Recently, our good friend Steven, who is an event manager at Universal, gifted us tickets to go to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. He knows I've been wanting to go see that part of the parks since I heard they sell wands (and more importantly, interactive wands). He made that dream come true since I never received my letter from Hogwarts, Durmstrang, or Beauxbatons.
We're not theme park people. S + I feel that if we ever went to hell, it would be waiting eternally in line queue. But, October is "slow" to "moderate" season according to Orlando Informer, thus, the perfect time to go. We arrived shortly after the park opened, said hello to our friend who was working a morning event at the Studios, and made our way to Diagon Alley. We chose Diagon Alley first only because it's the busier of itself and Hogsmeade. We went straight to Gringotts Bank where we enjoyed a fire breathing dragon and trolls as tellers. My kahleesi! Oops, wrong fandom...
The trolls and their brass scales of justice looked as real as some somber tellers at our local bank, we enjoyed scotch eggs and fish and chips for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, and we spent a great deal of time admiring the curiosities at Diagon Alley wishing the creatures in jars were for sale.
Before entering our main objective of Harry Potter's wizarding world, I snapped a photo inside a London telephone booth, to send to my cousin who is currently studying abroad in London. Of course, I intended to purchase a wand (or two) to cast spells around the park. Brass emblems in the ground educated novice witches like myself on the movement and spoken spells. We shared a Butterbeer, licking our lips while casting spells to see the enchanted artifacts in the shop windows.
I had to snap a photo of 12 Grimmauld Place since Sirius Black is my favorite character. I bought his interactive wand, as well as Bellatrix Lestrange's gorgeous walnut wood and dragon heartstring wand. I felt I needed her wand (spoiler) because she killed my favorite character, and because I'd make a damn good Bellatrix for Halloween (my previous career as a hairstylist and hairdressing skills will reveal themselves October 31st).
Diagon Alley is made of dreams, everything I could only wish to be a part of in my muggle life. My friend Steven warned me to pack some tissues, and I managed to choke back tears with evidence of a simple teary eye as we entered the colorful and congested buildings. It was beautiful. Every shop I wished was real like an apothecary and household elf placement (substitute household elves for retired racing greyhounds).
We took the Hogwarts Express to the Hogswarts castle, entering the greenhouse and venturing the halls, passing the secret portrait entrance to the Gryffindor common rooms, and admired motion pictures in strewn newspapers. There was a dim hall of painted portraits as black as Rembrant's that moved and talked. I dream of owning paintings like that some day.
The only thing missing from my experience was real thestrals which are my favorite magical beasts; a winged and skeletal horse that can only be seen by those who have witnessed and accepted death. Maybe I just couldn't see them pulling the carriage at Hogwarts Express' Kings Cross Station after crossing Platform 9¾...
We're not theme park people. S + I feel that if we ever went to hell, it would be waiting eternally in line queue. But, October is "slow" to "moderate" season according to Orlando Informer, thus, the perfect time to go. We arrived shortly after the park opened, said hello to our friend who was working a morning event at the Studios, and made our way to Diagon Alley. We chose Diagon Alley first only because it's the busier of itself and Hogsmeade. We went straight to Gringotts Bank where we enjoyed a fire breathing dragon and trolls as tellers. My kahleesi! Oops, wrong fandom...
The trolls and their brass scales of justice looked as real as some somber tellers at our local bank, we enjoyed scotch eggs and fish and chips for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, and we spent a great deal of time admiring the curiosities at Diagon Alley wishing the creatures in jars were for sale.
Before entering our main objective of Harry Potter's wizarding world, I snapped a photo inside a London telephone booth, to send to my cousin who is currently studying abroad in London. Of course, I intended to purchase a wand (or two) to cast spells around the park. Brass emblems in the ground educated novice witches like myself on the movement and spoken spells. We shared a Butterbeer, licking our lips while casting spells to see the enchanted artifacts in the shop windows.
I had to snap a photo of 12 Grimmauld Place since Sirius Black is my favorite character. I bought his interactive wand, as well as Bellatrix Lestrange's gorgeous walnut wood and dragon heartstring wand. I felt I needed her wand (spoiler) because she killed my favorite character, and because I'd make a damn good Bellatrix for Halloween (my previous career as a hairstylist and hairdressing skills will reveal themselves October 31st).
Diagon Alley is made of dreams, everything I could only wish to be a part of in my muggle life. My friend Steven warned me to pack some tissues, and I managed to choke back tears with evidence of a simple teary eye as we entered the colorful and congested buildings. It was beautiful. Every shop I wished was real like an apothecary and household elf placement (substitute household elves for retired racing greyhounds).
We took the Hogwarts Express to the Hogswarts castle, entering the greenhouse and venturing the halls, passing the secret portrait entrance to the Gryffindor common rooms, and admired motion pictures in strewn newspapers. There was a dim hall of painted portraits as black as Rembrant's that moved and talked. I dream of owning paintings like that some day.
The only thing missing from my experience was real thestrals which are my favorite magical beasts; a winged and skeletal horse that can only be seen by those who have witnessed and accepted death. Maybe I just couldn't see them pulling the carriage at Hogwarts Express' Kings Cross Station after crossing Platform 9¾...
