Universal Studios Part 2

Harry Potter World did not disappoint. It was amazing! The details were incredible. We really enjoyed the wand choosing, and two of the Harry Potter rides were my favorite rides!

Gringotts Bank

Hogwarts Express--the details in the train station were so well done

Inside the train--again super creative once the train took off. They had a video playing on the window, and you could see dementors show up at the door.

Phone booth outside of King's Cross

Trying butterbeer. It was quite tasty! You could have it warm, cold, or frozen. Our favorite was cold.

The Knight Bus

Waiting for our turn in Ollivander's wand shop. We ended up purchasing 2 of the cheaper wands so Bryson and Austin could each have one. Looking back, I wish we would have purchased one interactive wand. (The issue was Bryson and Austin refused to share, and the interactive wands are quite expensive!) There were so many cool things to do with the interactive wand in Harry Potter World such as casting spells in windows and seeing objects move etc.

Hogwarts castle with the ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

The ride inside was awesome but not one that I could ride twice in a row due to some motion sickness. Austin was able to ride the Hippogriff ride, which he loved, as did Eliana. So we rode it probably 10 times over the course of the 3 days. Austin is only 3' 5" tall, so he was 1 inch off of a lot of rides. We rolled up his socks and stuffed his shoes. He still got turned away from some rides, but he was allowed on the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride. This was my favorite ride, and he was one happy camper that he got to ride a "big kid" ride. He rode it at least 5 times and was thrilled. I loved the combination of 3D movie + roller coaster. It was so fun! Hagrid's Motorbike was my other favorite ride.

My boys all really enjoyed the rollercoaster Rip, Ride, Rock It and rode it several times. Bryson was barely tall enough for this ride so he was in heaven that he could ride such a scary ride. It starts out where you chug up the track at a 90 degree angle and then head almost straight down again after cresting the top. Loops and twists and turns. They loved it!

Overall, it was such a great family vacation, and we loved going with friends. We could see ourselves going back in about 3-4 years!