Florida 2011: Experiencing The Magic

Day 249

Friday January 28th - It was another day at the SEARS Hometown Celebration, and the highlight of this day was when me and my family went to Universal’s Islands of Adventure! SEARS had reserved two sections of this park for the Hometown Celebration: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Jurassic Park.

I was so excited about going to Harry Potter (as I am a big fan of the books/movies, even though I’m just a muggle!) and that is where our large group went first. It’s very appropriate that we visited such a magical place, since the theme of this year’s Hometown Celebration was “Experience The Magic.” And it was so cool that this was reserved just for us, the attendees of the Hometown Celebration, because normally this park would have been jam-packed! It was like our own private party!

Mom and I pose in front of The Hogwarts Express

The first thing that caught my attention was a huge castle - Hogwarts! Then there was the Hogwarts Express, the various little shops, the park employees in wizarding costumes. It really felt like being in the world of Harry Potter.

I loves me some Butterbeer!

Before going on any of the rides my family and I wanted to try a beverage exclusive to the world of Harry Potter: Butterbeer. Not to worry, it isn’t actual beer; it’s just a butterscotch flavored drink, it was so good! Delicious! I guzzled my first glass down in no time flat! And I was able to keep the commemorative glass and got a new glass for every drink I had, as did the rest of my family (they all enjoyed the butterbeer, too!) Normally, these drinks would have been a bit pricey, but it was all complimentary, so we made of the most of this hospitality.

Now for the rides: the first one we went on was called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and it was a wild ride; a mixture of 3-D and live action images, lots of twists and turns. Unfortunately, not everyone enjoyed the ride and it made a few people a little queasy. As we were leaving we noticed that a woman was standing against a wall and had apparently just thrown up. Lovely.

The next ride was more stable, a family-friendly roller coaster called Flight of the Hippogriff. Then there was the more intense, more thrilling roller coaster called Dragon Challenge. I was all set to wimp out on this ride, but Jordan and Erin convinced me I could handle it, so I rode with them and loved it!

Hey Jeremy! I think someone wants to see you!

Later on we all went over to the Jurassic Park area and rode a few rides. There was the Jurassic Park River Adventure, which Jordan, Erin and I rode only because the park employees coaxed us into riding it and gave us free ponchos to wear on the ride, and we needed them! This was one of those rides that you get wet on, and we did!

I paid $30...for a stick!

I paid $30...for a stick...and a box

At the end of the night Jordan, Erin and I did some souvenir shopping, and one thing we all agreed on buying was a wizard’s wand. I got the Professor Dumbledore wand (in part because he was the most powerful wizard…and also because he is old, and I was the old guy in our group!) I spent over $30 for this wand - someone must have put a spell on me! That’s the magic of capitalism!