Honeymoon Recap: Wednesday

Wednesday - Day Three

Harry Potter Day!!! As excited as I was for the Magic Kingdom, I'm pretty sure my excitement for Wizarding World eclipsed it. I've only wanted to visit Hogsmeade since the books came out like 15 years ago, so it was almost surreal that we were actually going!

We took a shuttle to the Universal Studios area, made a brief stop at Starbucks, grabbed the Universal equivalent to Disney's "Happily Ever After" buttons (never travel without them), then very quickly trekked through Islands of Adventure to Hogsmeade.

Now, I've always been a Disney fan-girl, never really giving Universal much thought. Other than Harry Potter, it just never seemed as appealing. After our trip, I might be willing to reconsider...

• Universal Pros: Dr. Seuss, Marvel, Despicable Me, Men in Black, Dinosaurs
• Universal Cons: Teenagers

But the cons might be enough to continue to keep me way. The crowds were horrendous...and smelled strongly of faint BO, sunscreen, and Axe. Not my happy place. They did get better in the afternoon, so maybe we just timed it wrong.

Anyway, on to Hogsmeade.

When you walk in, you're greeted by the Hogwarts Express, puffing smoke and everything. There's snow on the rooftops and I swear the air smelled faintly of butterscotch. It took me a good two to three minutes to come out of shock - I didn't know what to do first!

We opted for lunch. The Three Broomsticks, located just inside the gates, was enchanting.

The queue was a bit long, but moved quickly, and the food was amazing. The Boy had fish & chips (which he said were fairly ordinary), but I had the Cornish Pasties, and y'all...good grief. They were fantastic. I also tried the Pumpkin Juice (yummy if you like pumpkin & associated spices, avoid if you don't).

As we ate, we watched the building show off. Windows appeared and disappeared. Shadows showed brooms sweeping on their own. Figures flew in and out of the roof area on broomstick. Magic.

After lunch, we explored the shops. Our first stop was Zonkos - jam packed with Extendable Ears, Pygmy Puffs, Inflatable Tongues, Sneakoscopes, and more.

Next door was Honeydukes. I had a brief panic attack due to the sheer number of people (most of whom had apparently never been taught manners), but it's hard to be too unhappy in a building full of candy so it didn't last long. We had a fantastic time picking out waaaaay too much sugar: jars of sherbet lemons and other assorted candies, Chocolate Frogs, Acid Pops, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Fizzing Whizbees, Chocolate Caudrons, and on and on and on. We didn't walk out with all of it...but we definitely ended up with enough.

Most of the other shops were just false storefronts, but still fun to window shop.

At the end of the street, we found a little cart selling those personalized souvenier items (keychains and what not). We walked up to it, looking to find The Boy's name since my name is NEVER an option, and realized they were all Gryiffindor themed. No self-respecting Hufflepuff could buy himself a Gryffindor keychain, so we almost walked off until The Boy said "Hey, look! They have your name!"

Ummm...what now? You're kidding right? You see one that says "Alan," or "Elaine," or even "Elena," right? Not my ACTUAL name.

Nope. It was my actual name.

The wizard working the cart pulled it down for me and said, "It's almost like it's...magic...isn't it?" Then winked and walked off.

I was amazed - with the keychain, the park, everything. Magic.

Next, we queued up for a visit to Ollivanders. Of all the activities, I'd probably been looking forward to this one the most. If you're unfamiliar, here's how it works:

A group of about 30 people gather in the wandmaker's shop. Mr. Ollivander then comes in, chooses a participant from the crowd (typically an energetic, excited child), then walks them through the process of finding a wand, i.e. letting the wand choose the wizard. There are all sorts of special effects and what not that go along with the show, and afterward, everyone else can visit the giftstore behind the shop to purchase their own wands. 

How awesome does that sound?!? It's like stepping right into the story! I was more excited about Ollivanders than I was the Castle, the train, AND the Butterbeer...combined. We stood in line for about an hour, but it was a lovely day, so we didn't mind so much. I got mistaken for an employee a few times (due to my outfit) and picked up a tiny fan club along the way (these three precious little ones in line behind me who were mesmerized by my uniform). Not a bad wait at all.

Finally we got to go in.

     The shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.
     A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as we stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single spindly chair. We looked around at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of my neck prickled. The very dust and silence in there seemed to tingle with some secret magic. 

As we waited, an old man puttered around at the top of a narrow staircase. Finally, he seemed to notice our presence and came down the stairs. On his way down, he stopped, stared at me silently for a minute, then said, "Well well. Hello there. I wondered when I'd be seeing you in here."

I nearly fainted.

He made me come up to the front and asked me my name. Then he busied himself sorting through wand boxes til he found one he liked. He handed it to me and asked me to try it.

All the lights lit up! ...then immediately shut off and the building shook like it had been struck by lightning. He quickly took that wand from me and found me another one to try.

I rang a bell! ...then like a thousand more around the town. He also took that one from me.

When he handed me a third wand, a breeze came out of no where and blew all the papers off the desk behind me and a soft light lit up the area where I stood. Mr. Ollivander smiled, congratulated me, and sent me on my way.

The day could have ended there and I'd have been a happy camper. I couldn't believe I'd gotten to participate! I don't know if it was the outfit, the honeymoon button, or that the entire place really is magic...but whatever it was...I'll take it.

As we wandered the shop after the show, we passed my new little fan club picking out Gryffindor ties and saying to their mom, "Mom, look! I bet Alana would like this!" (their mom just giggled and winked at me as she walked by). I was on Cloud Nine.

After making our purchases, we wandered through the Owlery and bought postcards before heading to the Castle. Rather than riding the rollercoaster (for fear of getting motion sick), we opted to just tour the Castle. We met Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, Hermione, several other talking portraits, and the Fat Lady.

Then, we ended our afternoon at the Hogs Head Pub over a couple drinks - the house brew for The Boy and Butterbeer for me. It was a perfect end to an incredible visit.

~*~*~*~

After a brief stop in Marvel world, we shuttled back to the hotel and changed for dinner. Our reservations for the night were at the Flying Fish on Disney's Boardwalk. It's another Disney property, but you have to take a boat to get there (which, honestly, was much more enjoyable than a bus ride.)

We were escorted to a sweet little table for two next to a very nice couple who was just finishing their dinner. We perused the menu, sipped on our complimentary champagne (Honeymoon perk!), and discussed appetizer options.

As the couple next to us got up to leave, the gentleman patted The Boy's back, congratulated us, and wished us a lovely rest of our trip. We thanked him and wished him goodnight - gotta love kind people.

We opted to split the two signature menu items: potato-wrapped Red Snapper (on a leek fondue with a veal glace de viande and red wine-cassis butter reduction) and char-crusted Angus NY Strip (with yellow wax beans, roasted fingerling potatoes, and root vegetables with sauce foyot). It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. I wish we'd just made reservations at the Flying Fish every night of our trip.

But y'all, while the entrees were amazing, the dessert was...there are no words. We ordered the "Out on the Boardwalk" trio - S'mores whoopie pie pop, cherry-limeade popsicle, and caramel corn-topped popcorn mousse.  It was incredible.

Then, to top it all off, instead of bringing us a check, our waiter came up and said, "The gentleman who was sitting next to you earlier asked to cover your meal." I kinda wanted to cry! It was just such a sweet gesture to top off a lovely dinner.

We definitely felt spoiled. Wednesday might have won the trip.

Tomorrow: Hollywood Studios!