Back from Hogwarts

Well, I've returned to Denver after my vacation to Orlando. It was an exhausting, leg-hurting, sweaty, wonderful, incredible, amazing, unforgettable trip. We were there four days. It was enough time to do everything we wanted to do, and to be happy again at the thought of returning home... yet I also wouldn't have minded to be there one day longer so we could have maybe taken things at a more leisurely pace and not run ourselves quite so ragged.

Still, did I mention it was wonderful, incredible, amazing and unforgettable?

Day one, we decided to proceed straight to the thing we most wanted to do. After stopping at the hotel for mere minutes to drop off our stuff, we proceeded straight to Universal Studios, specifically Islands of Adventure, specifically the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.



So, let's talk about Butterbeer (pictured). In the end, yes, I decided it's every bit as good as people say it is. Even though it's probably something only slightly different from cream soda. The problem is, my first Butterbeer experience came less than ten minutes after I'd downed a rather large Coke. And came less than five minutes before the Dragon Challenge roller coaster. Twice. Five minutes apart. (Once on the red track, once on the blue track.)

No, my stomach did not "refund" the Butterbeer. But my mind decided to blame the not-altogether-pleasant sensation of sweet-on-sweet-on-coaster-on-coaster on the Butterbeer. I convinced myself on day two that the frozen Butterbeer was better (despite what most people will tell you), and it was only on the last day of the trip that I came back around.

Yes, to those of you parsing that sentence carefully, we went to "visit Harry" on three different days of the trip. And it was everything you want from "the main reason you decided to take a trip." Well, except maybe for one thing. See, my companion on this trip... he and I are a bit different from most people. We share a love that not everybody completely understands and embraces. It's no less valid than what the masses know, but it frightens a few close-minded folks out there.

We love House Slytherin.

Years before we met, we'd both taken online tests by the Sorting Hat with a bunch of our friends, nearly all of whom were sorted into Gryffindor. Not us. Each of us were the only ones in our respective circles to be sorted into Slytherin.

Now, we'd both proudly wear our colors and support our allegiance, but there just isn't very much cool Slytherin merchandise to be had, even at Islands of Adventure. For example, there was this truly awesome rugby jersey -- we probably would have broken down and bought a cliché matching pair. But it was Gryffindor only. Who wants to dress up in that goody-goody junk?

And by the way, I feel even more sorry for anyone sorted in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Slytherin at least had a couple of extra shirts, a leather bound journal, and a cool looking throw pillow for the couch. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had a luggage tag, a mug, a scarf, and one kind of t-shirt. I'm pretty sure that was about it.

So, sorry to put this out there, but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is totally Housist.

And while I'm not saying that's okay, I confess I was having enough fun to forget that most of the time. That Dragon Challenge roller coaster was one of the best of the trip. And the featured ride of the area, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, was in fact the best ride of the trip. We road it three times, once each day we went to Islands of Adventure, and I was in no danger of getting tired of it. Awesome walk through Hogwarts (complete with moving paintings) to get to the ride, awesome ride.

The Hogsmeade area of the theme park was very authentic (though not quite enough for me to believe the snow on the rooftops amid the sometimes sweltering heat). The shops were fun. Even the little wand show at Ollivanders was fairly entertaining -- though honestly, probably not worth more than a half hour wait if you go yourself. (I saw others waiting in a line easily twice as long.)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was the planned and actual highlight of the trip. Well worth planning your own trip if you're a fan of the books and/or movies, and certainly worth going to even if you aren't, if you're in Orlando for other reasons.

Of course, there was plenty of other stuff we did on the trip, enough that I suspect I'll spend several days yet here on the blog recounting it all. If you're the sort of person bored by trip stories and pictures, I apologize in advance if the blog is less enjoyable for you for a stretch here. What can I say? I had an amazing time, and won't likely feel like I want to stop talking about it any time soon.