We were now in to our second week, and we’d found out, a couple of days earlier, that this week was classed as high season (meaning “loads of people”). Americans get thanksgiving week (the week containing the 27th of November) as holiday, so apparently they all go to the Orlando theme parks.

Islands Of Adventure

Not only that, but Islands of Adventure is currently Orlando’s hottest theme park, because of the new Harry Potter island. The park is made up of six “islands” – not technically islands, as they are just one piece of land surrounding a central lagoon – each of which have their own theme. The islands are: Jurassic Park; Toon Lagoon; Marvel Super Hero Island; The Lost Continent ; Seuss Landing; and, of course, The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. The park has far more in the way of rides compared to the others, including quite a few roller-coasters (but we’d already resigned ourselves to cowardice on that front).

We decided to get to the park early and head straight for Harry Potter island, in an attempt to beat the crowd. Unfortunately, this only works if no-one else has the same idea. We arrived to find the island completely packed, with so many huge queues around that it was almost impossible to tell what they were for. We joined a queue that apparently had a two hour waiting time, to ride the Forbidden Journey, the main Harry Potter ride. In the end we only queued for just over an hour, as we’d decided to split up and take the single rider queue. This was a good move: we drastically reduced our waiting time and ended up sitting next each other anyway! The ride turned out to be just about worth the wait: a combination of jaw-dropping simulated scenes and actual movement around a cleverly constructed castle lead to an exciting but disorienting ride. Strangely enough, we didn’t join the back of the queue for another go.

Hogwarts Castle

Although we had tackled the most popular Harry Potter ride at the beginning of the day, we didn’t dare attempt anything else there, due to the crowds. The island consisted of a construction of Hogwarts Castle, which housed the Forbidden Journey, situated just outside a full sized Hogsmeade village, with shops like Olivanders, Zonkos and Honeydukes. You could also buy butter beer, or at least in theory: the queue in the morning stretched the entire length of the village. You could only work through Hogsmeade by slipping through the gaps between the thousands of people who were trying to do the same. We decided to leave the rest until later in the day.

Therefore, we left the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter and went to Toon Lagoon. Here, we rode what turned out to be our favourite ride, Ripsaw Falls. This water ride put you in a sort of canoe, which took you around a water track in an entirely sedate fashion, save for a few exceptions. These were very exceptional however, with one of them being a 75 foot drop into a water-filled tunnel, to the soundtrack of synchronised screaming and universal drenching. It was after our second run on this that the sun decided to pack up for the day – even to be replaced by rain at one point – leaving us wet and cold for the next few hours. Still, it was worth it!

We returned to the Harry Potter island at about 4.00pm, to find Hogsmeade busy, but manageably so: like the centre of town on a Saturday morning rather than an attempt to break the world record for the most annoying number of people in a single space. We took the opportunity to buy sweets from Honeydukes and butter beer from the seller in the middle of the street – nice but very sweet – and also looked around the various shops. Olivanders was still excessively busy, and we were advised that it was mainly a show for kids, so we gave it a miss. The village is an amazing experience, and even those who aren’t familiar with the books couldn’t fail to be impressed. Of course, it’s absolutely captivating for those who are.

Damp, tired, and with Joy still limping with her sprained foot, we made our way back. It was Joy’s favourite park after her previous visits to Orlando, and it’s both of our favourites now.

Next: Day Eleven – Sea World