Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Leaky Cauldron :Delicious British Dishes, Magical Ambiance (Orlando. Florida, Beyond WDW Series 8)

Leaky Cauldron 
Delicious British Dishes, Magical Ambiance
(Orlando. Florida, Beyond WDW Series 8)

It was already past noontime when we arrived
at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at
the Universal Studios Orlando and we were
all  starving so we searched for a place to eat,

 

…that lead us to the Leaky Cauldron.


Leaky Cauldron, is a full service restaurant based on the fictional 
world of Harry Potter book series, a recreation a pub and inn that 
Harry and his friends visited frequently in Diagon Alley,

 

.. and could be accessed thru an enchanted brick wall behind the 
restaurant, which how exactly how it was done in the theme park.


The restaurant had a medieval- themed interiors,



 


…with the iconic cracked, leaky cauldron displayed
at the head of the beautifully designed dining area.

 

The Leaky Cauldron is a step-up from a quick- service 
restaurant, and serves traditional British cuisine.


We ordered our food from one of the several registers, where we 
were given a numbered candlestick and the beverages we ordered,

 

...then a costumed team member 
took us to our table at the dining area.

 

 

We ordered our all time favorite Fish and Chips.
It was a perfectly fried, battered Fresh Atlantic Cod,
served with thickly sliced potato chips as a side dish.
It was crispy on the outside and very moist and tasty
inside and went perfectly well with the tartar sauce.

 

We were curious what was on the Toad in the Hole
so we ordered one. It turned out to be as delicious
traditional sausage baked into a very tasty Yorkshire
pudding and bathed with onion gravy. It was served
with variety of fresh vegetable and steamed green peas.

 

The Fisherman’s Pie was so good and a must try dish
in Leaky Cauldron. Varied seafood made of salmon,
shrimp and cod fish baked together under a potato crust,
which actually is a tasty and creamy baked mashed potatoes.

 

The Leaky Cauldron despite being a theme- park restaurant,

 

…serves delicious dishes and a must dine, must visit
restaurant for anyone who wanted  to have an authentic

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Magical World Brought to Life at Universal Orlando (Orlando, Florida, Beyond WDW Series 7)

Wizarding World of Harry Potter 
Magical World Brought to Life at Universal Orlando
(Orlando, Florida, Beyond WDW Series 7) 

We were in Universal Studios Hollywood a year earlier and the 
Wizarding World of Harry Potter was still being built and that
got all of us curious to see how it would look like once completed.





This visit to Universal Studious Florida would give us a chance
to see the very first Wizarding World of Harry Potter among
Universal Studios theme park, so we were all thrilled to see it.



The themed zone begins in a typical London scenery,



…where the triple decker Knight Bus is found with
talking shrunken heads hanging by the bus window.





At the backstreet of this  London scenery,

 

…is the magical world of Harry Potter,



…where the Diagon Alley 
was so  realistically recreated



...that could be accesed by a magical wall beside
 the  Leaky Cauldron, just as what the book says,



…and would make one feel like being transported
 to the magical and mysterious world of Harry Potter.

 

It includes re-creation of connecting alleys,
like the schemingly dark Knockturn Alley,





a small section of Muggle, London,



…and many shops and restaurants from the book series including 
Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes,  Olivander’s Wand Shop,  Borgin
and Burkes, Madam Malkin’s Robes for all Occasions, Florean 
Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour and Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment. 

 

 

 

We were able to dine at Leaky Cauldron, 



…a medieval- themed restaurant,



…where we were served delicious British cuisine.



The rides are Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts 
an exciting roller coaster ride where the queue was kilometric
and as it does not have a lane for those with Express Tickets.



Another attraction is the Hogwarts Express, where guests had
to endure the very long queue at the King’s Cross Station,



…as it also does not have a lane dedicated
to those with upgraded Express Tickets.







The long and meandering queue, thru an optical illusion,
would make everyone appear to pass thru a brick wall,
that would take them to the concealed Platform 9 ½ .



The Hogwarts Express is an attraction of its own.

 

It is a full-scale replica of the train that appears in the film.



The train ride features modern London Cityscape, 
that turns bucolic as it gets closer to Hogsmead, 
realistically projected on the train’s glass windows.



The train ride would take guests from the Diagon Alley 
located at the Universal Studios Orlando to Hogsmead,



…which located at the Islands of Adventure, so a park-to-
park admission ticket is required to ride Hogwarts Express.



One can take the same train from Hogsmeade 
back again to Diagon Alley where the scenery
changes from rustic to a modern cityscape.

 

At the Islands of Adventure theme park,
the Wizarding World of Harry Potter 
includes re-creation of Hogsmeade. 



The breathtaking snow-capped rustic cottages
of Hogsmead was realistically recreated,



…and just like the Diagon Alley recreation,
would also make one feel transported to the
magical and mysterious world of Harry Potter.



Housed in these snow- topped cottages,

 



..are gift shops and restaurants from the book series
including Ollivanders, the Hog's Head, Honeydukes, 
Dervish and Banges, and the Three Broomsticks.





The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was
a sight to behold and serves an eye- catching  centerpiece,



…and the host for the park’s flagship attraction;   
the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. 



We skipped two attractions, the Dragon Challenge, a pair of inverted 
roller coasters, the Flight of the Hippogriff, a family roller coaster.