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Published: April 30th 2012
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City Walk
The Entrance to the Universal Theme Parks. They arranged it so you had to pass lots of stores, cafes, etc, before you got to where you wanted to go! Feb. 9-16: I made a mistake in the last chapter. The project at Rockledge ended on the 16
th, so this little blurb is to correct that!
Feb. 17: Today I entered another world, one that I really wanted to see. The “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” opened last year at Universal Studios, so I have been planning to see it the first time I got back to Florida. After I left Rockledge and my new NOMAD friends behind, I headed all the way over to Orlando (about 40 miles). I parked the RV in the outback lot Universal has for Rvs and walked, and walked, and walked, and sometimes used moving sidewalks where available and finally got to the ticket booth. Even though it was a Friday in February, I got to the ticket line and stood and stood and stood. Finally, ticket in hand, I and several thousand other tourists and Harry Potter fans entered the “Islands of Adventure” theme park.
Those of you who may be bored by such things as theme parks in general and Harry Potter in particular may want to skip this chapter. I am fascinated by both. Still a kid at heart I
Architecture
Just one of several buildings at Universal that I thought was attractive. love Disney World and the movie part of Universal, having visited both several times. This was my first excursion into the “Islands of Adventure” and I saw less than half of it. Anyone wishing to really explore this park should get a two day pass. No, I don't care for the crowds, the high prices, the long lines and all the walking—yet--it is all part of it. If you can't stand any of those, then stay away from this place!
Disney may call their park the “Magic Kingdom”, but the “Islands” were no less magical for me. I walked through the “City Walk” and reveled in the music, the energy and the color. When I got to the lake and saw the towers of Hogswart, I was transported to a different world! Photographers have to love this whole park. The architects and designers of the buildings, the themes, the rides, etc. are sheer genius.
The “Islands” side of Universal actually has six areas or “islands.” I walked through Seuss Landing/The Cat in the Hat and The Lost Continent before actually get to the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter.” The way the park is designed, a visitor cannot get
to one area without going through others. I enjoyed the color of Seuss Landing. Of course, that area is geared to younger children, but the kid in me remembered all my favorite Seuss books and they were all there. The topiaries alone are works of art, being trimmed into Seuss characters.
The Lost Continent area fascinated me. I came back to it after Wizarding World, but will describe it here. It is modeled, I think after someone's concept of Atlantis. All the buildings appeared to broken and/or damaged, as if an earthquake had hit. The “cliffs” were carved into faces and statues with wonderful fountains and waterfalls. It was really quite interesting. Again, the architecture and plants were beautiful.
When I got to the gate into the Wizarding World, I was simply awestruck. It looks exactly like I wanted it to look—just like in the movies. The village of Hogsmeade is built like a medieval town with buildings jammed together, with steep, steep roofs, covered with (artificial) snow. The stores even looked like what I imagine medieval stores would have looked like—small, narrow and cramped. The place was jammed with people, as you will see in the photos.
First Glimpse
The first sight of Hogwarts School of Magic from across the lake at the entry to Islands of Adventure at Universal. I stood in line to buy a “butterbeer”--a non-alcoholic drink that is Harry Potter's favorite. It tasted like a buttery root-beer with a creamy foam on top. The only souvenir I bought was a postcard. I had intended to mail it from the post office in the store so it would have a Hogsmeade mark on it, but the line was too long and the store was too crowded.
As I walked up to the castle looking building which replicated Hogwarts School of Magic, I stopped to listed to a small choir from the “school”. They sang without musical accompaniment, but punctuated by bass “voices” from the toy frogs they carried on pillows. They were excellent!
I was disappointed that I could not see the inside of some of the school. To do that, I would have had to stand in line for an hour and a half for a roller coast ride I did not want to take. Besides that, cameras, purses and any other loose items had to be put into lockers prior to getting into line, so I wouldn't have been able to take pictures anyway. Still I know I would have enjoyed the sights
Entry to Seuss Landing
Everything in Seuss Landing was colorful! inside the school as well as the sights from the height of the ride. I don't care for roller coasters, though. They hurt my neck as well as upset my stomach!
I stayed in the area for awhile, just kind of breathing in the atmosphere, taking pictures and people watching. There were many costumed characters all around the place. I am sure many of you think I am crazy. (You're right!) But I thoroughly enjoyed the series of books—six of them, some over 600 pages long—and the seven movies. I have always been a fantasy nut anyway and this was a great place and day for me!
Bootsie—Ho hum! Feb. 18-19: Leaving Orlando, I drove back to Lakeland again to spend a couple of nights near Dan and Joy. This will probably be the last time I get to see them for quite awhile. I have one more NOMAD project in Florida, then will be heading north to New England. They are going back to Dallas in a couple of months.
One thing I always like to do in Lakeland is go to the lake with the black swans, so we went for a
The Cat in the Hat
No other words necessary. visit. Unfortunately, there seemed to be only two pair of them this year. It seems that pelicans are taking over the lake and pushing the swans, both black and white out. I took pictures, of course. I always like to see what the birds are doing. I got lucky to see one pair of white swans doing a mating dance. They were certainly graceful. Another swan tried to horn in on the act and was quite rudely rejected. Talk about three's a crowd! Anyway, I took about 60 pics of the dance. Don't worry, I won't bore you with all of them! I also got plenty of photos of the pelicans, too!
Feb. 20- March 9: I spent this three weeks in Interlachen, just resting, seeing old friends and going to church.
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Danette
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Hogwart School interior
Oh my goodness, I had no idea you did not go inside the school. Aren't most of the interior's seen from a rolling ride of some sort like Epcot? Did they say it was truly a "roller coaster"? Seems like it would need to be a very slow ride, so you can actually "see" the castle. I always thought they showed the interiors this way to keep the line going fast, and so the special effects would be safe, rather than having people walk through at leisure. What a shame you did not get to see the inside.