"It's Because This Wand CHOSE Me!" Sept 2017 TR *COMPLETE* 3/1 x2

First off, I can't believe Paxton was tall enough to ride Forbidden Journey. He's growing up so fast! I'm happy he loved it, too. That ride can be intense. I'm sure it was really fun going through the queue and attraction with him, seeing as you guys just finished reading the series. I'm sure he spotted stuff he might have missed or not understood before.

That raptor encounter sounds awesome. I love your reaction in the photos. You look genuinely nervous, which speaks highly to the creators of the attraction.

You guys got a lot accomplished that morning! And that's pretty awesome that you were able to upgrade to season passholders for just ten dollars. Can't complain about that!
 
I love reading your TRs!

I would have to have some time at WDW like you guys! Can't go to Orlando without it!!!
 
First off, I can't believe Paxton was tall enough to ride Forbidden Journey. He's growing up so fast! I'm happy he loved it, too. That ride can be intense. I'm sure it was really fun going through the queue and attraction with him, seeing as you guys just finished reading the series. I'm sure he spotted stuff he might have missed or not understood before.

That raptor encounter sounds awesome. I love your reaction in the photos. You look genuinely nervous, which speaks highly to the creators of the attraction.

You guys got a lot accomplished that morning! And that's pretty awesome that you were able to upgrade to season passholders for just ten dollars. Can't complain about that!

He has definitely grown leaps and bounds! We were so excited that he hit the 48" mark just before the trip because that opened up several more ride options for him this time. He got a lot more enjoyment out of the queue, and the HP areas in general, now that we have finished all of the books and he can relate everything he sees to something in the books! This was the perfect time to take him, when he is deep in his love and understanding of Harry Potter!

Certainly can't complain about a $10 upgrade to 3 APs! And now we are keeping our fingers crossed that we can do this same type of trip again next September before they expire. I was hoping for a time he would be out of school and was all ready to book Mardi Gras week when I remembered my parents would be out of town and unable to watch DD for us.

I love reading your TRs!

I would have to have some time at WDW like you guys! Can't go to Orlando without it!!!

Thanks so much!! Glad you enjoy following along.

Yes, it was way too hard to be RIGHT THERE while the Halloween party was happening and not hop over to MK to experience it! It's our favorite event in WDW!
 
Day 2 Continued: Wednesday September 20th

We started the walk across City Walk towards Universal Studios, but decided we needed a break and a snack, so we headed into Toothsome Chocolate Emporium!


Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING!) in their dessert cases looks amazing, but we decided to order one of their enormous milkshakes to share. We discussed our options a bit, and ended up choosing the Brownie Milkshake – Dutch chocolate ice cream, milk chocolate swirl, with a brownie on top.

It was 2:30 when we got in there, and there weren’t many people waiting at all. DS and I were able to grab a table by the window while DH was ordering.


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Ooh, that’s a good pic of my Gryffindor nails!


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Needless to say, that sucker was delicious and we absolutely devoured it!


We peeked inside the restaurant on our way to use their restrooms.

Feeling refreshed and full, we continued on our way across City Walk over to Universal Studios. We got into the park at about 2:40 and went straight to Minion Mayhem.

Next we went over to do something totally new for all of us since our last trip, Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. This ride uses a virtual queue system, so there is no standby line. You either choose a time on the app or at a nearby kiosk, or do what we did and use the express line which basically doesn’t actually save you any time inside the building, it just means you can go anytime instead of having to pick a return window.

As you enter, they had you a colored tag and everyone hangs out in the first room until the floor changes to the color on your tag, and then you move to the next room.

The second holding room is full of memorabilia from the show and its previous hosts.

Then you go upstairs to the final room. It’s full of couches, and coffee tables with game screens in them. They also have the Ragtime Gals that come out occasionally and perform while you’re waiting for your color to be called in to go ride. They have screens up around the room showing clips from the show. While we were waiting, DS managed to grab one of the game tables and started playing a matching game when Hashtag the Panda came out and ended up playing with him.



That was a really fun moment, but overall it was a LONG wait for that attraction. It probably felt even longer because we had been walking right on to everything else with EP. Finally, our color was called and we went into the last room where we watched Tariq rap the safety instructions. Then we went into the theater and the ride began! It was a pretty standard 3D ride simulator like Universal has become known for, but DS really enjoyed it. There is a part where pizza slices come flying out at you that he thought was absolutely hilarious, and there’s another scene where Hashtag the Panda is on top of the Empire State Building a la King Kong, and DS ended up drawing a picture of that scene when he went back to school the next week.

After Jimmy Fallon, we went to ride another family favorite, Transformers.

Continued in next post...
 
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Day 2 Continued: Wednesday September 20th
It was 4:35 when we finished Transformers, and there was a 4:45 Horror Makeup Show, so we crossed over to see that.


Always enjoy seeing the props in the lobby.


Well, except for this guy…

No thanks!


I had missed DS getting called out during the show last trip, so we sat in the front hoping it may happen again this time, but the kid on the other side of me was picked for that part instead. It was still fun to see the show. Very campy and silly.

Once the show was over, we made our way towards Kid Zone which takes you through the Trick r Treat scare zone.


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Waiting for me to come out of the restroom, I’m sure

Up first, we did another favorite, E.T. Adventure! I wish I could bottle up the scent inside this queue and bring it home with me! I love it!!


Next we did the Woody Woodpecker Nuthouse Coaster at DS’s request.

He asked for a little time to play in Fievel’s Playland after, so DH and I sat in the shade while he did that. He even went down the water slide.

Next we went over to Springfield because DS really wanted to ride The Simpsons Ride. I’m usually happy to sit this one out when we have DD with us because it’s always messed with my stomach really bad, but I thought maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as I remembered, so I agreed to ride with them.


It was just as horrible as I remembered!! I don’t know why this ride messes with my stomach so badly when I can tolerate the other motion simulators in the parks just fine as long as I take my Dramamine. I won’t be making that mistake again!


DS had been asking over and over again for a hot dog for dinner, and we saw Monsters Café had them on the menu, so we were going to stop and get him one on the way out. But as we came out of the ride, DH spotted a hot dog cart selling footlongs, so we stopped to get him one. It was so huge, I didn’t think there was any way he could finish it himself!

But he did!

After he finished eating, we headed out of the park as it was near closing time.


Since DS had eaten his hot dog, and didn’t love the pizza at Red Oven Pizza Bakery like we do, DH and I decided it would be the perfect night to eat there for dinner.

Although he doesn’t love the wood fired pizzas there, DS did enjoy watching them prepared the dough.


DH and I shared a margherita pizza that was just as delicious as I remembered it being, and then we took a water taxi back to the resort. The boat captain was awesome as they had already closed the ropes and he had done his count of people on board, but when he saw us walking up and saw there were still empty seats on the boat, he let us on!

We took our showers and spent a few minutes organizing our candy from the night before. This was what we had left after eating all night long at the party and having a few pieces that morning, before we organized everything and got rid of some of the stuff we knew we wouldn’t eat.


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It was an early and relaxing evening in the room as we got ready for bed and went to sleep at a decent time. We were preparing for a very early morning as it would be our first early entry of the trip!

UP NEXT: Early Entry
 
Toothsome Chocolate Factory is awesome. I'm impressed you three were able to knock out that chocolate shake! When I went with my in-laws and the kids we couldn't finish one.

That does sound like a long wait for the Jimmy Fallon ride. I guess it's a plus that there was so much do in the queues, but you'd think there'd be more to the attraction after making you go through so many rooms to get to the actual ride.

Wow, knocking out an entire footlong by himself...you're going to have fun grocery bills when he's a teenager. :rotfl2:

Pizza and candy from MNSSHP, I like the way you guys think!:rotfl:
 



Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING!) in their dessert cases looks amazing, but we decided to order one of their enormous milkshakes to share. We discussed our options a bit, and ended up choosing the Brownie Milkshake – Dutch chocolate ice cream, milk chocolate swirl, with a brownie on top.

Yum! Everything in that case looks delicious!!

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Wow! It's a work of art! And looks so good!

Next we went over to do something totally new for all of us since our last trip, Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. This ride uses a virtual queue system, so there is no standby line. You either choose a time on the app or at a nearby kiosk, or do what we did and use the express line which basically doesn’t actually save you any time inside the building, it just means you can go anytime instead of having to pick a return window.

As you enter, they had you a colored tag and everyone hangs out in the first room until the floor changes to the color on your tag, and then you move to the next room.

That's kind of a cool system! Too bad it didn't save you any time though.


What a cool moment!!

It was just as horrible as I remembered!! I don’t know why this ride messes with my stomach so badly when I can tolerate the other motion simulators in the parks just fine as long as I take my Dramamine. I won’t be making that mistake again!

Uggh there's something about the Simpsons ride that's just the worst for this! I don't ride any of them anymore, but I remember this one really knocking me on my butt.
 
Needless to say, that sucker was delicious and we absolutely devoured it!
::yes:: Looks amazing. I've heard great things about this place, but that is the first time I've seen one of those milkshakes.

That was a really fun moment, but overall it was a LONG wait for that attraction. It probably felt even longer because we had been walking right on to everything else with EP. Finally, our color was called and we went into the last room where we watched Tariq rap the safety instructions. Then we went into the theater and the ride began! It was a pretty standard 3D ride simulator like Universal has become known for, but DS really enjoyed it. There is a part where pizza slices come flying out at you that he thought was absolutely hilarious, and there’s another scene where Hashtag the Panda is on top of the Empire State Building a la King Kong, and DS ended up drawing a picture of that scene when he went back to school the next week.
I appreciated the pictures. This is the first, most detailed look I've ever seen about this attraction. It's just not something I'm excited about. Not a Jimmy Fallon fan. Not a 3D attraction fan. Wish it was something different and more impressive. I actually kind of liked Twister.:rotfl2: I probably shouldn't be that way before I give it a chance though.

Always enjoy seeing the props in the lobby.

Well, except for this guy…
:rotfl2::rotfl::lmao:

It was just as horrible as I remembered!! I don’t know why this ride messes with my stomach so badly when I can tolerate the other motion simulators in the parks just fine as long as I take my Dramamine. I won’t be making that mistake again!
I don't think they upgraded the technology when they changed it from Back to the Future, did they? I mean, it feels like it is still a fairly rough ride. I don't think the motion in this one is nearly as smooth as something with newer technology like Star Tours. It all messes with me to some degree, but I'd agree that Simpsons is a little worse than some.

But he did!
Awesome! You never mind getting the kids what they want as long as they eat it all. If he'd taken one bite and said he was done... that would be another story!

We took our showers and spent a few minutes organizing our candy from the night before. This was what we had left after eating all night long at the party and having a few pieces that morning, before we organized everything and got rid of some of the stuff we knew we wouldn’t eat.
That's a nice candy stash. I'm not sure the M&M's and Starburst would last very long if I were there.
 
Very cool so far.

Interesting with your experience at Jimmy Fallon. We did have FotL, but we got a return pass. We didn't wait in either of the first two rooms, and only waited about 10 minutes in with the "Ragtime Gals", which were on-stage the whole time we were in there. It was a pretty short wait overall. However, I didn't think much of the ride, but find that I am one of those that gets tired of the simulator rides. I would do it again, but only once per trip. Thinking that the first day we get there maybe it's a good choice as we won't have FotL as we arrive late-afternoon and I'm not paying $450 a night when we are arriving so late.
 
Oh, BTW (missed this in my first post) - DW is a chocolate fiend and is insisting we go to that chocolate place when we are there in February. Do you know, is it worth eating a full meal there - or is it all about the dessert? I definitely want to check out the ET ride and the Horror Make-up show as those are two things we didn't see our first trip.
 
Oh, BTW (missed this in my first post) - DW is a chocolate fiend and is insisting we go to that chocolate place when we are there in February. Do you know, is it worth eating a full meal there - or is it all about the dessert? I definitely want to check out the ET ride and the Horror Make-up show as those are two things we didn't see our first trip.
We had lunch there, and I thought the food was good. I had the Chicken Bourguignon, and it was a nice, tasty square meal for the price of a burger. My son had the Tour de France burger and said it was also good. My daughter had the kids' Chicken with Rice, and it was a great value. I could have ordered it and been happy. I also had their chocolate stout, and the kids of course had shakes. We really enjoyed our meal there.
 
I'm still reading along!

Thanks for keeping up with me!

Toothsome Chocolate Factory is awesome. I'm impressed you three were able to knock out that chocolate shake! When I went with my in-laws and the kids we couldn't finish one.

That does sound like a long wait for the Jimmy Fallon ride. I guess it's a plus that there was so much do in the queues, but you'd think there'd be more to the attraction after making you go through so many rooms to get to the actual ride.

Wow, knocking out an entire footlong by himself...you're going to have fun grocery bills when he's a teenager. :rotfl2:

Pizza and candy from MNSSHP, I like the way you guys think!:rotfl:

We all have a serious case of sweet-tooth! I couldn't have ever finished one by myself (DH and I were each planning to get one and share with DS) so getting one for the three of us to share was perfect and hit the spot.

I agree, I expected a bit better of a ride and the stuff in the queue wasn't all that interesting since we are not fans of watching the show regularly.

What could be better?!

Yum! Everything in that case looks delicious!!

Everything in there looks and smells delicious. It was hard not to go a little crazy in there.

Wow! It's a work of art! And looks so good!

I had read reports that they were prettier than they tasted, but we did not have that experience, so I was very pleased we gave it a try.

That's kind of a cool system! Too bad it didn't save you any time though.

In theory it sounds great. I think maybe we just hit it at bad times.

What a cool moment!!

He loved it! But he barely acknowledged it at first because he was so competitive!! lol But after he couldn't stop talking about how cool it was to play the game with Hashtag

Uggh there's something about the Simpsons ride that's just the worst for this! I don't ride any of them anymore, but I remember this one really knocking me on my butt.

I knew in the back of my mind I shouldn't do it, but I convinced myself it wouldn't be as bad as I remembered. I was dead wrong!!

::yes:: Looks amazing. I've heard great things about this place, but that is the first time I've seen one of those milkshakes.

They are all so pretty!! I kind of wanted the one with a full cupcake on top, but had to defer to what the boys wanted. lol

I appreciated the pictures. This is the first, most detailed look I've ever seen about this attraction. It's just not something I'm excited about. Not a Jimmy Fallon fan. Not a 3D attraction fan. Wish it was something different and more impressive. I actually kind of liked Twister.:rotfl2: I probably shouldn't be that way before I give it a chance though.

It wasn't anything we were excited to do either. Since we had so much time, we wanted to try it though, and I'm glad we did even if we did wait awhile.

I don't think they upgraded the technology when they changed it from Back to the Future, did they? I mean, it feels like it is still a fairly rough ride. I don't think the motion in this one is nearly as smooth as something with newer technology like Star Tours. It all messes with me to some degree, but I'd agree that Simpsons is a little worse than some.

I don't ever remember Back to the Future making me so sick, and I think you're right, the technology didn't change. For me, I think it might be the animation and the smells. The baby powder smell nearly does me in every time.

Awesome! You never mind getting the kids what they want as long as they eat it all. If he'd taken one bite and said he was done... that would be another story!

It was an expensive foot long, so I was both happy and impressed that he ate the whole thing!!

That's a nice candy stash. I'm not sure the M&M's and Starburst would last very long if I were there.

The M&Ms were the first casualty. lol Followed by the Twix and Dove bars because I can't control myself around either of those.

Toothsome looks divine!

There are so many things I wanted to try there! Definitely lots of reasons to go back.

Very cool so far.

Interesting with your experience at Jimmy Fallon. We did have FotL, but we got a return pass. We didn't wait in either of the first two rooms, and only waited about 10 minutes in with the "Ragtime Gals", which were on-stage the whole time we were in there. It was a pretty short wait overall. However, I didn't think much of the ride, but find that I am one of those that gets tired of the simulator rides. I would do it again, but only once per trip. Thinking that the first day we get there maybe it's a good choice as we won't have FotL as we arrive late-afternoon and I'm not paying $450 a night when we are arriving so late.

Maybe we just had extremely bad luck! If I had only waited 10 minutes, I likely would have enjoyed the ride a lot more. Definitely only a once-per-trip (or every few trips if we were short on Universal time) for us now.

This was my first visit to your thread. Your pictures are awesome!

Welcome along!! And thank you so much. My DH really does his best to document the trip in photos for us.

Oh, BTW (missed this in my first post) - DW is a chocolate fiend and is insisting we go to that chocolate place when we are there in February. Do you know, is it worth eating a full meal there - or is it all about the dessert? I definitely want to check out the ET ride and the Horror Make-up show as those are two things we didn't see our first trip.

What I have heard (especially on the DIS) is that the food is really great. We didn't experience it ourselves, but it seems to get good reviews for both the food and the desserts.

We had lunch there, and I thought the food was good. I had the Chicken Bourguignon, and it was a nice, tasty square meal for the price of a burger. My son had the Tour de France burger and said it was also good. My daughter had the kids' Chicken with Rice, and it was a great value. I could have ordered it and been happy. I also had their chocolate stout, and the kids of course had shakes. We really enjoyed our meal there.

That all sounds really good! A full meal might be something we need to think about for the next trip.
 
Day 3: Thursday September 21st

After a fairly early night the day before, we were up bright and early at 6 am so we could make it to early entry at 7 am. We got dressed and ready quickly, and took our breakfast to go before heading down to the water taxi launch.

This morning was our first of many boat rides with Captain Brad! We just loved him! He told us his Jokes of the Day and even sang us a song that went to the tune of I Love You from Barney: “We love you, you love us. We’re more fun than the bus! If you like our hospitality…marry one of us and you get in free!”

We made it to City Walk at 6:30 am and walked over to the Universal Studios gates.


There were a few other families over by the gates milling around and waiting for the park to open for the 7 am early entry. A TM walked over to load the maps up into the slots on the ticket scanners at the turnstiles and she was completely clueless! She started telling us we were all there too early. Even after we said we were there for early entry, she said that since the park opened at 9 am, early entry wouldn’t be until 8 am. Another mom and I kept telling her she should go ask someone else because she didn’t seem to have the right info. Even when I picked up a map and showed her that it said the park was opening at 8 am, hence early entry at 7 am, she told me, “Oh they just printed that on there, but it definitely opens at 9.” She wasn’t being rude or ugly about it, I think she REALLY thought she was helping us! Thank goodness we knew better as someone else less experienced may not have known how wrong she was. Eventually more TMs came around and the other mom near me that had been arguing with the first TM went and told someone they should stop letting that lady walk around confusing people and giving the wrong information!

Of course, we were all correct and the TM was wrong, and the park indeed opened a little before 7 am for those of us with access to early entry.

We walked down the empty streets towards Diagon Alley!

What else could our first stop be?

For some reason, of all the new things DS was trying this trip, this one had him the most scared. He was in tears by the time we got up to the loading platform, and the TM even asked me if he was going to be okay. If you read my Disneyland TR, you may remember this happening the first time he rode the Matterhorn and he ended up loving it and asking to ride over and over for the rest of the trip. Some rides make him really nervous, but I only push for him to try thing I know he will end up liking.

He was gripping our hands extremely tight as the ride took off, but halfway through he had let go and was somewhat enjoying himself. He gave it a thumbs down when it was done. Lol I think because of the drop at the beginning. He wasn’t afraid of the ride itself, but it definitely wasn’t a favorite like Forbidden Journey was.

Next we went over to visit Ollivanders! One of the things DS wanted to buy with his birthday money was an interactive wand so we figured what better way than to go through Ollivanders at Diagon Alley to purchase one?

We spent a LONG time in the shop looking for just the right wand. He was very selective of what style and whose wand he wanted to buy. There are just boxes and boxes on top of boxes on the shelves of that store, and we went through SO. MANY. Before he decided on Ron’s wand. By the time he had decided and DH went to get in line to purchase, it had grown enormously. I took DS out of the shop because it was too crowded, and I happened to ask one of the TMs if there was anywhere else to get an interactive wand in Diagon Alley. He directed me around the corner across from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes to Wands by Gregorovitch. It was just a small storefront that you weren’t even allowed to go into and look around. I had to tell the TM what I was looking for and he got one down for me. And there was literally NO ONE there when we showed up. By the time I pulled my phone out to let DH know he could bail on Ollivanders, we already had our purchased wand in hand!


Each interactive wand comes with a map to show you where all of the magic stops are, and we were having trouble figuring it out and getting ourselves oriented, but a TM saw us and happily came over to help us out. We went over to the blacksmith shop where she told us there were two magic spots.

There is definitely a learning curve to this. First thing we missed is that on the little gold plates where you stand to do the magic, there is a movement depicted in arrows to show you what movement to do to make the spell work. Yeah, we totally missed that for the first several spots and were just waving the wand around all crazy! Lol We probably looked like total chumps to people who actually knew what they were doing. And you also have to look around for the sensor so that you have your wand in the right direction and at the right level. Also, even once we figured out the movements, we were doing them too big at first. They have to be pretty small.

Even though we hadn’t learned all of these tips yet, he did get Aguamenti to work a couple times on sheer luck.



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We found DS’s old friend, “that throwin’ up boy.” When I pointed it out, he was like, “It’s actually a GIRL, mom.” I had to remind him that was the name he had given it on his first trip to Universal at 3 years old.

I think it was over by the umbrella magic spot near the restrooms where I saw a kid do a particular movement and looked down at the gold plate in the ground to come to the realization that us just waving it around willy nilly wasn’t what we were supposed to be doing. So DS tried it out and it worked!

Continued in next post...
 
Day 3 Continued: Thursday September 21st

Next we headed down to Knockturn Alley to check out the spots there.


There is a little “extra” magic spot that doesn’t need a wand. If you start moving in front of the picture of the monkey skeleton, it will start copying your movements for a little while. DS loved that and even decided to make it dab.


By the time we had done some magic, it was nearly 9 am and time for the first Beedle the Bard show of the day, so we went over to grab a seat and watch.

First up we were going to hear the story The Fountain of Fair Fortune. We were really hoping for the Tale of the 3 Brothers, but we stuck around for Fair Fortune anyway and it is quite good.

Then we went over to ride another favorite of ours, Men In Black Alien Attack! We ended up doing it twice in a row.

One of the things we had done some research on prior to the trip was the Universal Orlando Annual Passholder (UOAP) refillable mug. It was similar to the Coke Freestyle cups anyone can buy except that it was a specific design for UOAP and the reactivation and refill fees were at a discount for being an AP holder. I had made note of a few places people had reported being able to find them because apparently if you went certain places, the people working there might have no idea what you were talking about. These cups and any Freestyle cups can be bought and activated for the day and includes free refills from the Coke Freestyle machines and from the carts of soda and Icees! For a discounted reactivation fee of $7 each day we could get another day of refills. We only ended up using it for Coke or water a couple of times, but we went to TOWN on Icees during the trip! So we had not really thought about it on our first park day, but today we were on the hunt, and that was our next mission after finishing at Men In Black.

On the way to hunt for our UOAP cup, we ended up stopping to get the second thing we had decided on getting before the trip, the souvenir refillable popcorn bucket. It’s maybe $8 for it initially, and then $1.70 refills anytime.

While snacking on our popcorn, we walked up towards the front of the park because I had read Monsters Café had them. We passed Puss in Boots coming out for a meet and greet, and saw him get distracted by the rope.


However, we were mistakenly trying to look inside of the restaurant, and since it was only 10 am, they weren’t open. So to kill some time, we decided to give Jimmy Fallon another chance since it was still pretty early, so we thought the wait wouldn’t be long and Monsters Café didn’t open until 10:30.

This time, we didn’t have to wait in either of the first two holding areas, they told us we could head upstairs to the last room whenever we wanted, so we went straight up, thinking we’d be on and off in no time. WRONG. It took almost an hour from the time we entered until we had ridden and gotten off! DH and I debated bailing on it, but it was one of those things where we had already invested so much time, we were too stubborn to leave without riding at that point. DS enjoyed it again, but we all decided it was way too much of a time suck and that was our last time on it for the trip.

To top it all off, that had been our “time waster” until 10:30 when the Monsters Café restaurant opened, and as we were headed over there, DH spotted the cups at the Monsters Café drink stand outside of the restaurant that had been open all morning! So that detour to Jimmy Fallon had been totally unnecessary anyway. Oh well. We found our cup, bought and activated it, and had our first Coke Icee! DS wasn’t a fan of the Coke Icee and said he wanted a strawberry one, so we said we’d be on the lookout for one for him.


Then it was time for DS’s first ride on Revenge of the Mummy! I absolutely LOVE this ride and was so excited he was willing to ride it with me! We had watched a lot of ride videos before taking this trip to help him prepare, and he was only a little nervous about this one. At least he wasn’t crying. When we got off, he said it was scary but he still liked it and it was his second favorite new ride he had done after Forbidden Journey.

UP NEXT: Pool Time
 
This morning was our first of many boat rides with Captain Brad! We just loved him! He told us his Jokes of the Day and even sang us a song that went to the tune of I Love You from Barney: “We love you, you love us. We’re more fun than the bus! If you like our hospitality…marry one of us and you get in free!”

How great is this!? Also...good tip... haha

She started telling us we were all there too early. Even after we said we were there for early entry, she said that since the park opened at 9 am, early entry wouldn’t be until 8 am. Another mom and I kept telling her she should go ask someone else because she didn’t seem to have the right info. Even when I picked up a map and showed her that it said the park was opening at 8 am, hence early entry at 7 am, she told me, “Oh they just printed that on there, but it definitely opens at 9.” She wasn’t being rude or ugly about it, I think she REALLY thought she was helping us!

Oh my goodness! This could have been bad! That's a little worrisome that she just really thought that was right and she was being helpful...good thing everything got straightened out and you knew better than to believe her!

He was gripping our hands extremely tight as the ride took off, but halfway through he had let go and was somewhat enjoying himself. He gave it a thumbs down when it was done. Lol I think because of the drop at the beginning. He wasn’t afraid of the ride itself, but it definitely wasn’t a favorite like Forbidden Journey was.

Haha oh well! Good on him for trying it and doing okay even if he wasn't a fan. You win some, you lose some.

I happened to ask one of the TMs if there was anywhere else to get an interactive wand in Diagon Alley. He directed me around the corner across from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes to Wands by Gregorovitch. It was just a small storefront that you weren’t even allowed to go into and look around. I had to tell the TM what I was looking for and he got one down for me. And there was literally NO ONE there when we showed up. By the time I pulled my phone out to let DH know he could bail on Ollivanders, we already had our purchased wand in hand!

Oh good little hack! Glad you didn't end up having to wait!

There is definitely a learning curve to this. First thing we missed is that on the little gold plates where you stand to do the magic, there is a movement depicted in arrows to show you what movement to do to make the spell work. Yeah, we totally missed that for the first several spots and were just waving the wand around all crazy! Lol We probably looked like total chumps to people who actually knew what they were doing. And you also have to look around for the sensor so that you have your wand in the right direction and at the right level. Also, even once we figured out the movements, we were doing them too big at first. They have to be pretty small.

I'm going to have to remember this! We never did figure out how to cast spells properly and eventually we just gave up.

When I pointed it out, he was like, “It’s actually a GIRL, mom.”

Bahah boy's got sass! :)

it was nearly 9 am and time for the first Beedle the Bard show of the day, so we went over to grab a seat and watch.

I always mean to watch some of these shows in the HP areas but I never do. I'll have to make an effort this next trip.

and saw him get distracted by the rope.

That's so cute! And so in character for him!

Then it was time for DS’s first ride on Revenge of the Mummy! I absolutely LOVE this ride and was so excited he was willing to ride it with me! We had watched a lot of ride videos before taking this trip to help him prepare, and he was only a little nervous about this one. At least he wasn’t crying. When we got off, he said it was scary but he still liked it and it was his second favorite new ride he had done after Forbidden Journey.

Yay for DS! I distinctly remember being really freaked out before my first time riding this as a kid. I was about 10 years old and a big old wimp, and the line had stopped moving for a while to fix a ride issue. But I ended up loving it! Glad your DS gave it a thumbs up—it's a great ride.
 
Well I am finally here! :wave2:

Glad all your travel went smoothly!

That was a great incentive for DS. I'm glad his behavior improved so much!

Even though you left early, it sounds like it was a successful MNSSHP! Great photos!

What a great first day at IoA and Universal! You guys really got a lot done. That's awesome that DS loved Forbidden Journey!

Those early morning pics at Universal are awesome! Man that TM was pretty misinformed about Early Entry that day!

DS is so cute with his wand!

Glad DS enjoyed the Mummy, one of my faves too!
 

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