When we scheduled this vacation, I had no idea that the Harry Potter attraction was opening a mere 3 days before we would get there. Let me just say…there is some real obsessing going on with Harry Potter. People were willing to wait hours (up to six was my highest account) just to get in the “village”. Not much need for that if you are willing to wait until the end of the day to get in the village when all the hysteria of the day is over.
If you are taking your children to Universal, you have three, maybe four, things you really need to pay attention to:
1) The Castle. This is, by far, the attraction that you must go on. The line actually takes you through the castle before you actually get to the ride. You have the talking paintings on the wall and you’ll walk by Dumbledore’s office and through a classroom. The characters are represented by holograms that talk to you as you pass through. The ride is similar to the Spiderman ride (for those of you who have visited Universal before).
Kids will love the ride. It is a combination of a movie experience (that you feel like you are a part of) and haunted house in 4D. Make the castle your top priority.
2) The Wand Shop (Ollivander’s). Never went in as the line was too long. My children showed little interest so we decided to spend our valuable time at the park doing other fun things. I would have like to have walked through, but not at the expense of an hour-plus wait. This was the second longest line behind the castle.
3) Honeydukes Confectionary. My daughter HAD to get into this store (which also builds a line). It is really just a candy store, but it carries the Jelly Beans highlighted in the first film. My daughter also had to have a Chocolate Frog.
4) Butter Beer. This is a stand (kiosk) in the middle of the village that sold Butter Beer and alot of it. $10 if you want the collector’s mug and around $4 for a plastic cup. We got the icy kind. Pretty good stuff and worth the try.
As I said before, the hype of the attraction draws people early. Wait and go towards the end of the day and avoid the longer lines.
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