Our agenda for the day was pretty light. After a leisurely breakfast, we had spent most of the morning clowning around in Cartoon Lagoon and hanging out with the residents of Marvel Superhero Island. We had just checked off one of Mindy’s must-do’s by visiting the Raptor Encounter in Jurassic Park. It was a hot day, so the River Adventure sounded like a pretty good idea but the kids weren’t having it. They were ready to cast some spells in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter so we made our way to Hogsmeade instead.
We bought interactive wands for the kids last summer and used them pretty extensively. With the exception of a couple of spell locations that were inoperative and the ones in Knockturn Alley, we tried out all of the spellcasting locations in both halves of the Wizarding World. Previously we had taken advantage of early park admission to do our spell-casting when the park was relatively empty. That was not the case today, but even though Hogsmeade was somewhat crowded we didn’t have any long waits for casting spells.
Kara has been on a mission to get chosen for the wand show at Olivander’s. Josie was selected to participate on our very first visit to Universal, but Kara has only been an observer. We tried again in between spells, but alas she was passed over once again. I think she’s still a little on the short side. Last year we talked to the “wand master” after the show and they told us that typically the wand chooses its own around age 10. Well, Kara will be ten next year so she is convinced that will she will be selected for the show then, but she’s short for her age so we’ll see how that goes. I have promised her we will go to the show as often as she likes until she gets chosen.
Josie has her phone out. I think she was taking video of her spell as she was casting it. Now that they had some experience with spellcasting, they were able to complete most of the spells within the first couple of attempts. There were helpers nearby who stepped in if anyone appeared to be stuck. The girls only needed an assist on one of the spell locations. After a few windows, they were ready to get out of the heat.
The girls had some birthday money burning holes in their pockets so they were excited to get into some of the shops. Our first stop was the candy store. For the first time, I believe we actually got out of the store without making any purchases. Just some browsing.
When we got back out into the heat, the girls started complaining so we decided to take a break and try to cool off. I had wanted to hold off until we got to Diagon Alley because there were some specialty drinks I wanted to try, but I realized that the time had arrived for us to cool off. So we made our way into Hog’s Head to grab a few drinks.
We asked for four ice waters because hydration was critical at this point. I ordered a cold butterbeer because at some point in a Universal vacation you just have to have one. I actually prefer the frozen drink but if I drink it too fast it gives me brain freeze. The cold variety is almost as good and a lot less risky. Josie decided to try pumpkin juice which tastes like a cider with pumpkin pie spice. She liked it, but could only drink so much of it. We ended up bringing most of it back to the room where I ended up drinking more of it than she did.
Kara selected a lemonade which ended up being a lot more powerful than your garden variety lemonade. It was both sweeter and more tart than what we were accustomed too. Nobody drank much of that one. Since it was expensive, I did my best to get my money’s worth but we probably threw out at least half of it.
We grabbed a seat in the Three Broomsticks and took our time with our drinks. The food smelled pretty good, but we had a big breakfast so we weren’t ready to eat again just yet. While I was working on Kara’s lemonade, all three girls were sipping the foam off the top of my butterbeer. If it were an option, they would just get a cup of foam but I’m sure J. K. Rowling would not approve.
We have sat in Three Broomsticks before but we have yet to have a meal here. Partially, that’s because the menu doesn’t appeal to the picky eaters in my family. We did take some time to enjoy the Harry Potter theme.
We walked around a little before we left. I made sure to point out the three broomsticks that give the restaurant its name. The girls were pretty sure that they belonged to Ron, Hermione and Harry. I don’t think that’s right but I didn’t bother to contradict them. I’m not up on my Harry Potter lore and I am not invested enough to read up on the backstory.
Prior to the trip, I had talked with each member of the family to determine which attractions they wanted to ride and which ones to skip. If there were any doubts, we watched ride videos. I had several discussions with the kids in which they generally agreed to ride just about anything except Jurassic Park. At home, Kara was pretty brave. She wasn’t going to ride the Hulk or Rip, Ride, Rockit, but I had no expectation that she would. However, she was actively excited about the prospect of seeing Buckbeek and Hagrid’s hut on Flight of the Hippogriff.
That excitement quickly vanished when we approached the ride. In person, the ride was bigger than she expected and she decided she didn’t feel up to it. Josie and I rode it last year and neither of us was overly impressed. It’s a fine kiddie coaster but it’s a very short ride. The only reason we would have ridden it was that it is something we could all ride together. Since Kara opted out, we decided to move on. I wasn’t remotely surprised when Kara also backed out of Forbidden Journeys. If she wasn’t feeling up to the kiddie coaster, it wasn’t going to be much of a day for rides.
I know my kids well enough to have anticipated this. That is why the night before I made a point to experience the Hulk, Kong, Jurassic Park and Forbidden Journeys during my solo excursion. Since I had ridden them all, I wasn’t at all put out that the kids weren’t feeling up to them. It would have been nice to ride some of these attractions as a family and I was still hoping we could convince the kids to try out the Jurassic Park River Adventure so Mindy could experience it. But we were having fun even if we hadn’t ridden any attractions yet and that’s really the point of a family vacation.
Our first ride of the day turned was the Hogwarts Express. We decided to hit up some of the spell locations in Diagon Alley before we took our afternoon break. Last year, we covered most of the spells except for Knockturn Alley. As hot as it was, the air conditioning in that area sounded appealing.
The primary advantage of taking multiple trips to Universal is that you don’t feel any pressure to squeeze everything into one trip. The idea is to knock out a couple of things when the opportunity arises. One thing we had never gotten around to doing was visiting the Night Bus conductor. The bus is out in the bright sun, so it’s usually hot and the kids tend to shy away if there is any line at all. Since there was only one other family in front of us, I insisted we take the chance to chat up the conductor.
“I have been looking all over the world for the world’s best sister,” the conductor said to Kara referencing her shirt. “And here you are!” He was very funny asking the girls questions and getting responses from the shrunken head in the window. Since there wasn’t a line, he spent quite a bit of time with us.
As we finished our visit, I asked if we could take a peak inside the bus. I had seen pictures online, but didn’t know where the entrance was. The conductor said he left the door open round back for us. Sure enough, when we went around to the back of the bus the door was open for us to check out the inside of the bus.
There’s a gate preventing guests from actually touring the inside of the bus, but you can step up and look around. I’m not sure most tourists actually realize that this is around back.
Inside the bus you can see the beds and luggage of students making their way too and from Hogwarts just like in
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. You can even see a bit of the chandelier.
Kara wanted to stop at the phone booth outside Diagon Alley to get a secret message from the Ministry of Magic. You have to spell out M-A-G-I-C on a rotary phone to get the message. Of course, most kids have no idea how to use a phone without a keypad, so you always see parents stepping in to help kids manipulate the dial. After a couple of attempts, the girls were able to ring the Ministry up.
As we entered Diagon Alley, Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees were starting their show. Kara grabbed a spot up front and settled in for the show. Mindy and Josie didn’t want to sit around for the whole thing, so they went off and looked at some of the shops while I enjoyed the show with Kara. We had seen it before, but it’s a breezy musical act. I certainly didn’t mind watching it again.
After the show, the kids wanted ice cream. Specifically, they wanted to go to Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour. I was a little worried that the line would be around the block since it was hot and Diagon Alley was hopping, but it turns out there was no wait at all. Since it had been at least an hour since out last restroom visit, Mindy went off to take a potty break while I took the kids for ice cream.
The kids ended up ordering the exact same cones they ordered last year. Josie got chocolate and Kara had orange marmalade which tastes very much like a creamsicle. We grabbed a spot outside Gringotts where the kids could eat their ice cream in semi-shade while we waited for Mindy to return. She expected us to be standing in a long line, so she took her time getting back to us. Josie looks really irritated with me in this picture but I think she was asking me a question.
As hot as it was, the soft-serve ice cream was melting pretty fast. Kara needed help with her cone because she’s something of a slow eater when it comes to ice cream. Somehow, her cone always turns into a melty mush if she is left to eat it on her own. I think it’s because she talks about as much as she eats. The kids were a little less impressed with the ice cream this time around. I’m not sure if they had built it up in their heads or if there was an actual qualitative difference. I did end up eating some of each cone when the kids were done and it did seem to me like the flavor wasn’t as strong as I remembered from our previous visit.
When Mindy returned, I took the opportunity to visit the restroom myself. This was our third stop of the day, but my first time using the facilities. Back in Hogsmeade, I had finished off a butterbeer plus portions of lemonade and pumpkin juice! Continuing the theme of taking pictures of signs outside of the restrooms we visited, I snapped this photo directing wizards to the men’s room.
Afterwards, we descended into Knockturn Alley where the villains of the Wizarding World stock up on supplies. I had brought along the maps that came with the wands even though we already knew where the spell locations were. The Knockturn Alley portion of the map is only visible under black light, so we opened the map to see it appear while we were in the alley.
There are some secret spell locations down there that not everyone knows about. The kids had fun silencing the singing shrunken heads and manipulating an animated skeleton. We also stopped in Borgin and Burkes for a little villainous window shopping.
As you can see, the afternoon crowds were really building up in Diagon Alley. The heat was starting to sap our energy, so we decided to make our way to the front of the park. The hotel pool was starting to sound like a really good idea.
But first, we did a little more window shopping. The kids were getting serious about scouting for souvenirs. Since they were using their own money, they were being more selective than they would be if mom and dad were footing the bill. We spent some time pursuing the stuffed animals at Magical Menagerie, but no purchases were made yet.
On the way out of the park, we passed the Blues Brothers show which was just starting. I have caught bits and pieces of this show, but never an entire performance. I listened in for the first part of the first song, but the girls clearly weren’t interested. They offered to head back to the hotel without me so I could stay as long as I liked, but I decided to go back with them instead. I will have plenty of opportunities to catch the full show some other time.
There were several characters out at the front of the park. We chatted briefly with Lucile Ball. She wanted to know how I had so many pretty girls. Gee, thanks, Lucy. Betty Boop made me feel a little better by calling me “handsome” when she passed. We were ready to go, so these were quick interactions. But I do appreciate how casual meet and greets are at Universal.
Apparently we hadn’t had enough sweets yet today because we made a quick stop on our way out to pick up some baked goods. The girls snuck into this bakery a couple times during the trip so I don’t really remember what they picked up on this particular visit. At various points, I know we had brownies, cookies and rice krispie treats.
To cool off, Kara stuck her head in the ice cream freezer. Sometimes, I wonder about this kid. She asked me to take a picture with her head jammed into the frozen novelty items. I should probably wonder about myself since I actually took the picture.
After a quick water taxi ride, we were back at the hotel. We wasted no time getting over to the pool to cool off. I have visited a lot of hotel pools in Orlando and Portofino Bay’s is among the best of them. It has a laundry list of fun features including a sand beach, a grotto, a big hot tub and a very impressive water slide. There’s also a pool bar and cabanas available for rental although I don’t see why that would be necessary if you are a hotel guest. There are the usual activities for kids including movies at night and there are complimentary towels, sunscreen and citrus water at the entrance. All in all, it checks off all the boxes for a hotel pool and then some. We visited the pool just about every day of our trip.
Later that night, we were meeting some friends of Mindy’s at CityWalk for dinner.
Next:
Cowfish and skydiving