The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

My son is a huge fan of Harry Potter, so, while going to Orlando did include Disney, Universal Studios was always going to be the highlight of the trip. And it lived up to the anticipation.

We started on the Hogsmeade/Hogwarts side in Universal's Islands of Adventure.

Where they had recreations of the castle, the village, and even Hagrid's hut.

We hotfooted it to the back of the park, and got in line for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride that takes place inside the Hogwarts Castle replica built in the Wizarding World section.

Inside, the line wound through the hallways of the castle, past wizard portraits that spoke back and forth to each other and the like. We saw the sorting hat too.

When we got up to the front and they tried to load us in, I was too big to fit. This was frustrating, because they have test seats outside of each ride so that you don't wait through a long line only to discover you can't ride after all. The workers tested me, and declared me able to ride, but then when I got on the real ride, they couldn't close it down enough to ensure my safety.

They told me I had to get off, and said they had a waiting room for chubbys like me. They sent me through a door, and suddenly I was in a narrow, blank hallway that looked like it belonged in the bowels of some seedy theater. There wasn't an obvious place to go, and I couldn't remember what the workers had told me in regards to directions.

I ventured a guess, and walked down the hallway for a while. I came out in the waiting room, and sat in there with a group of others that included several children too small to ride and those watching over them. I think I was the only one that was too fat to ride.

I wish I hadn't let myself go when the pandemic hit, and gained back all the weight I'd lost. There's something so demeaning about being told you're too fat to fit on a ride that most people fit in just fine. Worse yet, it's not the first time.

I guess today is a new day, and I need to get back to my healthy, carb-free ways that lost that 75 pounds last time. I did it before, and I need to do it again.

I don't even know what the ride was like to describe it to you...but after a quick YouTube search, I found that it is another story ride that flies you around Hogwart's Castle, and has you do battle with a dragon that appears by way of 3D screens.

I wasn't all that upset. At this point, I'd seen an awful lot of those kinds of rides. I was much more interested in the castle and the village beside it, so I was glad to go and explore.

We decided to use it to get in line for the Flight of the Hippogriff ride, The line went past a replica of Hagrid's hut.

It was a simple little ride, basically a roller coaster for kids. But not just for kids, so I was able to fit in it. When we were done it was time to go and explore the Hogsmeade village.

The place is awesome. I couldn't believe how great it looked.

It was too early to eat at The Three Broomsticks, so we just took pictures. We did go to the stand where they were selling butterbeer however. They had both frozen and regular butterbeer here, so we got one of each and tried them out. They were very tasty. I found that I preferred the regular butterbeer myself. Too bad that they were so expensive, or I would buy a ton and just chug and chug.

Later, we tried the third kind of butterbeer: hot. The hot butterbeer was similar to hot cocoa with a butterscotch flavor to it, and the same butterbeer foam that they put on top of all three varieties. That was good as well, but it came in second for me. Regular, hot, and frozen, that's my rankings.

My son got himself a wand. Throughout the Wizarding World sections of both parks there are places you can go and wave your wand to cast magic spells, and he wanted to participate.

It took a little getting used to. The sensors were sometimes hard to find, and a lot of people would stand in front of the spell-casting spot for minutes on end trying to get it to work.

We went to Honeydukes sweet shop, where my son found the chocolate frog that he wanted to buy. We got the souvenir version, that came in a tin and included wizard collecting cards. My son was excited to get the four founders of Hogwarts as well as Albus Dumbledore, though I assume they all come with the same cards.

We had to experience it all, so we even went in the bathroom where Moaning Myrtle was whining away...that was a necessity, though, not just because we wanted to see it.

My wife checked her app, and saw that the line for Hagrid's motorbike ride had shrunk significantly, so we hurried over and got in it. This ride's line went past the back side of Hagrid's hut.

This ride was safe for me, because there was no over the shoulder bar to hold you in like the Hogwarts ride. So I didn't have to worry about getting kicked off. It was a really good ride, too. Sadly, it was the newest ride in the park, and the line was always immense, so it was the first and last time we rode it.

Now that we'd seen most everything they had to offer on the Hogsmeade side of the Wizarding World, it was time to take the Hogwarts Express to the other park, where we could see Diagon Alley, and the London side of the Wizarding World.

The train station was pretty cool, but there wasn't anything particularly special about it. After all, it was the Hogsmeade station not King's Cross Station where Platform 9 3/4 is. We wouldn't see that until the other end of the trip.

We would see it a lot, though. The Hogwarts Express turned out to be my son's favorite thing of all, and he wanted to take it back and forth each and every day. We went from Hogsmeade to King's Cross three times, and once more from King's Cross to Hogsmeade.

We got lucky this time with the crowds, because the line to get to the train wasn't as long as the one's we would encounter later on. They got a lot worse in later trips, and made it seem like there should be an amazing roller coaster at the end of the line, instead of a simple train ride to the other park. The monorail never had lines like this.

Anyway, in no time, we were up at the front, and that iconic red train came rolling into the station.

The Hogwarts Express is a means of transportation between parks, but it's not just that. It's a ride experience as well. They put you into compartments like they have in the movie, and the windows are covered by monitors...that look like windows.

When you pull out of the station, you see people and scenes from the movie. It really feels like you are chugging your way to London. On the other side, the frosted glass windows are also somehow screens. The mechanism wasn't as obvious with those. There you see silhouettes of people passing by. At one point, Harry, Ron, and Hermione come past and consider entering our compartment before they realize it's full and move on.

Some folks that we were riding with told us that it was crucial to ride the train in both directions, because you got different stuff depending on the direction you went. We made a mental note to do just that. Luckily, we had plenty of time to do so during our three days at Universal.

King's Cross Station was cool. You exit onto platform 9 3/4. and they have stuff like luggage carts with owl cages on top of them.

Just outside, we found the phone booth Mr. Weasley and Harry used to enter the Ministry of Magic in the movies. When you dial 62442 (which spells MAGIC on a phone's keypad) a recording from the Ministry of Magic tells you that the visitor's entrance is closed.

My son really dug the process, and went in and dialed the number again every time we passed the phone booth for the next three days.

Right across the street from the phone booth was the Knight Bus. You could hang out and talk with the driver as well as the shrunken head that appears in the movie. You can see it hanging in the window at the side of the photo. They have somebody supplying the voice of the shrunken head somewhere, probably inside the bus in a darkened room where you can't see him is my guess.

Back across the street is the replica of number 12 Grimmauld Place, where Harry's Godfather, Sirius Black lived.

Now it was time to go to the main event here in London: Diagon Alley.

I know it looks like a matte painting, but it's real. It's just the sunlight that makes it look so weird like that...and the architecture too. There's tons of buildings that are just a little bit off, leaning one way or another.

They had all of the places mentioned in the book, like the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes joke shop, where my son decided later to spend the last of his money on a Decoy Detonator.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, where we took a special trip on the Hogwarts Express just so we could have a cone.

The Quidditch Supply shop, where you could get a look at a Firebolt, but I noticed a sharp lack of Chudley Cannons gear. I was disappointed to be unable to show my support for my favorite quidditch side.

Flourish & Blotts, the bookshop where you can see the Monster Book of Monsters from the movie.

And there was Gringotts Bank, with the giant dragon from the movie perched on top of it.

Every now and then, the dragon would blow a gust of fire out of its mouth, and we were in Diagon Alley long enough and often enough that I was able to catch it with both my still camera...

And with my video camera...

Gringotts Bank was where the line started for the Escape from Gringotts ride. The line for that ride was pretty cool. We went through the lobby of the bank, which was done up exactly like it was in the movie, with those huge chandeliers.

They even included animatronic goblins manning each desk.

I also really like the Daily Prophet newspapers that were left on a table further along the line.

There's something really cool about the photos moving. Of course, it's a super easy effect to pull off, but I still thought it was neat.

Another thing they have is Knockturn Alley, the area where the dark wizards went to get their evil wares. We went in and had a look around at Borgin and Burkes. They had skulls and potions and T-shirts and so on. You know, the usual evil merchandise.

Just outside the shop, one of the places you could use your want to cast a magic spell was at this window filled with shrunken heads. When you waved your wand right, they sang a song for you.

We didn't eat at The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, but we had to have a Harry Potter meal at least once, so we went to The Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley.

They served traditional British fare like bangers and mash, toad in the hole, fish and chips, Scotch eggs, and chodes in a blanket. We each picked something that sounded tolerable, got some butterbeer to go with it, and my wife ordered a sticky toffee pudding. Oh, we also got two of the most sour lemonades I've ever experienced. I was so thirsty that I drank them anyways, even though it was a struggle.

It was pretty expensive, as you might expect of food at an amusement park, but you only live once. I don't expect we'll be back here for many years, if at all, so it was fun to have the experience.

That was the extent of our Harry Potter adventure. We never did eat at the other restaurant, The Three Broomsticks, but I believe they are both pretty similar.

This is not to say that we were done with Harry Potter by lunch time on the first day. We went back again and again to the various places in the Wizarding World.

We took loads of pictures, rode some of the rides twice (especially the train, which we rode four times).

There is other stuff in Universal, though. I'm going to end this post now, but I'll do one more to talk about the other things at Universal Studios. See you then. Good journey.

Trip Of A Lifetime

The one vacation that every kid should get to do at least once in their lifetime is taking a trip to a Disney amusement park. Some people are lucky enough to live right there in town, and can buy an annual pass and frequent the park as often as they like. Most people, however, only get one or two chances in their childhood.

That's when it's important, during childhood. Disneyland and Disneyworld are mostly aimed at kids, and kids definitely get the most out of it. You have to do it while they're still young enough to still believe in the magic somewhat, when something like a ride spinning in tea cups is something to be sought after instead scorned with a bored, "whatever."

My son just recently turned ten, so we're running out of time. All my other kids have had the chance already, but he still hasn't had that trip of a lifetime yet.

My wife checks every now and then for deals that would make such a trip affordable enough for riffraff like us, and just after Christmas time she found it. I rushed to get my vacation in at work, she did the same, and before we knew it, we were on a plane to Orlando for a week of adventure...and sore feet.

There's four parks at Disneyworld, and we had three-day passes, so we would be able to visit three of them. Day one was in the Magic Kingdom.

It was a pretty typical Disney experience. We rode all the most famous rides, like the teacups and the small world ride.

We struggled with crowds, wasted way too much money on food (how do they live with themselves charging that much?), and waited in lines forever and ever, amen.

When we started the day, my son was a little leery of roller coasters. He wasn't too keen to get onto the Space Mountain train, but he had a fairly good time. Then later we went on Big Thunder Mountain, and he had an even better time. Then, we took advantage of the fact that everybody went to watch the fireworks to skip the line and even get two consecutive rides on the Snow White Mine Train, and he was loving it.

When we went back to Space Mountain for one last ride before leaving, he was leading the way and excited to get on that rocket to outer space.

The Magic Kingdom was fun, but we only got one day there, and Disneyworld had so much more to offer.

The next day was at the Animal Kingdom. It's a much less storied park, and it has much fewer attractions than at the Magic Kingdom. It's more or less a zoo crossed with a theme park.

It's iconic centerpiece is the Tree of Life in the center of the park.

It's really impressive. It's a tree that's the size of a skyscraper or something. When I first came in, I confused it with the Hometree from the Avatar movie.

That was because the other big draw from this park aside from the animals is the Avatar stuff. There's tons of it, and it looks absolutely amazing.

 I liked the Na'vi River ride, but wasn't much of a fan of the Flight of Passage ride. The ninety minute wait in line probably had a lot to do with that, though. The ride itself was fine, it just wasn't worth the interminable wait. Also, I'm just not much of a fan of the 3D motion simulator rides.

There were, of course, lots of animals here. From monkeys to giraffes to tigers.

You saw most of them by trekking through the various walking trails they had, or taking the safari bus ride, and we did both of those.

Their biggest ride, the Everest Experience was closed for repairs, so we didn't get to see what that one was like. The Tree of Life does some kind of performance every day at 6:30, but we missed that too because we were trapped in the endless line for the Flight of Passage. It looked like it was probably pretty cool though, judging from what the tree looked like when we finally did get out.

The last park we were able to experience during our three day trial was Hollywood Studios. I really liked this park. As a former film student, old Hollywood has a very enticing allure to me, and there were lots of old Hollywood building recreated here.

This was also the Star Wars park. Both Star Tours and Galaxy's Edge are located inside Hollywood Studios. We hit Star Tours first, because it was on the way to Galaxy's Edge. I loved the not-quite-life-size AT-AT outside the ride.

 And the Ewok village too...though it wasn't as impressive.

And Threepio talking to Artoo while we walked through the line.

Sadly, it started raining as we were in line for Star Tours, and continued to do so the whole day we were at this park. This was especially annoying, because we had Galaxy's Edge is located. We went there, but didn't get to enjoy it as much as we would have if we weren't getting soaked and feeling miserable the whole time.

 I found the cart where they sell the special soda bottles designed to look like they belong in the Star Wars universe, and decided to get them as my souvenirs.

 I drank the soda, though.

We went on both the rides in Galaxy's Edge. The Millennium Falcon one was alright, but nothing special (another 3D motion simulator. That was cool when Star Tours came out in the 80s, but that was a long time ago).

The Rise of the Resistance ride was much more impressive. It was interactive, and led you through several different scenarios.

Sadly, the ride broke down when we were one turn away from being finished. This was our view for about fifteen minutes as we waited for it to be repaired.

Then, they turned the lights on, and the sound went away, but still we sat.

 At last, they gave up trying to fix the ride, and someone came around with a key to let us out of our carts, and we finished that last turn on foot. And that was the end of our last night at a Disney park

We also did Universal Studios while we were there, but I'm going to do that in a separate post, so I'll see you soon to talk about that one. Thanks for reading Big Anklevich.

Skull Squad Recruit

I dropped my daughter off at school this morning, and I figured I would swing by the Walgreens that is on the way home...mostly just because I haven't gone to a Walgreens in probably about a year.

I didn't expect to find anything worthwhile, because...well, that's the main reason I stopped going to Walgreenses in the first place. They never had anything I wanted.

So, I made my way to the toys, and I was surprised to see some Fortnite figures on sale. Most Fortnite figures are not interesting to me all the same, though. I do like them on occasion, however, so I gave them a closer look, and I was surprised to find that one of them was a skull-faced skeleton king.

I grabbed it, and smiled at the opportunity to add another member to Skull Team Six. I think this actually makes the sixth member even.

I think this may actually be another version of Midas Rex, who is the figure that started me down this dangerous path. I usually don't go for the non-bone colored skeleton figures, but I guess you put it on sale, and I throw that right out the window.