Our Cup of Coffey: { Wizarding World of Harry Potter }

Before we left on vacation nobody knew exactly what the deal was with Harry Potter World. We didn't know if it was split between two parks, the same park, if we needed separate tickets for each side, a separate ticket from a Universal Studios ticket to even get it... etc, etc, etc. So, to save anyone future trouble, THIS is how Harry Potter World is set up (it took me half an hour just to FIND an updated universal studios map with everything on it):

Universal Studios is one big park. It is split into two separate "lands", one is just Universal Studios, the other is called Islands of Adventure. Harry Potter world is divided between the two. Like so:

Our first day in Universal we did the red side, which is the Hogsmeade side of Harry Potter World. Our second day we did the blue side, which is King's Cross and Diagon Alley. You can take the Hogwarts Express between the two sides! *squeal*

Hogsmeade

Walking into Harry Potter World gave me chills. The music, the decorations, the accents, the wizardy-ness of it all. It's so unreal!! First things first, we booked it to the Hogwarts Castle. The ride is incredibly well done with the small amount of space it has. We rode all the rides we could on the Hogsmeade side and then shopped around. I've never seen so many Chocolate Frogs or Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

Also, if you buy a wand, there are marks on the ground around the Wizarding World where you can DO MAGIC. Yes, you wave your wand and then all sorts of stuff happens. Fandom heaven.

There we are! The first two rows of the roller coaster. Nick, Andy, and Katelyn are the only ones you can see.

Hogwarts express!

Diagon Alley

The Gringotts bank ride was my absolute favorite in all of Harry Potter World! If the line wasn't so ridiculously long (upwards of 2 hours) I would've gone on it multiple times. There's also a dragon on top of the bank. You think, "oh! that's so cool and well done!" Until you hear a massive BOOM (and basically pee your pants) and when you look up, the dragon is breathing fire!! I thought the place was getting bombed it was so loud, I jumped like 2 feet in the air.

Butterbeer. It's delicious.

Since is was 90* out with like a 150% humidity index, we got the frozen butterbeer, and it was glorious. It was like a magical slushie. And I would drink it all day long if I could. I've decided I'm going to find a recipe to make it at home because now that I've had it, I can't forget it.