There are quite a lot of imaginative touches at Universal Studios Harry Potter theme parks. One of them is the Hogwarts train that takes you from Diagon Alley at the Universal Studios park over to Hogsmeade and the Islands of Adventure Park and back again.

The train station, the train and the individual cars that you sit in, are all very much from the movie.

While it gets you from one park to another, it is also a ride in and of itself. On one side are the windows looking out. You get to watch London segue to the countryside and ominous dark clouds appearing and then suddenly Hogwarts is in the distance and you’re at the train station with Hagrid waving at you. It’s a little mini movie.

But wait there’s more. In the hallway is also some action going on you see silhouettes of our heroes talking and then a death eater hand appears against the glass, Harry casts a spell and before you know it a silhouette of the trolley cart shows up.

You have to ride the train a lot to really get an appreciation of everything that’s going on.

There’s still more, the return trip from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley has different indoor and outdoor scenes.

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This link to YouTube shows it in detail if you want to be spoiled.

Welcome to the town of Hogsmead with Hogwarts Castle looming in the background. There is a virtual ride that takes you through the castle and encounters with some memorable creatures – a tree that tries to kill you – a giant snake roaming through the pipes. You do feel as though there is something missing. Moving staircases? Not as impressive as Diagon Alley, but still fun.

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Dr. Seuss land left quite an impression on Jeff and me when we first visited these parks 10 years ago. It has not changed and it is still awe inspiring in its Dr. Seuss-ness. The saturation of color, the freaky yet beautiful life size Truffula trees, the whole area looks like 50 billion pounds of marzipan fell from heaven. I would not recommend licking anything, but just wandering around it felt like light itself was bending in a different direction. Freaky indeed.

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Here are some highlights of the Islands of Adventure Park. The best ride there (in my opinion) was the Incredible Hulk roller coaster. Jasmine and I did it twice and the second time we got front row. The Rip Ride Rocket is good, with the first descent pretty impressive, but for overall performance I have to go with the Hulk. Even 10 years between rides and it is still my most favorite roller coaster. Jasmine did the Dr. Doom Fear Fall by herself. Jeff and I were not that brave (or foolhardy).

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Here are some picture of the Universal Studios park. We took in a couple of shows, including a Beetlejuice themed musical review and a surprisingly great animal show. The day ended with a movie vignette showing clips from 100 years of Universal films timed to music and fireworks. You forget how many good movies this studio put out.

I think Jeff and Jasmines fav ride was the mummy indoor rollcoaster thrill ride with a crazy amount of real and simulated effects.

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