Honey Honey Honey Honey Honeydukes

One of the many "treats" you can look forward to seeing at the Wizarding World.

Honeydukes
Hogsmeade Village
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

A World of Wizards & Witches

Hogsmeade
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Islands of Adventure
Universal Orlando Resort
Orlando, FL

Quidditch Essentials

Details outside one of the "stores" you couldn't actually go in.

Spintwitches
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Islands of Adventure
Universal Orlando Resort
Orlando, FL

Christmas In Hogsmeade

(From an older Flickr post)...

Went to check out the Wizarding World the other day, to see what kind of decorations would be placed up for Christmas  And you are looking at the extent of what was done.  It almost seemed disappointing; but yet, not really.  The whole area already has the look of a Winter setting; with "snow" on the rooftops, and icicles all over the place.  There's even a snowman that has a permanent location.

I guess they just added some garland, wreaths, and other small details, to give the sense of a small village putting up simple decorations.  So if you look at it that way, it kinda works.  But I could've skipped this special trip to see Christmas in Hogsmeade.  I was actually gonna cancel my Universal pass back in July.   But I  was kind of contemplating a way to attend a special Harry Potter event last month (which I totally forgot about); and also wanted to check out what they would do for the Holidays.  Now that I've had my fill, I'll be ending my Passholder status this week.

On another note, Universal did an AMAZING job with decorating Seuss Landing.  There were delightful Christmas sights EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!

Owl Post
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Universal's Islands of Adventure
Orlando, FL

Good To The Last Drop

Hog's Head Pub
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Islands of Adventure
Universal Orlando Resort
Orlando, Florida

Public Conveniences

Believe it or not, this is the one shot I desparately wanted to nail...... and I have no idea why. I guess it's just something about the theming of the 'Public Conveniences' that just grabbed me. But I also think it's one of the seldom things in the Wizarding World that I could find where I could play with the dof some; and still have the shot mainly be composed of just one subject, per se. I've tackled this during every visit here; but I guess it took me finally using my Sigma 30mm at f/2.8 to get the look I was going for.

Oh, and one cool thing about these bathrooms, is that they have Moaning Myrtle in there (just her voice). Gotta love that attention to detail.

Public Conveniences (Restrooms)
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Islands of Adventure
Universal Orlando Resort
Orlando, FL

Which Wand Will Choose You, Mr. Weasley???

Finally got a chance to check out Ollivanders. The line for this is usually quite long; but I guess I caught it at a good moment. And to tell ya, this was quite impressive. There definitely isn't much space in here (to keep with the authenticity of the "actual" wizarding world), but it really does help to keep this scene intimate. So I'd say it works out.

And yes, some crazy woman in line actually said this kid "must be a Weasley" to his face. He didn't like it though. Neither did his parents.

Ollivanders
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Islands of Adventure
Universal Orlando Resort
Orlando, FL

Dogweed And Deathcap: Exotic Plants & Flowers

.... Would you expect them to sell anything else?!?!?

One of the various stores that are 'closed' to guests.

Dogweed And Deathcap
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Islands of Adventure
Universal Orlando Resort
Orlando, FL

Lumos

There was practically a full moon this night (the official full moon was the next night), so I was trying to capture that nice round sphere. Kinda glad it turned out different though. ;)

The Three Broomsticks
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Islands of Adventure
Universal Orlando Resort
Orlando, FL

Hogsmeade Village

The Three Broomsticks

..... Fine Eating Establishment

Strange Magic

This young witch lost her wand. But she is still trying to conjure up a little bit of magic. ;)

A View Inside Scrivenshaft's

... The Finest Parchments, Inks & Quills

Gotta love detail like this.

Honeydukes

Honeydukes Sweets Shop is interconnected with Zonko's Joke Shop. So you can walk inside one, and easily venture over to the other. But I gotta say, Zonko's wasn't all that magical. It's quite small in there; and it just doesn't seem to have a great appeal.

Inside Hog's Head Pub

"The Management will not take responsibility if you lose your HEAD"

One interesting little tidbit: there is no soda served anywhere in the Wizarding World area. As I was in line to buy a frozen Butterbeer.... mmmm..... I heard a Team Member mention that to a guest.

Hogsmeade: Please Respect The Spell Limits

I think that it was amazing how Universal was able to bring in Alan Gilmore to help design this area. Alan played an integral part in bringing the Harry Potter world to life on the big screen. His influence can definitely be seen in all of great detail of this attraction.

And oh yeah, the Butterbeer is quite good..... especially the frozen version. :)