HARRY POTTER WORLD!

The excitement began as soon as we landed in the Orlando airport:

It's hard to read, but that's a giant Harry Potter World sign over Jessa's head.

We were lucky to be staying at the Universal Studios on-site hotel, which meant we got to enter the park at 8:00 am, an hour earlier than everyone else. We thought we would be smart and get there all early at 7:15, but there was already a long line by then! Still, it's good we didn't come much later, because by 10:00 the park was full and you had to wait in a super long line for a chance to be admitted later in the day, if enough people left. Like anyone would be crazy enough to leave Harry Potter World once they get in!

Waiting in line at 7:15. Ben and I are putting on sunscreen, and only Jessa realizes she is in a picture.

Once they opened the gates, the entire mob of people moved with an almost frightening single-mindedness of purpose. HP World is just one part of the Universal Studios Islands of Adventure park, but no one so much as slowed down as they ran past all the other rides on their way to Hogsmeade. It would have actually been a pretty good day to go to the park if you don't like Harry Potter, because you would have had the rest of the place pretty much to yourself.

Once we got to the entrance of HP world, I was pretty much too excited to breathe. It was just like walking onto the set of one of the movies!

The snow on the rooftops is less convincing in the 95 degree heat.

You couldn't actually get on board the train :(

They had all the Hogsmeade stores, and you could go shopping inside most of them. Once the park filled up, there were even lines just to get into the gift shops!

Ben is not properly excited about being at Honeydukes

Inside Dervish and Banges

Check out all the wands!

Shopping for an outfit to wear to the Yule Ball

Ordering Butterbeer inside the Hog's Head Pub

The Monster Book of Monsters ran around and snapped in its cage

The most expensive item they had for sale was a $300 commemorative Harry Potter broom. According to the cashier, they sold out the first week the park was open. I love Harry Potter, but I find it vaguely disturbing that so may people are willing to pay $300 for a broom in the name of HP fandom.

I was really excited to finally get to try butterbeer, and I am glad to report that it was delicious - it tasted kind of like shortbread and butterscotch, and the foam (which they add separately from a special dispenser) was like Marshmallow fluff. Apparently J.K. Rowling herself was involved in taste-testing and developing the drink especially for the park!

Mustache Sisters

The only disappointing thing was that they wouldn't give you extra foam, which was the tastiest part. Apparently the recipe, including the precise ratio of foam to liquid, is trademarked, and altering it in any way would be sacrilege. The bartender at the Hog's Head told us that someone had been fired for dispensing extra foam, but I'm not sure if he was telling the truth or just trying to make us stop begging him for a cup full of only foam.

Sharing a butterbeer with the officially sanctioned amount of foam.

The highlight of the entire park is "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey," in which you get to actually enter Hogwarts castle!

Getting ready to go to Hogwarts!

The ride itself is one of those simulators where you are in a moving seat while having wind and water and various things sprayed at you. The plot is that Harry and the gang has busted you out of class so you can go to the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin quidditch match, but - surprise! - things go awry and you end up encountering dementors and going through the forbidden forest and the chamber of secrets and other scary places. But then it all works out and you get to see the quidditch game, and then Dumbledore tells you that you did a good job and you can come back to Hogwarts any time.

The ride itself is fun, but waiting in line is the best part because the line goes through all the different parts of Hogwarts.

All the paintings talk to you!	The House Cup scores
Dumbledore's study!	Defense Against the Dark Arts
Entrance to Dumbledore's office	The Mirror of Erised

The attention to detail was really impressive. I expected the talking paintings to just look like TV screens with frames around them, but they had actually done something to the surface of the screens to make them textured like old oil paintings, complete with brush strokes and cracks. It was very convincing.

In the greenhouse, in addition to having squirming/shrieking mandrake plants, they had a whole bunch of bizarre wizardly plants hanging from the ceiling, and each post had a Hogwarts "H" emblazoned on it.

Weird hanging plants

Closeup of a post

Waiting in line in the greenhouse

Also, Dumbledore's study had a pensieve, so we could collect our thoughts while we waited.

I am thinking about how many horcruxes Tom Riddle wanted to make

I was actually disappointed when we reached the end of the line and it was time for the actual ride. Although it was entertaining to hear the attendants say things like "Make sure your harness is on securely, muggles!"

Other random things that happened:

I won the Triwizard Tournament!

Mariel and Jessa won too, but it was a portkey!

Gringott's Bank ATM

No goblins came out :(

Too many choices!

Sirius Black is on the loose! The moving picture didn't photograph very well.

There was some stuff at the park that I don't remember from the books:

The "Wizarding Wireless Network"

Also, at one point a plane came and spelled out messages about loving God overhead, I guess to try and save all us witchcraft-loving sinners. Our friends who live in Orlando said that it  does that every day! Can you imagine having enough money to hire a private plane every single day, and deciding to spend it on that?

REPENT!

In the end, it was the most magical vacation of my entire life, and I am making plans to sneak into the Hogwarts basement and live there forever.

Yay!