, many) into Diagon Alley. WOW.
It was everything everyone said it would be and more. Definitely something everyone should experience.
Forgot that we met the Knight Bus driver before heading into DA!
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KConklin1028, on Flickr
We booked it straight to Escape from Gringotts. This was one of my favorite rides from our whole trip! The beginning is so cool how it leaves you hanging in the dark. We found the lockers here and at Forbidden Journey the most difficult because of the space and congestion, but it never was a huge deal.
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KConklin1028, on Flickr
Side note: I was so worried about motion sickness, but I wore these all natural patches as well as taking Bonine in the morning the whole trip and was completely fine on every ride. I cannot recommend
these patches enough (not an affiliate link - just sharing)! I know it was the patches because taking only Dramamine or Bonine here at home still leaves me nauseous on most rides.
Becca was itching to get a wand, so we headed to Ollivanders. At Ollivanders, there was something going on with the cast members - they were waiting for the person who does the show or something, so there was no line. Honestly, we didn’t know what we were doing but I realized afterwards that we got extremely lucky. We ended up chatting with one of the attendants and found out he used to live 20 minutes from where we are from and in the same area I teach. Small world. Anyways, when we went into the show it was only us three, and two others. Rebecca was the youngest in the group and also the only wearing Hogwards apparel, and was selected for the show! We know it was a burst of good luck for our group to end up being so small and her being selected, but it made her entire trip. We thought the show was cute and ended up purchasing the wand “that chose her” as well as a wand for myself. Rachel didn’t want to spend her money on one. With our wands in hand we went out to try some of the spells.
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KConklin1028, on Flickr
After doing a few spells in DA, we took the Hogwarts express to IOA. Everything about this felt so real. We were able to get this video of Becca walking into the wall...such a simple, yet amazing effect (click on picture if you're interested in seeing the video).
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KConklin1028, on Flickr
In Hogsmeade, we went first to Forbidden Journey. I didn’t write down wait times, but the most we waited for any ride was 70 minutes (Rip Saw Falls in the burning afternoon), and the rest were all 45 minutes or less. Like I said in my ptr, wait times don’t bother us, we are just happy to be there! Forbidden Journey was easily Becca’s favorite ride of the trip. Both queues for the Harry Potter rides were so fantastic and worth spending some time to going through.
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KConklin1028, on Flickr
Then we rode Flight of the Hippogriff which was enjoyable, but more of a one and done for us. This was the only time we rode it our entire trip, but I’m glad we did it.
Becca wanted to check out the shops so we looked around for a while. We both found a must buy Gryffindor sweatshirt that we decided we would come back for. At this point we were starting to get hungry but made the decision to just buy a snack at Honeydukes. I got a chocolate pretzel wand, Rachel got chocolate fudge, and Becca got a what-were-you-thinking-buying-this-in-the-boiling-hot-afternoon dark chocolate chip coated caramel apple.
Honestly, this made me go crazy. What was she thinking? If you want to buy this - DO NOT BUY IT ON A SUMMER AFTERNOON!
Rachel isn’t a big Harry Potter fan and had enough of those areas by this time (she loved the rides but was tired of looking in the shops) so we took the HE back to Universal Studios and set out to do some things that were more up her alley. We had booked a reservation for Jimmy Fallon’s Race Though New York and it was close to our window so we headed here first. Again, minority I think, but we really enjoyed the ride. The queue was a little confusing because no one was waiting in the museum area. People were looking at what was down there but then going upstairs at their own leisure. Upstairs, the entertainment was enjoyable. They had screens with interactive games, couches to sit on, and then the farther room with the live Ragtime Gals act. We loved how the pre-show was different every time we came. It seemed to take a bit long to turn to our color to get into the actual line, but not a huge deal. The ride itself was fun - it was Rachel’s favorite of the day.
We stopped to get popcorn and our water bottles filled up. I bought a Yeti water bottle for the trip and it was a godsend. Any ice stayed the entire day and the people at Universal were always happy to fill up our bottles. We only carried a string sack pack, the popcorn bucket, and our water bottles and easily fit everything into one locker when needed. While we were
and rehydrating, some street performers came around, so we watched them sing for a little while.
With no plans, we just started walking and ran into The Mummy, so we found a locker and entered the queue. Probably one of my favorite rides here (although I feel like I say that about everything!). Rachel was truly tricked and thought the ride was over at the one point near the end which made it even funnier.
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KConklin1028, on Flickr
Up next: We take in a show, finally eat a meal, and find one of the best snacks in the park!