Arriving in Hogsmeade, our first "attraction" were the
public conveniences……let’s just say the Butterbeer we drank in Diagon Alley needed to be addressed
.
I don’t think I ever have as much fun going to the washroom as I do in Hogsmeade. Listening to Moaning Myrtle whine is such a cool little touch. Does it make we weird to say I enjoyed our bathroom break? Probably
. I am totally okay with that
.
Following our much-needed stop at the loo, we headed to Hogwart’s for a tour of the castle. This would be a first for me….while both Steve and I Jake had rode Forbidden Journey on our visits in 2012 and earlier in 2015, I had not. It’s definitely not my kind of ride (remember, I sometimes puke on the plane….can you imagine me on FJ?!?!) and Steve had no interest riding it on this trip, either....it had bothered his head and stomach in May far more than he remembered from the first time he rode it in January 2012. I don’t know why I had missed the tour of the castle in the past....its not like it was something new... but it had long since been declared a must-do for this vacation so we wasted no time in entering the queue. With such magnificent detail on the outside, I was super excited to see how the inside measured up!
My photos from the inside are dark and grainy at best, but hopefully you get the picture (pardon the pun). It was SO WELL DONE inside
. No detail spared, everything just as if the castle had been plucked from the movie and dropped into Islands of Adventure. The moving photo frames were exactly as I expected and so awesomely realistic.
JK Rowling did a great job bringing Ron, Harry and Hermione into the experience as well. I won’t go into specifics (I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t yet visited), but I LOVED the effect when one of Ron’s spells went awry. So well done!!
After our castle tour was complete…
..we spent far more time inside than I had anticipated, taking in all the little details!!....we strolled around Hogsmeade for a bit, enjoying time in the area while it was still not too busy. Later in the day, that would change….it always does!
Heading out of Hogsmeade to Jurassic Park, they had a PhotoConnect photographer taking pictures on the bridge.
We were glad we stopped at that point in the morning, because later on in the day the bridge was jammed with people and the PhotoConnect photographers were nowhere to be found. I am sure they must just give up on trying to get decent shots when the crowds descend on that part of the park. You know what I wonder, though? Why PhotoConnect doesn’t offer Harry Potter-themed borders for the pics taken in that part of the park. That would be a nice touch. Oh well, one for the suggestion box.
By the time we were leaving Hogsmeade, our light breakfast had worn off and we were ready to sit and enjoy a quick snack. We had reservations for lunch at Mythos, but it was still early enough in the day that we knew we’d need something to tide us over in the interim. I let Steve pick where he wanted to go for our nibbles, and he asked if I minded a bit of a stroll. It was a perfect, gorgeous morning so I assured him I didn’t mind at all. Off we went, through Jurrasic Park….
…..en route to Port of Entry.
Steve’s sweet tooth had obviously kicked in, and he led us straight to his favourite IOA indulgences at Croissant Moon Bakery
.
I have to say, if there’s anything truly painful about Croissant Moon it’s deciding what to have. Oh my Lord, their stuff looks mouth watering….and we know from past experiences that the taste equals the presentation. It was paining me to pass up my favourite Napoleon bar (with Mythos on deck for lunch, I didn’t want to overdo the snackage) but I had to be at least somewhat dietarily responsible.
After much consideration (and letting half a dozen other folks pass us in line while we considered our options), I finally decided on a Brookie (a chocolate chip cookie baked into a fudge brownie):
Steve picked a chocolate éclair: yes, this little darling was filled with a smooth and sweetly delicious chocolate cream that was soooo yummy:
We added a bottle of milk to share to wash all that rich goodness down. They applied our AP discount (20%) and our total cost with tax was $8.30.
This bakery hasn’t disappointed us yet. The brookie was even better than the one I had on our May trip….the brownie bottom was super stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth fudgy, and the soft cookie center perfectly balanced it out. Steve’s éclair was feather light, sweet, and superbly delicious. I’m sure there were a million calories on that tray but what the heck. Life is too short to pass up desserts. And calories don't count on vacation. We'd end up walking off those calories anyway. Oh....let's throw a
YOLO! in there too. Yep, I could (and would) rationalize our indulgence in any way needed. It was worth it
.
With happily full tummies and both of us bordering on a sugar high (wheeeeeee!
), we bounced off in the direction of our next must-do of the day: a meet-and-greet like we’ve never had the chance to experience before.
Secure your valuables and take small children by the hand, because we were about to come eye to eye with a velociraptor!
. Oh, to be a fly on the wall!!
.
.
)
. If Seaworld offers their BOGO AP's this Black Friday, we probably won't keep the Uni passes going (our Canadian dollar is just too low to justify both.....and we're desperately missing SW). But, if no BOGO or deeply discounted AP's are announced for SeaWorld and Aquatica, you never know.....we might just renew after all. I'm glad we have until May 1st to decide!! (and save 
Perhaps, Steve is well versed in shorthand but I'm not even sure what I had for dinner yesterday.
. Sometimes, I get chatting away and its awfully hard to stop 
. So gross.
Much better pics to come 
