Universal Studios and Diagon Alley

In the morning my family and I woke up at 5:30 am. Not bad right, that is 2:30 am in California. We were taking advantage of our early park opening for people staying in Universal hotels. We forced ourselves out of bed. We had a plentiful breakfast of one “ity bity” scone and yogurt.

I was afraid I would feel cold outside. As soon as I stepped outside, I was already sweating. We got on the hotel ferry. I highly recommend using the ferry. It is a beautiful ride and is faster than the bus. It was us and like two other families on the earliest ferry. Once we got to City Walk (a restaurant filled area outside of the parks) we walked to the gates of Universal Studios. We were first at our turnstile and waited for forty minutes and finally got let in.

Everyone rushed to the back, where (if you have not guessed yet) the Harry Potter themed area is. We passed through a San Francisco themed area and arrived in Kings Cross London. We followed the crowd behind a brick wall, which hid an opening into Diagon Alley. It was amazing! The shops were so real, everything made me feel as if I were actually in Harry Potter.

We quickly made our way to the ride “Escape from Gringotts”. There was pretty much no line, thanks early entry. This ride is a motion simulator ride. You pretty much get in a car and are rushed around while watching a screen that make you feel like you are in the adventure. I highly recommend this ride! We enjoyed ourselves in Diagon Alley afterwards. We went into Olivander’s Wand Shop. There were so many wands. We picked the ones we wanted, but decided we would purchase later so we didn’t have to deal with them on the rides. 

Next we exited Kings Cross and went to another ride. We went to a huge rollercoaster called Rip, Ride, Rock It! First the ride takes you straight up. Then takes you through a series of loops. I was really afraid of the straight up part. Dad and Alec convinced me to go. We waited in a small line (the park had just opened to the public). We got on our coaster. I sat next to Alec. My heart did a dance. You can choose your own music to play. I was flipping through the playlists. The car started to move, finally I found the song “I Will Survive”. What?!? I needed some reassuring. So we started to go straight up. I was freaking out in my head. Finally, we went down and went through the loops. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I recommend it to people who love rollercoasters!

Then we went on Minion Mania. It was another motion simulator ride. Adults, you might want to sit out this one. My Dad is a rollercoaster champ, but he was a little green after this ride. My super motion sick Mom? Yeah, she just closed her eyes. Then my Mom, Alec, and I went on MIB. I highly recommend it to all ages (except like kids who are not tall enough).

Then we went back to Diagon Alley and entered Olivander’s. We bought wands! I got Professor McGonagall’s wand and Alec got Narsissa Malfoy’s wand. We actually got interactive wands, which are like eight dollars more, but that is worth it. With the interactive wands you get a map that leads you around Diagon Alley, and if you go to Islands of Adventure, Hogsmeade. There are markers where you can do some “magic”. You go stand on the marker, wave your wand in a certain pattern (it is on the marker), and you should see some magic happen. Actually it is pretty cool for all ages. Despite the “dreadful” eight extra dollars, it is so worth it. Then we got BUTTERBEER! If you don’t want overwhelming sweetness, then get the frozen (and that’s coming from me, my mouth is filled with sweet teeth). Then an employee came up to us.

“There is a show starting soon that is taking place here”, she explained.

“Oh, so sorry, we will move out of the way”, my Dad apologized.

“Umm, thanks, actually I was wondering if you would like to be a volunteer”, the employee asked. My Dad agreed and was told all the instructions. Soon enough a sign was carried out on stage that read “Celestina Warbeck and the Singing Banshees”. Celestina Warbeck was a witch singing legend! I silently laughed in my head. Soon a lady with a beautiful dress walked out on stage with three girls wearing blue dresses. Celestina sang one song and then asked my Dad to come up on stage. He blushed and walked up. He wore a blue feather boa. The girls flirted with him (acting of course), he was a bright shade of red the whole time.

Then we went to Krusty’s Funland. If you haven’t guessed it is the Simpsons part of the park. It was yet another motion simulator. My parents both closed their eyes. If you have small children who are already anxious, they should not ride this ride (I sound like one of those signs, “also you cannot ride if you are pregnant, had recent surgery, blah, blah, blah). The poor ity bit girl in the seat behind us got off the ride with tears in her eyes and said in the most adorable queen’s English accent… “that ride was not lovely!” That is our tagline for the rest of the trip. Anyway, I thought it was hilarious.

We decided to get lunch. We can to a sushi-ish restaurant called the “Cowfish”. I read the kids menu (9 and over, oh well, I am almost three years over). I was in heaven! They had PB&J SUSHI ROLLS! I got two helpings of edamame. Then we went back outside. BOOM! It was a thunder storm. They had closed down the ferry system. We ran to the bus stop. Finally, a bus arrived and we rode back to our hotel. I was “mega bummed” because I really wanted to go in their pool. We got back to the hotel and it was pouring. Mom and Dad napped while I had to blog.

After their “years” of napping they woke up. Dad, Alec, and I went to check on the pool. It was not open. We went back to the park. We walked a whole useless circle around the park. Then we came back to Diagon Alley did some more magic and got more butter beer. We got back on the ferry and ordered pizza from Flippers that deliver to the hotels. We had yummy pizza for dinner and chilled out. Tomorrow we are going to Islands of Adventure.