Harry Potter Universal Studios Hollywood

[rickztahone]

I have been a Harry Potter fan since the very first book. Needless to say, when they announced that they would open a H.P. park here in Hollywood (15 minutes from my house), I knew I wanted to be there opening day. My brother was kind enough to give me a daily pass on opening day as a birthday gift. He also ended up going with me since he is a somewhat fan, lol.

Anyways, I had an absolute blast and it allowed me to be a kid again. I took some pictures but it rained a good portion of the day and the sky was absolutely horrid which didn't lend itself well for nice pictures. The park opened at 6:30am and I was there till about 5pm. It rained for a good 4 hours of that time while waiting in line, lol.

On to the pics I liked best:

You can't go to the Harry Potter park and not buy a wand...

The ones with the map inserts are "interactive wands" where you can go to locations across the "H.P.world" and do spells.

Interactive wand insert map by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

Not sure if there are enough wands to choose from:
Ollivanders by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr
This room was very difficult to shoot in because it was so dark and the lighting was terrible! That was the best I could do.

Marauders Map by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

As you can tell, wands play a very big role here lol
Ollivanders Wand Box by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

As far as sight seeing, we have Hagrid's Hut
Hagrid's Hut by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

Hogwarts entry way:
Hogwarts entrance by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

Hogwarts itself:
Hogwarts by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

And a little more thought out shot of Hogwarts. I doubt many would actually get a shot like this, I was literally hugging a huge pillar, had to go wide at 24mm and had the camera up arms fully outstretched with the LCD tilting down.
Hogwarts / Hogsmeade intersection by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

Another one I actually gave thought to. Funny story, while making line, I took a shot similar to this but not with the castle in the background. People were moving forward in the line and I had to move. I was pretty muffed about that but then decided to come back later. Fortunately (or unfortunately, however you want to see it), it was raining later and the line got much shorter which allowed me to go to that area and really get a shot I liked. This is what I came out with:
Weasley Family Car, Hogwarts background by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

Last one, nothing to do with H.P., but as you are leaving Universal, you see this huge dome piece in Universal City Walk and I thought it made a great abstract
Abstract by Ricardo Vasquez, on Flickr

[Second Hand Pat]

Nice Ricardo. I have yet to do to see the Harry Potter attraction here in Florida. It is always packed Did they have the white dragon?
Pat

[rickztahone]

Nice Ricardo. I have yet to do to see the Harry Potter attraction here in Florida. It is always packed Did they have the white dragon?
Pat

Nope, no white dragon. However, I didn't stay till the night time and there may have been? I was pretty beat at 5pm, lol.

[two utes]

Hi Ricardo. You and my wife would get on well. She is a huge Harry Potter fan, and has a room here at home dedicated to Harry Potter memorabilia. Our first visit to America about 5 years ago was purely to visit Harry Potter World at Universal Studios in Orlando Florida. We did the ride about 5 times, and even though l'm not a fun thoroughly enjoyed it.
We recently did a trip to China and Japan, and she found out that there was a Harry Potter world at Universal Studios at Osaka Japan. The line for the main ride was over 4 hours long...thank goodness we had already experienced it. I must say , even though the props where the same at both parks l liked the feel of the one in Orlando much better. We will be back to America some time soon and sure to visit Harry Potter world at Hollywood...we were there a few years back and l really liked the Transformers part. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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[rickztahone]

Thanks for sharing! Great seeing another fan enjoying the HP world

[Discus-n00b]

Nice pictures! I need to go back, I went literally right after they opened in 2010. I know they've added some stuff since.

[nolefan]

Loved the ride sucks the fast pass was not good for that ride ..loved the pics

[Andmyster]

This looks awesome!! It is something i would love to go and do with the misses!!