OverJOYed in Harry Potter World Part 3: Lines Worth Waiting In

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Part 1: The Village
Part 2: A Peek Inside


If you've done any reading/research on the WWoHP, you've probably noticed that people say that the lines are worth waiting in. What line could possibly worth waiting hours in? I'm about to show you. :-)

There are three rides in WWoHP, and the geniuses who designed the WWoHP (actually, all of Universal's Islands of Adventure) were smart enough to make the ride lines actually interesting. It made the long waits not only bearable, but actually quite fun (though you should keep in mind that I've mentioned before that I don't mind lines). I'll try not to give everything away, though, so you'll still have something to look forward to when you experience the lines for yourself.

As a side note, I should mention that in order to ride the two larger rides (Dragon Challenge and Forbidden Journey), you can't have any bags with you. That means that anything you're carrying must go into a locker before you get into line for the ride. That also means that if you have a pretty DSLR or other large camera, you can't bring it into line with you. It has to go into the locker. We knew this ahead of time, though, so whenever the Nikon went into the locker, the pocket sized Canon point & shoot came out! (Note: You still can't carry this in a bag through the line, so make sure you have a pocket to put it in. Men's cargo shorts are actually good for something in this case!) Since they're from out p&s, a lot of these pictures aren't the best quality (p&s + low light = not so happy), and I hate the look of the flash; but I'm really glad we were able to capture some of the fun features of these lines.

Let's start with the Dragon Challenge ride. The line area for the Dragon Challenge is much longer than the actual wait time for the ride. This means that when the sign say the wait is 10 minutes, expect to be walking for 5 of those minutes. This also means that if you're going to stop and take pictures, people will try to cut in front of you. Boooo on line cutters!

Anyway, I think the Dragon Challenge line is intended to gear you up for participating in the Triwizard Tournament. The path is lined with House/School banners and signs cheering different champions on. If you remember from the book/movie, the dragon challenge was held out on the castle grounds, so the line is designed to make you feel as if you're walking away from Hogwarts. This means you'll have one the of the best possible views of the castle since the line also winds a little uphill. The coaster to the right is the Flight of the Hippogriff, which we'll get to next.


Walk a little further and you'll come across this sight, which had me squealing while the people behind me questioned, "Why is there a car here?? Someone crashed into a tree?" Okay, so the set up isn't exactly perfect, but I was still excited to see it there. Confession: I had no idea what a Ford Anglia looked like until the HP movies came out. If that's not what a real Ford Anglia looks like, then I still don't know.


Did you know that you were selected as a Triwizard Champion? No? Well, once you walked through the gates of the Dragon Challenge, you became one. Get ready.



Triwizard Cup. You know, to set the mood.


See these? This is what you need to nab from under the dragon.


This way to the Dragon Challenge!


At the end of the long winding journey, you'll get to this fork, where you'll choose which dragon to ride. Though they're two parts of the same ride, the two dragons are actually completely different. I had read from reviews that the Chinese Fireball was the more thrilling of the two coasters. We rode both, and I think I agree. I'm not a huge roller coaster person--I hate drops, but I love speed, twists and loops. Both of these coasters were right up my alley. We rode in the front row of the Hungarian Horntail, and I still don't think it was quite as thrilling as the Fireball was from the middle rows. I felt like the Fireball was a little more feisty, if that makes any sense. I actually thought about going back to ride the Fireball from the front row, but we had other things in the park we wanted to see.
Once you get past this point, you enter the area where you line up for specific rows on the ride. I loved this area and even tried to take a video to capture it, but I'm going to leave that for you to discover. I will say that the first time we rode, this part of the line was so loud and full of people that A didn't even notice the "effect" until I pointed it out.

Next up is Flight of the Hippogriff, which you saw a tiny glimpse of earlier. This is the only "family" ride in WWoHP, meaning it's a tamer roller coaster than the other two. As such, the line area is shorter and less interesting but still fun. Also, this is the only ride where you don't have to put your stuff in a locker. You can stick your stuff at your feet.

If you want to see a Hippogiff, you have to attend Care of Magical Creatures, which means we're headed over to Hagrid's house!


This isn't technically part of the line (you can soft of see him from the line), but the coaster itself takes you around Hagrid's place and right up to Buckbeak's/Witherwings' nest. Say "hi"!

Okay, like I said, there isn't much to see, but it was a surprisingly fun ride, considering it was put there to give little ones something to ride.

The final ride is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. For this, we head inside Hogwarts Castle! The great thing about the castle is that you don't actually have to ride the ride to see inside. If you have little ones with you or want to take your large camera along, just walk inside the castle and tell the workers that you want to go on a walking tour. They'll direct you to a separate path (usually with no line) that winds through most of the same rooms that the ride lines does. We went through the ride line twice and still took the walking tour once so that we could take our time to look at everything and appreciate the awesomeness.

Here are a few glimpses inside. I really don't want to spoil everything, though because it really is fun to experience it for yourself.

As you walk through the castle, keep an eye out for little HP details like this door to the kitchens. The hubs asked if Dobby was inside. I was so proud.

Portraits! Some of them talk. Can you tell which ones do?

If you look into this mirror, you just might be able to see what your heart most desires.

Check out the Pensieve as you enter someone's office. Someone. I'm not saying who. If you're really unsure, you'll definitely be able to tell once you get there.

Random stuff inside a classroom. Which one? I'll let you try to guess. Hint: You can't really tell based on what's inside it. :-P


I wonder where this might lead...
She does talk, but at this point, the line was moving way too fast for me to stop and listen. During our walking tour, we happened to come to this spot when she wasn't talking, so we didn't get to listen then either.

So this isn't really part of the line, but when the ride is over, you get dumped out in a passageway that leads to the lockers and Filch's Emporium. If you're on the hunt for some HP swag, definitely take the time to look around here since the merchandise carried in this store is different than what's carried in the other shops.


That's all I'm going to show you from inside the rides. Like I said earlier, I wanted to give you a glimpse inside without taking away the whole thrill of experiencing it yourself. Hopefully I didn't give too much away!

Next up, a bit of food plus my tips for navigating through WWoHP.

OverJOYed in Harry Potter World Part 2: A Peek Inside

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Part 1: The Village

Last time I showed you around the outside of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. Today, I'm going to give you a glimpse of the insides!

I mentioned before that JK Rowling wanted to keep the village "to scale", so all the shops were tiny. And by tiny, I mean tiny. Sure, they were cute, but it's hard to browse comfortably, let alone take photos of anything. I did what I could, though.

So, here we go!

Zonko's from the outside...

...and the inside! Did I not say it was tiny? This is the middle of the shop. Yes, it's the whole middle. There's a narrow section that wraps to the left of this, and that's it.

Look up! You can see how narrow this section is.

The shop is stocked with a fun variety of jokes--some you'll recognize from the books/movies, and some fun merchandise that just fits right in.

Boxing Telescopes (from the books) next to Comb-a-Chameleons (haven't heard of them, but love!)

Screaming Yo-Yo's and Fanged Frisbees

even Pygmy Puffs!

From that small middle section I showed you, Zonko's is connected to Honeyduke's. It looks pretty big from the outside, but the closely set shelves/displays coupled with the large number of people always inside makes it feel much smaller than it is.

It was hard to take pictures inside due to the crowd and my being shorter than all the shelves. :-P Instead, you get product shots! They had large displays of Bertie Bott's, of course.

Candy Floss. THough I know some places call cotton candy "fairy floss", I still imagined Candy Floss to be something else. I was hoping for candy in the form of tooth floss, I think.

Pepper Imps--Not sure what I imagined it to be, but this wasn't quite what I expected.

Chocolate Cauldrons.

Fizzing Whizbees. I totally imagined Fizzing Whizbees to be something like Pop Rocks or Zots, where they pop or fizz in your mouth. Bug shaped chocolate was a huge let-down.

Ton Tongue Toffee. Technically, this shouldn't be stocked in Honeydukes, since it's a Weasley Wizarding Wheezes product, but I was excited to see it anyway. I wish I bought some. I did buy a bunch of Chocolate Frogs, though (and of course, I didn't take a picture of them. They look exactly like the movie).

I've got another eeny meeny shop for you. This is outside Olivander's...

...and the inside. Boxes and boxes everywhere you look....

...and the only place to look is up because what little space there is will be taken up by the group wanting to watch the wand choosing.

Now for what I think is the tiniest "store" of them all--Owl Post on the outside...

...and inside. The shelves are covered in a mix of owls, parcels, wand boxes, and poop.

The whole "shop" is probably only about 10x10 or something. It could have been bigger, but it really didn't seem like it.

Owl Post is actually connected to Ollivander's (it's a dump spot for people exiting from the show) and Bourgin & Burke's. I actually didn't get a shot of the B&B sign since we accidentally entered through the wrong door. Apparently Owl Post is supposed to be the exit room for B&B, too, but we were somehow able to enter that way without getting yelled at.

Anyway, B&B was probably the most crowded of all the shops. It's the easiest accessible shop for WWoHP memorabilia (though some items are exclusive to Filch's Emporium, which we'll get to later), so people line up just to get in. I was only able to get a couple shots of the inside due to the crowd.

This thing was growling and snapping away inside its cage. I was honestly a little afraid to get too close. It wasn't until after I took this photo that I realized it probably wouldn't actually bite me. :-P

On a space to crowd ratio, Hog's Head gives you the most wiggle room since younger patrons can't hang around here. On the outside...

...and inside! This was one of my favorites. The butterbeer barrels really hold butterbeer, and the hog's head moves and snorts.

The shelves are lined with dusty bottles of Fire Whiskey and other liquors that aren't really mentioned in HP (White Rat Whiskey, Daisyroot, Knotgrass Mead...)

While you can't purchase the liquors, there are a bunch of beers on tap. Hog's Head brew in the foreground (HP World's own brew) followed by Strongbow, Bass, Guinness, Boddington's, Newcastle, London's Pride, Stella, Budwiser, and Bud Light.

Through the Hog's Head, you can also access the Three Broomsticks.
This is the view from inside Hog's Head. You can get to Three Broomsticks from either side of that large fireplace.

Although it's by far the largest "shop" in WWoHP, there's not a lot to see inside Three Broomsticks except for people eating. In fact, I felt like the place had more of a lodge feel than a wizarding world feel. Except for the ceiling. It looks like it never ends.

I think that's all I have for the insides of shops. I have shots of the ride lines, but this ended up longer than I thought it would. I'll just save the ride lines for another time!

OverJOYed in Harry Potter World Part 1: The Village

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I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. I started reading the books when I was 15, so I have literally grown up following the story of Harry Potter. Needless to say, I was super excited at the rumors of a Harry Potter World being constructed somewhere in the world. I was even more excited when it was officially announced that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would become part of Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure theme park. Yes! It was in the United States!

Luckily for me, a family wedding brought us close enough to Orlando for me to jump at (/attack) my chance to visit the Land of Potter. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is actually just one of the "lands" in Universal's Islands of Adventure (which is an awesome theme park that will get it's own recap), but since there's actually quite a bit to see, I'm going to break it down into a few segments. Today, I'll just give you a tour of Hogsmeade from the outside.

You are now entering Hogsmeade. Please respect the spell limits.

The Hogwarts Express is stationed in front, right where you enter the village. People spontaneously stop to take pictures of it, so watch where you're going! Throughout the day, the conductor comes out to take pictures with kids...

...and me. So not ashamed. :-)

Once you pass the train you enter Hogsmeade itself.

Apart from the hoards of people in Muggle clothing, it really feels as if you've stepped into the pages of Harry Potter (or stepped into the movie, if that's your thing). When we first entered, I had a brief gasp/wow-this-place-is-beautiful-it's-cuter-than-I-imagined-it-to-be moment...until a group of teenage girls walked up beside us squealing and yelling "Like, Oh Em Geee! We are SO in Harry Potter World!!! EEEEEEEEEE!!" Quotes are for real. That was word for word.

Seriously, though, Universal did a wonderful job on this place. It's so pretty. It really feels like an itty bitty town.

There is always snow on the rooftops. Harry first visited Hogsmeade in the winter (snow and all), after all.

There are a couple of butterbeer carts stationed around. The lines are super long. I'll let you know how to avoid them when I write a food post.

Part of the detailing that makes this village so believable is the wonderful signage. I loved the signs! All colorful and worn with "age", they added so well to the charm and magic of Hogsmeade.

Hog's Head Pub
I loved the small detail of having this sign off kilter as if it's about to fall off its chains. It was a nice way to convey the "neglected bar" aesthetic of the Hog's Head, even from the outside. They really do serve beer here, btw.

The Three Broomsticks
This is the only place to eat in Hogsmeade. Well, it's the only place in Universal's Hogsmeade, at least. You'll see this place again when I talk about food. I thought the three broomsticks on the sign were a cute touch.

Also cute was how oddly crooked the entrance was.

Can I say cute again? No? Well then, I thought this Gringotts Bank ATM sign was a very clever way to work modern conveniences/necessities in with the fantasy wizarding world.

Honeydukes candy shop
All those candies you read about in the books are stocked right here. Maybe not all of them, but enough to make you smile.

Zonko's joke shop
Universal's version of this shop is teeny weeny! If this was supposed to be "to scale" then I have no idea how more than ten students could stuff themselves into this shop at a time. It's also connected to Honeydukes, which isn't quite right, but oh well.

Dogweed and Deathcap plant shop
I don't remember this shop from the books (and you can be sure I'm going to reread them all to make sure I didn't miss it somewhere), but there was always a small amount of people gathered in front of this faux shop. For one, it was close to the "conveniences" and provided a decent amount of shade. For another...

...this mandrake in the window was crying it's head off all day. It cries loud enough to hear from a little ways away and sounds disturbingly like a real baby. If I didn't know about mandrakes, I might have been searching the area for a poor abandoned baby.

Owl Post Post Office
Despite the fact that this store front actually says "Post Office", you can't actually send mail from here (I was confused, too). This is actually a dump spot for the people exiting Ollivander's, and no post related items are even sold here. To send mail, you actually have to go around the corner to the wooden podium/mailbox where a worker will stamp your mail as Hogsmeade Owl Post. Don't be shy to send one to yourself just to have the stamp. They wont know. :-)

There are caged owls and post related things in the windows. So deceiving.

Ollivander's Wand Shop
There is always a line outside Ollivander's to watch a wand choose a wizard. Wands are sold throughout the park, but the only way to see inside Ollivander's shop is to stand in that line. The shop is really small, but I liked the way it was set up. It really brought to life the shelves and stacks of wands I always imagined Ollivander sorting through to find Harry's wand.

Gladrags Wizardwear
This is one of my favorite signs. While we were visiting, there was a dress similar to Hermione's Triwizard ball gown in the window. Unfortunately, I didn't snap a picture.

Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop
This is another one of my favorite signs. It feels old westernish to me. I don't remember what the window display was like. I would imagine it had something to do with quills. And parchment.

Tomes and Scrolls bookshop
This faux shop is worth a visit if for nothing else than to see the window displays.

Though simple and all pretty much the same (piles of books and scrolls in the background with a few volumes displayed prominently on shelves in front), the moving/talking pictures made the displays kind of fun for HP nerds.

Spintwitches Sporting Needs
Another faux store with a window display for the Quidditch lovers--

--a Quidditch ball set complete with angry bludgers fighting against their chains to free themselves and smack into unsuspecting passersby. You can't tell from the picture, but really, that's what they're doing.

Once you pass Spintwitches, you come upon this sign.

This way to Hogwarts!

Now, if Hogsmeade is well done, Hogwarts castle is a work of art.

The "stone" (is it real or fake? I don't know) is beautiful, and no detail was spared.

If you saw the movies, you saw this bridge.

It's even prettier at night. I didn't have the right equipment to capture it properly, so this was the best I could do in the dark of night with no tripod.

Next, I'll show you around the insides of some of the real shops before we venture into food!