Disney 2015.... Harry Potter and arriving.

For 10 years we shielded the kids from all things Harry Potter. We made sure that no movies would be watched during sleepovers and that no books would be read without us. WE wanted to be the ones to share it with the kids first. So for their 8th and 10th birthdays this year, they got books one and two. They actually had to be DRAGGED To the couch to listen as they didn't think they would like it. But after 3-4 chapters they were HOOKED! We are now about halfway through book 5 and we read once chapter out loud after dinner on any night we're all together. So on this trip to Orlando, it was finally time to visit Universal! We landed at MCO and headed straight there as we decided to stay on-property for one night so that we could get early entry the next morning. As a bonus we scored "buy 2 days, get a 3rd free" tickets so we ended up with 3 potential days of Universal! We decided to use our free day to head to the parks on our arrival day even though we knew lines would be long. We figured we could at least explore the shops. Sasha wasted no time in leading us straight to the back of the park to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. She was so excited!

First stop: the London Waterfront, where we found number 12, Grimmauld place, and Kreature even peeked out at us from behind the curtain!

 We also saw the Knight's Bus!

 Then it was into the Leaky Cauldron for a very late lunch... We tried butter beer in all of it's forms: hot, regular and frozen. YUM!

 Then on to Diagon Alley. Absolutely immersive and incredible...

 We headed to Ollivanders and saw the wand show but the kids did not want to be assigned a wand, they wanted to pick their own! Into the sprawling, rickety shop we went... there were about a million different wands and the shelves went all the way to the ceiling!

 Wands chosen!

 The wands actually interact with the world around you. You can explore all of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and there are many spots where if you stop and do a spell correctly, things happen. It's pretty cool...

 After exploring the shops and getting some ice cream, we decided to take the Hogwart's express to the other park. This is one of the coolest, most innovative things any theme park has even built. It's a ride, in that as you move from one place to another you see things outside your window that tells a story, AND you see things unfolding inside the train in the hallway outside your compartment, but it's also a ride in that it actually transports you physically from one park to the other.

 Here's the train!

 All aboard!

 Once in Hogsmeade it was getting dark, but we were still able to explore, ride a few rides and have a great evening. Then it was home to bed.

 The next day we went back for early entry. The crowds were light so we got to really explore Diagon Alley and ride the Gringotts bank ride which I have to say is the coolest combination of motion and 3D effects ever. Teddy got very good at his "Aquamenti" spell and was able to turn the fountains on for all of us!

 That's better!

 We rode the train to the other park, did a bunch of stuff on that side, had lunch at the 3 Broomsticks, and then rode the train back to Diagon Alley mid-afternoon. It was getting hot and crowded and we were ready for a break. We stopped at one last place, the establishment of my 2 favorite characters..... Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

 Then it was off to the World... Hooray! So good to be there!

 We checked into Beach Club, had a nice swim in the pool and relaxed for a bit. Then we took the bus to Downtown Disney to meet up with Auntie Karen and Brit. We ate at the Irish pub, Ragland Road. We'd never eaten there before and had always wanted to. It was great. Awesome food, good dancing, and our table was right in the middle of all the fun!

 Some of us didn't make it through the evening though... ah well, touring the wizarding world, and an Irish beer flight will do that to you I guess....

 After that it was back home to Beach Club. I was surprised that so many Christmas decorations were still up all over WDW when we got there on the 6th. I think they try to keep them all up for the races. No complaints here... they were beautiful!