6:00pm Shuttle from Royal Pacific Resort Pacifica Ballroom Parking Lot to Universal’s Islands of Adventure 6:30pm Arrive Universal’s Islands of Adventure 6:45pm Hogwarts Express to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley 7:00-8:30pm Exclusive Access to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley
(open bar, passed appetizers & select food stations)8:45pm Hogwarts Express to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade 9:00-10:30pm Exclusive Access to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade
(open bar & dessert)
It was quite an amazing experience having exclusive access to the park. With only 150-or-so people you could pretty much just walk up to any of the rides and get right on. I didn’t realize just how great this was until I returned to the park the next day, sans VIP status.
The Hogwarts Express was a fun way to lead you into the park and get you in the right magical mood for the rest of the experience. We had the Ascension cast in the cabin next to ours and could hear them having a fun time.
Once we arrived at Diagon Alley, we immediately headed for the Escape From Gringotts ride as we were told it was closing early.
I had never been to the Diagon Alley side of the park before, but was instantly impressed with the level of detail they had put into all of the shops and alleyways. The exclusive access was great because there were no lines to get into these shops and storefronts, and you could just walk right up to a Butterbeer cart and they’d hand you one (I had two over the course of the night). And even though dessert was supposed to be at the second half of the park, I headed to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour where I got an amazing half Sticky Toffee Pudding/ half Salted Caramel Blondie cup of ice cream. (It was so good that I got the same for lunch when I returned the park the next day!)
We took the Hogwarts Express in the opposite direction to go to the Hogsmeade half of the park where we had another 90 minutes to ride the rides and explore the park. They had some desserts available, but nothing could equal that ice cream!
Even though we only had 90 minutes at each park, this was more than enough time see everything since there were no lines.
[BMo_scrollGallery id=25]
Overall it was another fun year for the Syfy Digital Press Tour, and I thank Syfy for inviting me to come. I am really excited for Syfy’s upcoming new and returning shows—it sounds like a great lineup, with more stuff being announced all the time. I also look forward to next year’s press tour adventure.
