Islands of Adventure is the second park included in Universal Studios Florida. This is more of an actual amusement park with roller coasters than Universal Studios (consisting mostly of 3D motion simulators, although both parks have a mix of both). I LOVE roller coasters...I mean LOVE it! Just ask my dad...he will tell you stories about when I was a kid and would cry if I was too short to ride. Oh the things we did to get me on roller coasters :) However, I HATE rides that just spin in circles (like the fair ride Tilt-a-Whirl or the Teacups at Disney). No thanks! So really, any motion simulator with a huge 3D screen or rides that are coaster-ish but move you around in circle as well as back and forth with a huge screen and sometimes 3D as well...not my thing. Unfortunately, both of the main Harry Potter rides were like this. I rode each once...they were cool and I am still amazed by the detail in each. But for me, the lines were the best parts :) I did thoroughly enjoy the coasters though and I'll talk more about them tomorrow. Today it's all about Hogsmeade!
Cool, right? I loved being in Hogsmeade...it felt so real! There were tons of shops also.
We had breakfast at The Three Broomsticks, which is right next door to The Hogs Head Pub.
Of course, we had to try some Pumpkin Juice.
Off to explore Hogwarts! Here was our first sight of Hogwarts.
Amazing, right?
The line for the Hogwarts ride was really cool as well...lots of things to see along the way.
The line for the Hippogriff coaster and the Dragon coaster also had some cool stuff in line.
Hagrid's Hut and the wild Ford Anglia.
The Dragon Challenge roller coaster was really cool. It was 2 separate coasters and the theme was the Dragon Challenge during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. When you got to the front of the line you choose if you wanted to ride the Hungarian Horntail or the Chinese Fireball. We rode both several times, and once in the front row for each. The Chinese Fireball was better!
Shawn had to put his name in the Goblet of Fire!
After you're all done, you can catch the Hogwarts Express at Hogsmeade Station to take you back to London...and Universal Studios! We rode a few times :)
I'll post tomorrow about the rest of the trip!
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