My Experience At The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Hello there witches, wizards, and muggles (not feeling the whole "potterhead" fan name) and welcome back to my blog, or simply welcome to my blog. 

Today as the title suggests I will be talking about the place that only existed between the pages of one of my favourite books, and in the scenes of my one of my favourite movies. A place that my childhood self dreamt of every day and every night.. And that's Harry Potter's magical land. Specifically the areas of Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley. and Hogwarts, all which make up the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

(Text is in English because the book being discussed is English)

There is one in Orlando and London, and in April one opened in Los Angeles. Which I am so incredibly thankful to have a chance of visiting. 

I cried a lot during this visit, I was filled with such joy that produced a whole lot of tears. First of which when I first entered. 

You enter into Hogsmeade and walk your way to Hogwarts (which is technically a ride) , Diagon Alley wasn't available when I went, though I heard it'll expand to that in the coming years (I hope I get the chance to visit it again by that time) .

 the thing that amazed me most about this theme park (do you call it that?) is the attention to detail, the buildings' exterior and interior had me in awe. 

From the accuracy in shaping the outside to the decor inside each building , I felt like I was in the movie.

Moving onto The Forbidden Journey ride , I went straight to it as soon as I entered Universal Studios. This game's waiting line was fun, it basically took me inside Hogwarts. I got to see a lot of the school. I saw the room in which my favourite magical subject is taught (Defense Against the Dark Arts) , I saw the Sorting Hat (and wanted to wear it so I can hear it sort me into Ravenclaw) .. Speaking of houses I also saw a house points counter, I was bummed to see Ravenclaw in last place (if anybody sees otherwise report back to me please) .

The Mirror of Arised was there too! 

No I am not going to tell you what I saw myself with in it (that's for another time) .

There were a lot of important Hogwarts artefacts and aspects I can't recall them all , I feel overwhelmed by the mere mention of the name. That's not even the ride, that's just the line to ride it. 

I immensely enjoyed the ride, both the detail put into it and the 3D aspects of it. Plus the feeling you were magically flying was exhilarating, add SFX for more realism and you'll double the excitement. 

The Flight of The Hippogriff was ok, I was happy to have seen a Hippogriff but the ride itself ended too fast.

I , unfortunately, couldn't eat at The Three Broomsticks due to it not having "muslim-friendly" food options. As they do cook the fish (the fish and chips they offer) with alcohol for both the kids and adults. The rest of the food either has pork or is the same deal so I passed and ate somewhere else in Universal. The people working there were so nice and understanding when they cleared that up for me. 

Speaking of the park's employees, I applaud them on the get-up because they all look so cool. I wonder for those who were wearing robes if that was their actual house or was it a random choice? I encountered this man who was so in character I enjoyed the short moments of interaction with him (he was a Ravenclaw, or at least in a Ravenclaw robe) one of those were that he helped me with finding a spell-casting area when I was awkwardly swinging my wand in front of The Three Broomsticks, and told me after "Trying to catch the broomsticks on fire, eh?" or something along the lines of that, I found this imaginative addition to add more to the experience. He also asked me about my wand when I told him I was chosen! 

Yeah, I was getting to that part. The choosing ceremony at Ollivander's. Here is where I was dehydrated because of how much tears of happiness I cried. 

I prayed and endlessly hoped, I still can't believe its true.

Ollivander asked me of my name and wand hand (leftie all the way) , had me try 2 wands (I magically rang a lot of bells, and lit too many lanterns. Yet he was happy I knew the spell Lumos) and then the magnificent ivy wand with dragon heartsring core fit oh so perfectly it became apparent it was mine. He explained the meaning behind my wood and core (the wand doesn't belong to a character, it is an interactive custom one) . Then told my family that I am a powerful wizard. So bummed I didn't get him to sign something for me, yet beyond ecstatic that I got experience something that , I thought, only existed in my wildest of imaginations. Something that I dreamt of as a child, and hoped to be true as I grew up.

I then bought the wand, it wasn't wallet-friendly but it was so worth it. I currently have it on display in its box on my desk. My heart flutters everytime I see it, you can say I became (an alternate universe) Harry Potter (a long-going nickname for me as a kid because of my glasses and messy black hair. I have came to speculate that I may share personality aspects with him) I know of a Ron and Hermoine in my life so now we can be the real life golden trio. 

I forgot to mention that I drank Butterbeer (not the frozen one)  there and it was so delicious, I recommend drinking it with a straw though.. The flavor is much better that way. it consists of cream soda and butterscotch , plus its non-alcoholic though I recommend asking first because I did hear that they may serve it with alcohol. 

I kept the butterbeer cup and made it into a brush cup. I put a few pebbles in there to help it stand.

This wraps up what I can collect about my wonderful experience there. Harry Potter was such a big part of my life growing up and now, It has influenced me positively for as long as it has been there, and it has been there since I was in diapers. Even with different opinions floating around it, it is a beautifully crafted fictional world that I love so much.

 I thank my family for organising this all and putting up with my HP related rambles (even when you're not feeling it) and God for making this even possible for us.