OK... here it goes....
For me.... this was always a dream... but the Deja-vu part of it was... this day was not.
HUGE SPOILER FROM THE HP THEME PARK
Last Wednesday, I woke up to go to the Wizarding World. I peeked in here to see just who all had signed on within that 24 hour period. I didn't get a chance to post though... I had a question to ask you guys, but that is irrelevant now.
I hardly slept the night before. Not only that, still being under the weather, my tummy was not going to give me a break.
Things that I wish someone would have let us know before we went.... We tried to go into the Hogs Head... turns out that since there was such a HUGE crowd (that being an understatement) you were not allowed through the inner doors unless you had reservations. Who'd have thought? So I don't know from MY experience what it's like in there.
The weather was simply wonderful.. Nice warm breeze. Cool shade. But too many people there to the point that you could not take two steps forward without worry to step on someone. My hubby and I had to take turns waiting outside most places. My son's wheelchair could not get through most of this.
Something to note.. it's well worth purchasing a "fast pass." This is to get in front of the long lines. We did it for Disney and you get in front immediately. But the Wizarding World it works differently. You are given this ticket with several lines to be filled out. You take it to the person who ushers in the people for that particular ride or experience. They stamp the card and they foretell how long it takes for the line already there to go through, then anytime after that time you can come and get in front of the line as if you waited the whole time. You get right in. So, this will let you have the chance to spend that time going into one of the other shops, look around, buy a butterbeer etc instead of standing there the whole time. But I've noticed some things... I'll mention here in a minute.
The rides... well, we've all heard of them. There are three. I knew that two were roller coasters... If on any other day I would have rode on all of them.. problem is my tummy was telling me no just from the thought of it. So... I decided the one I can't leave without experiencing was the one in the castle. I was in for a surprise. I thought that was supposed to be a more low key ride. More like a tour of the castle. NOPE... Oh and for the record... We were still waiting for our time to be up to get into Ollivanders experience, so we had to wait in the long line for Hogwarts ride. They only allow one line to be on your card at a time. This was a good thing. What I am now mentioning, I noticed just where the fast pass line joined in on the long line at the Hogwarts line. I am not certain, but I think they joined right as we were about to get on the ride portion... I think they missed the sights seen during the walk in first part...
Spoiler JUST for the ride at Hogwarts At first after you finally get into the castle it's self, you see many of the things that we've seen pictured online... The Mirror of Erised... the statues mentioned in the books.... the Founders Portraits talk.. you see some of the classrooms... Dumbledore talks to the people welcoming them to Hogwarts, as he stands in his office. The trio do talk also as they stand on the landing to Lupin's office.
..... END SPOILER You are walking through the first part which is OK. Once you get onto the ride.. THIS is what I'd like to let people know about. There is a harness that goes over your shoulders to keep you from falling out of the seat. The car lifts your feet off the ground so they dangle... I nearly lost my flip flop. ;D The ride is fast pace and twists the chair left, right, tilts back far then all the way forward very fast like. It's like this for the rest of the ride. I DID keep my breakfast down thank goodness. I've never gotten sick on a ride before in my life and I LOVE these types of rides.. but then again, I normally am fully well if I go to any park. Still, all was well.
SPOILER FOR THE REST OF THE HOGWARTS RIDEIt's really COOL! You get to ride with Harry as if you were on your own broom... You get to see everything and experience everything from Quidditch, flying over London with the Order members from OOTP, the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, Chasing the Dragon in the GOF dragon challenge, The Spiders in the Forbidden Forest. Dementor's, and so much more.
.... END SPOILERAfter you get off the ride you are in a gift shop... My daughter bought a hand puppet of Norbert coming out of her eggshell. OH! They have the actual Marauders Map.. You HAVE to take a look at it... it's magic.
Well, we then went out to go to Ollivanders. You could simply go into the joining store, the Owlery to buy a wand. They are all 29.95 unless you want to purchase one that is exactly like one of the other characters from the books. But we went in to the Ollivander's experience.
SPOILER FOR OLLIVANDER'S EXPERIENCEThey took a group of about 15-20 of us in at a time. The line is outside. Then they tell us short people in front, tall in back. I joked with my daughter since she's taller than I am, that she has to stand behind me. We laughed and stood beside each other. Then when all was quiet, they closed the door. it was sort of dark... A guy comes out all in costume. He did his little bit in character, then selected only one person from the group... this happened to be my daughter. Here she is, one of these people scared to death to stand up at the chalkboard, she did well. She didn't freak. She did everything he asked of her. Think of Harry's experience in the first film. She was handed a wand and asked to point it and say the magic word... (just to let you find out on your own, I'll not say) but it ended up with the third wand she was handed, she had the light and the wind in her face just like Harry did. The wand maker said that her's is the Hawthorne wand with a Phoenix tail feather core.... Now for the rest of us, we were all ushered into the shop to pick out our own... the core is unknown to us. They said, "Only the wand maker knows what is inside each wand."
..... END SPOILER FOR OLLIVANDER'SWhile in the Owlery I bought some postcards. Throughout the park they have some of the actual items that were used in the movies. In the window of the sewing shop is Hermione's dress she wore to the Yule Ball. Across is Harry's suit. In the Owlry was the Monster Book of Monsters... or the Biting book. It is animated and in a case... Tap on the glass to make it move. I bought a smaller replica of that. And it works just like that, you have to stroke the spine to get it to calm down. Too bad, I would have loved to have JKR's version of what might have been written inside. Of course... that is a dream. ;D OH and back to the wands... I told them my birth month, as do most people. They give the same wand that coordinates with the Celtic calendar that JKR uses to tell you your wand. But you really could choose anything you like.
We crossed the street and went into Honeydukes... what kills me, I put in brand new batteries into my camera at the beginning of the trip. They ran down at the beginning of the Hogwarts ride. Here I finally learned how to get the images from my chip thingy that holds the pictures, so I can transfer over to my laptop..... then the batteries run down. I left the spare batteries at the hotel.
I wanted LOTS of pictures of Honeydukes.
Zonko's shop is attatched to Honeydukes. Honeydukes have everything from Pepper Imps, Pumpkin Juice, Bertie Bott's. The Chocolate Frogs are huge. I thought they would be small enough to fit into your hand. Actually, my daughter chose to get a Chocolate Frog, but still has yet to open it. It's solid chocolate and weighs 5.3 ounces. I bought two Blood Pops.. strawberry flavored. I'll post a pic later this week.. it's not like the one I already had given to me from a friend. I think that one would have been better than this one. This one looks more like a red lolly pop shaped like a Sugar Daddy. There were so many other things I wanted to buy... like the Extendible Ears at Zonko's, and home made chocolate fudge from Honeydukes.
Earlier from a vendor in the street, we purchased several different key chains and a pin of the snitch.
Butterbeer.... I held up my mug for you guys!
From the vendor at the beginning of the park, near the Hogwarts train.... I stood in line to get a couple of butterbeers. They have a choice.. you could get it in a bought mug (which is what I did) or in a plastic throw away cup. Another choice was to get it iced like an Icee (7 eleven slurpie) or regular cold with the froth on top... It does taste like extra sweet cream soda.
OH... YOU HAVE to go to the bathroom... if not to pee... just go wash your hands. IT'S A MUST. ;D
HUGE SPOILER FROM THE HP THEME PARK 
I wanted LOTS of pictures of Honeydukes. 
