Sunday 15 October we visited Universal Studios Hollywood with Daniel, Katy, and Evy. The haze had lifted in the night and it was a dazzlingly clear day. We were excited to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was fun but just a bit underwhelming. The theming was excellent, but the "land" is very small with only two rides, one of which, The Flight of the Hippogriff, is primarily for kids. We had an excellent lunch at The Three Broomsticks. They serve English fare and it is very good! Unfortunately, Daniel felt lousy and by lunchtime was seriously ill. We had seen and done pretty much everything we came to do, so we headed out by early afternoon. That didn't bother us because the rest of Universal Studios is really unremarkable.
The Colvers headed home to Utah, and Kris and I had a driving tour of West Los Angeles, visiting some of my childhood haunts. We met Phillip in Westwood at the temple and went to supper. He was going to stay with us, but Meags and the kids didn't make standby, so he returned to LAX to pick them up for a hotel stay that night. The next morning we met Phillip at the Port of Long Beach where he left his car for shipping to Hawaii. He joined us for the trip home, which was good with Dan Brown's
Origin playing the entire way.
Headed down Highway 2, the Glendale Freeway
on a crisp, clear morning
Looking forward to an adventure
Making our way to Harry Potter
Entrance to Hogsmeade in the bright morning light
Exploring narrow lanes
Hogwarts looming over Hogsmeade
View from Hogwarts back to Hogsmeade
Dogweed and Deathcap Exotic Plants and Flowers
Owl Post
Young Evelyn Alta fascinated by window displays
Because the window displays...
...are fascinating
Going up the Hogwarts grand staircase for the HP and the
Forbidden Journey ride
Hagrid's Hut in the line for The Flight of the Hippogriff
Hippogriff tracks with Hogwarts in the rear
Fun but short (40 seconds) ride
Katy Kathryn headed back into Hogsmeade
Butterbeer for sale
The Three Broomsticks
Wonderful beamed interior
Katy and Evy share shepherd's pie while
Daniel tries to feel better
Krisy and Dickie enjoying a great meal
Sticky toffee pudding and bangers and mash: really good!
Honeyduke's
Lots of good theming
French Street
This was the only place with something for Evy
She's in there with Katy
Headed home
Beverly Hills Civic Center snapped on our
round-West-LA driving tour
This view hasn't changed since my time in LA in 1955
Stephen and I plucked coins from these fountains in the 1950s
A little supper on Westwood Boulevard
This was a fun day overall, but if I were comparing Harry Potter at Universal to the Warner Brothers tour in England, the experience in England would win hands down. Harry Potter was good, but Universal lacks the magic of Disneyland. Too bad Disney didn't get the rights.
That's all for now.
OXO
D.
