Universal Studios- Wednesday, August 20, 2014

We got up pretty early because Julie believed that staying in a hotel on property meant we could get in to the park an hour early.  We've heard that before on other trips, but it turns out this time she was right, at least for the new Harry Potter part.  So we ate breakfast in the room, caught the shuttle bus to the park and went in around 8:00.  We made our way to the back of the park to see Diagon Alley.

The brand new Harry Potter portion of the park is one of the two biggest reasons that we came to Florida this summer (the other being the new portion of Fantasyland at Disney).  There are two Universal Parks and each one has a Harry Potter section.   First, there is the Islands of Adventure, which has the portion of Harry Potter at the Hogwarts School for Wizarding and Witchcraft and the nearby village of Hogsmeade.  We saw this portion when we went to Universal back in 2011.   The other park is Universal Studios, and that has the new portion, representing the magical areas of London.  Appropriately, the two Harry Potter areas are connected by the Hogwarts Express, which leaves London from Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station.  (Been there!)   

Diagon Alley is the magical area of London that is home to many shops and businesses that meet the needs of the wizarding world.  You can buy wands, cauldrons,  spell books, messenger owls, and so forth.  When we got to the back of the park there was already a long line formed waiting to get into the new ride.  Luckily , some magic was keeping the area of Diagon Alley comfortably cool.   The queue area showed that it was enchanted in other ways too, because it wound around and around in patterns incomprehensible to muggles like us.  After more than an hour in line, the three girls got to ride the roller coaster through the deepest most secure parts of Gringott's Bank, just like in the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2.  Meanwhile Scott waited outside and watched the dragon on the roof of the  bank occasionally spew fire.

After the Harry Potter ride, we looked through the shops in Diagonally (and even the dark magic shops of Nocturn Alley).  There is an amazing level of detail in the decorations and stores.  Nearly everything that is mentioned or hinted at in the books can be found here.  Many store windows had magical items that people could effect and control by waving their wands at them.  We enjoyed this part.  We also saw the Black family home where Creature was peeking out of the windows and the Knight Bus with the talking shrunken head hanging from it.

After Harry Potter, we went to the nearby Men In Black ride, which has you shoot at aliens as you ride through.  (Scott's score was the highest, at more than 211,000).  Then we went to the Simpsons area,  where the main attraction is the Krustyland ride.  It takes you through a motion simulator of a run away roller coaster with Homer and the rest of the family, and we enjoyed it quite a bit.  For all of the fun of the roller coaster part, Scott and Julie may have liked the subtle humor about theme parks that was used throughout the ride.  "They won't let us wear facial hair," said the Squeeky Voiced Teen in the animation while reminding us that our lives were in the hands of teenagers like him.  

The area of Springfield was opening, and we got to see much of what it would be like to live in the Simpsons' world.  Scott got his picture taken in several places there, and was happy that "Krusty Burger" was just about to open for lunch, at 11:00.  We ate there, and then saw that Moe's Tavern was also open.  Scott had to have a Duff's Beer at Moe's, and got his picture taken with Barney.  Anna tried a "Flaming Moe," just like in that episode.

Next was the ET ride, where we rode "bikes" through the forest as ET was being chased by the authorities, and we eventually ended up seeing the whimsical creatures of ET's home planet.  Emma said it was kinda wierd.  We went to Terminator 2 3-D, which was OK, but the girls weren't familiar with the movie and didn't seem to like it as much.  At least the movie really included Arnold Schwarzenegger, reprising his famous role, but the evil Cyberdyne corporation, which was supposed to be scary and forbodding, sounded a little too realistic.  "Imagine a school district where students in New York and Chicago and Los Angeles all learned the exact same lesson from the exact same teacher at the exact same time."   Too spot on.

Shrek 4-D was predictably fun.  The seats moved and you got sprayed as the 3-D movie played.  The three girls rode on Twister: Ride It Out, which simulates the tornados in the movie.  Scott sat that one out.

The weather today is pretty oppressive.  It's in the 90s with high humidity.  Even though there have been many air conditioned spots and we've tried to keep hydrated, it's taken a bit out of us.  We found a table in the Monster's Cafe (themed to Universal's monsters- Frankenstein, Dracula, etc), had some drinks and snacks, and discussed our plans.   We eventually decided to return to the hotel to cool down and rest a bit.  It's one of the reasons why we stayed on property.

Part 2:  

Julie seemed the most reluctant to leave the park this afternoon, but she took a nap in the hotel.  The girls took the time to cool down and eventually went for a quick swim in the lazy river and the pool.  We ate dinner at the hotel and went back to the park for some more rides and fun.  We used our tickets to re-enter the park.  They had scanned our fingerprints when we first entered to make sure they were our tickets.  They had to use the same finger again when we re-entered.

We went started the evening at Minion Mayhem, which seems to be the second most popular attraction attraction in the Universal Studios park, after Harry Potter.  The yellow minions, from Dispicable Me, are favorites of Anna and Emma.  Even though we knew that the line was going to be at least an hour wait, we were determined to see this one.  While we were waiting in line, we had some time to reflect on the two-tiered ticketing system for Universal.  Like most people, we have what amounts to second class tickets at the park, though they don't advertise them that way.  We were being bypassed by people who hold Express Tickets, which are $85 more a piece-  a price that seemed ridiculous to us.  Disneys's FastPass system is free to use and open to everybody to take part in.  Anyway, when we finally got on the ride, it was fun for the girls.  Scott, however, got his stomach pinched when the bar came down for the "motion simulator."  

Scott sat out the next one while the three girls rode on Transformers: the Ride 3-D.  It was a fast ride, and Anna said it was probably a good idea that Scott didn't go.  

We had started the day with Harry Potter, and we ended the day with him as well.  We made our way to "Platform 9 3/4" at "King's Cross Station" where the Hogwarts Express departs from.  It was interesting to see the interpretation of London here, since we'd seen the actual King's Cross Station last year.  The famous entrance to the station platform, made by passing through a brick wall, was a bit of a disappointment, but the train ride itself was great.  We weren't expecting it to have a movie and a show as part of it, but the right side of the train showed scenes from London to Hogwarts, while on the right, we could see Harry casting a patronus spell to fight off Dementors.  It was quite enjoyable.

In the books and movies, the Hogwarts Express takes you from London to Hogwarts.  Similarly, this Hogwarts takes you from Universal Studios to Islands of Adventure.  When we got off the train, it was night time in Hogsmeade, and approaching 9:00, when the parks close.  We made our way back to the hotel, walking the long way out of the park to catch the shuttle bus.  After a rest, we went to the gift shop in the hotel, where Emma got a Marauder's Map of Hogwarts, just like in the movies.