Take me down to Diagon Alley!

I'm just going to warn you, there are a LOT of photos in this post! I took over 600 in Diagon Alley and it was so hard to narrow them down! I purposely avoided looking at much online about the new part of the park so I could be a little surprised. If you can stand to go to Hogsmeade first, It is amazing to approach Diagon Alley from King's Cross Station. 

First of all, when you get off the Hogwart's Express you really feel like you are in a modern station. You make your way out into a little fake London area.

 Where you can see the Knight Bus! And Number 12 Grimmauld Place (Sirius Black's house!) For some reason tons of people were taking pictures with number 13.

Every few minutes Kreacher the house elf would pull back the curtains and peek out the window. Creepy! And perfect! So after we walked around the little fake London for a few minutes we were like "Are we in the right place? Where's the bank? Where's the dragon?" We had to ask someone who worked there and they pointed us through a brick building which looked like it was the entrance to a bathroom or something. But when you walk through it all suddenly opens up like...

 It was so perfect! Just like in the books Diagon Alley is hidden from us muggles. One of the first things you see is Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. He would occasionally lift his top hat and there was a bunny under there!

 I wish they really sold edible dark marks!

Weasley's was so neat, see the mechanical Umbridge like in the movies? Of course most of the cool stuff on the upper floors were just props, you couldn't  buy any of it. But maybe I'm glad that I didn't actually want much of the Potter merchandise, because we would have spent even more money!

 Owl Post.

Everywhere you looked there were little touches. They left no corner plain. You really feel like you've walked into Diagon Alley. I felt so happy the whole time we were there!

 We couldn't have Butterbeer but there were ton's of themed drinks to pick from! This is an Otter's Fizzy Orange Juice. Probably my favorite. Brown sugar around the rim! Travis had both beers that are made especially for the parks, Hogshead and Dragon's Brew. He says the Hogshead was better.

 The Hopping Pot! Marc with a fizzy orange juice, Crystal with a frozen Butterbeer, and me with a lemon squash!

 Can you see the little purple fish with the witch had? I wish I had gotten a closer picture.

 The astronomy store Wise Acres was so beautiful! They have a store that sells quills and sealing wax and nerdy stuff like that too.

 The only ride in this part of the park was the Escape From Gringott's ride. The lines were INSANE the whole time we were there! The shortest I remember seeing them was 2 hours, and it went up to 3 and a half! Thankfully we had an accessibility pass so we just got a time jotted down and came back later.

 The dragon on top occasionally shoots fire! You can feel the heat all the way down the street! You'll know it's coming. The music gets loud, then there is some roaring, and then....FIRE!

You get to walk through Gringott's, the wizard bank run by goblins. The main hall is stunning with those big chandeliers, marble columns, and creepy animatronic goblins.You then walk down some halls of the bank with these funny goblin portraits and office doors with names like "Bilnorb" in gold on the doors.

At one point they pull you out of line and take your photo against a boring blank wall. We figured they would put something in green screen style, but it is just this. Who would spend 20 bucks on that??
The ride is pretty good. You are loading into a mine car and you are basically seeing a different view of the part of Deathly Hallows Part 2 Where Harry, Ron and Hermione break into Gringott's looking for that Horcrux. (Any not Potter fans still reading? Are you totally confused?) The ride goes between screens and coaster action, like a cross between the Hogwart's ride and the Mummy ride. We liked it better the second time we rode it. There is a LOT going on and it is a little confusing. But something I learned from Crystal and Marc this trip is to act like the ride is real. So when *spoiler alert* Voldemort makes an appearance just scream and yell "No!!" It makes it even more fun!
So the ride was pretty great. I don't know how happy I would have been if I'd waited more than three hours though.

 This was a little booth where you could mix different elixirs to make your own custom potion. 

 There is a little stage area where you can occasionally see a show. The first one we saw was Celestina Warbeck and the banshees. They did kind of an old fashioned radio show. With songs about Quidditch and cauldrons. They pulled this guy out of the audience and he was LOVING it.

If you can't tell by the photos, Diagon Alley is WAY bigger than Hogsmeade. You could spend hours there trying to see everything and look for all the details!

 They even have a cute pet shop! Magical Menagerie!

And of course they built a Knockturn alley too! It was really dark down there so it was hard to take photos. Borgin and Burkes was beautiful!

 Again, all the REALLY cool stuff wasn't for sale. Lots of skeletons! But I guess a cromantula plush is pretty cool.

Another amazing thing were these little plaques everywhere. You can buy an interactive wand at many of the shops and if you do the spells when you see these cool stuff happens! This one is buy a water fountain that only works if you do the spell! So cool!

Ahhhhh what a place! I tried to keep it to one post, buuuuuttttttt I can't. 

I'll be back tomorrow to tell you MOAR!