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Tuesday 27 July 2010

The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter Review: Part 2


Queues always form a tangible problem at theme parks, and given my visit just weeks after the official unveiling of The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, the queues even to get round the park were substantial. Ollivander's Wand Experience had a good hour-long line by the looks of it for a show that's 10 minutes, tops. Dervish & Banges seemed to have a line for products that nearly stretched out of the door (but given the barcodes didn't). Heck, even Honeydukes Sweet Shop had a queue! We endured the latter simply because we were hungry and the indoor design was fantastic, but you can see how this does form a drawback to the park. However, will The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter ever NOT be busy? Fans can't simply grab the nearest flying broomstick and their funds from Gringotts and head straight to Orlando, they'll have to save for months or years before coming, so Islands Of Adventure's extended appeal will live on, and it's unlikely this mini theme-park will ever be replaced or rethemed due to the franchise's sheer popularity. As well as obviously Honeydukes, The 3 Broomsticks offers a place to sit down and eat, along with some nice moving pictures of Quidditch matches, and the Hog's Head is the perfect chance to sit down and have a glass of Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice: while I didn't try the pumpkin-based beverage, the Butterbeer was soothingly cool (with a frozen option even available) and tasted like a mixture of vanilla ice cream and lemonade, yet not like any cocktail in pubs before it. Both locations are worth checking out simply for their Potter heritage, and if you want a good meal there's some of them available too. Once all that's done, though, it's time to move onto the rides...

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