Universal Studios Hollywood Day 1

Monday morning, we headed to Universal Studios Hollywood. It was our first time visiting and we were excited. We were particularly excited about seeing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was our first ride. We had a short wait and so enjoyed the elements of the queue as we walked.

The sorting hat.

Sarah, Megan and U with the frozen butterbeer we shared. It was delicious.

We rode Transformers and then Sarah and U went on Revenge of the Mummy (one of Sarah's favorite rides). Then we went to the Animal Actors shows. It was a cute show that we all enjoyed. At the end, we were able to get closer to the animals and pet some of them.

U, Sarah, Megan and Matthew waiting for the show to start.

The stage. The animals were trained to do lots of tricks such as flipping levers, putting a bottle in a trash can and pulling on a rope.

U had a bird fly to his outstretched right arm to grab a dollar bill with its beak.

The trainer with the bird that flew to U a couple of times. The second time, it returned the money.

Cute fennec fox

Megan enjoyed petting the animals.

With the chicken.

After going on Minions as a family, Matthew and Megan went on the Silly Swirly Fun Ride by themselves. 

Then U rode with Megan.

And I rode with Matthew.

We had an orange bug.

While U and Sarah went through the Walking Dead, Megan, Matthew and Me enjoyed a donut from Springfield, USA. Our friend had recommended we try it and we are glad she did!

Megan with the conductor of the Hogwarts Express on platform 9 3/4.

We went on the Studio Tour which is the iconic ride at the park. The studio has been around over 100 years. The tour was informational, showing us some of the sets from many movies, and also entertaining as we experienced some special effects from a few different movie scenes.

Illumination and the minions.

We saw cars from many famous movies. Here's a sampling of them.

Flash flood!

Jaws attack!

Some of the set from The Grinch.

Plane crash site.

Megan, Me and Sarah after the tour.

We watched the Kung Fu Panda show and then headed back into Hogsmeade.

Hogwarts. We enjoyed riding on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey as well as Flight of the Hippogriff again.

The village of Hogsmeade.

We went to Ollivanders Wand Shop. There are a lot of wands there!

Megan was chosen for the wand selection ceremony. She says she was shocked and excited to be chosen. The assistant gave her a few different wands and had her do a few spells. The wand that chose her was a hazel wand with a phoenix tail feather core.

Matthew and Sarah chose wands after. This employee asked Matthew a few questions before presenting him with a few different options. He told us this was his favorite activity of the day. One of his other favorites was that Megan was selected to have a wand choose her. I thought it was sweet that he was happy for his sister about that.

Matthew and Megan with their wands. They were excited to try them out as seen below. Choosing wands took some time so the park was already emptying and they had a lot of opportunities to work their magic.

A back alley in Hogsmeade.

Matthew, Megan and U with the Hogwarts Express.

The entrance into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

"Please Respect the Spell Limits"

Matthew, Me and Megan with the Universal globe.