Kyle and I are huge Harry Potter fans, but it wasn’t always that way.
When the books first came out I spent an inordinate amount of time making fun of both my mother and grandmother for reading children’s books. They kept telling me how wonderful they were and I kept being an angsty teenager about the whole thing. One night, when I was about fifteen, my mother stopped me when I was on my way out of the house.
“Where are you going?” She asked
“Out.” (See angst-ridden teenager above)
“No you’re not,” She told me. “You’re grounded.”
“What do you mean I’m grounded? You’ve never grounded me!”
“You’re grounded until you read the first chapter of Harry Potter.”
And so I did. And then I read a few more chapters for good measure and was late to meet my friends because THERE WAS A BOY WIZARD.
Kyle was already in college when the books came out, so rather than a parent it was a professor who bullied him into reading the books. She was going to fail him if he didn’t give them a try. Within thirty-six hours he’d read the first four books.
After rereading all seven books this summer one of the things we were most excited about doing in Florida was going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. (Special thanks to my cousin Mike for hooking us up!) It was an ongoing joke that I was going to cry when we got there, but I don’t think anyone was prepared for exactly how much I was going to cry.
You walk through the park and pass through a number of things including a Simpsons section. I’m sure it was really cool but I was focused on getting to London.
And then suddenly…SUDDENLY:
This marked the first time I cried…
Then I got to pose in front of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place…
KREACHER SOMETIMES LOOKED OUT OF THE WINDOW ABOVE ME BUT NOT WHILE I WAS STANDING THERE APPARENTLY.
When you cross the threshold into the Wizarding World from Muggle London it…is…magical. And, like so many magical things, impossible to photograph properly. BUT…
Butter Beer is reeeeeally good. And topped with something that tastes sort of like melted ice cream? It was amazing.
We went on our first ride (Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts) and while in line (INSIDE GRINGOTTS!!) there are paintings and they move. Just like in Harry Potter! Cue more tears…
I spent a large portion of the day completely and totally overwhelmed but never as much as when we went to Ollivanders. They take small groups of people in for a little show where one special person is chosen to try wands. Our group consisted almost entirely of adults, though there was one child who was a shoe in to get chosen. Our Ollivander scanned the group to pick a willing volunteer, passed the child by and arrived on me. A thirty-two year old woman who was staring at her like she could actually do magic.
I got to try three wands. Three! I made plants die when I was supposed to water them. I made shelves shake when I was supposed to move a ladder. But then…Then I was given my wand and a breeze blew in my face and light surrounded me aaaaaaaaaand I started to cry again. Because of course I did.
From there it was off to lunch at The Leaky Cauldron for lunch. I had toad in a hole and felt lovely and British and I barely cried at all.
See? Only two sobby faces. I was fiiiine.
THEN WE RODE THE HOGWARTS EXPRESSSSSSS. (I don’t care that it’s just a monorail. You shut your stupid face)
They actually set this up really well…Kings Cross Station looks like a London train station complete with news stand selling beer. If you ask a conductor how to find platform 9 3/4 he will get upset with you for wasting his time. And you can see people disappearing through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10! The people in line behind you get to see you disappear. IT WAS WONDERFUL.
We arrived in Hogsmeade and I cried again because it looked so good.
We headed to The Hogs Head for an afternoon beer for me and a coffee for Kyle. We were talking to the bartender who said, “When I was reading this books as a kid, I never dreamed I would grow up to work for Aberforth.” It really does seem like the most wonderful job in the world. “I’m a wizarding bartender.”
We then went on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey which we liked so much we rode it twice.
Eventually it was time for The Hogwarts Express back to London and out into the muggle world again…
If you love Harry Potter and find yourself in Orlando GO TO HARRY POTTER WORLD. According to my cousin JK Rowling had a ton of influence over how the park was set up. There are book and movie tie-ins all over the place and if you’re anything like me it will make you cry buckets.
Beyond Bushwick 