Day Three Harry Potter Land

Day Three: Harry Potter land and The Three Broomsticks.

We started out early and walking over to the parks since we had to be to the Three Broomsticks by 8:30. Harry Potter Land is in the Island of Adventure park in the very back so it was a long walk. I didn't realize how small the Harry Potter part actually is. It's just a "island" in the whole big park. It's like Froniter land inside Disneyland. So it was a very crowded area and there was only one way in or out so it got very congested. I was glad that we got there early cause even then there were a lot of people. We went to breakfast and I had a traditional English breakfast with pumpkin juice. It was actually pretty good and I tried a bite of my blood sausage, that was interesting. I had a little geeking out moment in the restaurant as they only play the music from the Harry Potter movies. I recognized it as the part when they dance in the 4th movie and got all excited.

After breakfast I took a trip to the Ladies room where I could hear Moaning Myrtle saying something. I only mention this because of Moaning Myrtle and I thought that was a nice touch. There were little decoration shops everywhere and a few actual shops that were just as tiny but made our way to the castle. The main ride is called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. You go through a tour of the castle essentially as you wait and then you have to help Harry, Ron and Hermione with something. It was fun and the though the wait was kind of long about 45 minutes. We were walking the whole time so it didn't feel that long. The best part of that ride feeling like you are flying.

Then they had a few roller coaster type rides. One for little kids called The Hippogriff Challenge or something like that and you get to see Hagrid's hut. Then the big ones were called the Dragon Challenge. It is based off of the 4th movie where they have to fight a Dragon. That was actually two different roller coaster going at the same time in between each other. The scariest part was when you are essentially playing chicken with the other dragon and then you turn at the last minute. It was really fun and we went back the next day to do the other track.

Then we attempted to buy souvenirs. In the tiny shops. It was a hard shopping experience for me because I like to touch and look at everything before I get it. But inside the shops was worse then the lines to the rides. I ended up just grabbing some stuff and getting out of the shops. We got some sweets from Honeydukes...but same story tiny shop lots of people. By that time I was ready to get out of there.

It was fun to be in Harry Potter Land. It did seem magical and it was fun. I just wish they would have made it bigger with more things from the books/movies. Butterbeer was kind of a let down. I was so excited to try it because ever since it was introduced in the books I wanted to try it. So you get it cold with the foam on top. The foam was delicious and probably the best part. Just trying the drink wasn't so great. However, pumpkin juice was awesome! It was like cold cider and juice mixed. Yum.

After exploring all that we wanted of Harry Potter land we went to the movie Super 8 on the IMAX screen by the park. It was a welcome break because it was blazing hot and humid there. While waiting for our movie I snapped this beauty.




It's a portable chest shocker that they use on Dr. shows. I really got a kick out of it because I had recently redid my CPR and all the instructions say do this or that..and get the AED. That's what it's called, I don't remember what the acronym stands for. But the nurse in me was glad to see it EVERYWHERE! It was I think at the end of every ride I only saw it at the end of a few, but in the airport ,all over the park and I think in a few of the restaurants we went to. I felt safer. I told Justin " If I or you collapse we need to know where they are," after pointing them out every time I saw them. =)

The movie Super 8 was pretty good. It's not the type of movie that I usually see but I was most definitely entertained. The main characters are a bunch of 13 year old boys in the 70's making a zombie movie. So it had some funny lines. Then we walked back to our hotel and relaxed the rest of the night.

Highlights: The Rides at Harry Potter land. Our Breakfast at the Three Broomsticks. A nice cool movie. Feeling a little bit magical.

Bummers: All the stinkin' lines for the shops. My goodness. The heat.