Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures

Tag: Diagon Alley

• Diagon Alley

  Posted at 10:21 am by taryngirl, on April 30, 2021

  11/16/20

  One of my main goals was to spend some time in Diagon Alley. This whole area is like a page out of the book! There are so many details, that with each trip I notice something new.

  To enter this area, it’s not really marked. You have to just walk in doorways and find it! It’s located next to King’s Cross Station.

  This is King’s Cross Station, where you can board Hogwart’s Express to travel to Islands of Adventure and the village of Hogsmeade.

  

  Once you walk through the doorway, you are immediately transported to a magical place!

  

  Keep walking straight ahead and there are a variety of shops, and one of the coolest parts…

  

  The dragon that sits atop Gringotts Bank is a true fire breathing dragon. It goes off every so many minutes. You will know it’s gearing up to breathe fire when you hear the rumbling starting.

  I love walking through the different shops. There is one called Eyelop’s Owl Emporium/Magical Menagerie. Here you can purchase owls, and all of the other magical pets, as well as items to take care of them.

  

  If you walk outside of this store, in the window you can see a snake who will speak Parseltounge to you.

  

  Also located in this area is Knockturn Alley. This is a very dark, walk through area. The theming is amazing! You can see these singing heads:

  

  Borgin and Burkes shop is located here.

  

  

  Everything was decorated for Christmas!

  

  If you are a super Harry Potter fan, there is no shortage of merchandise depicting your “house.”

  

  

  Be sure to visit Gringotts Money Exchange! Behind the counter you will see a goblin. You can ask him a question and see what he has to say. You can trade US currency for Gringotts bank notes. These bank notes may be used for purchases within Diagon Alley at select locations.

  

  There is no shortage of Butterbeer! There are a few locations that serve it.

  

  

  This is also a fun shop! Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes has apparel, toys and other souvenirs.

  

  You can find all kinds of goodies at Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop!

  

  

  

  Possibly my favorite snack in all of Universal is ice cream from Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor! They have soft serve, hard pack, and a special feature of Butterbeer ice cream!

  

  I’m sorry this is partially eaten, but it was hot and melting and I had to start eating it immediately! I can never decide on just one flavor, so I get two…Chocolate Chili and Strawberry and Peanut Butter. SO GOOD! (So good that I went back and got it the next day too…)

  

  Just outside of Diagon Alley you can find the Knight Bus! There is usually a bus conductor there that you can have conversation with, as well as a shrunken head.

  

  Overall, we had a great time in Diagon Alley! It was not crowded at all, and the weather was perfect. This is for sure a don’t miss for me!

  Posted in Diagon Alley, Uncategorized, Universal Orlando, Vacation | 0 Comments | Tagged Diagon Alley, Universal, Universal Orlando, Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• Another Stroll Through Diagon Alley (Universal Orlando)

  Posted at 1:42 pm by taryngirl, on April 17, 2019

  1/7/19

  It was time to head back to the Universal side, and to do this, we took Hogwarts Express.  If you want to do this ride, you must have a Park-to-Park ticket!  Otherwise, you will not be permitted to ride the train.  IT IS SO COOL!  

  

  I seriously could not get enough of Diagon Alley!  It was so realistic.  I loved looking at every detail of the buildings.  Here you can see The Hopping Pot, where you can buy some Butterbeer, or regular beer.

  In this same area (Carkitt Market) is where you can see The Tales of Beedle the Bard or Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees do live performances throughout the day.

  Eternelle’s Elixir of Refreshments is a small beverage kiosk also located in Carkitt Market.  here you can find elixirs that you combine with water, and it transforms into a colorful beverage.  

  This cute little shop is the Magical Menagerie.  All kinds of stuffed animals and creatures can be found here.  In the side window on the outside of the shop you can try out your Parseltongue and peek at the snake.

  

  Possibly the most exciting part is the fire breathing dragon on top of Gringott’s Wizarding Bank.  Hang around for a little bit because he usually breathes fire every 10-15 minutes or so.

  

  Many thanks to my friend Jason for these close up amazing photos!

  Some others in my group were talking about how good the ice cream was at Florean Forescue’s Ice Cream Parlour.  Well….ice cream is one of my favorite things ever, so I knew I wanted to try it!  And I had a snack credit left that I could use.  Everyone was rattling off their favorite flavors and I honestly couldn’t decide.

  

  I ended up with Strawberry Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chili.  Both were SO GOOD!  The Chocolate Chili had a little bit of a kick to it, but it was yummy!  As soon as I was done eating it, I remembered that I forgot to take a picture of it.  Boo!

  I did actually ride Escape from Gringotts!  I have really bad motion sickness.  Especially with rides that are simulators.  I knew this had some screen action, but I HAD to try it and just close my eyes at certain parts.  It was really cool and I’m glad I did it!

  Gringott’s Money Exchange is a neat little place where you can interact with a goblin and exchange Muggle money for Gringott’s Bank Notes to use at participating locations throughout Universal.

  

  Knockturn Alley!  Don’t miss this.  It’s kind of hidden but definitely neat to walk through.

   

  

  One last picture on my way out of Diagon Alley.  This statue and fountain are located just outside of the secret entrance.

  

  Posted in Diagon Alley, Uncategorized, Universal Orlando | 0 Comments | Tagged Diagon Alley, Universal, Universal Orlando

• Universal Orlando Morning Touring Diagon Alley

  Posted at 11:08 am by taryngirl, on January 26, 2019

  1/7/19–Park Day!

  Our plan was to hit up the Wizarding World of Harry Potter on the Universal side since we could enter 1 hour early.  We were up and had breakfast in the lounge and were on our way around 8:15 a.m…a little later than I wanted!

  (Check out my new Convertible Belt Bag by Thirty-One Gifts!  I am a Senior Director with Thirty-One Gifts, and it came in just before my trip.  I was super excited to try it!  It is the PERFECT SIZE for me for park touring!)

  

  It was a quick walk to the front gate.  But first, we had to stop and get this pic!

  

  

  There were no real lines at all to get in.  I made it through and then looked for Chrissy.  Her ticket didn’t work!  She had to go to Guest Services to get it fixed.  After a little bit we were on our way to Diagon Alley!  They were checking room keys to make sure we were staying onsite to qualify for the hour early entrance.

  I took some pictures along the way of the empty streets!

  

  

  Christmas decorations were still up!

  

  

  I absolutely loved all of these NYC themed streets!

  

  If you have never been to Diagon Alley, you might not know how to “enter.”  It’s right here in this unmarked area!  It almost looks like you are walking into a big bathroom.

  

  Inside Diagon Alley:

  This is looking back towards the entrance we just walked through.

  

  

  

  At this point we got a call to meet the rest of the crew for a group picture…in Islands of Adventure by the entrance.  Also at this time, it was 9:00 a.m. and the regular crowd of people were pouring into the train station to ride Hogwarts Express over to Islands of Adventure.  So we opted to walk out of Universal and across the front of Hard Rock Cafe and Toothsome Chocolate Emporium.

  It was a gorgeous morning!

  Preliminary thoughts…If you love Harry Potter and part of the reason you are here is to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it is an absolute must that you arrive at 8 a.m. and beat the crowds!  Almost everyone makes a bee line to this area.  You get the early admission if you are staying at a participating resort or even if you buy tickets only through me…your friendly travel agent!  Contact me for more information and too see which resorts participate.  8-9 a.m. is also a great time to get pictures along the way of the empty streets.  I think the best plan is to get into Diagon Alley first then come out around 8:45-8:50 a.m. and get in line for the Hogwarts Express.  That will get you over to Hogsmeade first thing to either ride Forbidden Journey or explore a mostly empty street.

  To Be Continued…

  Posted in Diagon Alley, Uncategorized, Universal Orlando | 0 Comments | Tagged Diagon Alley, Harry Potter, Universal, Universal Orlando, Wizarding World of Harry Potter

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