Day 1 Vacation recap can be found here.
On the second day of our trip we headed over to Islands of Adventure/The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I'm a big fan of rides and an even bigger fan of Harry Potter so I knew this was going to be a win-win situation!
First up Islands of Adventure!
We were able to hit up the big rides quickly because we opted for the single rider line. Granted sometimes we didn't get to sit side by side but frankly... who cares?!?! You still get to ride the ride and instead of standing in like for 2 hours, you can be in line, on the ride and done with in under 11 minutes. BAM!
Once we were basically done with everything we wanted to see in Islands of Adventure we made our way over to the Harry Potter side of the park. At this point it was around 11:30am. The entire park opens at 9:00am and they open the WWHP part at 10:00am. Well as we're walking over to HP we notice this line of people standing over the ride side of the walk way. Oh...that was the line to get in. Apparently it's so packed during the day (which I can now agree with) that they can only allow so many people at a time into that section of the park.
It's so crazy packed that they even give you a special ticket that you must hand to the people standing outside of the WWHP entrance to prove that you stood in the line before being allowed to enter. Also during the busy time, if you exit WWHP there is no re-entering unless you stand in the line again because they take that ticket upon entry. So after waiting for an hour we finally got into that area of the park. Trust me... it was worth it.
(hogwarts Express)
(1 of the windows at honeydukes)
(the book which needs it's spin rubbed)
(Hogwarts Castle)
(hanging candles in the great hall)
(Dervish and Banges)
(inside the WWHP)
Let me tell you some insider information incase you didn't know already. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWHP) is apart of Universal Studios and it's technically located inside Islands of Adventure. You have to have a ticket to Islands of Adventure to get inside so before you buy your park passes remember that. Thankfully, I have friends who went a few weeks ago and let me know so I wouldn't buy the wrong tickets.
BIG TIP. Go in the evening, after 6:00pm, by that time you don't have to stand in a line to get inside the Harry Potter part. The lines for shops are also shorter and the ride lines are twice as small as they are in the day time. Since we had been there earlier that morning going back in the evening was heaven. There was no wait to get inside this part of the park. We were able to get inside the Hogwarts Castle and on the ride within 40 minutes compared to the earlier part of the day when the line alone was over 2 hours. The Butter beer line never dwindled all day so if you're really wanting to give it a try, you're going to just have to stand in line. For those of you who don't like butter beer... they do have pumpkin juice (just not in the same line).
So there you have it! If you want to see more pictures (I took a ton) of the Harry Potter park or have any questions just ask. Also I've got the pictures uploaded on my facebook. Part 3 featuring Sea World and Gatorland is next!
