Day six-- Segways and Hogwarts

This morning my parents started out with a Segway tour around Fort Wilderness:






And I caught up with some friends to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.






I've been dying to see this since the rumors of its opening started, so I was pretty darn excited to be there!

We started by riding the main attraction-- a brilliant ride that takes you in and around Hogwarts. The line itself was thrilling and I'm having to practice self control not to post 100 photos from the day!

Here, you see portraits lining the castle walls. They move and talk to you and each other:






Later, the Sorting Hat briefs you on the safety instructions:







Outside, a sign directs you to Hogsmead.






Where it is wintertime.






There are classic HP stores lining the area and places to buy wands, cloaks, books that bite, quills, broomsticks and... chocolate frogs!






I may or may not have taken home a few souvenirs.






The shops themselves were an attraction:






And the general ambiance was amazing:






We ducked into Hog's Head for a frozen butterbeer:






It was even better than I could had imagined!






Later, I posed with the train conductor:






And found the muggle car that Ron and Harry crashed:






It was a wonderful morning. After having waited so long to visit, I was glad to see that the theming and experience exceeded my expectations!






After our separate adventures, I met up with my parents at Hollywood's Brown Derby restaurant.






Where we enjoyed the famous (and the original) Cobb Salad.






(Trust me, it tastes MUCH better than it looks!)

And a less famous, but just as classic, Grapefruit Cake:






We then enjoyed The Great Movie Ride, which is kind of hokey and in desperate need of an upgrade, but still presents some of my favorite movies. Movies like the Wizard of Oz,






Casablanca,






And Mary Popins!






Then my dad and I rode Tower of Terror and Rock-n-Roller coaster back to back.






Tomorrow should be an easy-ish day as we start to wind down our whirlwind adventure.

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Location:Bay Lake, Universal Studios, Hollywood Studios