Universal Studios Part One

       There is so much to write about on the subject of Universal that I might have to do two blog posts. I don’t even know where to start.

       I suppose I can start at the beginning. Universal was a complete surprise to Miriam and I, and as were later notified, the biggest surprise for the whole trip. We didn’t know until we were in the parking lot and Mama said to us: “So, girls, we’re at Universal Studios, which has little places from all the movies that Universal has done, and that means it basically has Harry Potter land.” This sent Miriam and especially me into a state of excitement, and it grew as Mama explained how we were staying in a hotel that meant we’d get entrance to the park an hour early. We couldn’t go today, of course, because there wasn’t enough time left in the day. That didn’t mean we had nothing to do, because as Mama and Daddy waited in line for our room key, they let us explore the gift shop. I think Harry Potter is probably the most popular part of Universal Studios, because much of the gift shop was dedicated to Harry Potter merchandise. Miriam and I stared at it, commenting excitedly on our favourite things. Sometime I have to go back and buy the snitch that flutters its wings, the Triwizard Cup, and the Sorting Hat that moves its mouth. Before I say what we did buy at the gift shop, I’m going to mention how happy I am that Miriam finished the books before we arrived at Universal. This way everybody could enjoy it- and this way I can talk to her about them now! And we were both very excited when we saw the wands lining the shelves.

       My favourite character in the Harry Potter series is Luna Lovegood.

     “ “Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?”

        “Hmm... what to you think, Harry?” said Luna, looking thoughtful.
        “What? Isn’t there a password?”

        “Oh, no, you just have to answer a question,” said Luna.

        “What if you get it wrong?”

        “Well, you have to wait for somebody who gets it right,” said Luna. “That way you learn, you see?”

        “Yeah... the trouble is, we can’t really afford to wait for anyone else, Luna.”

        “No, I see what you mean,” said Luna seriously. “

       I love her. I also love her wand, which is why I spent most of my time in the gift shop admiring her wand. I didn’t think that my parents would actually buy it. But they did- a wand for me and a wand for Miriam. Miriam got Hermione’s and I got Luna’s. But then Mama and Daddy explained to us that the wands were interactive, which meant that if we did the right wand movements in the right places, something would happen. The only regret that Miriam and I had now was that we didn’t have our school robes.

       But we did. While we were packing for the trip, Mama had snagged them from our closets and packed them. I had already put aside my time turner when Mama came for the robes, so we didn’t have everything, but the robes were enough.

       I don’t know if it’s even worth mentioning compared to the rest of Universal that we experienced the next day, but our hotel had one awesome pool. Two, actually. And a lazy river. And a slide. And a hot tub. So we spent the rest of the day there before eating dinner and going to sleep. We woke up bright and early the next morning at 6:15- except that it wasn’t bright and early, because it was still dark. We’d had an early morning the previous day for swimming with the Manatees, so this was just exhausting. Robes on, quick breakfast, wands in backpack. But we did it, and we were off to take advantage of our early entrance to Universal Studios. We were pretty quick to get in line, so we got in just after 8:00. One hour earlier than the rest of the world. We went as fast as we could to Diagon Alley, passing over King’s Cross with the intention to go to Hogsmeade later. We stepped through the brick wall and into a different world.

       Diagon Alley was incredible. The shops were amazing. A massive dragon stood atop a massive Gringotts, breathing real, hot fire every once in awhile. Little places where you could cast spells were everywhere. The detail was so amazing that even though it was movie based, I, as a book fan, still gave the making of Diagon Alley a nine and three-quarters out of ten. Our first stop was the ride Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, because it would get very popular as the day went on. An awesome statue of a goblin standing on gold coins sat outside, with many people sitting around it. But we didn’t linger there- we got in line, which wasn’t very long, and enjoyed the ride.

       Rides weren’t the only thing that we could do in Diagon Alley. I mentioned the spell casting, and when you managed it, the spells were great. My favourite and best spell was Aguamenti, the spell that creates water. I mastered it and could soon do it on the first try- it made a fountain briefly turn on. It sometimes, alternately, also did something else to do with water... but I won’t mention it, in case you ever go there.

       Miriam and I also wanted to try something else, and because that might have been our only time at Universal Studios, we tried it, despite the ridiculous price. (Everything is overpriced at Universal, so what can you do?) Daddy bought Miriam and I frozen butterbeers. (It was Florida, and it was hot. Normal butterbeers would not have been good at that time.) The butterbeer was amazing, though I’m not sure that Mama and Daddy liked it as much- I think they thought it was too sweet.

       As Mama mentioned in a previous post of hers, she has a huge extended family, and we met another one of her cousins at Diagon Alley. Tara and her family live down in Florida, so they have season’s passes to Universal Studios. Once we’d had our fill of Diagon Alley, we went with them to King’s Cross to take the Hogwarts Express. (The signs in this replica of King’s Cross Station were really funny- there were some ‘Travel London- amazing sights all day and night!’ signs, and one sign just before the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 that said ‘Make a little magic...’ with some kind of nail polish add.) We got lucky, taking the train with Tara and her family, because they have a tradition: kids get chocolate, grownups get beer. Miriam, Tara’s daughter Addison, and I got a chocolate bar each, but the chocolate was eaten before we even got on the train due to a short line to wait for it.

       I won’t spoil what happens on the train in case you ever go to Universal Studios, but I will tell you about Hogsmeade. The little shops had fake snow on the roofs, which was a bit weird in the heat. There were also many more opportunities for spell-casting. When we arrived in Hogsmeade, the first thing that Miriam and I wanted to do was go to Honeydukes. We convinced Mama to buy us some chocolate frogs, which were as big as the average palm of a hand, and were not hollow, but completely solid milk chocolate to the core. I will never know how Ron and Harry manage to eat more that one at a time.

       (At this point in my post I am going to acknowledge that I’ll definitely have to write more than one post.)

       We then went with Tara & Co. to ride a roller coaster called Flight of the Hippogriff before taking a break from Harry Potter world and fighting the extremely hot weather with a water ride. If not for Tara’s advice we would’ve stayed in Harry Potter places the whole day, and the water ride was quite welcome. We ate lunch and did a few more non-Potter things (like a visit to Dr. Seuss land) before taking the Hogwarts Express back to King’s Cross. Addison showed Miriam and I her favourite ride, The Rock It, a red roller coaster that went up at a ninety degree angle before a drop and a series of turns. It was a great ride, and we went on it a few times before the day was over.

       At Universal they have more than a month of Mardi Gras parades. That day we had been seeing people walking in the streets with stilts, but we didn’t know what we were in for when watching the parade. Tara and her family have a special place where they like to watch the parade, because it’s a place where the parade goes through twice right at the end. It’s made up of several floats with people on stilts in between. Several people were lined up on the side of the floats to throw plastic bead necklaces to be caught by the onlookers. It’s an amazing feeling to have one of those necklaces fly straight into your hands. Miriam, Addison and I caught so many, and we were given more by people that didn’t want theirs. Someday I’ll count them, but for now they can just sit in the car and take up space.

       A great part about the day was that for the entire time, I knew that we’d do it all again tomorrow. So, with a feeling of expectant and contented exhaustion, we took the bus home and crawled into our beds to sleep.

       Here are some part one pictures:

Wands!

Universal Studios!

Hagrid’s motorbike

 

The Knight Bus

3D ride goggles

Butterbeer!

       Part two coming soon