The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Now, I am a HUGE Disney fan but I have to admit that "the Wizarding World of Harry Potter" was incredible. I loved reading the books and it was amazing to be able to actually feel like I was participating in that world. It truly was so amazing and I am thrilled that William and I were able to enjoy it with Lianne and Adam who are also huge Harry Potter fans. The 3 of us had gone with some of our other friends to see the 1st movie when it came out back while we were in college so it was incredible to go there several years later.

Hogsmeade was amazing- I truly felt like I was in one of the Harry Potter books. The entrance to the village had this sign we had to walk under- "Please Respect the Spell Limits".

I was completely in love with the rooftops, complete with bent chimneys.

I loved the steam that came from the Hogwarts Express (it would have been much neater if we could have ridden the train into the village)

The place was extremely crowded but we were still able to do nearly everything, except going to Ollivanders (the line was over an hour and a half long and they only let a few people in at a time so we made the choice to not wait).

Hogwarts castle was truly breathtaking- and the "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" ride was THE BEST.

We were lucky enough to be able to go on it twice. We went when we first got to the park and we we didn't wait in line very long- probably about 20 minutes- since we were able to do single rider. They had told us that it would be less crowded in the afternoon and so we went back and it wasn't. We only waited 45 minutes for the 2nd ride and it was worth it to stand in the line because they made the portraits talk, it snowed inside the line, and we got to hear from Dumbledore and hear from the sorting hat. We timed it just right because right after we got into the line, it started pouring and we were fortunately under the cover of the greenhouse. The ride itself was AMAZING. It is a combination of visual screen shots and live animatronics that you fly through- playing a match of Quiddich, and all around the castle. It was SO WORTH IT. I highly recommend that you attend.

We then went on the little- and short- ride Flight of the Hippogriff (which was ok, but we were happy we didn't wait longer than 5 minutes in line). We LOVED the Dueling Dragons ride- they have 2 major roller coasters that twist in and out of each other. The Red Chinese dragon one was better- but the blue one was fun because you thought that you were going to crash into this wall.

We ate at the Three Broomsticks- they had DELICIOUS fish and chips- and William had chicken, ribs, and corn (I loved how they left part of the husk on). One of my favorite memories is Adam looking at all of us and saying "Did you ever think that we would be able to eat at the Three Broomsticks"- it really was so fun to be there.

But the real winner was the BUTTERBEER. They had two different kinds- the drink with lots of foam (here I am with a butter beer mustache)

But the frozen butter beer was INCREDIBLE- so good. William and I were a little obsessed with it- we consumed 3 of them throughout the day. And after getting home, William searched the Internet and found a "recipe" stating that it was made of cream soda and butterscotch syrup and we have already made a frozen version in our Cuisinart ice cream maker- just a slush- and it was a good substitute, although we omitted the whipped cream foam.

They also had Honeydukes where you could buy some fudge flies

Bertie Botts Every-flavor Beans, chocolate wands, and even chocolate frogs

I should have tried the treacle fudge but I was just too full from all of the butter beer. They also had Zonks where you could buy a multitude of silly joke toys that Fred and George would be proud of, and another shop where you could buy a stuffed version of Fluffy and a sample Maruders Map that had characters move. I also liked that they called their ATM Gringotts.

They did an amazing job of re-creating Harry Potter's world and it really was so worth it- I highly recommend going if you are a Harry Potter fan.