6 hour drive The view of Universal Studios Hollywood is menacing from our 22nd-floor room of the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City. We see the bright lights of the Simpson’s Krustyland, which stay illuminated all night. The Transformers ride, WaterWorld and Universal CityWalk are also easily spied. But rising from the middle of the park is the intimidating, black Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is part of the forthcoming attraction The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Although it’s slated to open Thursday, April 7, there were several points recently when the theme park opened the gates for various guests. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter lives up to every bit of the hype. Hogsmeade Village is straight out of a Christmas card, with its snow-laden thatched cottages from which “icicles” hang.
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VALLEY LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE | MARCH 2016
Muggles, as we average folks are called, can peruse the shops and the rides. It’s just an easy walk down the cobblestone streets. Upon entering the attraction, we were greeted by the Hogwarts Express train and its loveable engineer outside of the Hogsmeade Station. Quickly, we were fully immersed in Diagon Alley, home to a slew of shops, including Zonko’s Joke Shop, where we scored Robot Lilliput, a tin wind-up robot. Diagon Alley also boasts confectionaries from Harry Potter’s world in a shop called Honeydukes. Fudge, chocolate frogs, “candy floss” (the English term for cotton candy) and assorted jellybeans are found there. Really, anything you need to satisfy a sweet tooth is within reach. (And, believe me, we took advantage of the chocolate marshmallow fudge, which rivaled the treats from Michigan’s Mackinac Island.)