Universal Studios

The final day of our California trip was spent in Universal Studios.

But the real focus of Universal Studios was Harry Potter world, as you'll see in a moment.

We arrived at the park and naturally had to get a selfie with the globe.

Once we got in the park, we saw Hogwarts castle and had to make a beeline for Hogsmeade.  Teanca had told us to do the other parts of Universal Studios first, because the lines would be shorter.  But we couldn't resist going to Harry Potter World immediately.

Robyn is cute in Hogsmeade.  Also, notice her Hufflepull Quidditch jersey.

Looking up at Hogwarts Castle

About to enter the caste

We went to the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride and the line basically runs through Hogwarts castle.

We enjoyed admiring all the details.  They did a good job of immersing us in the wizarding world.

Mandrakes

Dumbledore's office

The sorting hat

After the castle, we tried a cold butter beer.  It was pretty good.  And then, it was on to the rest of the park.  I don't have nearly as many pictures from the rest of the park.  I guess we were just more enamored by the Harry Potter parts.  But here are a couple pictures.

I had to get a picture next to Kwik-E-Mart.  And it was important to say, "Thank you, come again."  several times, because I'm annoying like that.

The Jurassic Park ride was super fun.  The best part was when the Tyrannosaurus jumped out and terrified Robyn.  The picture above is her recreation of the face she made.  Note: that is a velociraptor and not a tyrannosaurs, but she was equally terrified of the raptors, so it's an accurate dramatization of how she looked on the ride.

After spending a few hours riding the other various rides we headed back into Harry Potter World for lunch at the Three Broomsticks.  I was impressed by how well managed it was.  They had you stand in line to order and then they had ushers find you a seat so you weren't wandering around like vultures trying to grab a table as soon as people left.

The food was really good.  And I met a cute Hufflepuff girl there.

This time around we got a hot butterbeer which was basically butterscotch hot chocolate.  It was even better than the cold butterbeer.

Diagon Alley

The Hogwarts Express

After our afternoon exploring all of the intricacies of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley we went to a few of the other shops in Universal Studios.  They were kind of fun.  The most important thing I found were minions.  Naturally, I needed a selfie with them.

We ended our day in the early afternoon.  We had ridden all the rides we wanted, and we had explored Harry Potter World thoroughly.  We were both excited to have a few hours to just hang out in the hotel and rest up before our flight the next morning.  It was a great end to a great trip.