themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
I hope y'all have a great trip!
18th Birthday Trip…When I’m 20! - December 10-16, 2021 Trip Report at Portofino Bay Hotel!
- Thread starter themeparklover26
- Start date
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
That’s so exciting y’all will be there around the same time as us! Hopefully it won’t too be busy while we’re there!! I hope y’all have a great trip
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
TRIP REPORT: Day 1 - Arrival
I had planned to do my last pre-trip report today before I boarded the plane, but today was incredibly hectic and I ended up not having time to write it, so I’ll just condense my whole travel day into this post.
My day started by going to bed this morning at 4 AM because my English professor gave us a final that took ten hours to complete. Then an hour later, at 5, I was up again so I could leave my apartment my apartment at 6 AM to make it to the airport with plenty of time to get through security before my final opened at 8. I was through security by 7:15 and had a little time to relax before taking my final. My final went relatively well and I was done with it by 11:15 so I had plenty of time to make my 12:30 flight.
However, when I took my headphones out after completing my final and started paying attention to my surroundings again, I realized there was a large line of people in line to talk to our gate agent. I overheard someone’s conversation beside me, though, that they had oversold the plane and I just assumed that the large line of people were there to volunteer to be bumped so I didn’t think it was a big deal and I put my headphones back in. About 10 minutes later, though, I got a notification on my phone that my flight had been delayed thirty minutes, which again was no big deal since I had an hour and a half layover. I ran in to use the bathroom and when I came out I realized that the line of people to talk to our gate agent had doubled and I looked at the update screen and saw that the delay had moved up to an hour. This was a slightly bigger problem since in airport the size of Charlotte, I could be cutting it close depending on what gate I land at, so I jumped in the long line of people to talk to the gate agent to make sure I had a backup plan if I missed my connecting flight.
While I was standing in line, the gate agent announced that the delay had grown to one and a half hours which meant I was definitely going to miss my flight. I started frantically looking at my phone to see when the next flight from Charlotte (where I was connecting through) to Orlando was and the only results that were coming up were flights leaving tomorrow morning. However, the gate agent was incredibly helpful and he was able to pull some strings to squeeze me on a flight that would get leave Charlotte at 8 and get into Orlando at 10 PM. This was definitely not optimal, but it was better than not getting to Orlando until the next morning.
I finally got on the plane to Charlotte at around 2:05 and although the gate agent had still given me a standby ticket for my original connection that was leaving Charlotte at 3:30 in case I somehow made it, I had already accepted the fact that I would just have to wait for the 8:00 flight out of Charlotte.
When the plane took off at 2:05, I settled in for what I thought would be a nice hour and a half flight. However I was abruptly awoken 45 minutes later by the plane landing. I looked around confused and wondered if we had had to make an emergency landing in another airport, but when the pilot’s voice came over the loud speaker saying “Welcome to Charlotte,” I was baffled. I could not figure out how we made up 45 minutes in the air, but however we did it, I was so thankful because it meant that I had 25 minutes to make it to the gate for my original connection before they stopped boarding at 3:15. Of course after the plane finally taxied into runway and I received my gate check bag I only had fifteen minutes to make it to the gate that was all the way across the airport.
So I did what any passenger would do if they were fearful of missing their flight and I ran through the Charlotte airport as fast as I could. Running with two incredibly bags was not my best idea, though, and I fell, spraining my ankle. My adrenaline kept me running through the pain and I arrived at the gate right as they were doing the last call for boarding. I have no idea how I actually made it on that plane in time, but I did and after an incredibly joyful flight with a great flight staff and an extremely friendly guy sitting beside me, I arrived in Orlando at 5 PM.
To be continued….
By the way, sorry for such a text heavy post here. I truly just didn’t have any time to take pictures and had a lot to explain about why getting to Orlando had been so hectic. I promise there will be lots of pictures in future posts!!
I had planned to do my last pre-trip report today before I boarded the plane, but today was incredibly hectic and I ended up not having time to write it, so I’ll just condense my whole travel day into this post.
My day started by going to bed this morning at 4 AM because my English professor gave us a final that took ten hours to complete. Then an hour later, at 5, I was up again so I could leave my apartment my apartment at 6 AM to make it to the airport with plenty of time to get through security before my final opened at 8. I was through security by 7:15 and had a little time to relax before taking my final. My final went relatively well and I was done with it by 11:15 so I had plenty of time to make my 12:30 flight.
However, when I took my headphones out after completing my final and started paying attention to my surroundings again, I realized there was a large line of people in line to talk to our gate agent. I overheard someone’s conversation beside me, though, that they had oversold the plane and I just assumed that the large line of people were there to volunteer to be bumped so I didn’t think it was a big deal and I put my headphones back in. About 10 minutes later, though, I got a notification on my phone that my flight had been delayed thirty minutes, which again was no big deal since I had an hour and a half layover. I ran in to use the bathroom and when I came out I realized that the line of people to talk to our gate agent had doubled and I looked at the update screen and saw that the delay had moved up to an hour. This was a slightly bigger problem since in airport the size of Charlotte, I could be cutting it close depending on what gate I land at, so I jumped in the long line of people to talk to the gate agent to make sure I had a backup plan if I missed my connecting flight.
While I was standing in line, the gate agent announced that the delay had grown to one and a half hours which meant I was definitely going to miss my flight. I started frantically looking at my phone to see when the next flight from Charlotte (where I was connecting through) to Orlando was and the only results that were coming up were flights leaving tomorrow morning. However, the gate agent was incredibly helpful and he was able to pull some strings to squeeze me on a flight that would get leave Charlotte at 8 and get into Orlando at 10 PM. This was definitely not optimal, but it was better than not getting to Orlando until the next morning.
I finally got on the plane to Charlotte at around 2:05 and although the gate agent had still given me a standby ticket for my original connection that was leaving Charlotte at 3:30 in case I somehow made it, I had already accepted the fact that I would just have to wait for the 8:00 flight out of Charlotte.
When the plane took off at 2:05, I settled in for what I thought would be a nice hour and a half flight. However I was abruptly awoken 45 minutes later by the plane landing. I looked around confused and wondered if we had had to make an emergency landing in another airport, but when the pilot’s voice came over the loud speaker saying “Welcome to Charlotte,” I was baffled. I could not figure out how we made up 45 minutes in the air, but however we did it, I was so thankful because it meant that I had 25 minutes to make it to the gate for my original connection before they stopped boarding at 3:15. Of course after the plane finally taxied into runway and I received my gate check bag I only had fifteen minutes to make it to the gate that was all the way across the airport.
So I did what any passenger would do if they were fearful of missing their flight and I ran through the Charlotte airport as fast as I could. Running with two incredibly bags was not my best idea, though, and I fell, spraining my ankle. My adrenaline kept me running through the pain and I arrived at the gate right as they were doing the last call for boarding. I have no idea how I actually made it on that plane in time, but I did and after an incredibly joyful flight with a great flight staff and an extremely friendly guy sitting beside me, I arrived in Orlando at 5 PM.
To be continued….
By the way, sorry for such a text heavy post here. I truly just didn’t have any time to take pictures and had a lot to explain about why getting to Orlando had been so hectic. I promise there will be lots of pictures in future posts!!
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
TRIP REPORT: Day 1 - Arrival Cont.
When I arrived at the airport, my parents were still about 20 minutes away so I walked around the airport a bit to look at some of the theme park advertisements. I always think they’re so cool. The only one I was remembered to get a picture of was one on the airport train.
I also took a picture of the airport Christmas tree which was pretty.
I also went in the Magic of Disney store while I was waiting for them, but I didn’t look around for long and sat down to rest because I was really starting to feel the effects of my sprained ankle.
My parents called and told me they were about 10 minutes away shortly after I sat down, so I got up and went to find where passenger pickup was. I don’t know if I just missed a sign or something, but it was incredibly unclear where I should go for them to pick me up and I walked around for almost 20 minutes. Finally, at about 6:00, I found them and we were on our way to Portofino Bay.
I was in awe when I first saw PBH. It really is a gorgeous hotel. I didn’t get any pictures of the entrance because it was too dark, but I’ll try to get a few at some point this week. I did however get some pictures of the Christmas decorations at PBH.
When we arrived at PBH we stopped the car outside the lobby and had the bellhop help us with our stuff. That’s when we had the realization that my parents had forgotten my suitcase at home. Thank goodness I had brought home quite a few clothes from college so it wasn’t a huge disaster, but I only had 2 short sleeve shirts and I didn’t bring home any underwear so we had to add a trip to Walmart to our schedule for the night.
We were able to walk right up to the concierge and get our room keys so the check-in process was pretty quick. We also realized that there was a will call in the lobby, so instead of trying to go to the will call at the parks later on that night, we just picked up our tickets at PBH and went to go find our room.
I also took a picture of this fountain I thought was cool in the lobby.
Our room could not have been in a better location. We were in the first building of the East Wing in the first floor right at the beginning of the hallway so our room exited right out onto the harbor and we were less than 5 minutes away from the water taxi, beach pool, and lobby and only about 10 minutes away from self parking.
To be continued…
When I arrived at the airport, my parents were still about 20 minutes away so I walked around the airport a bit to look at some of the theme park advertisements. I always think they’re so cool. The only one I was remembered to get a picture of was one on the airport train.
I also took a picture of the airport Christmas tree which was pretty.
I also went in the Magic of Disney store while I was waiting for them, but I didn’t look around for long and sat down to rest because I was really starting to feel the effects of my sprained ankle.
My parents called and told me they were about 10 minutes away shortly after I sat down, so I got up and went to find where passenger pickup was. I don’t know if I just missed a sign or something, but it was incredibly unclear where I should go for them to pick me up and I walked around for almost 20 minutes. Finally, at about 6:00, I found them and we were on our way to Portofino Bay.
I was in awe when I first saw PBH. It really is a gorgeous hotel. I didn’t get any pictures of the entrance because it was too dark, but I’ll try to get a few at some point this week. I did however get some pictures of the Christmas decorations at PBH.
When we arrived at PBH we stopped the car outside the lobby and had the bellhop help us with our stuff. That’s when we had the realization that my parents had forgotten my suitcase at home. Thank goodness I had brought home quite a few clothes from college so it wasn’t a huge disaster, but I only had 2 short sleeve shirts and I didn’t bring home any underwear so we had to add a trip to Walmart to our schedule for the night.
We were able to walk right up to the concierge and get our room keys so the check-in process was pretty quick. We also realized that there was a will call in the lobby, so instead of trying to go to the will call at the parks later on that night, we just picked up our tickets at PBH and went to go find our room.
I also took a picture of this fountain I thought was cool in the lobby.
Our room could not have been in a better location. We were in the first building of the East Wing in the first floor right at the beginning of the hallway so our room exited right out onto the harbor and we were less than 5 minutes away from the water taxi, beach pool, and lobby and only about 10 minutes away from self parking.
To be continued…
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
TRIP REPORT: Day 1 - Arrival Cont.
Our room in PBH was gorgeous and it was the biggest standard hotel room any of us had ever seen. I forgot to get pictures before we put our stuff down, so here are a few slightly cluttered room pictures. I was also really excited to have such a deep bathtub.
We got settled in our room for about 30 minutes before we decided to head out for dinner. We were originally planning to grab something in CityWalk, but as we were walking to the water taxi, we saw Sal’s and decided that sounded much better than going to CityWalk with how tired we all were.
Our food from Sal’s was really good and the pizza definitely was as amazing as many people on disboards say it is. My dad got the Italian Classic sandwich which he enjoyed and my mom and I got pizza. We were so hungry I forgot to grab a picture of my dad’s sandwich, but I did remember to get a picture of the pizza after we had already started eating it.
I also really liked the theming in Sal’s and I got this picture.
Being able to eat our food from Sal’s on the piazza was also really nice. The ambience on the piazza is great and we were able to hear some music from someone playing at The Thirsty Fish. Our dog Happy also got to enjoy sitting out there with us.
Speaking of Happy, Loews gave her a really cute welcome bag with a dog tag, two bowls, a food mat, and some treats.
After dinner we went to Walmart. They actually had a decent selection of Universal themed shirts so I got one Harry Potter shirt and one Despicable Me shirt. They also had various other Harry Potter merchandise if you’re looking for a souvenir cheaper than what they offer at Universal.
While at Walmart, we also picked up some various breakfast items and got some medical tape to wrap my ankle with since the swelling had gotten pretty bad and I was having trouble walking on it.
We got back from Walmart at about 11 and all fell asleep almost immediately after the long travel day we had had.
Next stop: Our first day at the Parks!!
Also as another side note, I’m going to try to keep this report as live as possible but after how tired I am today after our first day at the parks, I might have some delays in having the energy to write the reports. Thanks to everyone following along!
Our room in PBH was gorgeous and it was the biggest standard hotel room any of us had ever seen. I forgot to get pictures before we put our stuff down, so here are a few slightly cluttered room pictures. I was also really excited to have such a deep bathtub.
We got settled in our room for about 30 minutes before we decided to head out for dinner. We were originally planning to grab something in CityWalk, but as we were walking to the water taxi, we saw Sal’s and decided that sounded much better than going to CityWalk with how tired we all were.
Our food from Sal’s was really good and the pizza definitely was as amazing as many people on disboards say it is. My dad got the Italian Classic sandwich which he enjoyed and my mom and I got pizza. We were so hungry I forgot to grab a picture of my dad’s sandwich, but I did remember to get a picture of the pizza after we had already started eating it.
I also really liked the theming in Sal’s and I got this picture.
Being able to eat our food from Sal’s on the piazza was also really nice. The ambience on the piazza is great and we were able to hear some music from someone playing at The Thirsty Fish. Our dog Happy also got to enjoy sitting out there with us.
Speaking of Happy, Loews gave her a really cute welcome bag with a dog tag, two bowls, a food mat, and some treats.
After dinner we went to Walmart. They actually had a decent selection of Universal themed shirts so I got one Harry Potter shirt and one Despicable Me shirt. They also had various other Harry Potter merchandise if you’re looking for a souvenir cheaper than what they offer at Universal.
While at Walmart, we also picked up some various breakfast items and got some medical tape to wrap my ankle with since the swelling had gotten pretty bad and I was having trouble walking on it.
We got back from Walmart at about 11 and all fell asleep almost immediately after the long travel day we had had.
Next stop: Our first day at the Parks!!
Also as another side note, I’m going to try to keep this report as live as possible but after how tired I am today after our first day at the parks, I might have some delays in having the energy to write the reports. Thanks to everyone following along!
schumigirl
It's a bit of a roodie doodie word for lady parts
- Joined
- May 15, 2007
Only just catching up with your report now.....
My goodness that was a stressful start to your trip, and hope your ankle does ok with all the walking you`ll be doing....and then missing a suitcase!!
But, glad you loved the hotel and I agree, Sal`s pizza is one of the best onsite pizza places at UOR.
Looking forward to reading more about your time there......
My goodness that was a stressful start to your trip, and hope your ankle does ok with all the walking you`ll be doing....and then missing a suitcase!!
But, glad you loved the hotel and I agree, Sal`s pizza is one of the best onsite pizza places at UOR.
Looking forward to reading more about your time there......
mickeymom22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2012
Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us. I hope your ankle doesn't keep you from doing everything you want.
Can't wait to hear the rest. I will be there soon!
Can't wait to hear the rest. I will be there soon!
Lynne G
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2009
Yay we both made it here yesterday. I’m at Royal after a delay on the ground as we arrived early, only to sit in the tarmac for more than 1/2 hour, making us 45 minutes late. But quick drive to hotel. We went to Disney Springs for lunch, as needed an item from the store. Then got to the Studios at dinner time, with a late night CityWalk dinner. We felt wiped out too.
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
Thank you!! I’ll try to keep updates coming as soon as I can!
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
So far my ankle is holding up pretty well for the most part so hopefully it stays that way!
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
So far the crowds haven’t been that bad, so hopefully they’ll stay that way when you’re here!Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us. I hope your ankle doesn't keep you from doing everything you want.
Can't wait to hear the rest. I will be there soon!
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
Plane delays are the worst!! I’m glad y’all got in safe! Sounds like you had a great first day
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
TRIP REPORT: Day 2 - First park day!
Today we all woke up at 6:50 in hopes to get an early start at the parks. For breakfast, my mom and I ate a quick muffin that we had bought from Walmart and my dad grabbed a sandwich and a coffee from Starbucks. We learned that at the Starbucks at PBH, you get free coffee refills all day if you keep your receipt so that worked out great for my dad who drinks at least 2 or 3 cups a day.
We made it to the boat dock at 7:25 and the water taxi arrived at about 7:40. The view of the harbor at PBH is absolutely beautiful in the morning.
My dad and I also grabbed a picture in front of the water.
After a quick water taxi ride, we saw this welcome site at about 7:45.
It was incredibly foggy until about 9:30 AM, but the fog almost added to the ambiance of the parks. As soon as the boat docked, we headed straight for Islands of Adventure and were through security by about 7:55.
We along with everyone else entering the park headed straight for Hagrid’s. The fog in Hosmeade was beautiful and it really made you feel that you were in Hogwarts.
The posted wait time when we got there was 45 minutes but we only ended up waiting about 25 minutes. The wait didn’t even feel that long, though. It seemed like we were constantly moving and there were some great opportunities for pictures.
I also spotted the golden egg from the Goblet of Fire in the queue which I thought was a cool Easter egg.
When we got on Hagrid’s my dad had already agreed to ride in a sidecar with me so my mom and I could both get on a motorcycle. However, when we got to the moving sidewalk, they told me I had to ride in the sidecar since I had a robe on. It made sense why that’s a rule, but I wish someone had told me sooner so I could have just had my dad wear it.
Even in the sidecar, Hagrid’s was spectacular. My dad and I got lucky enough to be in the first row and feeling the wind directly in our faces made it that much better. Coming off the ride, we joked that Hagrid’s literally did everything a coaster could do except for going upside down. Even though my dad said it was a bit intense for him that early in the morning, we all thoroughly enjoyed it.
To be continued…
Today we all woke up at 6:50 in hopes to get an early start at the parks. For breakfast, my mom and I ate a quick muffin that we had bought from Walmart and my dad grabbed a sandwich and a coffee from Starbucks. We learned that at the Starbucks at PBH, you get free coffee refills all day if you keep your receipt so that worked out great for my dad who drinks at least 2 or 3 cups a day.
We made it to the boat dock at 7:25 and the water taxi arrived at about 7:40. The view of the harbor at PBH is absolutely beautiful in the morning.
My dad and I also grabbed a picture in front of the water.
After a quick water taxi ride, we saw this welcome site at about 7:45.
It was incredibly foggy until about 9:30 AM, but the fog almost added to the ambiance of the parks. As soon as the boat docked, we headed straight for Islands of Adventure and were through security by about 7:55.
We along with everyone else entering the park headed straight for Hagrid’s. The fog in Hosmeade was beautiful and it really made you feel that you were in Hogwarts.
The posted wait time when we got there was 45 minutes but we only ended up waiting about 25 minutes. The wait didn’t even feel that long, though. It seemed like we were constantly moving and there were some great opportunities for pictures.
I also spotted the golden egg from the Goblet of Fire in the queue which I thought was a cool Easter egg.
When we got on Hagrid’s my dad had already agreed to ride in a sidecar with me so my mom and I could both get on a motorcycle. However, when we got to the moving sidewalk, they told me I had to ride in the sidecar since I had a robe on. It made sense why that’s a rule, but I wish someone had told me sooner so I could have just had my dad wear it.
Even in the sidecar, Hagrid’s was spectacular. My dad and I got lucky enough to be in the first row and feeling the wind directly in our faces made it that much better. Coming off the ride, we joked that Hagrid’s literally did everything a coaster could do except for going upside down. Even though my dad said it was a bit intense for him that early in the morning, we all thoroughly enjoyed it.
To be continued…
ofcabbagesandkings
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2014
Ugh, sorry you sprained your ankle! I've definitely done the connection sprint myself - the worst was in the Atlanta airport where I was all the way at the end of one terminal, had to run to the middle to take the air train, and then my connection was all the way at the end of the next terminal. Made that one, just barely.
mickeymom22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2012
Wow the fog does make for a nice effect! Sounds like your day started off great!
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
Atlanta airport is the worst!! I’m glad you made it, though
themeparklover26
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2021
TRIP REPORT: Day 2 - First park day! Cont.
After Hagrid’s, we went straight to Jurassic Park to ride Velocicoaster. Jurassic Park’s theming was almost as good as the Wizarding World in my opinion. Almost is the key word there, though
nothing can come close to the Wizarding World, but Jurassic Park makes you feel like you’re not in Orlando anymore also.
Jurassic Park wasn’t crowded yet and we made it to Velocicoaster pretty quickly.
The theming in the queue is incredible and the animatronic velociraptors looked so real.
The posted wait time was 35 minutes, but even after the ride going down for about 5 minutes while we were waiting in line, we still were off the ride in 30 minutes, so even with the delay the wait was about 10 minutes less. Velocicoaster is spectacular. Not only is the theming great, but the coaster itself is amazing. The accelerations made you feel like you were truly being chased by velociraptors and that inverted gravity stall and the heart line roll over the water at the end were some of the coolest things I had ever experienced on a roller coaster.
After Velocicoaster we headed back to Hogsmeade to jump on the Forbidden Journey. Since the stand-by line was only 10 minutes anyways, we didn’t use our express passes because we wanted to see the whole queue at least once. The ride did go down for a bit while we were in the queue, though, so it ended up being about 20 minutes. The delay happened when we were in the history of magic classroom and boy was it hot in there. The extra wait didn’t even bother us as much as the heat did.
Weirdly enough, my mom and I who normally get incredibly motion sick were fine on Forbidden Journey, and my dad who has never struggled with motion sickness felt awful after it. He blamed it on the fact that he had done 3 intense rides all before 10 AM and that he was too old for that
After Forbidden Journey, in an attempt to slow things down for my dad, we took the Hogwarts Express over to Diagon Alley. The ride itself was fine. It wasn’t as great as I expected to be, but it was nostalgic for me being such a huge Harry Potter fan and it was an entertaining break from all of the intense rides.
When we walked through the brick wall to Diagon Alley, I was awestruck. For someone who has read the books and watched the movies more times than I would like to admit, this was exactly how I pictured Diagon Alley to look. The long maze of streets filled with magical shops and the crooked Gringotts Bank at the end of the street was so incredibly true to the original series and it made the experience that much cooler.
When we arrived in Diagon Alley, the first place we stopped was Ollivander’s for the wand show. I was really hoping to get picked, but two little sisters got picked and it looked like it absolutely made their day so I wasn’t that upset. I had planned to try another show before buying my wand to see if I could get chosen, but although the show was cute, I didn’t really have any interest in seeing it again so I went ahead and bought my own wand based on the lunar calendar: a vine wand.
After Ollivander’s, we stopped for an early lunch at around 10:30 at the Leaky Cauldron since none of us had a large breakfast.
My dad ended up getting the adult fish and chips, my mom ended up getting a kid’s shepherd pie and a kid’s fish and chips because she wanted to try both, and I got the kid’s Mac and cheese since I’m a vegetarian who doesn’t like salads.
We all thought the food was pretty good for theme park food, but we weren’t blown away by it by any means. However, the theming really did impress us. You truly felt like you were in an old magical inn and pub.
I really liked the barrels that held the kegs.
To be continued….
After Hagrid’s, we went straight to Jurassic Park to ride Velocicoaster. Jurassic Park’s theming was almost as good as the Wizarding World in my opinion. Almost is the key word there, though
nothing can come close to the Wizarding World, but Jurassic Park makes you feel like you’re not in Orlando anymore also.Jurassic Park wasn’t crowded yet and we made it to Velocicoaster pretty quickly.
The theming in the queue is incredible and the animatronic velociraptors looked so real.
The posted wait time was 35 minutes, but even after the ride going down for about 5 minutes while we were waiting in line, we still were off the ride in 30 minutes, so even with the delay the wait was about 10 minutes less. Velocicoaster is spectacular. Not only is the theming great, but the coaster itself is amazing. The accelerations made you feel like you were truly being chased by velociraptors and that inverted gravity stall and the heart line roll over the water at the end were some of the coolest things I had ever experienced on a roller coaster.
After Velocicoaster we headed back to Hogsmeade to jump on the Forbidden Journey. Since the stand-by line was only 10 minutes anyways, we didn’t use our express passes because we wanted to see the whole queue at least once. The ride did go down for a bit while we were in the queue, though, so it ended up being about 20 minutes. The delay happened when we were in the history of magic classroom and boy was it hot in there. The extra wait didn’t even bother us as much as the heat did.
Weirdly enough, my mom and I who normally get incredibly motion sick were fine on Forbidden Journey, and my dad who has never struggled with motion sickness felt awful after it. He blamed it on the fact that he had done 3 intense rides all before 10 AM and that he was too old for that
After Forbidden Journey, in an attempt to slow things down for my dad, we took the Hogwarts Express over to Diagon Alley. The ride itself was fine. It wasn’t as great as I expected to be, but it was nostalgic for me being such a huge Harry Potter fan and it was an entertaining break from all of the intense rides.
When we walked through the brick wall to Diagon Alley, I was awestruck. For someone who has read the books and watched the movies more times than I would like to admit, this was exactly how I pictured Diagon Alley to look. The long maze of streets filled with magical shops and the crooked Gringotts Bank at the end of the street was so incredibly true to the original series and it made the experience that much cooler.
When we arrived in Diagon Alley, the first place we stopped was Ollivander’s for the wand show. I was really hoping to get picked, but two little sisters got picked and it looked like it absolutely made their day so I wasn’t that upset. I had planned to try another show before buying my wand to see if I could get chosen, but although the show was cute, I didn’t really have any interest in seeing it again so I went ahead and bought my own wand based on the lunar calendar: a vine wand.
After Ollivander’s, we stopped for an early lunch at around 10:30 at the Leaky Cauldron since none of us had a large breakfast.
My dad ended up getting the adult fish and chips, my mom ended up getting a kid’s shepherd pie and a kid’s fish and chips because she wanted to try both, and I got the kid’s Mac and cheese since I’m a vegetarian who doesn’t like salads.
We all thought the food was pretty good for theme park food, but we weren’t blown away by it by any means. However, the theming really did impress us. You truly felt like you were in an old magical inn and pub.
I really liked the barrels that held the kegs.
To be continued….
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Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
