Good morning! Ready for another fun day?

It sounds like the consensus is to do the Hagrid ride again, so let’s go there first. We can ride it before the line gets long, then take the Hogwarts Express over to Diagon Alley again to finish off that park. Let’s walk over to Islands of Adventure via the resort walking path like we did yesterday.

Again, we’re getting there about half an hour before park opening, then will bee-line it to the Wizarding World. We can’t wait to ride it again!

That was worth a second ride! So cool!

Is there anything else that you want to do in this park before we head over to the other one?

OK, let’s take the Hogwarts Express again over to Diagon Alley.

That never gets old!

Let’s go ride Gringotts again and then finish exploring the rest of Diagon Alley.

Oh, we found Knockturn Alley! We didn’t explore this yesterday. There are some spell spots in here too, but be careful not to fall into any dark magic! For those who don’t know, Knockturn Alley is where the shops devoted to the Dark Arts are and where sinister wizarding activities tend to take place. Keep an eye out all around you!

Phew, did everyone make it out of there? I think it’s time for an early lunch since we didn’t eat breakfast. The Leaky Cauldron is a great place to grab some good ol’ English food while we’re in London. There are some items here that aren’t available in The Three Broomsticks, so we need to eat here too. As always, look all around, and don’t forget a photo op with the actual Leaky Cauldron in the back.

Yum! Time for a final loop around Diagon Alley. Let’s do some souvenir shopping this time before we head out. There are so many fun things available! Watch your galleons (money).

The lands of this park pretty much form a circle around the lagoon in the middle as well. Diagon Alley is located towards the end of the lagoon. We went left out of London last night and did the MIB and Simpsons areas already, so let’s go towards the right this time. There are more rides in that direction.

In fact, since we got here via Hogwarts Express on both days, you didn’t get a chance to come in through the front of the park. Let’s do a very quick run-through of the park from the front entrance so that you can get a proper overview of the lands.

OK, we’re back where we left off before, just outside Diagon Alley.

As we pass London on the right, the next ride we’ll see if Fast & Furious, but honestly, it’s not that great. It’s kind of a cheesy screen experience. Maybe we’ll come back to it later once we’re done with everything else. There are some cool cars in front, if anyone wants to go see, though.

TIP: The Fast & Furious and the Jimmy Fallon rides offer Virtual Lines in the Universal app. If you want to ride these rides, you can go into the app and select the next ride time available. Then, you can just go back during that time frame, instead of having to stand in line now.

So, let’s make our way past that to the Revenge of the Mummy ride. This one is pretty fun. It’s a dark, indoor, semi-coaster ride. Again, another one with lockers and Express Passes, so you know what to do. Let’s go.

Wow, were you surprised by that ending?

OK, well, next is the Jimmy Fallon ride, which has Virtual Lines, so let’s go into the Universal app and grab a later ride time for that. We can decide if we want to come back to it later.

We finally get to the Rip Ride RockIt ride, which I’m sure you’ve seen before. Can’t miss those giant tracks! This is one of our favorites. But, be warned, this is another crazy coaster like the Hulk. Just look at that vertical climb on the left, and thus, the subsequent drop! There are several upside-down loops too! You know it’s fast when it also has x-rays at the entrance. Are you sure you can handle it? Let’s go, then!

OMG! Did you survive that??

The kids want to go again, but I’m going to sit to unscramble my brain a bit. I think it’s time for a snack break. Let’s go find something. There are a lot of good possibilities in the Simpsons area, with lots of indoor seating to soak in some air conditioning, too.

OK, rested enough?

Let’s do the E.T. ride next since it’s nearby. That’s always an iconic Universal ride that we have to do.

If there are any SpongeBob fans in the group, the SpongeBob store is always a fun stop. If you’re there at the right time, you may be able to take a photo while the characters are out.

OK, where to next? We’ve actually covered most of the park now. There are just a few minor rides left.

Does anyone care to do the Transformers ride? That’s nearby.

How about the Minions one? That’s always fun. It’s a 3D, actually, more like 4D, screen ride where you become a minion! Let’s go do that one.

Bananaaaaaas!

Well, since we are back near the front of the park, let’s explore the main street. There are a few shops here, including a giant Universal store, if you want any souvenirs. There are some other food places too.

It’s starting to get late now. Are we good with everything in this park?

I have an idea! There’s a cool thing back over at Hogsmeade that you have to see at night. Let’s take a final walk towards the back of the park to catch the Hogwarts Express over from Kings Cross Station. Remember, I said yesterday that the experience is different in both directions? So, we have to take it back! How can we pass up any chance to go on Platform 9 3/4! Pay attention to that!

That was cool, huh?

So, once it gets dark, they do a cool projection light show on Hogwarts Castle! It’s a short show that runs several times a night so you can catch it several times. Let’s do a final walkthrough of Hogsmeade Village while we wait for it. You’ll see crowds starting to congregate in front of the castle when it’s almost time.

Cool, huh? Show your house pride! What house are you in?

Well, that’s always a neat way to wrap up our days at the Universal parks.

Hungry for dinner, yet? What do you feel like eating today?

If we go out of the park towards Suess Landing, we’ll pass Mythos. That’s the main table service restaurant in this park, with cool “mythical” theming inside. They serve a delicious variety of entrees, but we’ve already eaten there several times. Then, by the exit, we’ll pass Confisco Grill. That’s good for standard sandwiches, burgers, etc, but we’ve also eaten there already.

Of course, there are a plethora of restaurants out in City Walk. Should we go out there and try a new restaurant again? Let’s see what’s available.

Which place sounds yummy to you?

We’ve already eaten at Toothsome’s, Red Oven Pizza, Hard Rock, and Cowfish before. They’re good and all, but let’s try another place that we haven’t been to yet. We like to try different restaurants on each trip. Let’s try Vivo Italian Kitchen tonight! We’ve been meaning to try this one for a while.

What did you think?

Well, today was another fun day at Universal! Are you satisfied finishing up both parks, or do you want to come back for anything?

There are a handful of rides and areas that we didn’t fully explore, and an afternoon parade and nighttime show that we didn’t catch, but that just means we have to come back in the future.

So, tomorrow, we can check out the new Universal water park – Volcano Bay! We’ve never been there, so this will be new to us too. Very exciting! We’ll explore together!

Let’s walk back to our resort from here via that walking path this time. Need to walk off that dinner!

Sadly, this is also our last night staying here, so we’ll also have to pack tonight. Just leave out a day bag to bring with us tomorrow with our water clothes and dry clothes to change into afterward. The plan is to check out of our room in the morning, and leave the rest of our bags at the resort luggage hold area for the day. You can do that. Then, we’ll go spend a fun day at Volcano Bay. Once we’re done there, we can go back to get our bags and take a Lyft ride over to our Disney resort for the rest of our trip!

So, have a good last night at Universal!