Harry Potter World: Awesomeness

      Chick-fil-A kindly gave us time and tickets to go to Universal Studios, which now hosts Harry Potter World, a place I have been dying to see since it opened up last year.  As you know, I love Harry Potter.  There was a group of six of us that went to the park together, which turned out to be a great group.  I love these friends - thanks for joining us, Richardsons and Flowers!



Harry Potter World is very well done and delightful on many fronts.  It feels like you just walked into the books, which is literally like a dream come true for me.  (I have a bad habit of dreaming that I am in books while I read them, which is slightly crazy.  I guess I can't really help it.)  This is the picture John took of me as we were entering the park.  I think I was seeing the Hogwart's Express.



I didn't get many pictures, but here is what I did capture.



John drinking Butterbeer.  It was a little too sweet for me.

Entrance to the Three Broomsticks and Ron's flying Ford Anglia.

Castle and inside the castle.

Greenhouse, and the guys that accidentally dressed the same.  They rocked it.

Honeyduke's!


We immediately rode the Dragon Roller Coaster, which turns you upside down several times.  Since the lines were super short while we were there, we then rode the ride inside the castle.  It was a simulated broom ride which made everyone quite woozy by the time we had finished both.  The lines to get onto both were amazing, especially inside the castle - there were talking portraits and we got to go through Dumbledore's office.  So fun.
      We went into Ollivander's and Kristen was selected to choose a wand, which was hilarious, since she has only seen one of the movies ever.  He kept asking her to say different spells, none of which she could pronounce.  We also kept running into other CFA peeps, which makes everything more fun.



      All in all, it was a magical time.  There was a worker who was slightly antagonistic about saying that Slytherin was the best house, and it was clear that she was annoyed with all the people who didn't know as much about Harry Potter as she did.  But other than that, it was so fun.  Truly.
      We did finish up more quickly than we imagined, so we took in more of Universal.  There was a bit of a hooping competition and more roller coasters for the guys.  We girls had had our fill.





Here's a last shot of the matched sets in our group.



And, when we got back, the guys jumped into more of the "balloon art."




All in all, a fantastic way to spend Valentine's Day.  Harry Potter World is very romantic.