'Arry Potter!

The first book in the Harry Potter series was published in the U.S. in 1998. That's seventeen years ago. It took me until 2000, when I was in 3rd grade, to finally read it but I spent the next seven years patiently waiting for each subsequent book to come out and devouring them in less than a week. I was sad when I finished the last book, and even more said when I watched the last movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on opening day with my dad, brother, and sister. It was the end of the era and I may or may not have had a few tears in my end as the credits rolled ;)

The point oft this long rambling love note slash rant is that I grew up with the series and think I've earned the title of 'Harry Potter Fan'. So of course I was beyond the excited when my dad asked if I want to join in my dad and sisters' tradition of spending a long weekend in Orlando during her summer vacation. I've never been to Universal Studio's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, so was ecstatic to fully embrace my fandom (obsession?) for the weekend.

As usual, Universal Studios did not disappoint. The attention to detail was impeccable, and it really seemed like we were in the wizarding world. We got to drink butter beers and pumpkin ale at The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, walk through the Gryffindor common room in Hogwarts, take the Hogwarts Express to King's Cross Station, and go eye to eye with Goblins at Gringotts. Any ways, enough with the nerdiness - I thoroughly enjoyed the park. My sister and I even went all out on our second day and chose to sport Dark Mark tattoos.

We also visited the Simpsons' Springfield, 1950s Hollywood, 1920s New York City, Jurassic Park, and Dr. Suess world. The weekend flew by but we managed to pack in literally everything we could.

I even forced myself to go on two runs while we were there - one solo and one with the crew, both through Universal's resorts. We also spent two nights playing some incredibly competitive putt-putt and Disney's Fantasia Golf Course, and could watch the nightly fireworks from three parks from the course.

Theme park hopping in Orlando makes for an exhausting vacation, but I loved every minute of it. I had the best time with both my dad and sister riding rollercoasters, exploring the parks, eating way too much food, and watching fireworks - laughing the whole time.