Visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with my brother and niece! - Photo Journal #3
Hey guys!
On Sunday my brother Dan, my niece Atika and I went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida, or more specifically, to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I had planned on shooting a video with some highlight clips, but it was a rainy day and the photos turned out a lot more fun. So I gathered a bunch of them up and I'm gonna share them with you guys here! Let the magical photo story begin... :) Yer a wizard Harry
We first arrived in Diagon Alley, crossing through the brick wall entry way, just like Hagrid and Harry did on Harry's first visit. Good thing I remembered the bricks to tap to get in! (3 up and 2 across!)
The rain started coming down quickly after we got there. I didn't mind because it means less crowds, and I always think it's fun to walk around in the rain, especially in such a magical place! After meandering around Diagon Alley for a while we decided to stop by the safest place in the wizarding world: Gringotts!
The Gringotts entryway was magnificent with it's large center chandelier and marble pillars. The goblin secretaries were a bit menacing, but they the just added to the over all other-worldly vibes of the place. We got to go deep down underneath the bank and ride one of the most fun rides at the theme park: Escape From Gringotts. It starts by riding in a rail car to Harry's vault, but is quickly interrupted by the evil Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort. Luckily Harry, Ron and Hermione were there to protect us and help us to safety. Seriously such a fun ride. Highly recommend if you go here. After we got out, I took this photo of my niece standing next the statue of a goblin standing on a large stack of galleons!
After wondering around Diagon Alley a bit more, we hopped on the Hogwarts Express to take us to Hogsmeade, the village next to the Hogwarts castle!
We walked through Hogsmeade and found ourselves standing in front of Hogwarts. There was nothing else to do but go inside!
We walked through the hallways of the castle and caught a glimpse of the sorting hat. When first year students arrive to the castle they all have to wear this hat to see which Hogwarts house they'll be sorted into: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin! (There's not a single which or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin!) We also road a ride inside the castle where you get to fly around Hogwarts castle with Ron and Harry, but we got attacked by dementors! Luckily we made it out alive. ;)
After we got back outside we got to go ride one more ride inside The Wizarding World called Flight of the Hippogriff! It was a small roller coaster that was quite a short ride, but very fun none the less! Here's a photo of my niece with her drawn on lightning bolt as we stand in line for the ride.
Soon after, it got dark and we made our way over to Honeydukes, the sweets shop! It was fun seeing all the wizard candy. Couldn't leave without getting me a chocolate frog! Each packs got a famous witch or wizard card inside. I've got about 500 meself!
And to cap our day off in the wizarding world, we got to watch a light show on Hogwarts castle that ended in fireworks! It was a day... to rememba!
Hope you all enjoyed coming along for that photo story! We had a great time there. We're living up in Jacksonville, FL, just two hours away, so we actually all have season passes to get back in here. A single day cost around $200, and a season pass is only $300, so it was a bit of a no brainer to go all in for a years worth of access. In two weeks we're going back to Orlando for the MegaCon convention, and then we're going to spend a day back at Universal Studios as well. It's going to be great!
Thanks so much for checking out my photos. Let me know what you think in the comments below! And if you don't mind throwing me an upvote, that would be pretty cool too. :)
Take care,
Jordan