Welcome to Hogwarts

We couldn't wait to spend the day at Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure to check out Harry Potter World. Emma finished the first book before we left and started on the second one, so she was excited too. The Hogwarts Castle was the Forbidden Journey ride. Emma got to go on it 4 times!!! (We did the child swap with Rebekah so Clay and I only got 2 times each). They really did a great job re-creating Hogsmeade. This is the one place that you need to check out the bathrooms! You can hear Moaning Myrtle inside.

We loved the butterbeer! I had 3 or 4 of them during the day. It tastes kind of like a cream soda with a shortbread/butterscotch froth added to the top. We went to Honeydukes and had a chocolate frog and some chocolate caramel fudge.

We loved seeing all the things from the books: the Hogwarts Express, Hagrid's hut, Buckbeak, the car that Ron and Harry flew to school one year, and the monster book!

Later in the day we went to Ollivander's wand shop. Inside they recreate the scene from the first book, choosing a kid from the audience to play the part of Harry. It was fun to watch. Afterwards, you are let into the gift shop part. They have replicas of all the different wands from the books. Then they had wands based on the Celtic calendar. Emma got the Hazel wand. Rebekah chose the Beauxbaton ribbon (in a later post). For dinner we ate at the Three Broomsticks and I had yet another butterbeer (for the record, I like the regular version better than the frozen).

The girls also enjoyed visiting Seuss Land. However, Rebekah said her favorite ride was Spider-man.