Sorry for neglecting my TR for so long!
Now, where were we? About to head to the London station, platform 9 3/4, I do believe!
I absolutely love all the details they included here:
Hedwig on top of Harry's luggage, from both sides!
We saw tons of people in all sorts of Hogwarts gear - t-shirts and full robes, even though it was a hot day. Mostly Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, but some Hufflepuff and Slytherin, too.
Everyone is ready for the Hogwarts Express!
We had a fun ride going back the other way - they do different stuff each way, which is cool.
We arrived at Hogsmeade, and dd bought a couple postcards to send to her besties back home. Then I splurged on Hogwarts stamps - ouch! I think it was something like $10 for a sheet of them - and the postcards were supposed to be the cheap idea!
But, we got them sent out, so she felt good about doing something special for them.
Then, we headed out into IOA proper.
We had decided we wanted to try Mythos for lunch, so we headed over there. Turns out, during Spring Break, you really *do* need a reservation! They were full, but said to come back in an hour or so. So, we decided to try Poseiden's Fury, since we were right there. It is a walk-through show, but I have to say, the outside theming is the best part. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't great, either.
Then, we headed to Cat in the Hat, since dh knew I still wanted to do it. And, it was totally adorable!
I'm totally glad the rest of the family let me do it, even though I don't think any of the rest of them truly appreciated it. Sorry, no pics - I just soaked it all in.
So, then we went back to try and get into Mythos for lunch. Oops again. That person who said just to come back? Bad advice - still no room! So, we decided to forget about it, but dh was pretty annoyed since we could've actually made a reservation if that had been the advice.
We wandered around for a bit, looking for a place to eat, knowing that we wanted to head in the direction of the water rides. We ended up with the worst meal of the entire trip, although I forget the name of the kiosk where we got our dried-out overpriced food.
But, it was time to get wet! We headed to the Jurassic Park ride, figuring it would get us at least a little wet. So, we prepared all of our stuff to be as waterproof as possible, since we didn't want to rent a locker. Go figure - on rollercoasters, they require you to put all of your stuff in a locker, and it is free, but on the water rides, you can bring it all with you, and you have to pay for a locker! So, we put all our stuff in baggies - and then we didn't really get wet at all!!! I kept waiting for the big splash, and it never happened! The ride itself was ok, but not that exciting. I still remember seeing the original movie in the theatre on opening weekend when all of it was brand new and nearly jumping out of my seat. The ride wasn't like that!
After not getting soaked, we wandered through the Jurassic Park Discovery Center. The kids got to "watch a dinosaur hatch" which was a little hokey but fun.
Next, it was time for Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls! Looking at the big drop, I wasn't quite sure about this one, so dh and I decided to wait it out and watch everyone's stuff. There was a pretty long wait, and that big drop kept looking very dramatic - but then the kids convinced me that I should try it. And y'know what? It really wasn't that bad. I ended up behind a rather large family, so I think that kept me from getting very wet!
It was starting to look like it was going to rain, so the lines started getting shorter. Just in time for Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges! This is the one that's a lot like Kali River Rapids, where you are guaranteed to get soaked. And of course, we did! We always have a lot of fun with the big raft rides like this, and Popeye's was no exception.
I was the only one who hadn't packed a change of clothes, figuring mine would dry - and also, to keep from packing just a ton of stuff. Well, I never did get completely dry for the rest of the evening, but otoh, dh ended up carrying all the wet clothes, and was probably just as happy not to have to carry yet another soaking wet set of clothes!
Next, it was time to head back to Hogsmeade...