Pics from Wizarding World of Harry Potter

[rayvyn2k]

Oh my god, I'm so sick. And because I'm sick, hubby's sick too. The gross, coughing up green junk sick.

But, while it's early and I have a bit of energy, I thought I'd post the promised pics of our trip to Universal WWHP. Let me give you a bit of advice: NEVER GO THERE THE WEEK AFTER CHRISTMAS.

Ahem.

It was soooo crowded. I have a pic of the crowd. A half an hour after we got into the park at 9:30 am, they closed off the HP section due to crowding. If you left, you would not be allowed back until it was reopened--which wasn't until something like 8 pm. We waited three hours for the castle tour and ride. Not that it wasn't worth it, but still. Three hours. And the castle was brilliantly done, but because it's on the way to the ride, you didn't really get to stay in one place long enough to really experience everything.



The first thing you come to is the Hogwarts Express. Which is just a red locomotive sitting there at the station, with a guy waiting to have a picture made. I heard a rumor this may be improved within the next five years, but don't repeat it.






Then you come to the entrance to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. You can see how crowded it was. The only places on Diagon Alley you could go into were Olivander's (only 10 at a time! We skipped it since they only choose children for the "wand choosing" feature), Dervish and Banges (there was a line to get into the store. We waited ten minutes. The loot pic does not show my Slytherin tee shirt), The Three Broomsticks & The Hogs Head (which were combined into one restaurant, the bar was on the Hog's Head side-we did eat lunch there, we had the Cornish Pasties which were very good and the Butterbeer is also good, but one is more than enough as it is VERY sweet), Zonko's Joke Shop and Honeydukes. Everything else was storefronts.



The crowd in Diagon Alley:



The Three Broomsticks & Hogshead














Loot--not pictured, Snape key chain and Slytherin tee shirt:


Have you seen this wizard?


And, last, but not least, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As we wound our way through the line, we took pictures of the castle:




The Gates:


The first thing you get to (after waiting for two and a half hours) is the greenhouse. The Mandrakes are nearly ready:


Then, finally, the castle door. There were too many people to take a full pic of the door, so you only get to see the top part.


This is the first thing you see once you enter--a dragon skeleton? I don't remember that from the books or the movies...


The rest is pretty self-explanatory:











The biggest disappointment was NO Snape at all in the attractions. No tour of the dungeons. The only Snape stuff was souvenirs, of which hubby got me a key chain. That was disappointing, especially since he's the tragic hero of the entire story. I am not sure if this was deliberate, since the theme park was started before the books were finished. But they intend to "significantly" expand this part of the park, so we'll see if they will add something featuring
our sexy potions master.
Overall, it was fun, but tiring. Next time, I won't go during a holiday week. Even though it's crowded all the time, I was told there were 50k people in the Islands of Adventure park that day, which is really too many for full enjoyment.

Comments

[droxy.livejournal.com]

In teh castle, you first walkt through the dungeons. The mirror of erisded is close to Snape's portions classroom, but you cannot go into it.


I took my dad and hubby to WWoHP during the "sweet spot", which is the week that is exactly the midpoint between Thanksgiving and Christmas. this is a period where family's dont travel and school is in session. Although the part was not open as late during the sweet spot, whe have virtually NO WAITING. I was actually able to shop honeydukes, hang out in the hogshead bar, go on the castle ride twice, and finally get into ollivanders and do the dragon ride.

Granted, during the sweet spot, some water rides were closed. But due to less crowding I was able to hit up other parts of the park. We really like the spiderman ride.

My dad, who is in his early 80s managed a whole day in the park. We all got tired around 3 or 4 PM and that was still before park closing time.

Yes, the LACK OF SNAPE IS APPALING. Also, I am so glad I got my big Death eater coffee mug when I went for con, because you can't get them anymore. There is so limited voldy, death eater, and snape stuff. Pity.

[rayvyn2k.livejournal.com]

I did see the Mirror of Erised, but the line was moving too fast for me to take a pic. :(

I didn't realize the dragon skeleton was in the dungeon...I certainly never saw a potions classroom. Perhaps like islandsmoke said below it was the defense against dark arts classroom.

I will remember that "sweet spot" date for future theme park visits.

[islandsmoke.livejournal.com]

OMG - the CROWD! No way. I just couldn't do it.

They combined Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade? How could they do that? One is a city, and one a village - that's just not right! Combining the Hog's Head and the Three Broomsticks is bad enough.

*grumbles*

In the second movie, there is the hanging skeleton in Lockhart's classroom. Not in the book, though, I don't think.

As for no Snape, that's just outrageous. I shall not patronize the establishment until that is rectified!

[rayvyn2k.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you've said about combining things. It was most likely due to them trying to get it open asap. One of the cast members told us they are working on a MUCH expanded WWHP, with a life-size Diagon Alley, a working Hogwarts Express and more. I think I'll be content to wait and see what they do before I go again.

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

As I recall, the dragon skeleton is suspended from the ceiling of the DADA classroom during second year - it comes crashing down during the pixies chaos caused by Lockhart.

I love the unlikely fake snow in Hogsmeade under the Florida sun.

[rayvyn2k.livejournal.com]

Well, it WAS winter, after all. ;)