The Pierce Family: A Magical Day

We got to Orlando a day early so that we could go to Harry Potter World at Universal. I'm so glad we did because it was an amazing day!

Our first roller coaster of the day - it was a doozy! We ended up riding it twice and regretting that we didn't have our hair in ponytails.

We both loved the Revenge of the Mummy ride so much that we went on that one twice as well.

Of course we loved all the Egyptian props and knickknacks in the gift shop.

Time for all things Harry Potter!

Sirius Black's home

King's Cross Station, where we later went through the brick wall to catch the Hogwarts train.

The Knight Bus!

We even got to talk to the Jamaican shrunken head!

Making a call to the Ministry of Magic!

And finally, Diagon Alley! We were blown away!

After the dragon roars, he blows fire!

We spent some time wandering through all the shops, checking out all the fun things. The details, down to the smallest thing, were simply amazing! Some of our favorites - Quality Quidditch Supplies;

the statue of the house elf;

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes -

A little love potion?

We couldn't come to Harry Potter World without sampling the Butterbeer!

Savannah got it frozen...

and I got the warm. We couldn't decide which one we liked better, they were both so tasty!

My friend Sommer had lent us her son's interactive Harry Potter wand so that we could go to certain spots in the park and do spells that actually work. I left it in the trunk of the car instead of taking it into the hotel so I wouldn't forget to bring it...and then we promptly forgot it in the trunk of the car. By the time we remembered, we were so far from the car that Savannah didn't want to go back and get it. After watching all the "wizards" doing spells throughout the park, we wished we had. I had to giggle when I saw these two motorcycle-riding looking dudes with beards, tats, and tank tops revealing their huge muscles walking around carrying their wands. Here at this cool fountain wizards could produce a spell that got water to splash out at passersby.

Flourish and Blott's where we saw Gilderoy Flockhart's books for sale;

Madam Malkin's -

Savannah tried on a robe...

and we admired Mrs. Weasley's knitted sweaters.

And since the wands at Ollivanders were $50 a piece, we just decided to admire them! Plus that place was packed!!

Next was Gringotts bank and the dragon.

We absolutely loved exploring Diagon Alley.

The details everywhere were superb!

We decided it was time to catch the train to Hogswart! Saying hello to Hedwig.

As you ride to Hogwarts, you look out the window and see scenes of London, Malfoy Mansion, Hagrid riding his motorcycle, different wizards, Hogwarts in the distance, and even the flying car. At one point a dementor is seen floating in the hall of the train. Once again, pure awesomeness!

We arrived in Hogsmeade! We wandered through, once again enjoying all the shops, sights, and details.

Time to check out the castle!

It did NOT disappoint!

We didn't ride the Flight of the Hippogriff but we did ride The Forbidden Journey which takes you through the castle. Although the scenes of inside the castle were cool, the ride totally made me sick and at one point I had to shut my eyes because I was afraid if I saw any more I was going to throw up.

Back into Hogsmeade...

A must see - Honeydukes!

I wish I could have bought one of everything in the store!

We decided to have lunch at The Three Broomsticks!

We loved it!

Those details...

the food was delicious...

and the atmosphere was perfect!

One last picture of Hogsmeade before we headed out to the rest of Universal.

Next we went to an area that looked almost Persian.

It was here that we had one of our most favorite memories of the whole trip!

This fountain was no ordinary fountain! When we first heard it talking, we thought it was just some automated thing. But then it started asking very specific questions to this Asian couple standing in front of it. Apparently they didn't speak English and were not responding to its questions. Next thing we know, the fountain shouts, "HELLO!!!" and then sprays them with water! It was hilarious! They were clearly upset, having no idea what was going on. A little boy had apparently seen it because after the Asian couple walked away, he ran right up to the fountain and said, "Spray me!" The fountain replied, "Okay." and then this huge stream of water hit that little boy square in the chest. Seriously, Savannah and I were dying!!!

The wait for Poseidon's Fury was only 15 minutes so we decided to head on in.

It looked cool on the outside but the wait ended up being closer to an hour and it was definitely not worth it.

A stroll through Dr. Seuss land.

A beautiful view of the park.

Next up were some Super Hero rides!

We saw a few people taking pictures with this guy on the street so, although we had no idea who he was, we decided to do it too. I handed my phone to the park attendant standing nearby and she captured our encounter with this somewhat scary guy whose intimidating voice completely caught me by surprise! Silly me, I thought the characters walking around didn't talk to you! I quickly started to second guess the whole picture thing. This first picture cracks me up - my look of shock and Savannah eyeing him with a smirk.

He quickly noticed my discomfort...

and leaned a little closer. Yikes!

I still don't know who he is but it makes for a funny memory.

The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman was one of our favorites! What a fun and funny ride!

Skull Island!

While waiting in line we had a few encounters with some natives hiding in the walls and peeking out at us. I was unaware of the one looking at me and then reaching his hand out for me until the lady in front of us screamed and ran. The park knows how to make waiting in line as entertaining as the ride!