A Little Magic

On Wednesday of our second week on vacation in Orlando, we went to Universal Islands of Adventure theme park. We've been there before and we really like it. There are alot of rides and its a bit less saccharine than Disney can be. Our main reason for visiting was to finally get to see the new section of the park-The Wizarding World of Harry Potter-something we've been observing be constructed over our visits the past few years.

Bob and I are both Harry Potter fans. I still remember when we read the first book. We were on vacation in the Virgin Islands and were hit by a category 4 hurricane. That kept us in our hotel room for three days straight. I had the book with me and we both read it over those three days. Over the years we've read most of the others and we just watched "The Half-Blood Prince" the other day. So, we're familiar with all things Potter.

Wizarding World is truly impressive. Hogwarts Castle looms over the area with an air of authenticity. Hogsmeade is lovely and full of the shops mentioned in the book. The pub, The Three Broomsticks, is the dining center of the town and we heard from folks leaving it that the food is very good (Universal consistently wins awards for the best theme park dining in Orlando--not hard since most Disney theme park food is horrid.)

First on our agenda was a delectable glass of butterbeer for everyone. I can't really describe it--kind of like a cream soda with butterscotch flavor and whipped cream. And funny enough--I just looked up this recipe--and that's pretty much what it is. De-lish! Even Palmer got a taste.



After that, we headed straight for Ollivander's wand shop where I'd heard there had recently been waits of over 2 hours. You see, its not just a shop. Its a show. Only about 25 people are allowed in at a time. The space looks just like in the movie--counter, tall walls with boxes and boxes of wands, and the wand master. In each group, the wand master chooses a child who becomes part of the show. I knew this going in but with the confusion of getting in the front door (we had to unpack the stroller because we couldn't bring it in), I forgot about it and was in no position to try to get Connor in a spot to be chosen. And he didn't know anything about it.

But, as luck would have it (or, blame it on the fact that my first-born MUST be at the front of every line or group), he was in just the right spot at the right time. I had to scramble to get the camera out and in video mode, but we got most of it here. Its dark, but you can still see the magic in Connor's eyes as the wand master searches for the right wand for him--and finds it.

We did a few other things in the Wizarding World. But none of them came close to this. When you are 7 years old, you start to see things in theme parks for what they are, and the magic starts to disappear. But thanks to Ollivanders and a great wand master, Bob and I got to see that magic in our big boy one more time.