Chapter 4: We Visit Hogsmead! - Jan 11th
We woke up this morning to much cooler weather and a grey sky. But there was no time to worry about that and there was no time to dilly-dally this morning because we had to catch the Mears Shuttle to Islands Of Adventure. And we were both excited. I am a huge Harry Potter nerd in all its forms and Steevin really loves the movies PLUS... hello? Marvel Island! We literally go to comic conventions and dress up as Marvel Superheros so we were pumped! I had been to Islands of Adventure once in 2001 so it would be like a new experience to me as well.
We were both still full from our Fancy-Pants dinner last night so we skipped breakfast, bundled up and headed down to the front of the hotel. We didn't have to wait long before our shuttle arrived. Steevin and I had to sit separate from each other as there were already people on board but I was right in front of him. We had a nice conversation with the friendly Disney Nerd sitting next to Steevin. We never caught his name so it if was you... HI! We chatted about Harry Potter Vs. Pandora from Avatar and if Disney will be able to make it as charming and engaging as the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. It made the trip go by quickly and soon we said our "So longs" and we were walking through a crazy wind tunnel of moving side walks, through City Walk and towards the IOA Lighthouse (is that what it is?). Eeeeeee! We were so excited.
Grey skies can't darken our spirit!
It was 9am when we arrived and that was just when the park opened. There were no lines at all to get in. We quickly bypassed everything else and kept on walking until we saw the Hogwarts express. Okay, now I know this place has been open for a while now and every one has just gushed over it so I was prepared to be a little underwhelmed and not have it live up to the hype. Well, it lived up to every bit of hype. Every. Single. Little. Bit.
We didn't want the line to get too long for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey so we high tailed it over there and were pleased to see the line as just 15 minutes. In fact it was never more than 15 minutes all say. Okay again... no one is exaggerating when they talk about how cool the queue is. It is a masterpiece. And the ride itself is intense. I was SO impressed. I will not lie and tell you I wasn't a little terrified of the Dementors.
Hogwarts!
Of course the paintings moved and talked while you were in line
Once we finished the ride we got our stuff out of the locker (you have to use one for any thrill ride at Universal) we checked out the shop. I was disappointed because I wanted a Quidditch shirt but one that looked like the boys shirt but made for my womanly curves. There were none that piqued my interest. Even so, all the merchandise was just awesome. We exited the shop and came upon the Butterbeer Cart. Of course we had to get one. Each. I got the regular one and Steev got the blended one. Both were really good, however we decided they needed butterscotch schnapps (that's how I make them at home. Hehe!)
Butterbeer! Regular and frozen.
Enjoying my drink and the atmosphere.
Honeydukes!
We took our time checking out all the details of Hogsmead and looking at all the shops. We didn't buy anything yet but we were making notes of what we wanted. We just liked being in this whole area. I decided we were going to move there. Not to Orlando... but to Hogsmead. After exploring the area we took a ride on the Dueling Dragons. I tried to get Steevin to put his camera (a giant DSLR) in the locker but he didn't want to miss out on a chance to take a picture of something cool. As we were in line (well really just walking through the queue because there was no line at all) they told him it had to fit in his pocket... which turned into the lens in his pocket and the whole camera in my hoodie pocket. It was a tight fit but we made it work. After we rode I got to tell him "I told you so" so totally it made up for the uncomfortable bulge jabbing into my abdomen for the whole ride. The ride was totally fun. Steevin let out a genuine "Wooooooo!".
We decided to check out the rest of IOA.We walked back the way we came and decided to explore Seuss Landing. We decided to ride the White Knuckle Thrill ride known as "High In The Sky Seuss Trolly Train." Why? No lines, that's why! It took us all around Seuss Landing and then... it was done. We knew it was a kiddie ride but I sure am glad it was a walk on. Then we rode on the Cat in the Hat because Steevin knows my weakness for dark rides. I thought it was really good, but I don't think its aged as well as it could have. Steevin's thoughts were "Meh, its a dark ride" complete with a shoulder shrug. We explored the rest of Seuss Landing before heading over to Marvel Island.
We made these dumb faces next to this guy.
Steevin says this picture looks like I'm being given birth to. LOL!
I think Steevin hijacked this police car
A little kid totally got me! After Steevin stopped pulling the "Rain" lever a girl pulled it right as I was walking out and soaked my whole backside. HA!
The first thing we got to when we arrived at Marvel Island was the Hulk ride. Again NO wait. Awesome! We walked right on and WHOOSH! we were going from 0 to 40 in two seconds. After that we walked right over to Spiderman and rode on that. I can't wait for our Transformers ride in Universal Hollywood! We explored the shops for a bit and then we were finally getting hungry so we decided to eat at the Captain America Cafe. Bleck! I know we have been spoiled by Disney food and especially the food we had the previous evening but this food was just not good. In fact it was terrible! I had a very bland bacon cheeseburger and Steevin had the chewy chicken sandwich. Oh well... it was sustenance (But just barely). It started to rain as we walked out. We just zipped our hoodies up higher and checked out all the cool Marvel Murals that were before making our way to Toon Lagoon.
Wolverine and Nightcrawler are two of my favorites!
I guess Steevin was hungry from lunch so he tried to eat Hulk's toe.
We checked out Toon Lagoon but to be honest there isn't a whole lot to do there when you're trying not to get any wetter than you already are. We decided to watch all the schmucks who WERE getting wet on the Popeye Raft Ride thingy. We had fun drenching the poor hapless souls that floated by with their parkas pulled tight. We found several places to do this and then eventually came to a spot that was overlooking an area that had no way for us to squirt people... BUT whenever a raft would come by this tube would erupt with a gush of water all over the rafts and then everyone in the raft would give us a dirty look because they assumed we did it. At one point a raft came by with just two people in it. A boy about 15 and his younger brother. As they saw us they begged us to PLEASE not get them wet. We both put our hands up to show them we weren't going to do anything and then "SPLOOSH!" water all over them. They looked pretty miserable so we hightailed it out of there to laugh where they wouldn't see us.
This is why I have a cat.
We were missing Hogsmead so we walked back via Discovery Island. There was nothing we wanted to do there either as we've both been on the Jurassic Park ride in California. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was still just 15 minutes so we hopped in line. It actually broke down while we were waiting but it was cool to have more time to look around. And we were still off the ride less than 30 minutes after we got in line. When we got off we took a look at the Wand Cart that was there that had the Characters Wands you could buy but we each couldn't decide who's we wanted so we decided to go to another store where you could pick your wand based on your birthdate like a Zodiac. We found out that my birthday lined me up for an Elder wand, same kind of wood as Dumbledore's. It was a large, impressive looking wand with a happy, smiling skull at the end. Steevin learned that his was made of Willow wood... and it was a petite, thin, curvy wand. When we saw it, Steev just said, "Huh." The wizard at the shop assured Steevin that his was a stealthy wand perfect for concealing in the sleeve of your robe or your boot. He must have reassured Steevin because we both walked out of the shop with our respective wands.
Mine is the long, dark box and Steevin's is the short, light box.
Steevin's fits just perfectly in the picture. I couldn't fit mine and still get the detail on the handle. Oh well, such is the life of one who carries a giant powerful wand!
By this time the rain stopped and the sun came out again. We caught the Toad Choir and they were really good. We went to Honeydukes where I got a Chocolate Frog. I haven't eaten it but it is proudly displayed at our apartment. We made our way to The Hog's Head tavern. I had a beer and Steevin had another frozen butterbeer. Its on tap. We drank our drinks slowly and soaked in all the atmosphere like atmosphere sponges. It was just so great in there! We stayed until it was almost time for the Poseidon's Fury show at the Lost Continent. But not before I met the conductor for the Hogwarts Express!
Hog's Head (and yes, the head moved and grunts as though enchanted). Its now officially my favorite tavern EVER.
I want to go to Hogwarts!
We watched the Poseidon's Fury show. It wasn't bad... but it was a LOT more impressive 11 years ago. Steevin giggled. Okay... the video's they showed on the mist screens were pretty cheesy but the actual effects are pretty cool. The room with the spinning water wall tunnel? Awesome!
I think Steevin liked it more than he's letting on.
We were getting a little hungry so, if you can believe it, we went BACK to Hogsmead to share a snack at The Three Broomsticks. We ordered 3 little pasties to split (the pastry.... not the fancy nipple covers.). It came with a salad and the girl taking our order was new, a little nervous and talking really fast. She asked if we wanted "ranch, blue cheese, French, Italian, or Blue Cheese". And Steev replied with "French Italian" and then they both stared at each other for a few seconds in confusion until she realized she was talking too fast and Steev realized there is no such dressing as "French Italian". We all had a good laugh. The Three Broomsticks is by far the best themed quick/counter service restaurant I have ever seen. And the food was actually really tasty and split between us it was a good snack. I also ordered the Pumpkin Fizz which I guess is the Pumpkin Juice but fizzy. I've heard not great things about the juice but the fizz was quite yummy.
When we had finished we said good-bye to Hogsmead until our next visit to Florida (or it comes to California... which ever is first) and took one last trip to Marvel Island where I found a wallet for Steev to replace his old ratty one that looses credit cards all over the airport. We headed out of the park and went on a hunt to pick some place to eat a City Walk. Interestingly, I thought City Walk in California is better. I think the California counterpart it has a wider variety of food and much better shops. But no worries, mon, because we found Bob Marley: A Tribute To Freedom Restaurant. Longest name for a restaurant ever? Possibly. Really great food and strong drinks? Absolutely. I would definitely eat there again.
We took the shuttle back to our hotel around 8pm. I took a little nap because all the Wizard excitement wore me out! We decided to drop our wands off at the room and end the evening with a hot fudge sundae at Beaches & Cream. Delicious and a perfect way to end our trip to Hogsmead!
