SUPER ENTHUSED BLOG: Diagon Alley & Universal Studios Florida (but mostly Diagon Alley), Christmas Day 2014

It is now February, and I am still thinking about my magical, impromptu Christmas Day vacation to Universal Studios (but mostly Diagon Alley!). On Christmas Eve, December 24, 2014, we were hanging out with a good friend who was in town from Philly, and talking about how great it would be to take a trip to Disney or Universal for Christmas. As a Disnerd, Disney is always my first choice, however it being Christmas, we all pretty well figured that would be a bad idea (read: nightmare), as Christmas Day crowds at Disney are not something we wanted to deal with. None of us had been to Diagon Alley, and my friend had never been to Universal Studios at all, and I hadn't been for many years (last time I was there, Jaws was still a ride... sob). So, we decided we would hop in the car, drive to Orlando, spend a glorious Christmas Day at Diagon Alley, and drive back that very night. Before we headed out, we did a hotel search and lucked out with a great room at a great price at Universal's Cabana Bay. I am soooooo glad we chose to stay at Cabana Bay, from the moment we walked into the cavernous lobby filled with towering, beautifully decorated Christmas trees, we knew we chose the right place to spend Christmas Eve.

The hotel is an expansive complex and it was decorated immaculately for Christmas. We were immediately cheery and pumped! After driving to the other side of the complex and checking in to our small but crisp, clean and comfortable two queen bed room, we decided to head to the 1960s-futuristic themed bowling alley for some grub. The bowling alley was so cute, and our waitress was lovely. Impeccable service from start to finish at this hotel. We were pretty tired from the nearly 5 hour drive from Miami, so we didn't go for a round of bowling, but if were staying longer (and next time), we will definitely bowl a few rounds. We had cute snacks, took a walk around the grounds and a fun time at the bowling alley and hit the sack to prepare for our adventure the next morning.

We woke up excited on Christmas morning and hopped on the shuttle to Universal. At the entrance, we were greeted by the famous Universal globe and Macy's Holiday Parade decorations, all cute and lovely. We took advantage of the additional morning hour granted to Universal hotel guests and it paid off big time - we headed straight for Diagon Alley and got some amazing quality time with the area before it was completely swarming with crowds.

As many others have noted, the entrance to Diagon Alley isn't the easiest thing to find, but that's part of the fun. The Harry Potter/England section is easy enough to find, but you may find yourself walking around scratching your head wondering how you get in this magical land of fun. I admit, we eventually had to ask someone and felt silly afterwards because, "IT'S RIGHT THERE! .... duh." But not before we talked to Dre Head and took photos in front of the Knight Bus. Super fun.

With a-bit-too-excited hop, skip and a jump, we entered Diagon Alley and commenced with the ooohs and aaahs. This place is beautiful. We fawned over the detail rich and beautifully crafted storefronts and walkways and noticed some kids playing a game with wands. I immediately knew I needed a wand.... immediately. I eventually got my wand, and I can't wait to tell you that story.

In between my jumping up and down and pointing at every single thing, we took a look into each storefront and restaurant. The Leaky Cauldron is an immersive experience in itself and we knew we would be back to eat there later. Just look at it! If I could decorate my kitchen this way, I would. 

We made a b line to Gringotts to ride Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. It was so early and the crowds were so light, we waited less than 10 minutes before riding. Maybe if the line had been longer, I'd have more to complain about, but as it stands, I found it a great hybrid ride and lots of fun. I can't say I understood the story too well, but we had fun and were laughing with glee the entire time. Let me make mention of the queue at Gringotts - beautiful. The animatronic goblins look so good, and the entire queue is rich with detail.

After our fun ride through Gringotts, we headed over to Ollivanders to walk through the Wand Experience. In this experience, one lucky person from the audience is chosen to go through a scenario where the wand chooses you! Guess who was selected? GUESS?!?! That's right, ME! I must have looked like a real grade-A Potter nerd with stars in my eyes, because the actor... er.... wand person, chose me and I had the most magical experience being selected by my Willow Wand, which is now proudly and beautiful displayed on my book shelf at home. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day wand-ing everything and everyone. Here's a photo of me wanding up a storm:

There is a great, interactive element to Diagon Alley where you can perform "spells" by reciting incantations while standing in certain spots that are designated by a bronze plate on the floor. The plate shows you the movement you should perform with your wand, along with the spell you should say while making the movement. Sometimes it doesn't work on the first try if you're not hitting the sensor.... er, I mean.... if the magics aren't said and performed correctly (it's leviOsa, not levioSA!), so you have to keep trying until you get it right. It's so much fun to have a wand and be able to participate in this gameified magic, I highly recommend it. The wands are not cheap, but they are beautiful and add a heightened level of fun to the experience. 

After a bit more exploring Diagon Alley, we decided to check out the rest of Universal Studios and had a pretty great time. The Simpsons area was much more fun than expected. Memories the Back to the Future attraction washed over me as we worked our way through the queue. They did good, the area is more vivid and feels more "alive," the queue is nicely themed and you feel like you're really stepping into the world of The Simpsons. The ride was fun, I found myself giggling and chuckling more than I expected, and then, surprise surprise, Moe's Tavern! We had beers and sat in a really cool recreation of Moe's, a nice little intermission. 

We strolled around a bit and rode the Transformers ride (had no clue what was going on, but fun - the queue is nice, but the looping video needs to go, or to be made longer, or something, because hearing the same few sentences over and over only makes the queue feel longer and more boring), sat through the Terminator show (that attraction/show needs a major revamp, it feels kinda dingy and stale), the Men in Black Attack (fun, but confusing - what the heck were we supposed to be shooting at, and how do you know if you hit it?), and E.T. (still a classic dark ride, Universal doin' it right with E.T.). A lot of the attractions felt like we were just watching a weird/outdated 3D video and not much was actually happening. Too many screens, not enough rides, I say. We hung out with a face character who played a perfect Lucy (I Love Lucy) and had a lot of fun with her, and just kind of tra-la-la'ed around a bit before circling back to Diagon Alley to eat at the Leaky Cauldron and finish up our day. 

The Leaky Cauldron is just so beautifully crafted, I love being in there. It's an emotional experience, especially for a Potter fan, but I imagine it'd be just as cool to almost anyone. I had a cottage pie, it was pretty ok, not spectacular, with a salad on the side, and scotch eggs, which were pretty yummy. After our meal, we were standing around with the hoards waiting to take a photo of the fire breathing dragon spewing flames, and a cloaked park employee must have overheard us because he struck up a conversation with us and it turned into a really special experience. This guy made our day, he asked if we had tried Butterbeer yet, to which we answered no, because we hadn't, and he took us to the front of the line and treated us to one Butterbeer (to share, between three people, but it was free so can't complain!), we also purchased a Dragon Scale brew and relaxed with our beverages while the employee (I have his name written down somewhere and I WILL find it one day!) proceeded to give us fast pass tickets to ride Gringotts again. What a guy! We rode Gringotts again and then spent some more time strolling the Alley. 

Borgin and Burkes is gorgeous, I wanted to purchase everything. Knockturn Alley is a delight, with some special wand magic fun inside... so bring your wand! Lots of fun little interactive elements, and I love that it's dark and spooky. We tried on robes at Madam Malkin's, and I was thiiiiiiis close (holds fingers together, almost touching) to purchasing one, but after the wand purchase, I had to limit myself. If the cloak would have been $40 less expensive, I would have had no choice but to purchase one. Maybe next time. 

All in all, my group and I had a great time at Universal Studios, but Diagon Alley was the crown jewel and highlight of the visit. Universal should definitely put more time, effort and funds into interactive, immersive and enriched environments, and quit it with the old, tired 3D shows. There's a lot of potential for the park to be great/better. One last note, I can't and won't even understand why they removed the Jaws ride, ok, I get it, you needed more space for Diagon Alley, by all means, but come on! That's baloney. There's plenty of space and as it stands, it's just a boring lake and a huge waste of space. The Jaws ride was unique, special, scary and awesome! I know it won't come back, but that's more the direction the park should go. Experiences, rather than staring at a monitor and watching loops and blurry 3D. To end on a high note, I must give A++ marks to every Universal Studios employee we encountered throughout the day, top notch great folks doing a great job!