Tour Diagon Alley!

In 2014, Universal Studios added to their very successful Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  They already had the village of Hogsmeade (more on that next time) and added to the Harry Potter experience by adding Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express.  Universal has two parks and you will need at two park pass (very smart marketing!) if you want to visit both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, as Hogsmeade is in Islands of Adventure and Diagon Ally is in Universal Studios.  However, once you have a two park pass you can go back and forth as much as you want.  

You can enter Diagon Alley by way of Kings Cross Station and the Hogwarts Express.

 

Before you enter the station, be sure to take a look at the Knight Bus parked outside.

Now you are ready to ride the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley.  (It runs both ways, so you can ride back and forth between Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade).

You will travel just like a Hogwarts student.  Your window will show you the sights of London and the English countryside (and lots of familiar faces!)

Harry, Ron, and Hermione will even stop outside your door.

The other way to enter Diagon Alley--just like in the books--is from the muggle street.  There are no signs pointing the way so that you get the full experience of the bricks opening up to let you through.

The first thing you will notice when you enter the alley is Gringotts bank and the dragon on top.  

Inside Gringotts is just as fancy as would expect.  You'll also meet some goblins who are working there.

The ride inside Gringotts is called Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.  Bill Weasley prepares you for a visit to the underground vault and you take an elevator down "nine miles" to the cave where you board the ride.  The ride takes you through the scene in the Deathly Hallows in which the main characters retrieve the horcrux from Bellatrix Lestrange's vault.  It isn't exactly the same as in the movie, though, because you get to be a character--an unlucky bank patron who gets caught up in the action.  You will face a dragon, Voldemort, Bellatrix, and many other dangers.

Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes is full of Fred and George's inventions.  There are Sneakoscopes, Bombtastic Bombs, U-No-Poo, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, Extendable Ears, and Skiving Snackboxes, most of which you can purchase yourself.  There are even Never Ending Fireworks on the ceiling.

If you are hungry during your shopping trip in Diagon Alley, the Leaky Cauldron serves authentic British fare.

  

Outside many of the store windows there are markers like this:

Those who purchase magic wands can stand on these markers, point their wand at the window and make the motion shown while saying the spell.  This will cause acts of magic, though it is much harder than it sounds!  One act of magic the wand will perform is make the rain for the umbrella fountain outside the leaky cauldron.

If you are interested in desert, there is Florean Fortisescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

 Diagon Alley is so successful experience because Universal Studios paid attention to detail.  There is an Owlery:

A House Elf Placement Agency:

Performances by the famous singer Celestina Warbeck:

The Museum of Muggle Curiosities:

Flourish and Blotts:

And, of course, Ollivanders, where you can buy those fancy magic wands and watch a wand ceremony:

Gringotts has a money exchange in which you can change your muggle money into Gringotts money and talk to the Goblin, who will actually answer your questions!

Finally, no trip to Diagon Alley is complete without a side trip to Knockturn Alley.  It is dark and creepy, even in the Florida sun.  The main feature of Knockturn Alley is Bourgin and Burkes, where you can find the Hand of Glory and and the cursed necklace, which were used by Draco Malfoy.

Once you are back in the muggle world, be sure to check out 12 Grimmauld place and watch for Kreacher at the window.

There are so many details in Diagon Alley that there is no way I could cover them all with this post.  You'll just have to visit yourself!  It is well worth it, even if you aren't a Harry Potter fan.

Sources:

 http://touringplans.com/universal-studios-florida/attractions/harry-potter-escape-from-gringotts

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/weasleys-wizard-wheezes#.qwjXym1yJ

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  For my holiday post, I'm going to share my favorite places to look at Christmas lights.

First up, the Charlestown, Indiana town square, which I visit every year.  Though I always just go to Light Up Charlestown for the lights, there is plenty for everyone in addition to the lights.  They have train rides and visits with Santa for the kids, to name a couple.  The website is here.

The Louisville Mega Cavern has an amazing light display.  The cavern started out as a limestone quarry.  According to the website, it is the largest building in Kentucky, despite being underground.  There are over a hundred acres of space in the cavern and it goes under all 10 lanes of the Watterson Expressway and 70% of the Louisville Zoo.  At Christmastime, there are over 850 light displays and over 2 million points of light.  To see the lights, you drive your car through the cavern.  More information here.

Finally, the Galt House, which I visited for the first time this year.  The main attraction is the KaLightoscope, which has a different theme every year.  This year it was A Christmas Carol.  Instead of regular light displays, they use silk luminaries.  These are very unique and interesting.  There are also activities for the kids, characters, Santa, gingerbread houses, a village, and shows.  You can find more info here.