Lost in a Harry Potter Book

Where does every true Harry Potter fan need to visit? The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, of course. I just arrived home from a three day visit at Universal Studios Florida, and though my feet can’t walk anymore, I’m still telling stories about the experience.

Being a fan of the books since they debuted, I appreciated the movies bringing the story to life. Ultimately, there was always a bit of disappointment at the scenes and characters left out. I’ve always found it to be true that books are better than movies. So I was curious as to how I’d like my favorite books being turned into a theme park with rides and attractions.

With the first peek at the castle’s spires, excitement and awe grew. One doesn’t see too many English castles in the South. At the entrance to the world, it’s as if the pages of the book have opened and sucked you inside like Harry was sucked into Riddle’s Diary.

Hogsmeade Village with its post card snow-capped roofs was as I imagined it from the page, except I was able to walk into these story book shops and browse the same items Harry Potter buys in the books. Caution: If you’d like to take these goodies home with you, be prepared to pay real money and not galleons at these stores. A single chocolate frog that Harry always loads up on was ten dollars. I’d like to know the exchange rate between muggle money and Gringott’s because I think their currency is faring much better in our economy.

The ultimate experience is the castle. In the long hour queue, one walks through the dungeons pass the potion’s classroom and storeroom. You then precede forward through the herbology classrooms, and then pass Dumbledore’s staircase into his office. Then Harry, Ron, and Hermione greet you in the Defense Against the Dark Arts’ classroom until you finally reach the ride. The ride is the best ride I’ve been on with a mixture of digital images of the characters and dragons and animated creatures like Aragon and the dementors. You whirl, you turn, you fly, you fall, you’re chased by a dragon, you play Quiditch. It’s the ultimate Harry Potter experience.

I would have waited the hour and a half again, but my son wouldn’t return. Too much spinning and falling backward for him. It's certainly a ride for the older fan.

We then journeyed to the Flight of the Hippogriff, to which we walked pass Hagrid’s hut and gardens. A barking Fang could be heard from inside the hut and Buckbeak waited for you as you passed by on the roller coaster. This was the kid’s version of the roller coaster, and I have to admit, I didn’t do the grown-up version. As I tell my son, I don’t do anything that flips me upside down. I guess he gets it from me.

At Olivander’s wands, my son wanted to choose a wand so we waited in line for over an hour to watch the scene where Harry Potter’s wand chooses him. The scene was performed by an Olivander that looked similar to the actor in the movie and a boy from the audience. My son then selected Harry Potter’s wand to go along with the broomstick he had bought after the ride through the castle. He paid thirty plus dollars apiece for these Harry Potter items. All money he’d saved for his journey into the books he loves.

Through this long line at Olivander’s, we also sampled Butterbeer, which is the drink of choice for the Hogwarts’s students in the book. The frothy cream on top was like homemade vanilla ice cream that had been whipped to the consistency of whip cream. The drink under the cream tasted like a sweet cream soda. The line during the afternoon was extremely long (fifty plus people at a small kiosk in the center), and we were able to sample it without too much wait because we tried it in the morning. While there, I also purchased a bottle of pumpkin juice that I haven’t brought myself to taste yet. (I wonder if it tastes like pumpkin pie?)

We visited Zonko’s joke shop and Honeyduke’s. We even looked in at The Three Broomsticks restaurant. My only complaint of the park was the amount of people. In the morning the line to get into the world weaved throughout the park, and they only allowed so many people in at a time. During the afternoon, the world was open, and you could barely walk from the amount of people on the streets. I’d say I’m not the only fan that wanted to see a book come to life.

That’s what makes it the ultimate experience though. How often do we get to see a book come to life not just in our imaginations, but something tangible that we can experience. I’ll definitely return one day. Maybe I’ll even try that Dragon Challenge. (I doubt it though).