The Florida Adventure: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

My anticipation grew with each step as we approached the Harry Potter area in the Islands of Adventure park, "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter."


You see, Harry and I go way back. In the late 90's, shortly after the first Harry Potter books were published, I was told by a family of three boys I used to babysit for that I had to read them.


I borrowed the books from the family and by about page five, I was addicted. I was spending each spare moment I had immersed in the stories. I forced myself not to bring the books to school because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist reading them in class. So I would instantly walk through our front door, drop my backpack, and head for the couch to rejoin Harry. I remember many nights of staying up past 2 a.m. because I couldn't draw myself out of the adventures.


I had been with the books from the beginning, before they hit popular/mainstream culture. Once they did, I found myself constantly defending them from other Christians who didn't have real knowledge of the books, and said the books were evil, encouraged witchcraft, etc. Because the thing that has always stood out to me in the books is the overwhelming theme of the battle between good and evil and also the theme of choice--that one has to choose between good and evil, right and wrong.


After my long history with Harry, you can imagine how absolutely GIDDY I was to be in Harry's world. I was brought back to my first encounters with the stories as a teenager and my insides were soaring. I felt like a small child, full of awe and wonder. It was magical, truly.

Here are some photos from our two visits to the Harry Potter World:

The Hogwarts Express conductor gave me sound advice on how to
properly drink butterbeer--make sure to get a foam mustache to lick
after each swallow of the sweetness.





Our first butterbeer and pumpkin juice! Butterbeer is a lot like cream soda
with a much sweeter, butterscotch flavor {in case you're not a Harry Potter
fanatic like me, it's not actually beer}. The foam is delicious and you can
also buy butterbeer in an iced version with foam, also amazing.

Pumpkin juice tastes a lot like cider with a pumpkin pie
spice flavor to it. It was so delicious and refreshing!

Hogwarts Castle



Ollivander's Wand Shop--we didn't go inside because
there was always such a long line to enter. {wands are for sale!}



The Three Broomsticks

Step inside Honeydukes Sweet Shop to treat ALL the senses...

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, the good and the bad. {bravery required!}

So if you love Harry Potter as much as I do, I'd recommend a trip to Orlando if not purely for the purpose of visiting the wondrous, magical "Wizarding World of Harry Potter."