Universal Part 2: Harry Potter

Finn loves Harry Potter.   He has listened to all of the books on audio and has read the first book to himself.   We all watched the first movie together.  After seeing the first movie, I decided that it reads so much differently than it shows on screen.   Not to say the first movie was much different than the book, but that it was darker and creepier on screen than in your imagination.     I don't plan to let Finn watch the other movies until he is much older.  So anything Finn saw at Universal Studios was the first time he had a visual for most of the things he has read about.  

When we first entered the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I got teary eyed.  It was beautiful and magical.   It didn't feel like we were at some theme park; it felt like we were in a different world. 

Our first stop was to Olivanders.  They do a show with a wizard talking about wands. It was cute and Finn really liked it.   From there it leads right into the wand shop to purchase your wand. They have toy wands and interactive wands. We got the interactive wand so Finn could do magic around the park.

He picked Harry Potter's wand.

Finn enjoyed this a lot...

In order to ride the Hogwarts Express you have to have tickets to both parks.  We rode this several times and each direction is different.  

Most of the Harry Potter stuff actually revolves around shopping. They have a ton of cute shops filled with all sorts of things...

Finn took his spending money and handled making decisions very well.   There was so much to chose from but I had him make a list before we went of what he would love to see if they had. I think that helped him not be overwhelmed and want it all.

He put an owl on his list.  When we got there and he saw that they were stuffed animals he decided to save his money.

Hogwarts Castle is actually a ride called the Forbidden Journey.  We did this on our early admittance to the park the second day. That was a great decision because we didn't have to wait in as much of a line. I think had we not done it early, we would have never made it through a several hour long wait.

The castle is amazing and the ride is so cool. I wouldn't say this ride is suitable for little kids.  Finn is just about as young as I would send on it.    It is very intense and you can't see each other's faces. We had no idea how he was responding to it.  I didn't know if he was happy, scared, puking, crying.  Luckily he thought it was awesome.

We ate at the Leaky Cauldron and Three Broomsticks.   The setting was perfect.  The food is okay.   We all shared food and loaded up on water there.   The lines are crazy long.    Finn wanted to try Butterbeer.  Finn and sugar is a bad combo and we know this.  I didn't want him to not get to experience Butterbeer but I knew a full cup of it would make our day rough, so I got smart.  We got our cups of water and one mug of Butterbeer. Once our water cups were empty we each got a cup of Butterbeer.    This worked out great.  He got the excitement of a small amount and we got to have a normal day :) 

If you go don't forget to find the alley for the Dark Arts. It isn't much but it is there...

We stopped in and did the money exchange.  The minimum is 10 dollars.  It can be used anywhere in Universal. We forgot to use it.  

Gringotts Bank is a ride that wasn't opened for some reason. I have no clue what it is like.

But every few minutes the Dragon shoots fire and you can feel the heat off the flame...

Finn really wanted to go in the book store...

He didn't really understand that a lot of it was just sets and since he has never been much of a magical thinker, we wanted him to have this one thing he was childlike about.   We just said the bookstore was closed...

There are a ton of sweet shops and sweets to be had.   We knew this and made a plan to do Butterbeer one day and ice cream on day two.   He really wanted to get ice cream from the  Florean Fortescue's Ice cream Parlour.

There was no way to be smart with that one, so we were lucky when halfway through he was done and through it in the trash.  He was not in the best form afterward but we at least planned it for latest in the day we could so we didn't have to deal with sugar rage Finn long.  

I think that by having some talks with Finn prior to going about what he would like to buy, how much he could spend, what treats he wanted the most, etc, really helped us get through without chaos.  I think by setting some guidelines, you might be able to avoid trouble  There is so much there and without a plan it might be easy for a kid to want it all.  It would also be easy for a parent to give in to it all to avoid problem.  I am happy we made it through without him being sugared up and buying loads of stuff just to buy it.   He came home with things that he is really excited about and no impulse buys.

I am so glad we did this trip. I am happy that Finn was at an age he will remember it (I hope!).  We are not big theme park people but I certainly would say this is something that is fun for all ages and if you get the opportunity to go to Universal, take it!