Universal Orlando

Ok, the Harry Potter expansion looks great, the train ride between HP «lands» is very imaginative, the Escape From Gringotts experience is very well done, and the Butter Beer and Fishy Green Ale are tasty. The Mummy ride is fun too, as are many other experiences in the Universal Park. However, there are elements that lessen the entire impact of the visit. 1) Upon entrance through the parking lot you are hit up for a «Premium» parking experience for an extra $ 25 (valet I guess). 2) Exiting the parking attendant booths, the lines on the pavement towards the garage aren’t fresh and someone almost plowed into another car because of it. 3) Walking through the «City Walk» area before entering the park you are accosted by polite but bothersome American Express credit card salespeople who pitch free food for signing up for a card. 4) Once inside the park, the music playing through the sound systems in various areas clash in a disturbing cacophony. 5) While there are generally nice employees most of the time, there are too many others who are obviously there just to collect a paycheck.
Again, you can have fun at Universal for sure, but it’s more of a larger version of the «Coney Island» boardwalk feel. Not the same as the magical, joy filled experience down the way in the mouse house.

We entered A section at the airport, heading to our boarding area and found this Universal shop. Last chance to buy your Universal souvenir that you didn’t get at the park. Jr. Unilocalers went into the store to look around and one of them bought the Griffendor scarf which was the same price at the park. I decided last minute to buy a steeply priced Thing 2 golf ball at nearly $ 5 for a gift. They also carried a few of the non interactive Harry Potter character wands, priced $ 37 like at the Universal Park. So, if you regretted not spending the money to buy what you wanted at the park, you might find it here as well. Your last chance Universal store.