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| Another excited visitor |
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| Entering the entrance |
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| Movie fountain |
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| Now with stars! |
Before we got to the rides, we ran into Frankenstein's Monster. I just wanted a photo with him, but he wanted more after he noticed my hat!
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| Hey big guy! |
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| I guess he recognizes a symbol that was created after him |
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| Checking the time? |
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Needs a donation!
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| We are blood brothers now! |
My youngest loves Harry Potter, so we went straight to the Harry Potter World.
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| At the entrance to Hogsmeade |
Our first ride was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, a 3D motion ride that swings riders in front of screens and sets. Hermione casts a spell on the riders' bench and it takes off, flying through the school and grounds in a dramatic and fun way. This is just the same as the ride in Florida, so a lot of fun, especially for Potter fans. There's nothing like getting recruited to be a student at Hogwarts.
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| At Hogwarts Castle, home of the ride |
We also rode Flight of the Hippogriff, a mild rollercoaster that was more to my wife's liking (and seemingly identical to its Florida counterpart).
As we headed out, we stopped off for the Kung Fu Panda Adventure. This theater has an immersive, 3D presentation with the action happening all around the audience (even on the back wall!). The chairs move around to sync with any earth trembling moments (like Po landing on the ground) or rides on rafts. It was a lot of fun. I don't think they had this in Florida.
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| Entrance to adventure |
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| Awards both real and imaginary |
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| Waiting to experience the awesome! |
We next headed to Super Nintendo Land, which is in the lower part of the park. On the way, we saw work on a new, extreme rollercoaster based on the Fast and Furious franchise.
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| Looks very intimidating |
Also on the way, we saw Optimus Prime out making a speech (or something) in front of the Transformers ride. We didn't stay to listen, it was not our priority.
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| Looking for Decepticons in the crowd? |
Super Nintendo World has a fun entrance, going through a pipe just like in a lot of the games where pipes lead to new worlds.
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| Super Nintendo Entrance! |
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| Ready to get out of this world! |
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| A new, amazing world! |
We got on line for Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge, which had a long line (it just opened recently) and had lots of thematic decor along the way.
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| Yoshis in a happy place |
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| Bowser statue at the entrance to his castle |
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| Ready to ride! |
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| Mario Kart cups |
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| Blueprints for trouble |
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| Plan for domination! |
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| Luigi's race outfit |
The ride had us steering and shooting at various bad guys along the way, so a mixture of 3D graphics and on-the-rails movement. Our kart spun a little with our controls but followed the track almost exactly. We never fell off and had to be carried back to the track by Lakitu. To aim our shells, we wore special Mario hats that connected to the kart's system. The visor from the kart made an augmented reality display in front of us, so look-and-shoot instead of point-and-shoot.
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| Hats on! |
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| Troublemakers |
The ride is amazing and fun, capturing the spirit of the game in real life. There's nothing like getting recruited to drive in Mario Kart.
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| More of the amazing decor outside |
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| Princess Peach's castle |
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| The exit is also through a pipe |
Since we were already in the area, we rode the Revenge of the Mummy Ride. It is very similar to its Florida counterpart but had some differences that I liked. We all enjoyed it, except mom.
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| Beware all who enter! |
Our next ride was Jurassic World The Ride, a log flume through a dinosaur-infested park like in the movies. It was fun and dramatic, with lots of big animatronic dinosaurs. Some of them spit water at us, guaranteeing that everyone would get wet on the ride, even before the big splashdown at the end. There's nothing like getting recruited to be a scientist at a Jurassic Park.
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| Jurassic World The Ride |
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| Unhappy with how much splash there was |
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| All of us |
Nearby is Raptor Encounter with a full-sized raptor walking around looking for photo ops with visitors. Or maybe photo chomps? We weren't sure if it was an animatronic or someone in a suit. It looked amazing.
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| Meet the Raptor--not the petting zoo you want to visit |
We went back up the hill to the Harry Potter area to ride the Forbidden Adventure again, this time seeing more of the flavor decorations since the line was longer.
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| Going without mom |
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| School founder |
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| Scores for the house cup |
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| Dumbledore's office |
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| Classroom |
After the ride, we tried Butterbeer, a popular treat that Harry and his friends drink often. It tasted a lot like butterscotch (not butter rum). The creamy topping made it extra smooth and delightful (along with giving it the "beer" look).
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| Cooling off with a drink |
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| Enjoying a sip |
A lot of wandering characters give the place even more atmosphere, like this fellow with his young dragon.
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| Or does the dragon have him? |
One of the attractions is Olivander's, the wand shop from the stories. Visitors come in and a lucky one gets to participate. Our son was chosen to demonstrate his magical skills and see if he could find the right wand. It was a lot of fun and he enjoyed it a lot (even if we did not buy him the very expensive wand).
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| Getting fitted for a wand |
Next, we saw the WaterWorld Stunt Show. The set is elaborate and the show has a ton of action, including boats and jet skis! Before the show even started, they warned the crowd that people in the green seats would definitely get wet. To warm up the crowd, a guy at the bottom of the stands had a water stick that he used to shoot the audience. People loved it, probably because it cooled them off as it warmed them up for the action and excitement to come.
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| WaterWorld entrance |
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| Turning on the visitors like dinos in Jurassic Park |
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| Action during the story |
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| Hang time from the picture above |
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| Crowd boos the villain |
Wandering around, we saw Dracula terrorizing some people, even in the daylight. I bet it wasn't really him.
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| Lady, don't get too close! |
To get some time out of the sun, we tried the Secret Life of Pets Off the Leash ride. The line wove through the apartments from the movie, leading to a sitdown ride through a lot of animatronics. The only bad thing that happened was the riding stopping for about ten minutes. We were stuck in the beauty shop where the animals were getting washed and given fancy hair stylings. Yikes! We had lap bars and could not make it out.
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| Off the Leash entrance |
Right across the way is the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride, where riders are turned into Minions to help Gru deal with problems, like his three adoptive daughters. I never rode this at the Orlando park but I assume it is the same. We enjoyed it. There's nothing like getting recruited to be a minion for Gru.
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| Minion Mayhem |
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| Food chain display |
After that, we tried the Simpsons Ride, which was a lot of fun and identical to the Orlando ride. We noticed outside that Sideshow Bob was escaping from the Springfield prison, part of the plot of the ride. My kids enjoyed it even though they have only seen two or three episodes of the show.
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| Who is that climbing down the side of the building |
That was the end of our first day. We went back to the Airbnb to rest up for the next day.
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