WDW With A British Accent - Day 8 Islands of Adventure & Maya Grill

[Stu]

Checked out of Portofino Bay Hotel this morning and took the water taxi to Islands of Adventure.

We use the early entry although it is now 8.40am and head straight for Harry Potter.
This is our first visit here since Harry Potter attractions were built and although I am not a big Harry Potter fan, the theming of the whole area is just incredible. If you are a HP fan then this must be like heaven for you :-)

I am still using the iPhone for these pictures and unfortunately it doesn't have a wide angle lens to do this area justice. If you want some good pictures of this area then bring a camera that has a wide angle lens.

20 minute wait for the ride. I am not sure if that was accurate as it only seemed like half that before we were seated on the ride, however there is so much to see and entertain you in the queue that it doesn't feel like you are in a queue.

The Sorting Hat

Next we headed for Dragons Challenge and rode both the blue and the red coasters, although a matter of opinion and personal preference I do find the Red coaster better,

We leave HP and start making our way around the rest of the park

First water ride - River Adventure

Having been on this before and seeing the completely drenched people getting off we decided to chicken out

popeye

Arrived at Spiderman and it was closed, nooooo, this is my favourite ride. We will have to check back after lunch.

So on to Dr Dooms FearFall

Then on to the Hulk, this is an extreme ride that does shake your head around.

It is 11.30 so we head for Mythos for lunch

Beef Medallions, potato mash , asparagus and spicy crispy onions.

Washed down with a couple of beers.

After lunch we walked through the Harry Potter area again on our way to check if Spiderman was open.

Great news, Spiderman is open.

We ride this then head out of the park back to Portofino Bay via the water taxi, pick up the car and head back to Disney's Coronado Springs Resort.

We have the Maya Grill booked for 7pm tonight.

Sun setting over CSR

Dinner at Maya Grill

I like the theming of this restaurant and the music being played by the guitarist adds a touch of atmosphere.

We had some nachos and dips to start with, probably too many as we struggled with the huge mains :-)

San Antonio fajita skillet - chicken

San Antonio fajita skillet - steak

Mango sorbet to finish.

The food here is good, nothing special though. There is lots of it.
The staff are very friendly a were happy to explain the menu in great detail.

[BevS97]

I loved this area, there are so many details to look at. Unfortunately when we were there it was heaving and we could barely move. 20 minutes to wait isn't bad. In fact, it's almost to quick to really get a good look around the castle area.

[AndyJ]

Love the animated pictures in the HP queue area.

[Stu]

Yes the animated pictures are great, I also like the HP Gang appearing on the balcony, very realistic from some angles. I think you probably need to do the queue a few times to appreciate it all.

[Jamiesnanny]

Amazing pictures I cannot wait to get there!

[Guest]

Love seeing the pictures of Harry Potter area, I may have cried a little when we went! Also when we went it rained all day (like English rain) which made me feel like we were really in Hogsmead.

[mossyflossy]

Another brilliant read.

[madhatter3]

Another great day filled with great photo's.
We are not big HP fans either, but have suffered watching 3 of them with the kids! .

[app]

New Photo Added by Stu - 15 Oct 13 12:30 AM.

[Michelle]

Having not been to US for some years I am so looking forward to seeing HP