This second blog post of Universal might not be quite as detailed as the last one due to the simple fact that everyone else wanted to write blog posts too, so it’s been quite a while, and now I don’t remember everything. But I certainly remember the highlights, so I will recount them now.
On the second day of Universal we didn’t wake up quite as early as the first day, nor do I think we even could have. I marvelled at the possibility that people could stay there for almost a week, staying up early and going to sleep late each day. That day we had a new plan- we would go to Hogsmeade earlier to better see what it had in store for us, then go back to Diagon Alley again later. We arrived at the park just before nine, which meant that we were in time to still have an advantage and get into the park before the rest of the world. After a short while in Diagon Alley (we couldn’t go to King’s Cross immediately- our early pass didn’t extend to there) we took the train again to go to Hogsmeade. Ultimately I prefer Diagon Alley- its detail is the best- but there was more in Hogsmeade to see. We decided to first try out a new ride that we hadn’t yet been on yet, a themed Harry Potter one that takes place inside the castle. The lineup was actually fun, because there were moving portraits of Rowena Ravenclaw, Helega Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor that were having a funny conversation about why muggles were in the castle. The ride was my favourite ride, as well- I liked it better than the Gringotts one. (Miriam mentions in her description of this ride that it was quidditch-based, but that’s untrue- it was centred more around flying benches.)
Anyway, Miriam and I liked the ride so much that we waited in the single-riders line (the single riders line has shorter waits, but parties are split up) to go on it again. When we found each other again, we looked for Mama and Daddy, and we found them chatting with Mama’s friend from her work, who had happened to go to Universal on the day we were there. Sometimes it really is a small world- we hadn’t planned to meet them at all! Good thing we did, because they had Cheesies. And Mama got to catch up with her friend, so that was fun for her, too. But at this point it was really hot, so Miriam and I took off our robes and our family wandered back into Hogsmeade, where we lingered to watch a performance of some Beauxbatons and Durmstrang attendees before once again exiting Hogsmeade in search of a water ride. The one we had gone on the day before had a very long line and it wasn’t worth the wait (it didn’t even have a single rider’s lane that day), so we decided on a Jurassic Park water ride instead.
After a while, we went back to the other park on the Hogwarts Express and enjoyed the pleasures of Diagon Alley for a bit. We wanted to eat lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, but there was a gigantic lineup and we decided to just go somewhere else. We instead ate lunch at a non-Harry Potter restaurant. Which was very overpriced and not that good. Oh well... what can you do? And just as we were ending our not-that-good-but-very-pricey meal, we saw Tara and her family again. Miriam, Addison and I went on a Despicable Me 3D simulator and joined up with the crew again for a few more rides. The Mummy was a very good one, and we went on a The Simpsons 3D simulator. Miriam, Addison and I also went on the Rock It again. It was really too bad that we had to leave before the Mardi Gras parade that day, because since Tara’s family had seasons passes, they got to throw the bead necklaces on one of the Mardi Gras floats. Instead they had to ask another family.
They day wasn’t over yet, though. We had decided to eat an early dinner at the Leaky Cauldron to avoid a long line, and so we did. I ordered cottage pie (an item I loved on our food tour in Savannah) and frozen butterbeer, which was just as good as the day before. Mama ordered pumpkin juice, which we all had a sip of, and it was delicious. (Before I couldn’t really understand why everybody in the HP series loved pumpkin juice so much, but now I know.)
When we had finished eating, Miriam and I were both sort of sad to be leaving Diagon Alley. At that point I wished that we were some of those people that were going to stay a week, despite the unavoidable exhaustion. We walked Diagon Alley one more time, and I did my favourite spell, Aguamenti, perfectly. I love Diagon Alley.
This post was much shorter than my last one, and much further away from the time period when the events took place. But I still had to write it, because Harry Potter has been one of my favourite things to read for more than five years, and I am so glad we went to Universal Studios. But like I mentioned in my first post on this subject, I have to go back someday. Not only to buy the snitch that moves its wings and the Sorting Hat that talks and the Triwizard Cup, but to step into Diagon Alley once again and revel in the magic of it all.
P.S. Count yourself lucky that I didn’t list the 5000 things wrong with this movie-based place.
Here are some pictures!
Hogwarts!
Hogwarts!
The Leaky Cauldron
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