I've been hesitate on how to handle this particular part of our trip. Because it was equally awesome and not awesome. After going to Kennedy Space Center(awesome) we went over to Orlando and checked into our amazing Hilton Hotel - Parc Soleil. It had a huge kitchen and living room and 2 suite rooms. BEAUTIFUL. Also, it was maybe the penthouse. What can I say, My Mom knows how to travel instyle! We of course had the obligatory luggage cart races as well...
So as you can see the Hotel was A++
My Mom and I have been dying to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It has looked so amazing in all the commercials and since we are both HUGE fans of the books we wanted to go. My Mom however had 1 stipulation. She did NOT want to go in the Summer. She wanted to go when it was cold out so that people would be bundled up like they really would be if we were in England. HAHA so funny. Well she got her wish. It was a brisk 35 ALL DAY LONG.
My Mom grinning and bearing the cold for the ultimate Harry Potter Experience!
We waited 3 hours outside in the freezing cold to get into the Hogwarts Castle. This is where the trip gets kind of rocky. While everything was super detailed and amazing looking. I mean really they did a fantastic job on EVERY little detail. What really was lacking was organization by the park staff. It was like they had no clue how to help people form a line. It was such chaos and people were ducking and weaving and walking all around, it was right after Christmas so of course it was super busy and they just were very incompetent. It was a big disappointment. I would recommend going in the Off Season and going first thing in the morning as they had maxed capacity on all of the stores and building by 11am. It's a little ridiculous when you have to wait in line to go into a gift shop...
The Castle = A+, The Lines and Staff = D-
It was so crazy, the line to get on the ride was a 3 hour wait outside, and as soon as you got inside the castle there was no one in the line. It was taking so long because they were only letting people into the castle at certain times. Rediculous. Like I said, poor planning by the park on how to deal with crowds... Just saying they would never have wasted space like that at Disney.
It was super impressive how massive they made the Castle look considering it was actually quite small. The ride inside was ok, but it is definitely not for those that get motion sick.
Olivander's was really a cool experience, but at the same time super Cheesy. Not sure it was worth the hour long wait to get inside.
The Hog's Head was probably one of the better parts of the day. The food was very authentic, even if the Butter beer was WAY too sweet and kinda gross. It also was a very cozy eccentric pub, which I thought was perfect. Again the attention to detail was just simply amazing.
Not sure I will ever travel to Hogwarts again outside of my books, but it was worth at least 1 trip to see the shops, which I couldn't even get pictures of because it was so crowded. Oh well. My Honey Dukes Jar was an awesome souvenir and once it is unpacked I'll post a picture!
XOXO The Mrs.
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