Day 32- Universal Studios

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Universal Studios is hands down the best theme park I have ever been to. Not only are the rides actually fun, but it’s in HOLLYWOOD so we got to see sound stages and sets!!

The absolute first thing we did was head to Hogsmeade, the Harry Potter section of the park. I think it’s an exact replica of the village they used in the movie (or is it actually where it was filmed? Can’t seem to find that information anywhere) and it’s so cool!! We saw people lining up for something that didn’t have an obvious purpose, so of course we joined the line. It ended up being for Ollivander’s, the wand shop, where you go in small groups at a time and an actor (ahem, witch) will pick two little kids and get them to try out wands. The kids she chose were so cute and it really felt like magic to them.

We went on the Hippogriff roller coaster (this one actually doesn’t even compare to dreamworld’s roller coasters) and then there’s another ride buried in the castle (ya, there’s a hogwarts castle. Amazing), and this ride was number one for the whole day. We had to come back to it at the end before we left. It was a combination of roller coaster and VFX which is just the ultimate ride. Afterwards we tried some Butterbeer which is also amazing, and then we left Hogsmeade to go to Springfield for the one ride they have.

Afterwards we went on the 60 minute studio tour, where we saw the sets from The Good Place, Sully, War of the Worlds, King Kong, and a bunch of other movies and tv shows.

The following rides consisted of Revenge of The Mummy, Transformers, and Jurassic Park, and then we went through the Walking Dead walking tour. Which I thought meant we’d walk through the set but no, you walk through a haunted house with a bunch of zombies constantly jumping out at you. Wasn’t a fan of that one.

It was about 4pm when we finished all of the rides and areas (plus the hogwarts ride a second time) so we decided to head home. We had gotten a small serving of fresh, cold pasta for lunch which had been nice, but then we’d walked through Panda Express (a Chinese takeaway chain) and that had looked really good so we’d decided to get it for dinner back in the downtown area later on. However by the time we got back we were absolutely starving, so we went there at about 5pm for a very early dinner.

Not much to report for the rest of the night after that (as, once again, I’m underage, but also LA can be a little scary at night, so we stayed in). It’s our last day of the entire trip tomorrow, and we’re off to the beach!

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