My OJ State Vacation Part 2 of 8
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Jun 30
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the newest attraction in Universal’s “Islands of Adventure” theme park in Orlando, Florida.The park is just a year old, with JK Rowling and the HP actors (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Co) opening the attraction. Looking at the crowds heading that way, you would think that was the only attraction in that park. The brochures and billboards everywhere featured a lifesize, broom-riding Daniel Radcliffe clad in his Quidditch robes, with the words “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” embossed underneath. Why not just rename that theme park to "Harry Potter and Misc. Attractions?" Eager families were taking advantage of early-entry-to-the-park offers by various Universal hotels nearby, in hopes of beating those very crowds to the rides. In fact on entering the park, most people made a solid mass beeline to the Harry Potter Area.
The Harry Potter Area did not fail to live up to expectations. A towering Hogwarts Castle looked just as one imagined it would look and the way it looked in the movies, with its turrets and towers. Inside were recreations of Dumbledore’s study with a Phoenix in the background, talking portraits, wanted posters of Sirius Black and varied scenes from the books. The main Harry Potter ride (Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey) was a thrilling ride behind Harry, accompanied by Ron at times, both on broomsticks. They zoomed us through the castle grounds, passing a giant Hagrid, through and under the Quidditch field chasing the elusive snitch, a dive over the lake by the castle, past a Basilisk with its forked snake-tongue, giant spiders and flame breathing Dragons. Chilling dementors surround, and Harry comes to the rescue with his dementor-repelling “Expecto Patronum” spell at the end. The ride really encapsulated the best of the magic in the Harry Potter world. The others rides (Dragon Challenge, Flight of the Hippogriff) were more “regular roller-coaster” in nature.
A railway station with a full size replica of the Hogswarts Express stood at the entrance to the village of Hogsmeade, complete with a uniformed conductor who spoke with a British Accent. Though the train puffed, huffed and whistled (at intervals), as would a stream engine, it would have been cooler if the train had moved and we’d gotten to ride it, inside of remaining stationary. It was more a Photo Stop, but a fine replication nevertheless.
The village of Hogsmeade was recreated complete with snow on the rooftops and a cobblestoned street. Refreshment Carts in the village street sold pumpkin juice and Butterbeer, amongst other things. The Pumpkin Juice turned out to be apple juice with pumpkin flavor but in a bottle with a pumpkin shaped lid – the novelty was quite taking. Long lines formed in front of the Butterbeer carts. Butterbeer tumed out to be some kind of soda concoction with whipped butternut scotch cream on top – exact formula kept secret of course, but delicious nonetheless. (Dad claims I must have gulped at least 5 Butterbeers while I was there.) The “beer” in Butterbeer confused some visitors not familiar with the stories and vendors had to clarify that it was a non-alcoholic drink. Hogsmeade was lined with places like Honeydukes (which stocked Chocolate Frogs), The Three Broomsticks Inn, The Hog's Head Pub and an Owl Post. Licensed Harry Potter merchandise abounded in the shops from T-shirts, tumblers, mugs, Caps, Rememberballs, Time turners, Snitches, Wands etc. Anything that could have the Harry Potter logo on it was found here. Ollivander’s Wand Shop, Zonko’s Joke Shop, and Dervish and Banges also found a spot in this Hogsmeade village, though in the book, these are in Diagon Alley in London. And of course there was Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods.
Ollivanders had his own show (called a life experience) with the theme being - "A Wand Chooses the Wizard." Of course during the show, wands flew off the shelves and lights flashed as Ollivander tried to select the right wand for one of the small girls in the audience. When he finally handed her a willow wand with a dragonstring heart, sparks flew and a spotlight beamed on her– indicating it was the right wand for her. The show followed a visit to Ollivander’s Wand shop with various wands for sale. There were the wands used by Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Bellatrix etc on sale. But there were also 6-10 varieties of unnamed wands to be bought by the “emerging wizard” ie: us Muggles visiting the theme park. What a great marketing concept – every Harry Potter fan would want a favorite Character Wand plus a wand that is their very own.ie: buy 2 wands instead of one.
The visit was a lovely nostalgic plunge into the HP books and world of magic, which abound with hope and possibilities.
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