The trip of my life has come and gone, the last Harry Potter movie has been released and seen no less than three times, and now I am (rather impatiently) awaiting my access letter for Pottermore. Sigh.
LeakyCon was awesome. Just being with all those crazy people who love the Harry Potter books as much as me, and to be able to experience the final movie with those comrades, just awesome. We had our picture taken with some of the cast and both ended up picking up our complete Gryffindor uniform/costume from a great shop called Whimsic Alley who are based in Los Angeles, California. http://www.whimsicalley.com/
My BFF and I also spent two days at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. For those who don't know, it is one of the new attractions at The Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando. The attention to detail was remarkable. My only complaint really was that there was so much opportunity to utilize the store fronts for varying skits or magical elements that were not taken advantage of. Every shop that was open was just that, a shop. Don't get me wrong, they were beautifully done, and I spent *ahem* a great deal of money, but the only place you could go in and experience something was Ollivanders, and we waited closed to an hour for that. It would have been nice to go into a robe shop and just see some robes being magically hemmed or something.
The rides were all very well done. The Dragon Challenge I did by myself because my best friend is a chicken (sorry :)) and I did open my eyes once and then closed them immediately as we came within inches of the twin roller coaster going the other way. Yikes! The Forbidden Journey is incredible. We did this twice, waiting about 45 minutes each time. Totally worth it. The line itself takes you through the greenhouses, through the halls of Hogwarts castle which sport moving and talking portraits throughout, Dumbledore's office, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, what appears to be part of the Gryffindor common room, and then just as you are about to get onto the ride, the Sorting Hat sings you a little song which gives the rider a few of the safety points for the ride. The ride itself is a simulation of flying through the grounds and castle, not for the weak stomach! I have to say that I was a little queasy by the end, but as I said, I went back for more :)
Shortly before I left on the above trip, there was new excitement buzzing in he HP fandom. An announcement from JK Rowling about Pottermore: an online reading experience. This announcement has given us crazies (Potterheads, if you will) something more to look forward to. Perfect timing really. Potter fans were given the opportunity to enter early and act as Betas (testers, helping to shape the experience for others) by answering a question posted at random times and trying to find a quill. Luckily for me, I was able to get in on day 2, BUT I am still waiting for the email that will tell me when I can access the site. I have received an email telling me that it will be between mid August and end of September. WHOA. That's a pretty big time frame SO, I spend my days refreshing my inbox as I am sure everyone else is. Sigh. And now I wait...
