[FSUZeta]

went two weekends ago and stayed at a doubletree one block from universal that is a "preferred" partner with universal, so got to enter early. i would advise staying in a hotel with this deal, because we had little wait on the hogwarts castle ride(the harry potter experience), which was the best ride i have ever been on. by the time regular admission folks made it to the back of the park,where wizarding world is located, we had seen everything we wanted to see, husband, son and friends had quaffed a few butterbeers-they said they are delicious!-and we left. everything looks very authentic-even the snowy caps on the roof, in central florida, no less!

we were disappointed that there was not more, what there was was small and even with early admission it was crowded. if you have small children, definately stand in the olievander(sp) wand shop line-my son and his buddies stood in the line so they could see the wand ceremony, and these fellows(21 year olds) said that it was pretty amazing to see. one lucky child is selected to participate in the wand ceremony per x amount of people allowed into the shop at one time. as my son said,"after the kids goes thru the ceremony and the wand "selects" him/her , there is no way the parent is not going to fork over the $40 for that wand. i did see the wands of two kids who were accompanied by their grandparents and they were very nicely done and came in a commemorative box.

they sell robes, sweaters with crests on them, mugs, etc. and tons of candy in the candy shop. but again, it was very hard to navigate, due to the crowd, even that early in the morning.

another tip-there is an alleyway beside the restrooms. follow the alley way to a really nice patio behind the three broomsticks and while all the folks are waiting in line at the front , you can waltz in, get your butterbeer and savor it on the patio. unfortunately, there is no diet coke-or any other carbonated beverages in hogsmeade.