Wizarding World of Harry Potter!... and Universal

So the real highlight of my mom and my trip to Florida was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  The rest of the park was fine but all I really cared about visiting was Harry Potter.  We went on a very overcast day.  It felt like a day in London, not that I would know, but some sprinkles in the air all day.

We got to the park super early.  Shuttles from our hotel ran every hour so we went on the bus an hour and a half before park opening.  Again we got to our location about an hour early.  We sat around the front of the park for a good while but they did let everyone in about 15 minutes before their scheduled opening.

We made a B-line for Harry Potter, bypassing everything along our way.  It was empty, score!

Nobody by the Hogwarts Express!

It seemed pretty slow that day.  The longest line was only 20 minutes.

As you step into all the shops you are really transported into the magic.

Zonko's joke shop was at the entrance of Hogsmeade.

Loved the window display of Puking pestules

Inside Zonko's you never know what you will find to buy or see.

Next to Zonko was Honeydukes. 

 It was full of Candy and beautiful displays.  I could not get over all the hidden details in the whole area.  They really out Disneyed Disney.  Amazing!

Flying brooms on the wall inside Dervish and Bangs.

Check the wizardware shop for Hermione's Yule Ball dress.  Too bad you can't go inside.

What size cauldron do you need?  Also a facade.  Oh well

In Hogshead bar watch the hog.  He is a little talkative.

One of the little gems inside of the Wizarding World was Olivander's wand shop.  That was the longest wait on the day at about 25 minutes

The shop felt like it was taken straight out the movies.  If only I were about 11 and could be chosen for the wand selection.  The show we saw had two different children choose their wands.  

I didn't get a wand.  Someone told me, just remember it's a stick and I could never get that out of my mind!

Now to a very important thing.  Butterbeer.

You can get butterbeer at the carts in the area or inside the 3 Broomsticks bar.  

There are two kinds, frozen and regular.  The frozen is like a frozen margarita in texture and the regular is lightly carbonated.

I had to get the souvenir cup.  It was important.  Between the two both my mom and I liked the regular better.  Now if they would just sell it at Target I would get it all the time!

I also tried the pumpkin fizz.  I love anything pumpkin.  It was basically a pumpkin soda, very good.

From the food and shops to the main attraction.  Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey amazing.  I have never been on any ride like it.  And that is coming from a theme park employee.

We booked it the the main attraction and there was no one there!

A little bit of magic outside.

My poor mom could not ride most everything in Universal.  But she still enjoyed herself inside the Wizarding World.

I tried saying Lemon Drop but nothing happened.

Inside Dumbordor's office, lots to tinker with including his pensive.

Up on the balcony Harry, Ron, and Hermione are there to entertain you as you wait.

Many of the portraits talk including all the founders of the school.

That ride was just amazing.  I went on it 7 times, lucky 7 I suppose.  I could have easily gone 20!  After a couple rides I figured out how it worked and it still blew my mind!  Looking forward to visiting when the next one opens in Hollywood.

There were other attractions in the area.  Dragon Challenge was a re-themed roller coaster from what was in the Harry Potter area before.  They did a great job making it Harry Potter.

As you walk along the que you will find the car driven in the Chamber of Secrets.  I guess the Forbidden Forest must be near by.  Hagrid's hut was just off to the left.

As you got to the front of the line you could choose which dragon you wanted to face.

We did walk the entire park going on a couple rides but nothing compared to what was in the Wizarding World.  We spent about 6 hours inside that part of the park.  Would I go again?  Yes but it was very spendy!  It was totally worth the cost of admission.

Railroad Hoop - yes it does come back here

I'm going to leave the real highlight from my Florida visit until tomorrow.  Now to the real point of my blog, crafts!

It seems that embroidery hoops are very popular in the blogging/crafting world.  So I thought I would give one a try.  With my time at Disney coming to its end I thought it appropriate to make some things that remind me of my happy times with Disney.

I started with an image taken from Main Street Station, printed it and cut it out so that I only had the circle left.

I pinned my paper to the inside of the my embroidery hoop after stretching muslin in it.  I used a light box to trace my image.

Ta-da.  A very nice pencil drawn image to embroider.

I decided to use all black for image.  I toyed with adding some felt and other fabric but it just didn't look as good.

The outside done!  I gave it a couple days break because of work unhappiness but I wouldn't let that get to me. 

The back is done.  It is an abstract piece of art.  It's a shame that I will probably cover it when I finish it completely.

And it's done!

I'm very happy with the results.  I might add an all aboard at the top but that is for yet another day.

Off to Universal and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter tomorrow!

Fantastic food and not so fantastic Fantasmic

Our last visit to Walt Disney World was last March and we watched my favorite show in Disneyland Fantasmic.  Last time we were in the standing section at the top of the theater and had an awful view of the show.  This time we watched the second show of the night with the amphitheater being about 1/3 full but we did get a great view of the show.   With a better view I can justly say that the WDW version is terrible!  

The two pictures above are a substitution for one of my favorite scene in Disneyland, Peter Pan.  Pocahantas is featured in WDW and it is nothing in comparison.

Some parts of the show are similar but others are extended for no good reason.  But that might be my Disneyland bias coming through but the WDW does not make better on the original!

Battle that dragon with water... show it what to!

Thank goodness that Mickey wins out at the end but he was not on his point on time.  Mickey should not be running across stage when he should be in the middle... oops.

We came back our last day to visit the attraction and meet the characters.  We found the ever shy Piglet out in the middle of a humid day in Florida.  

Going inside we found Frozone!  I told him that we would not tell his wife he took a photo with two ladies!

Across the hallway there was a display for the new Pixar movie "Brave."  I'm very excited for Pixar to use a female as the protagonist for the film.  

The Princesses's mother is featured below.  I love seeing figures that helped create the digital characters we see on screen.  I love that a variety of different medias will never go away even when computers are creating the end results.

I'll finish today with some more dining experinces that the we had with the dining plan.  A restaurant that was suggested to me was Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Our experience there was ok.  Our server was nice but nothing compared to our Canadian earlier that day at Le Cellier.  The food was good with the orange soup on the lower right being the best.  I'll have to remember that soup and try to look up what it was because it was fantastic!

Most of the desserts were good but not great.  The best were the chocolate dessert on the upper right and of course the zebra domes.

The real hit of the evening was the Zebra domes.  It's almost a shame that we knew about them from out last visit becasue they were the highlight of our dinner.  I had three but if my stomach could have tolerated it I would have had many many more.

Oh Zebra domes, how much I love thee!

Our last Walt Disney World experience was at the Grand Floridian Hotel.  We took a boat from the Magic Kingdom to get there with a rain storm brewing.  As soon as we got off the boat the rain started.  We ran to to the restaurant and arrived drier than most with the one umbrella between the two of us!

Our Dinner was at the 1900 Park Fare that featured most of the characters from Cinderella including the evil stepsisters and Stepmother.  Anastasia was hilarious, the step sister in pink, as she had just been proposed too by a two year old.  She was marrying up in the world and was excited about it!

Lady Tremaine, the stepmother, asked what our favorite ways to bother children were.  My mom said that it was pinching.  The Lady approved as torture was not always discouraged.

Drisella said that she was holding out for a prince that would give her 3 castles.  She thought Anastasia was aiming a little too low for only one.

The food at the 1900 Park Fare was the best of the buffets that we went too.  I would do this dinner again,

My last plate of the night.  Sushi and dessert.  It suits me

Tomorrow will bring a new adventure for me and my mom to Universal Studios's Islands of Adventure.  Harry Potter here I come!