Get ready folks...the wait is over...Alohamora! Lumos! Wahoo!!

Seriously, people. The coolest vacation ever. All of you who know anything about me, or have read my blog EVER, know that I am a Harry Potter fan. My sister and I started planning this vacation pretty much from the moment we heard the park was opening. I had some flight miles to use, and my brother in law has some SWEET connections for hotels, so we saved up, and away we went!

Our trip didn't have the best start, to be perfectly honest. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes me tired and upset. Since we were using flight miles, we were at the mercy of the airline to put us wherever we could squeeze in. We were scheduled for two layovers. Leave Phoenix SUPER early, get to Los Angeles, stay for a few hours, fly to San Francisco, stay a couple more hours, and then finally fly to Orlando. Arrive there at 11 pm or so. Sound like fun? We didn't think so either. So, away we went. We got to LAX without a hitch. While we were waiting for our connecting flight to San Francisco, all of a sudden we heard the announcer say our flight number, and that it was cancelled. CANCELLED. Oh boy! So, after an EXTREMELY long day of waiting in line (6 hours or so due to wrong line choices and OTHER cancelled and delayed flights, not to mention short staffing on behalf of United), we were able to get a comped hotel room and a couple of meal vouchers. We still had to go through Washington, D.C. before we got to Orlando, but at least we got there without any problems (besides a little turbulence which Travis couldn't quite handle easily...). Wahoo!

So, we lost a day, but we weren't planning on doing a whole lot on Sunday anyway. My sister and bro in law went to Epcot Center, but we had decided we couldn't afford it, so not a super huge deal. Now, for the hotel we stayed in. This place was amazing...  1300 square feet (almost twice the size of our apartment), two bedrooms, and a common room (dining room, kitchenette and meeting area). This place had a golf course, tennis courts, spa, restaurants, you name it. It was a beautiful resort! And...I don't even remember the name of it. :)





So, on to the important stuff! I'll write more about the hotel later, because there were even more perks! But anyway...Monday was Harry Potter day!! Let me just say, this place was cooler than words can describe. When we walked in, I wanted to cry, laugh, and stay forever...I know I'm obsessed, but any level of Harry Potter fan would enjoy it. The rides were sweet, and seeing (and being in) Hogwarts castle was the coolest thing ever. The castle has the "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" ride, but as you walk through the line, you get to see so many awesome things! The line takes you through the Herbology greenhouses, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Dumbledore's office, and cool hallways with talking, moving portraits. You even get to see and hear the Sorting Hat! (Video later.) There were lots of cool shops (even though I wish more of them were real, not just store fronts) to buy Harry Potter merchandise. There is a post office deal, with tons of parcel boxes piled up and owls to deliver them (all fake, of course, but still awesome). They even have a wand choosing ceremony, even though only one person from a crowd of about 15 actually gets to do the wand choosing! I wanted to buy one of everything...They even had an issue of The Quibbler (complete with Spectre-specs)! I had pumpkin juice, butterbeer, cauldron cakes, and various Honeydukes candies. Yummy, people. I still have cravings for those cauldron cakes. Mmmm...


























So, that's the end of our journey to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I will admit, that after 2.5 days there, I definitely got teary eyed writing this post when we had to leave. I have even more pictures than this, believe it or not, that I am just saving to look at later. I want to remember everything I can. Even the scary mounted hog's head that would come to life every 5 minutes on the back wall of, well, the Hog's Head. Even though the rides made me a little sick and I never got to see the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students dance. Even though I didn't get picked for the wand choosing and couldn't afford everything I wanted to buy. I LOVE this place. I chose the picture above for the last one because as the place was closing up, we all just sat there and talked, while my sister and I admired everything. The crowds cleared out, and we sat taking pictures of the magical place. I think we both kinda knew that no other vacation could be this way...not that there aren't other fantastic places in the world, because there are. We just have a connection. We know these places and characters, and we know their stories. To see the stories come alive in ways we could actually experience was one-of-a-kind and I will never forget it. Call me what you want (nerd, obsessed, whatever), but I wouldn't trade this for anything!