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There are currently three major parks at Universal Orlando with a fourth scheduled to open some time next year. Yesterday we concentrated on the Universal Studios park and today we'll focus on the Islands of Adventure Park. Tomorrow we'll take in the third: a water park called Volcano Bay.
We're off to see the wizards.
More pretty hotel grounds.
And more waiting in line to get in.
Now we are boarding the Hogwarts Express to take us back to Diagon Alley in the Universal Studios park. This is all very confusing I know, but see Bill had bought tickets for breakfast on Monday at the Leaky Cauldron which is in the Universal Studios Park and we thought we'd just have breakfast there on Tuesday instead but it turned out Universal Studios didn't open early on Tuesday so we went to Islands of Adventure and entered early there and got in line to take the Hogwarts Express back to the other park for breakfast only our Express Pass privilege wouldn't work for another hour so we had to get in the regular line and wait with the unwashed masses to catch the train. It was a mess. But we did eventually make it back to the Leaky Cauldron for breakfast.
See? Breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron. I had the traditional English breakfast which, if you've ever had one you know can best be described as "interesting." Can you see that black lump on my plate? If you ever find one on your plate, don't. Just don't. In fact, I think the only pleasant surprise at this breakfast was the hot butterbeer Lily ordered. I got a sip and found it to be quite good.
Now we're back in Diagon Alley. (Just wondering if you get it. Everything is somewhat off-kilter in Diagon Alley. It was built a bit diagonally. Get it now?)
Rocky has heard that if you knock on the door of the magical Daily Prophet newspaper office you can hear the sound of reporters at their typewriters.
Rocky casts a spell and Joe says, "Here, hold my butterbeer."
The dragon has begun huffing like maybe something's about to happen. All the tourists pause to watch.
And sure enough, here he goes again.
Maybe it's time to say goodbye to Diagon Alley.
Casting the Incendio spell. Rocky is getting good at this spell casting business.
There's that tricky wall again.
We are now proficient at walking through the wall that leads to Platform 9 3/4.
And here we are again!
Rocky's now an advanced wizard. His spell makes the Hogwarts Express arrive.
Back to Hogsmeade where the snow never melts.
This time our visit to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a big success.
We reacquainted ourselves with some of the paintings on the walls.
And then we boarded some strangely shaped "broomsticks."
So we could fly around with Harry and even play a bit of quidditch.
When we weren't dodging ghouls and dragons and other magical creatures.
It was close, but just by the skin of our teeth we made it back to Hogsmeade unscathed.
Chocolate frogs are a big deal in the Harry Potter stories.
And Rocky has found himself one. A big one, too.
Who doesn't like a chocolate frog?
Back to Duff's Brewery for another photo-op.
And back to Twirl 'n' Whirl.
And now to Dr. Seuss Land.
There are lots of photo ops around here.
Let's get an overview of the place.
If they have fun waiting in line, I'll have fun waiting in line.
Well, it's a fun place to wait in line.
And off we go to Seussville.
Rocky is not so sure he really wants to get to know these strange creatures. I mean, do you know how much trouble you can get into if you hang around with the Cat in the Hat?
They seem friendly enough.
And so they are!
How rude!
Let's ride the carousel.
Are Lily and the boys in there somewhere? I'm pretty sure they are.
Yep.
There they are.
Speaking of rude!
Rocky thinks this ride sounds interesting. I read about this one before the trip. It turns out there's a control lever that lets you raise and lower your fish to avoid getting squirted with water. I made Rocky promise not to get me squirted. You can imagine how that went.
Before boarding the ride an experienced veteran standing in line behind us offered some advice.
And we're off.
No, Rocky! You'll get me wet!
Whee!
Whoopee!
Uh oh.
Rocky steers for the water blasts.
He's getting Bill all wet!
He was nicer to his mom.
Maybe.
He's steering for the water again!
We're hungry. How about the Circus McGurkus Cafe?
It's a big circus inside!
Joe seems ready for a nap.
Rocky definitely is ready, if Bill would just leave him alone.
Rocky liked his curly straw.
Joe seems to be pooping out.
And then the food arrived. What's this? RED buns?
Joe does not like
red buns and ham (burger).
Neither does Rocky.
Let's ride the Cat in the Hat and then get out of this crazy place.
The ride looks comfortable at least.
And off we went.
And oh the sights we saw.
It just kept getting weirder and weirder.
Now let's go on a jungle cruise through Jurassic Park..
Uh oh.
A boat ride with dinosaurs. What could go wrong?
This is what the big splash at the end looks like from the other direction.
The boys decided to pass on King Kong so Lily and Bill left them behind.
They rode an open air truck through monster country.
Hi buddy! Climbed any tall buildings lately?
Here's what Bill and Lily found when they came back.
Let's go to Cartoonland. There's Betty Boop!
And Flash Gordon! I think the kids maybe will see some cartoon characters they've never seen before.
There are more this way.
Hey, we've all heard of Spider Man.
It's a 3-D ride so you have to wear special glasses.
It's kinda dark but I think you can tell Rocky is enjoying himself. Bill, maybe not so much.
Right about now, Lily and Joe took off for Hogwarts again.
While Bill and Rocky stayed back to ride the Pteranodon Flyers. Rocky had been excited about this one since he first saw a dinosaur fly by.
There was a crazy-long wait for this ride, close to an hour, even though they allowed no teens or adults to ride unless they were accompanied by a kid. Well, fortunately Bill had a kid.
A kid who maybe was getting tired?
You'd think he'd be tired and he looks a little tired but he climbed everything in sight and did the Rocky shuffle and kept himself entertained the whole time we were in line.
But still he would slow down occasionally.
Finally we're about to board our bird.
Rocky can't wait.
Tired? This boy? Whatever gave you an idea like that?
Rocky said this was his favorite ride of all.
On the way back to meet the others, Rocky tried to blow up the place. Luckily he didn't get very far.
We found a great place by the park gate where we rested and decided what to do for the rest of the day.
Joe is playing drums while he contemplates.
Bill is presiding over a xylophone.
While Rocky rides a tiger.
I have a great idea! Let's eat at the Chocolate Emporium! Again.
Do they look tired to you?
Appearances can be deceiving. I think they like each other.
There's lots of activity outside those windows as the Chocolate Emporium manufactures ... chocolate.
Rocky, you'll never eat all that flatbread pizza. (He ate it all.)
Oh yeah? Here, hold my milkshake.
Rocky thinks it's all his.
Milkshake milkshake, who gets the milkshake?
Uh oh...what's going on over there?
Steampunk characters have stopped by our table to chat. Rocky thinks they're funny.
Joe thinks they're funny.
But somebody at our table, I won't mention who she was, has an aversion to interacting with costumed characters.
We escaped the Steampunk.
Even at the end of the day one particular 10-year-old is still full of energy.
Just the walk back to the hotel is still entertaining.
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