OK, even with all the lines and waiting, I'd say The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was well worth it! :) I loved it, being a HUGE fan of the books. I have not enjoyed all the movies nearly as much, but thought the books were wonderful!

We finally arrived to the front "gates" of the Wizarding World (WW). Love all the attention to detail in the signs and bricks and all. I've heard the actors say that it was neat for them because even in the movies they are only fronts of sets, and here were more "actual" buildings than even what they had.

Of course the Hogwarts Express is at the entrance...

All the shops were redone, here is shown Ollivander's. There were three store areas... Ollivander's/Dervish and Bangs/Owl Post is together as one, Zonko's/Honeydukes is another, and Filch's Confiscated Goods is the last. There was also a kiosk selling just wands. All of these, all four, had a LINE to get in, even the kiosk! We waited a very short amount to go into the one with Ollivander's. It was incredibly small and packed inside. Each of the kids were able to choose one thing thanks to Grandma and Grandpa. Olivia and Braeden each got a broomstick and Liam chose Harry's wand.

After the store, we waited in another long line to eat lunch at the Three Broomsticks. The food was great!!!

I ordered both Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice as I just had to try each!!! The Pumpkin Juice was ok, but not something I'd probably get again. The Butterbeer however was awesome!!! So good! There was a kiosk for Butterbeer in the streets and I was going to get another as we made our way out of WW and back into the park, but the line was LONG and I decided I was not up to it! :)

We then made our way to Hogwarts...

I took Olivia and Liam on Flight of the Hippogriff (Braeden hates rides like coasters!) and Hagrid's hut was there amongst the line...

At the start of the kids' coaster, you are to bow to the Hippogriff...

Then we went toward the castle...

Inside the castle is the Forbidden Journey ride. Olivia was the only one of the three tall enough to go with me and we waited in line FOREVER! But it was worth it! (They did have a single rider line, but being 8 I didn't think it was a good idea when she hadn't even been on the ride once. I'm glad we didn't though because inside the castle, which the single rider line bypasses, there were awesome props and sets of parts of the castle.) This sign however cracked me up...

How many ride injuries have you ever heard of from prosthetic limbs??? :)

The inside of the castle was very dim, so my taking pictures ruined a lot of the effect you got seeing it in person as the flash made it so much brighter. The Mirror of Erised...

The jewels for the House Cup...

Entrance to Dumbledore's Office...

The office, Dumbledore was on a screen at the back talking...

The Sorting Hat which moved and spoke...

It was GREAT!!!!!!!

The ride was just amazing! It was a mix of simulator where you felt like you were flying and "real" areas, so cool!

The ride comes out in Filch's and if it wasn't so crazy busy and we hadn't been in line so long I would've liked to have looked around.

There is also a coaster called Dragon Challenge in WW, which is actually two completely different coasters which intertwine and give two different rides. I skipped these as Olivia wasn't big enough and I didn't want them to wait any longer. We also wanted to look through Zonko's/Honeydukes, but the line was way too long.

We left WW after a great time and stayed in Universal a bit longer before heading out.