This post is being written in the middle of our vacation in Florida where it is dark by 8:30 and hot till 2 am. I'm thinking I should just stay in my swimming suit all day. My dear husband is helping me type this - so be patient.Alright... so as you may know, I firmly believe that Disneyland is commercial fraud since they claim to be "the happiest place on earth," which we all know they are not.
However, I am HAPPY to buy into commercialism when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is concerned, because IT REALLY IS THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!
Nathan and I just enjoyed the coolest theme park experience either of us can remember. The attention to detail and the WOW factor really blew us away. So, enough chit chat, let me show you all the cool things we got to do and see while we were there!
We are greated by this wonderful sign to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express (not pictured) at the south entrance.
Since the first day we waited to until 11:30 to get in, we ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks (same as mentioned in book...if it were real...which it is now). The butterbeer was GREAT! Very sweet but quite delicious. All servers and staff were in character and they were FANTASTIC!
Of course we had to pick up some souvenirs. Were they overpriced? I wouldn't think so because magical artifacts are very rare in the muggle world. :) If these were merely immitations, then yes, they were definitely overpriced.
We had to find out if our wands really worked, I gave Nathan a bloody nose with a weak sectum sempra. I have to practice. We purchased Voldemort's and Harry's wands.
As you can see below, Olivander has A LOT of wands. Every box has a wand in it. INCREDIBLE!
Throughout the park there are pieces of Potter memories. These are found on your way to the champions tent and in the champions tent before flying with the dragon in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Here we have the Ford Fairlane that Ron and Harry crashed in book 2. Next is Hagrid's Hut (it even has Fang's water bowl...be still my nerd heart). And last is the Goblet of Fire. The blue flame doesn't show up very well in the picture but it was really cool.
And now the main event...Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! If you ever wondered what a hogwart looks like, here's a statue of one. Okay so this ride was AMAZING! The line is half the fun. It is all inside the castle and you get to see so much. The little nerd in me couldn't help from exclaiming glee and merriment every few minutes. Unfortunately, it was a bit dark inside and many of our photos did not turn out (and I am currently photoshopless to make them brighter). So here are the few that look decent. They don't even do justice.
If you don't know what some of these are...let go of your pride and read the dang books!
The walls and walls of paintings were incredible, they were all talking to us and to each other, and they looked like paintings - not those cheap little LCD picture frames.
The sorting hat moved and talked to us with the same voice as the films, in fact most of the actors contributed to the experience by lending their images and voices to create a very immersive experience. The characters were displayed in 3D holograms, so they looked like real people talking to us, not mere projections on a screen. By the way, Dumbledore says hi.
The entire experience was amazing. There were so many shops to go in and out of (including Zonko's and Honeyduke's). And nothing was out of place...no random towers or signs that were unrelated. It is as close as to the "real thing" as possible.
