Harry Potter

For those of you that might have heard, Universal Studios in Orlando recently opened up a new area to their parks called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Whether you are just a passing fan of the Potter series or a hard core geek, this park will satisfy anyone’s child-like fantasies of reliving the Harry Potter world.

We have just returned from a trip to Universal to show you first hand what the park has in store for you.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is by far the most advanced ride in the park to date. The line for the ride literally walks you through Hogwarts Castle.

You see the greenhouse in which they had to learn to replant those screaming Mandrakes into bigger pots, you walk through a very detailed classroom with a full scale dragon skeleton hanging from the ceiling and into Dumbledore’s office with the talking pictures on the walls.

The talking photos were truly amazing and looked so real that it startled me when another started to talk or move around.

The ride itself takes place in the Great Hall and even has the floating candles in the ceiling!

As you strap into the ride you are taken through a crazy broomstick flight through the Castle and out into the surrounding areas as you try to outrun a dragon, escape dementors, play a little Quidditch, and escape from the depths of the lair of "He who shall not be named" as well as spiders such as Aragog, and the Whomping Willow which almost seems to take you out.

There is no other way to say this, it is one Hell of a ride!

The Owl Post allows you to buy a post card and have it stamped with the official Hogwarts postal symbol and they will even mail it out for you provided you have a stamp on it.

There is so much to see and do in Hogsmeade you could almost forget about the excellent rides they have in store for you.

For the younger kids there is a new roller coaster called the Flight of the Hippogriff which while it has some fun twists and turns, it is pretty short and not thrilling enough for the die hard coaster fans.

Still worth a ride through once though, just to see the Hippogriff.