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Where did the day go?

We were up really early today so we could take advantage of the Early Park Admission, we were outside of the Islands of Adventure gates by half seven, having taken a leisurely stroll through the Garden Walkway from the hotel. We were leading the way to Hogwarts and got to ride Forbidden Journey twice before deciding to see the rest of the park.

I rode Dragon Challenge alone so Debora could rest her neck, the queue is far too long for such a short ride. We took the Hogwarts Express over to Universal Studios and then rode it straight back so we could experience both journeys. We both agreed from London to Hogwarts was the better trip. Back in IoA we went on Spider-Man – always a great ride – and then braved Hulk. I had no issues with the metal detectors on Dragon Challenge but poor Debora set off the machine somehow and had to be wanded at Hulk. The wand kept going off and the staff wouldn’t believe it when she showed them she had no pockets. It was then determined that it was the wand picking up the metal barrier that was the issue. The staff were not apologetic at all for their mistaken and were quite aggressive when wanding Debora.

We browsed some of the shops and eyed up potential purchases before heading to Jurassic Park River Adventure. We pulled out our pricey ponchos but they didn’t really help us against the puddles of water on the seats. Wet bums all round here. We just caught the end of the frog choir before heading back to the Hogwarts Express for the return to Universal Studios.

Arriving in London I met the Knight Bus conductor and had a great interaction with the talking head. It’s magical how they do that. Yes, there may be another man with a camera feed hiding in one of the buildings but it’s so much fun talking to them both.

Then it was over to the Simpsons ride, I didn’t recall it smelling of baby powder when you get put in Maggies mouth before so that was a new experience. Then we went on Men In Black, I thrashed Debora 168,950 to 62,000. The other riders really let the side down with their poor scores. We visited Shrek’s 4D cinema, that was another very bumpy ride before heading off to Diagon Alley to catch some Tales of Beadle the Bard. This was a fantastic show, although I was hoping to head the tale of the Three Brothers, the Fountain of Fair Fortune was well put together. I then tired to cast some spells but really struggled, there needs to be a school for wizards and witches to learn spells in…

Oh, we also finally found the cookie in a brownie treat – the brookie! Would have been better warm, but still a tasty treat!

Afterwards, we queued for 40 minutes for Transformers before I rode Rip, Ride, Rockit. I managed to get a secret song but I keyed in 701 thinking it was the Muppets…it was Metallica so not a total loss. We then went on Despicable Me and suffered further bashing about before watching the parade and then grabbing a bite to eat. We couldn’t believe the time. We began to head back to the hotel, but I stopped by Rockit again and this time remembered the right secret code for Moving Right Along.

With some cheesecake in tow, we headed back to the hotel, shattered and with tired feet, ready for what tomorrow brings.