Day 7: At Harry Potter World (Universal Islands of Adventure)  Saturday, June 25, 2011 In order to get the maximum time at Universal Islands of Adventure, I got up at 6:00 am, showered, changed, cleaned up my hotel room, and went down to breakfast.  I had two of Holiday Inn Express's delicious cinnamon rolls, a biscuit with butter, orange juice, strawberry yogurt, and a banana. After going back up to my room to apply sunscreen, I set out on foot to Universal Islands of Adventure at 7:25 am. (Just in case you are pondering a similar trip, I found Harry Potter World and Universal Islands of Adventure a very poor version of Sandusky, Ohio's Cedar Point, and at twice the price of Cedar Point, I do not recommend Universal Islands of Adventure.  Contrary to what I expected, the Harry Potter-themed area is quite small.  For the price I paid to get in [$92], you could buy all of the Harry Potter books and have a far more enjoyable time!  For less money (and more fun) than visiting Orlando, enjoy two days at Cedar Point!) I chose my hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Nearest Universal, because I could walk to Harry Potter World rather than drive. It took a little over 30 minutes to walk from the hotel to the entrance of Universal Islands of Adventure. Notice all the water from the previous night's storms. The storms were so strong, the hotel lost power for more than an hour! Here I am at the entrance to Universal. There is a nice paved sidewalk most of the way. There are signs for walkers once you get about half-way there. Oddly enough, the pedestrian walkway ends at the valet parking entrance! After a bag search at the top of an escalator, there are more moving walkways. Between the parking area and the theme parks is a restaurant-and-bar area called CityWalk. I purchased my ticket online (for $92.68!) and picked it up at the electronic will-call kiosk, much like the self check-in at the airport. I arrived just after 8:00 am, and it was not crowded. (The park was open from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm on the day I was there.) Turns out that Harry Potter World (officially "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter") is just a small area in the larger theme park called Universal Islands of Adveture. The park has five themed areas (Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, The Lost Continent, and Seuss Landing), each with its own ride(s) and shows, all surrounding a central lagoon (pictured at left). I was worried about the crowds, so I went right to the Hogsmeade area. It was so nifty to see how Universal brough the Hogsmeade of the movies to life! Looks like many people had my same idea: right from the entrance to Harry Potter World! "Butter Beer" and "Pumpkin Juice" were for sale, and many, many people were buying! More views of Hogsmeade I put my travel backpack in the Smart Lockers (free during your ride) and went right to the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride inside the fascimile of Hogwarts. I was a single rider, so the wait was only about 15 minutes. I did not fit in the first seat I was placed in, but the attendant moved me to the end of the car, and I fit, albeit very closely.  I asked the attendant, and he said the ride was about 15 minutes and that you go on your back but not upside-down. I was worriedly excited for about the first 15 seconds until I realized that the ride is just a flight simulator (and I learned long ago that I don't like flight simulators), so I rode the entire ride with my eyes closed. After the Harry Potter flight simulator, I was a bit queasy, but I re-checked my bag in the lockers (to get more time) and went to ride the Flight of the Hippogriff ride next door. I had read negative reviews of the ride, but since it doesn't got upside-down, it looked like Cedar Point's Mine Ride (my favorite!), and Islands of Adventure doesn't have many other rides for people like me, I thought I'd try it. The wait was only 15 minutes. The ride was fun, but just like the reviews said, it's over almost before it has started.  It truly isn't worth more than about a 15-minute wait. I thought I would be able to ride it more than once, but the waits got too long during the rest of the day. The Harry Potter section has two entrances.  The main entrance has a faux Hogwarts Express (that you cannot go on). Most of the stores in Hogsmeade are just decorated storefronts, some with interesting window displays, but most cannot be entered (to my disppointment). Two of the Hogsmeade shops that can be entered are Honeydukes (left) and Zonko's (right).  Universal has done an amazing job of creating candies and toys reminiscent of those in the Harry Potter books.  You can buy chocolate frogs (for $9.95 each), jelly beans of every flavor, sneakoscopes, and even (to my amazement) Extendable Ears!  (I didn't see an Instant Swamp, though.) It was one last look at Hogsmeade before I made my way to other parts of the park. By this point of the day, the crowds were building. The next ride I rode was the One Fish Two Fish ride in the Seuss Landing area. It is Universal's version of Disney's Dumbo ride. The twist: Expect to get squirted with water. (Luckily my bag didn't get wet.) After One Fish Two Fish, I rode the Caro-Seuss-el, a Dr. Seuss-themed carosel.  The animals are fun.  I enjoyed it! After the carosel, I went on the Cat in the Hat dark ride. It is less dark ride than old ride.  Riders sit in a car and go by animatronic scenes relating the story of the Cat in the Hat book by Dr. Seuss. I was not impressed with the ride but then again, The Cat in the Hat is one of my least-favorite Dr. Seuss books. Each "island" in the park is very distinct. This is the entrance gate to the Jurassic Park area. The Jurassic Park area is very lush. Notice the Tyrannosaurus Rex on the right! The strangest area of all was the Lost Continent, a combination of mythology and Renaissance fair. I did not stop at any of the Lost Continent attractions; it was more of a pass-through area. I love Scrambler and Octopus-type rides, and Univeral's version is called the Storm Force Accelatron.  There are very few seats on this ride, so even a short-looking line may give a long wait.  I enjoyed the ride, but the long wait made it not worth it. By this point, it was 10 am, and I had done all I wanted to do. To justify the huge expense of the ticket, I decided to ride the water rides. In order to do that, I changed into the bathing suit and cover-up I brought, stored my stuff in a locker, and headed out. Most of the water rides are in the Toon Lagoon area. The first water ride I rode was Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. It is a less-exciting version of Cedar Point's Thunder Canyon that is strangely themed to Popeye. There appeared to be no line, but the line snakes on forever, so it took quite a while to get on, even with 12 seats per raft. I didn't get as wet as I expected.  I only rode this one once. The last water ride I rode was Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. It is a classic log ride with a big drop near the end. Because I was a single rider, I went through a special line and had no wait. Even though I didn't get very wet, I rode this once twice. After the water rides, I walked around to try to dry off, wrote in my journal until the pen ran out of ink, and then decided to get some lunch. It was around 1:30 pm.  Nothing was appealing to me.  After checking out several venues, I decided to eat at the Comic Strip Cafe. I'd been eating a lot of burgers on my trip, so I went for something different: the beef and broccoli platter with fried rice, mixed vegetables, and a cup of ice water, all for $8.51. I was still pretty wet from the water rides, but I found some nice outdoor seating where I could eat, continue to dry off, AND watch the crowds go by. NOTE: The beef and broccoli platter is not very good. After eating lunch, I walked around in my wet clothes and went back to areas I had visited in the morning. Here I am in the Hogsmeade area again.  The green cart on the right sold pumpkin juice. Here is a view of the Hogwarts Castle from the bridge. I believe it is a complete facade and that visitors do not go inside it. The "rock" must hide the large area needed for the Harry Potter flight simulator dark ride. For just a facade, they have taken a lot of care with the details. It is very impressive! Later, when I came back to the park (after the storm that lasted from 2:00-4:30 pm), I got to walk through the line for the ride and see the parts of the castle that have been re-created for guests: Dumbledore's office and the staircases with the moving/talking paintings. (As a single rider in the morning, I skipped all of that and went right to the Sorting Hat area.) Here are views of the Seuss Landing area.  I wanted to ride the elevated train, but the wait was always too long. One of Rick Steves's taglines meets Harry Potter World! (Road-tripping is significantly less stressful that European travelling, though.) These fun word bubbles were in the Toon Lagoon/Comic Strip Cafe area. I do believe that Harry Potter World (and Universal in general) would have been more fun if I had brought friends and family along.  Wish you had come with me! My trip to Harry Potter World at Universal Islands of Adventure came to an end twice: once at around 2 pm, and once at 7:30 pm. (Here I am at the exit.) It was a fun, if overpriced, day out. Here I am walking back to the hotel. Crossing this giant street (Kirkman) takes quite a bit of time! I was satisfied with my hotel choice: clean, comfortable, air-conditioned, with a great breakfast, free parking, and within walking distance of Harry Potter World. Notice that there is a Wendy's right next door! I ate there for dinner both nights. Back to Itinerary On to Day 8