Sunday, June 20, 2010

Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice, Chocolate Frogs.... Oh My!!!

If you are a fan of Harry Potter, you may have heard of this little thing called "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter."

You may have also heard that it opened on Friday.

Well, I was there!!!!

By complete chance, we were scheduled to broadcast on the same day. We were already going to be there and I flipped out when the announced the opening day. To be perfectly honest, we weren't sure if we'd even get to see anything, but it worked out better than I thought.


At 9:15am when we arrived, this was the beginning of the line to get into Islands of Adventure....




It kept going..............



..... and going.....



..... and going......



..... and going......



.... and going.....



..... and, we finally reached the end!!! These people are absolutely dedicated, lol, because I wouldn't have stood in that line.




We got to try Pumpkin Juice! It's tasty!..... Like Apple Cidar, but pumpkin-flavored.




The studios are in Universal Studios, but it was arranged for us to get to go over to IOA. During a break, we were whisked over to the other park.



Welcome to Hogsmeade!!!!!





   


When you're walking through the village, it's as though you really truly are there. You cannot see anything, but the village, with Hogwart's off in the distance. They built the village so that you can't see the other lands or rides. SOOOOO cool!!!!


          


The lines to get into the shops were hours long, so that was a no-go, lol. To get Butterbeer, the line was over 45 minutes long. Again, not happening. I was tempted to go towards the front of the line and offer to pay for a person's Butterbeer if they would order mine, too.


   








Three Broomsticks is an actual restaurant. JK Rowling had her hand in EVERYTHING, including the menu items of the Three Broomsticks. She's really concerned about healthy eating and made it so no meal is more than 500 calories, each. The employees I know said that the food is amazing. 














HOGWARTS!!!!!!!!!!




Such an amazing castle!!!



The view of Hogmeade from Hogwarts......



LA and I were geeking out!!!! We were so excited, whereas everyone else we were there with didn't know much about it.



LA, myself, and J in front of Hogwarts



We were able to ride the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!! I cannot ever begin to describe how amazing it is! You walk all throughout the castle. I tried to take pictures with my cell phone (cameras weren't allowed), but they came out too dark to see anything. The ride itself is better than anything I've ever been on before. It was just amazing..... my mind was blown.

After our brief journey through the village, it was back to work. I'm just so happy that I can say I was there on the very first day. Such a neat feeling!!!

Now, I just need to go back and get some Butterbeer!!!

8 comments:

Gina said...

You have my husband and L just drooling with these pictures. L made me show him the Hogwart's Express picture several times and my hubby just kept saying how cool everything was. We are hoping to get there in the next few years!

Anonymous said...

These pictures are amazing! I want to book a trip to FL asap to go visit - it looks exactly like it looks in the movies!

Adie said...

Okay I am insanley jealous!! I heart Harry potter! I had no idea this thing would be so fantastic. I am drooling. Glad you had so much fun.

Jess @ Living On Sweet Tea said...

thats awesome!

Denise Marie said...

Wow!! It all looks so awesome. I've been hearing about this attraction. Jess, I really had fun meeting my flipflop swap buddy. thank you for hostessing it.

Brittany Ann said...

Me=OFFICIALLY JEALOUS! AS is my husband! We so want to go when we head back to Florida:)

Sonya said...

That line is crazy! It sounds awesome! We are going to try and go sometime this week, but my BIL said he wasn't going to wait in a long line for it!

LWLH said...

Those lines are the craziness....it's ridiculous!!

I've never read or seen any of them but it looks cool to see.