Vacation 2012: Wild about Harry.

Day 6, part 1: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (again)

So we kinda LOVED the Wizard World at Universal's Islands of Adventure. That's why on our second day in the Universal parks we just repeated our Monday plan.

Riding a wave at City Walk

Surfin' City Walk

Again, we arrived early enough
to be first in line at our turnstile.

Up early for Harry

Waiting, waiting...

...And we're in!

First stop: Hogwarts and the Forbidden Journey ride

Once again our early start paid off. We were able to ride without too much waiting and do a little shopping, too.

We had skipped Flight of the Hippogriff on Monday because I thought it was a little too "Mini Mine Train" for us, but on Tuesday, Ryan noticed the short line so we gave it a go. We're so glad we did! Not only did we get to see the Hippogriff, but we also saw Hagrid's hut (above) and got a great view of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade while riding. (Check out this video from another visitor to get an idea of the view.)

Entrance to the Dragon Challenge,
which we had ridden the day before

We really liked the butterbeer, so we
bought some more, frozen this time.

I caught Katie trying to get a perfect picture of her beer.

Not all of the Hogsmeade storefronts open to actual stores,
but most (like this one) have some magical element.

For instance, outside the quill window you could see a quill
magically writing and hear the "scritching" sound.

Inside Honeydukes

Brett with his pumpkin tart
(No, not Katie! The treat in the box!)

Pumpkin Tart

After spending a second morning in the Wizarding World, we knew it was time to move on to the Studios side of Universal, but even a muggle would admit that it's hard to say goodbye to this magical place.