Disney Day 6 - The Not-Disney Day

And now, the trip report you've all been waiting for, the reason for taking this trip in the first place, the non-Disney Disney day. Today, we were scheduled to travel "off property" to the neighboring theme park of Universal Islands of Adveture. The purpose of this excursion was to check out the new Harry Potter themed section of the park. The handlers had arranged an early shuttle from their hotel to the park, and arrived before the gates were even opened.

Universal Islands of Adventure is known for its 'thrill' rides. The handlers, being frequent visitor to Cedar Point, weren't really interested in that.

After being stopped repeatedly at different road blocks through the park, we finally made our way over to Harry Potter world, and got our first look at Hogwarts castle.

Pretty cool, huh? Inside the castle is the main ride for the area (The Forbidden Journey), and we wanted to make sure we got on it. So, we jumped in the line which (strangely) was only a 15 minute wait. There were locker areas specifically for stowing of gear while you're on the ride and they used fingerprinting technology to lock and open. The handlers thought that was pretty awesome.

Handler 2 was a little wary after seeing this sign...and amused by the 'No Puking Guy' symbol.

And can I just say....Coolest. Queue. Ever.

No, I'm serious. Have you ever been in line for a ride and thought to yourself, "Gosh, I wish this line would move a little slower so that I could spend more time waiting." No, of course not. You're sane and lines suck. But this line.,.it did not suck, and we did want to spend more time looking at stuff. Trust me, if you ever get a chance to ride it, by the time it starts snowing indoors, you'll be agreeing with me.

The ride was pretty darn good. It combined the best dark ride (classic with animatronics) you've ever been on, with the best matches-up-moving-vehicle-and-movie type ride you've ever been on. Then throws in spitting spiders (yes, Jen, we're afraid you can never go on this ride) and fire breathing dragon effects. The handlers managed to get on it twice during the day, and were highly impressed.

Having seen our fill of the castle, an managed to not puke our guts out, it was time to explore the neighboring village.

We were greated by the Hogwart's Toad Chorus.

Here's Handler 1 (or her head, anyways) at the Hog's Head Saloon.

Handler 1 had to stand in line at the Hog's Head's bar not because it was a particularly popular attraction, but because it was prior to 11 am and there were already folks waiting to be allowed to drink alcohol.

After Handler 1 got her beer, and Handler 2 got his Butterbeer (which is a lot like a root beer float, with a little butterscothc flavoring), it was on to see more of the Harry Potter themed sights. There's Hagrid's Hut.

And the Hogwarts Express.

It should be noted that there are a number of shops in Hogsmead, some you can enter and many of which are storefront facades. However, they all have something animated happening in the windows. Little mandrakes cry from behind the windows of the herbal shop. A second floor music conservatory is caught in a whirlwind of sheet music. A sole pen moves by itself across a sheet of parchment in a stationery shop display. Attention to detail in this area is amazing.

Here's the inside of Honeydukes, where the handles picked up some choice sweets.

And we enjoyed the themed merchdise at Zonko's Joke Shop.

This is Olivander's, purveyors of fine wands.

And this is the line to get into Olivanders. Yes, in the town of Hogsmead, people stand for an hour in the hot sun to get into a shop.

There were two other rides in the Harry Potter Area. The handlers both went on the Flight of the Hippogriff...which was a kiddie coaster and very short. Handler 1 went on the Dragon Challenge by herself. She proclaimed it "just like the Raptor, but shorter". Handler 2, meanwhile, figured out the back way into the Dragon Challenge ride line by accident. Handler 1 was pretty weirded out to turn a corner in the dark and twisting line passages, only to run into Handler 2 heading the other way. Lesson being, Universal workers do not satisfactorily police their handicapped entrances.

Seeing as how there were other things to do in Islands of Adventure (no really, there are) we decided to explore a little more of the par. First stop, Jurassic Park!

The ride here was a boat flume, and Handler 2 questions why it's not the classic jeep through the jungle ride you'd expect from the movies. Oh well, it was fun and we barely got wet at all. The handlers liked the look of the Pternadon Flyers ride, which looked kind of like a high speed chairlift over the jungle, however, it was only for people accompanied by minors. Apparently, I didn't count, so the handlers couldn't go on it.

The handlers had lunch at the Dino Center. It was okay. Then Handler 1 kicked Handler 2's behind in dinosaur trivia...it's only to be expected.

This is the Lost Continent area of Islands of Adventure. It had one ride, one show and a magic fountain. True to our nature, we skipped the show, ignored the fountain, and went right on the ride. Poseidon's Fury isn't really a ride though. It's a walk-through "experience" where there's a bit of a show about an incredibly inept archaeologist and how he manages to land a room full of people in the middle of a battle between godlike beings. The effects were nice, but the handlers spent the whole time sniggering at the inconsistencies. Like, having glowing exit signs tend to ruin the atmosphere of "OMG we can't get out!" Also, there's this 'spell' on the walls that your resident idiot archaeologist accidentally illuminates and reads aloud. Handler 2 questions why, if you're in a 2,000 year olf temple, it's written in English? Linear B would be more appropriate.

Handler 2 is on a...umm...it's.....yeah....

We went on the Cat it the Hat ride next. This ride needs to be renamed, it should be called "How the Long Suffering Goldfish Saved His Family".

Notice how the hat is kind of...pink? And the blues are all sort of washed out? And thThe whole of Suess-Landing was like that - in desperate need of a coat of paint. Meanwhile the handlers have seen evidence that Disney actually repaints it attractions nightly. We're just saying that for a land that is supposed to be themed to the colorful world of Dr. Suess, paint might not be something you want to skip on.

So, you might notice it's not dark out yet in this picture. Well, the handlers were totally of the mind that they would head back to their rooms, take a short nap, and head back out again. Alas, that did not happen. Handler 1 had been feeling cruddy all day and just went right to sleep for 3 hours without a break. Handler 2 was fighting a cold and also wanted to get some rest, so we all just stayed in for the remainder of the evening. Yes, they are lame...and old...very, very old.