brownie
08-19-2014, 07:19 PM
Olaf called to wake us up at 6am again on Wednesday, August 6. We got ready and grabbed breakfast at Pepper Market before driving over to Universal Orlando.
We got into Universal Studios around 9am and headed for Diagon Alley. If you go first thing in the morning, don't go clockwise through the park to Diagon Alley; they route you there counter-clockwise by Men in Black. We got into Diagon Alley which is incredible. We headed straight to Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. We got into line at about 9:30am, and that is how we spent our morning. 3 hours & 6 minutes later we boarded the ride. The interior queue line is fantastic. You do get your "security badge" photo taken in the queue line, and I think this helps to increase the wait time. Hopefully they stop forcing the picture in the future. We did have one problem in line. You ride an "elevator." It's a hydrolater 2.0 and we didn't get to "ride" it. Both doors opened for us which ruined the effect. And they made us wait before finally letting just walk through. The ride was great but I wouldn't wait 3 hours for it again. It's also similar to a lot of Universal's other rides. They may say it's a new ride system, but it's the same theory with a mixture of film & live sets.
We hit the bathrooms then grabbed lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, which was good and included a round of frozen Butterbeers. I really like how Universal doesn't let people sit until they've ordered and have food on the way. It helps to have someone finding a seat for you.
After lunch we explored Diagon Alley. The fire breathing dragon on top of Gringott's is awesome, even if it doesn't move. It was very crowded so we didn't go into any of the shops. We tried to get some ice cream, but you had to wait in line to get in line for ice cream.
We went and rode Transformers the Ride: 3D. We had about a 1.5 hour wait in line for it. It was a groan every time we entered a new room in the queue line and found it wasn't the boarding area. I really liked the ride.
Next we spent over an hour in line for the Hogwart's Express. It was cool to see people walking into the column and to ride the train. I just wish they had made your view from the train more real and less like a videogame.
Once in Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure, we had about a 15 minute wait to ride Dragon Challenge; we rode the Hungarian Horntail (blue) side. After Dragon Challenge we grabbed another round of frozen Butterbeer.
I wanted to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey but everyone was "waited" out so we passed on it for one more ride back at Universal Studios.
We headed out of Islands of Adventure and walked back over to Universal Studios. We had about a 1.5 hour wait for Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. Great attraction, I really liked it.
We left Universal Orlando sometime after 7pm. We drove back to Coronado Springs, grabbed dinner at Pepper Market. We headed back to our room to pack up for our departure from Walt Disney World on Thursday.
We got into Universal Studios around 9am and headed for Diagon Alley. If you go first thing in the morning, don't go clockwise through the park to Diagon Alley; they route you there counter-clockwise by Men in Black. We got into Diagon Alley which is incredible. We headed straight to Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. We got into line at about 9:30am, and that is how we spent our morning. 3 hours & 6 minutes later we boarded the ride. The interior queue line is fantastic. You do get your "security badge" photo taken in the queue line, and I think this helps to increase the wait time. Hopefully they stop forcing the picture in the future. We did have one problem in line. You ride an "elevator." It's a hydrolater 2.0 and we didn't get to "ride" it. Both doors opened for us which ruined the effect. And they made us wait before finally letting just walk through. The ride was great but I wouldn't wait 3 hours for it again. It's also similar to a lot of Universal's other rides. They may say it's a new ride system, but it's the same theory with a mixture of film & live sets.
We hit the bathrooms then grabbed lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, which was good and included a round of frozen Butterbeers. I really like how Universal doesn't let people sit until they've ordered and have food on the way. It helps to have someone finding a seat for you.
After lunch we explored Diagon Alley. The fire breathing dragon on top of Gringott's is awesome, even if it doesn't move. It was very crowded so we didn't go into any of the shops. We tried to get some ice cream, but you had to wait in line to get in line for ice cream.
We went and rode Transformers the Ride: 3D. We had about a 1.5 hour wait in line for it. It was a groan every time we entered a new room in the queue line and found it wasn't the boarding area. I really liked the ride.
Next we spent over an hour in line for the Hogwart's Express. It was cool to see people walking into the column and to ride the train. I just wish they had made your view from the train more real and less like a videogame.
Once in Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure, we had about a 15 minute wait to ride Dragon Challenge; we rode the Hungarian Horntail (blue) side. After Dragon Challenge we grabbed another round of frozen Butterbeer.
I wanted to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey but everyone was "waited" out so we passed on it for one more ride back at Universal Studios.
We headed out of Islands of Adventure and walked back over to Universal Studios. We had about a 1.5 hour wait for Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. Great attraction, I really liked it.
We left Universal Orlando sometime after 7pm. We drove back to Coronado Springs, grabbed dinner at Pepper Market. We headed back to our room to pack up for our departure from Walt Disney World on Thursday.