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…
