9 3/4

Once again, I found myself clutching a (figurative) acceptance letter to Hogwarts and was able to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Orlando! This is always the most exciting part of a trip to Florida for me. The warm weather is a close second.













This year, we started our Wizarding World journey in the newer section where King's Cross and Diagon Alley are built. It was significantly less crowded this year since it's been open for about a year and a half now. It was easier to navigate and explore without the dense crowds. The wait times for everything weren't bad at all, either. The Escape from Gringotts ride is usually the longest wait, but I believe it was only about 10-20 minutes for us.











Diagon Alley is the best. There's lots to look at and it's all so well done. The dragon is awesome and shoots fire every so often.















Gringotts Bank is extremely well done. The goblins look so real and the chandeliers are gorgeous and pretty close to what the movie looks like. I like the touches they add such as the moving newspapers and the shadows of Harry, Ron, and Hermione (dressed as Bellatrix) behind one of the rooms as you wait in line. You can hear them talking to each other too.



















I also really like the Knockturn Alley part where it's all dark and spooky just as it should be. Borgin & Burkes is fun to go in. They have all kinds of dark wizard and Death Eater merchandise as well as lots of cool props. They even have the Vanishing Cabinet and you can hear the bird tweeting inside of it. They also have the trunk that Mad-Eye Moody was kept captive in and it moves sometimes.









The train is also awesome. I think out of everything, the train looks the best. It's a real train (not just a ride) and it looks exactly like the one in the movie. I couldn't get a good picture of it this time, but I have some from last year. There's a fake one in Hogsmeade though where it's supposed to look like it stopped for people to get off. I also can't get enough of all the 9 3/4 signs.















I had lots of treats in the Wizarding World, mostly in Hogsmeade. I had both pumpkin juice and Butterbeer this year. I usually just opt for the pumpkin juice, but I thought I should give the Butterbeer a try again. I had the non-frozen one even though everyone says it's better frozen. I also had a pumpkin pasty again this year from Honeydukes, but they looked different from last year. Last year they looked like little mini pumpkin pies. This year they looked more like a pie crust filled with filling and sealed like a sort of pie pocket. I also had Butterbeer ice cream in the Diagon Alley part from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.















I wore my Marauder's Map dress again this year. I decided on the blue shoes to represent my house, which is Ravenclaw. We only rode the Gringotts ride this year, not the Hogwarts one. The Hogwarts one can be a little nauseating just because of the way it moves with the screen. I feel that Diagon Alley is more interesting than the Hogsmeade part, but Hogsmeade is still really awesome. It's all awesome, really.

Dress: Hot Topic//Shoes: H&M//Belt: Thrifted//Lipstick: LORAC Cosmetics

Can you believe that this is all only a part of Universal Orlando? They have so much there, and I think they are building a lot of new stuff. There were several rides that were closed for either renovations or to build new rides in their place. I can't wait to see what is to come!