Luke’s recount of Universal Studios

Ethan, Aidan, Max and Luke in front of Hogwarts

Today we had breakfast early, and went to Universal Studios as soon as we could to beat the crowds. We got there and immediately set off for Harry Potter World.

We walked through the Hogsmeade gates, and walked down the street, looking at all the shops like Zonko’s joke shop, Ollivander’s wand shop, the 3 Broomsticks, Hog’s Head and Honeydukes, the lolly shop. All these buildings were open and you were able to look in them. All the roofs of the buildings had fake snow on them, which looked even more fake today because it was like 30 degrees. The ground we were walking on was all cobblestones, and everything looked like it had come straight out of the movies. At the far end of Hogsmeade was Hogwarts, looming right in front of us. As we went straight towards it, we saw that it had all of the towering turrets, so it looked like the real one. Hogwarts was where Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (a ride) were, so we went straight to the ride.

A huge line was already starting to form so we got there as soon as we could. The line took us through the dungeons, where we saw the Mirror of Erised. The line then took us out to the Herbology greenhouse, and then into the castle itself. In Dumbledore’s office all of the portrait were moving around and talking to each other, and a very realistic 3-D hologram of Dumbledore himself talked to us, and said that we would take a tour of the school. In the defense against the Dark Arts classroom however, Harry, Ron and Hermione came out from underneath the invisibility cloak, and said they would take you on a proper tour of Hogwarts. After going through the Gryffindor common room, you are taken into the Room of Requirement where finally, you board the ride.

You get strapped into a chair with 3 other people next to you, and thanks to Hermione’s genius we were whisked away over the Hogwarts grounds. Shortly Harry and Ron were zooming along next to you on their broomsticks; doing dare devil stunts and dives. Our tour was all going fine until Hagrid revealed that a dragon was on the loose, and from then on the entire ‘tour’ went a bit pear-shaped. The huge dragon flew in and started attacking us, and following Harry and Ron we dived and dodged, trying to get away from it. After a chase scene and the dragon blowing hot, red steam in your face, (very unpleasant) we were in the forbidden forest, Aragog and his spider friends were jumping out trying to get you. After a couple close calls, we got onto the Quidditch pitch, where a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was taking place. We followed Harry racing after the snitch, doing breathtaking moves to get it. Just when you thought that everything was going to be okay though, dementors attacked. We were taken by them and were about to be caught when Harry swooped in and saved the day. The final part on that ride was when we soared through the main hall doors and landed, and all the characters were there, from Harry to Neville to Fred and George Weasley and even Dumbledore, applauding your efforts on your adventure. The ride was then finished, and Max and I rode it again. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is the most technologically advanced ride in the world, and after that I believe that every bit. We then exited Hogwarts and went back into Hogsmeade, to do stuff there.

We went into Ollivander’s where Max was chosen for a wand to be picked for him, and the way the wand chose him was amazing. After that spectacular show went into Ollivander’s store, where you could buy wands. Max and Ethan both bought wands while Aidan, Mum, Dad and I looked around the store. After exiting Ollivander’s Max and I decided to face the dragons from the Triwizard Tournament, on a ride called Dragon Challenge. There were 2 coasters, the Hungarian Horntail and the Chinese Fireball. We chose to do the Chinese Fireball, because the line was heaps shorter. We got strapped in at the very front, and we shot off. The 2 dragons were set off at the same time, but luckily they were on 2 different tracks. The 2 tracks intertwined though, so at some points the 2 dragons were only 1m apart. The ride was crazy, and the Fireball did about 4 barrel roles, 10 crazy swerves and one humongous loop the loop, right next to the other dragon doing the same thing. It was absolutely awesome!!!! The dizzying ride eventually stopped, and we hopped off.

Back at Hogsmeade we then tried Butterbeer which was delicious, and Pumpkin juice, which wasn’t so nice. Then Kelly arrived, and she had brought us all fastpasses for the whole day, which was very nice of her. She then told us that she was a big fan of the Dragon Challenge, so using the fastpasses she had given us Max, Kelly, I and a very reluctant Dad went on it again, this time going on the Hungarian Horntail. The Horntail was so much more wild and awesome, and it became my favourite roller coaster on the trip so far. After we finished that, it was time to leave Harry Potter World. We had a last minute look inside all the shops, (I bought a keychain) and we sadly left, wishing that we could have stayed forever.

After leaving Harry Potter land we rhymed our way through all the rides in Dr Seuss land, and swung through the city on a Spiderman ride. Then, to finish it all off, we went on a Popeye river rapids ride, and we got absolutely drenched with water. After a soaking wet finish, we went back home, said goodbye to Kelly, had dinner and went to bed.

Max at Ollivander's Wand Shop