Visiting Diagon Alley--Universal Florida

Walking into Diagon Alley is like walking into a different world, and I suppose that was the goal of its creators.  Hats off to JK Rowling and her imaginative mind!

 

To get to Diagon Alley one must go to "London".  You will know you are in London when you see the Knight Bus and the red, phone box.

If you step inside the red phone booth and dial a certain number, you will get the Ministry of Magic!  It's very cool!

 

Diagon Alley is inside "behind" that red building.

 

 

Oh look!  There's an opening in this brick wall.
And here we are in Diagon Alley!

When my daughter walked through the broken, brick wall she got tears in her eyes.  (And I say without shame, I think we all shed a tear on our last night, as we left Diagon Alley, for the last time.)

 

 

 

Now, you have to imagine the Harry Potter soundtrack is playing constantly, which is actually quite lovely. 

 

 

Autumn got "picked", out of a handful of kids, for the wand ceremony at Ollivander's Wand Shop.  She knew the spells Ollivander asked her to do and when her wand "chose her" a light shown down from above and dramatic music played.  It was quite cool, like she was in her own little Harry Potter movie!

 

Inside Ollivander's Wand Shop

A place that serves Butterbeer, which is quite possibly the best beverage on earth.  It's non-alcoholic, and tastes like cream soda with a dash of butterscotch.
 

 

Below, is the dragon that is escaping Gringots (Don't worry, he's a good dragon, just misunderstood). He breathes fire every 15 minutes and it's SO COOL!

 

 

We took Autumn into Madam Malkin's to buy her "school robes" since she will be attending Hogwarts.

 

This is where one goes to purchase Quidditch supplies.

And here is Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Store

Inside Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (couldn't go up the cool staircase, it's just for show).

Fred (or George) Weasley (below) lifts his hat all day long.  His arms must get tired. 

Wiseacres is an amazing store with a celestial theme on the ceiling.  Scibbulus, the turquoise store next door, is an amazing stationery shop full of journals, stationery, quill pens, postcards, ink well, wax stamp sets and all kinds of wonderful goodies!

The inside of Wiseacres.

The only photo I took in Scribbulus was of this really cool stationery box.

Many of the store fronts and windows were just for show, but they looked so REAL!

The pet shop, The Magical Menagerie
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On our first night, they had a special Harry Potter welcoming event for those of us who bought the Harry Potter Celebration Package.  Diagon Alley was amazing at night!  They served food on little carts, things like chips-n-dip, fruit, a stew of some sort and a dessert cart.  I especially enjoyed the dessert cart with its apple crisp and vanilla tarts. There was also complimentary Butterbeer!  I had a frozen butter beer.  Many people were dressed in their robes and costumes.  It was magical!

The dragon is blowing fire again.

On our last night in the park we ate at the Leaky Cauldron.  We all had the fish-n-chips. The food was good and the ambiance was wonderful!

 

 

 

A family photo.

 

 

 

One last look before we say goodbye.

 

 

Whew!  That was a big batch of photos, and there were so many more I wish I could've included, but it's all quite overwhelming.  Soon, I will blog about Diagon Alley's sister park, Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express that runs back and forth between them.

 

Until another time, have a magical day!