Fangirl city, here we come!

[chanaleh]

Some weeks ago, my mom sent me a cover article from Parade magazine about the new Harry Potter theme park about to open in Orlando. I've stopped getting even the Sunday paper, so I hadn't seen it. In fact, this was the first I had heard AT ALL about the park, which opened on June 18.

I called her back that night, and not 20 minutes after we got off the phone, she emailed me excitedly: there was a news special on the building of it, airing RIGHT NOW and she was taping it to send to me!

I mentioned this to jessruth the next day, and she said "I know, I watched that this morning! I wanna go!" And I said, "Well, why don't we? I have enough frequent flyer miles for two free tickets...!"

The following week, the tape from Mom duly arrived, and I watched it. It didn't show me all that much more than I had already figured out: that this project was MADE OF AWESOME. (Though possibly still small enough that you can't really spend a full day immersed in it, let alone two. But it's part of the larger Islands of Adventure theme park, so, y'know, you have options.)

To condense the rest of the story: I booked tickets last night for jessruth and me to take a long weekend in December, and WE'RE GOING! Dec. 11-13! Flying out of NYC, so I'll go down on Friday and come back (presumably) Tuesday.

Comments

[besamim.livejournal.com]

I take it this means things are at least somewhat better now between you and your mom? (I hope so.)

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Interesting about that... :-} I think the answer is "yes, at least on the surface." That is, she's choosing to reach out, and to focus on positive things and things we can comfortably share. And though she's still carrying around a lot of sadness, she doesn't seem to be so angry; and I further think more of her sadness (maybe even consciously, to herself) is actually about *her* life and current struggles, and not so directed at *my* needs and choices.

Which isn't to say that I don't still have a panic attack anytime an envelope arrives in the mail from her. >:-) But they've really contained only nice things in recent months.

Thanks for asking!

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

That's really good to hear.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Agreed, that's a huge relief. Have a great time at Harry Potter world :)

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Very cool!

[donnad.livejournal.com]

Cool, I can't wait to see the place as well. Our next trip to Orlando will probably be in January (G's mother lives in Celebration/Orlando.)

[suntop.livejournal.com]

If you like roller coasters, definitely go on the Hulk Roller Coaster! It was awesome!! The Simpson's ride was also really very funny :).

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Oh, I adore roller coasters, though I'm not sure if Jess does ;-) We'll have to see how our time works out!

[elizabear.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine went about a week after it opened. Her LJ post is locked, but here are some notes:

Just after I entered the park, a helpful worker on a microphone informed us all that there was a three hour wait to get into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (the official name of the attraction). This was an improvement; there was an eight hour wait over the weekend. The helpful worker suggested we wait until afternoon to visit the park.
...
After lunch, I went to the Wizarding World, and there was no wait to get in. There should have been. People should have had timed tickets, at least until the hype dies down a bit. No one could move, stop, take a picture, or do anything else without bumping into someone. On the plus side, everyone was very pleasant about it. We were all crowded, and we were all hot, but hey, we were in Hogsmeade. It was all good.
...
The Three Broomsticks was there (with a two-to-three hour wait for a table). Next door is the Hog’s Head, which only serves drinks.

[Friends] also advised me to use the toilet in the Wizarding World. I heard Moaning Myrtle giggle in the loo.

The waits for the rides were tremendous – 75 to 90 minutes for the Forbidden Journey (the attraction in Hogwarts Castle) and the Hippogriff ride (a small scale roller coaster). The wait for the Dragon Challenge roller coaster was usually more reasonable, but my real missions were to shop, drink butterbeer, and ride the Forbidden Journey.

...

Because I was by myself, I took the “single riders” route. This gave me the great advantage of getting onto the ride in 20 minutes. On the other hand, I didn’t get to wend my way through all the rooms of Hogwarts that they set up along the line’s route. I did, however, get to see portaits that moved and spoke, and I got to see the Sorting Hat. I also saw the Great Hall.

The Forbidden Journey ride is intense. ... I almost turned around and got right back in line to do it again (but I thought that would be selfish with so many other people waiting).

A word of warning: no bags or carry-on items are allowed on this ride or the Dragon Challenge, so you have to stow them in a locker. The locker room for the Forbidden Journey has a long line and is difficult to get into and out of. I suggest using the locker room on the other side of Hogsmeade, in the train station.

I didn’t ride the Hippogriff ride (because of the long wait time) or the Dragon Challenge (because I ran out of time waiting for Ollivander’s). Nor did I get to see the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang Tri-Wizard pep rally. ...

There were two to three hour waits to enter the stores. I never did get into Honeydukes’ or Zonko’s. Fortunately, there is a kiosk with stamps and postcards in the Owl Office, or I might not have mailed any postcards out. The only other vendor for stamps is Dervish and Bangs, and it took me over an hour to get in there, via Ollivander’s (see below).

...

Ollivander’s hosts a brief, cute show, in which the Wandkeeper helps a wand choose a child wizard. It’s worth seeing once, but I think the act would get old with repeat viewing.

...

After the wand demo, they dump the twenty or so of us out into the wand shop proper, in which the five workers could hardly move without tripping over each other, let alone the customers. Dervish and Bangs, attached to Ollivander’s, is about three times the size, but with even more shelves, more workers, and less space for customers to look at things. Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods had the same problem; I could barely move there as well. This hardly seems a brilliant marketing strategy if you want to sell things.

The marketers also seemed to miscalculate how many people would buy certain things. Gryffindor items were often sold out, or missing common sizes.

...

Am I glad I did it? Yes. Would I go again? Yes. I’m peeved that I didn’t get to shop the way I wanted to, and I’m sorry I didn’t get to go on the Dragon Challenge or the Hippogriff ride. But I loved the beauty of the attraction and its grandeur (Hogwarts is quite impressive, both interior and exterior), and I enjoyed every minute I was there.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

This is awesomely helpful, thank you! I am hoping mid-Dec will be less insane than this summer, but still good to be forewarned.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Have a wonderful time!

[lyriendel.livejournal.com]

OMG. I so want to go there. But only once everyone else has totally gotten bored of Harry Potter, and on a weekday in non-tourist-season, when there are next to no people there.