Walmart, you got got!

What you're looking at is a result of the destructive ways of London. Chewed right through my USB cable for my PS3, and thus somehow frying my controller. This crime occurred saturday night, and to say I was mad is of course an understatement. To replace these two pieces would've ran me $65, not including tax. I need not tell you my cheap ass wasn't about to drop that kind of money. I'll drop bread on sneakers, easily. You already know that, but on a cord and controller? Psh.

With that said, here's my solution. Use the force. If you don't already know, it's STRONG with me. Noon on Sunday, I took my cheap ass to Walmart, bought ANOTHER PS3 and..Swapped the usb AND controller. HARD. Monday, took my ass BACK to Walmart, and returned the merchandise. They got searched pretty thoroughly too. Lady took the PS3 out, checked examined it, controllers, cords, etc. While her back was turned, I waved my hand and said, "Everything is fine. All is in tact. I will refund your money now", and as expected, the woman said to me, "Everything is fine. All is in tact. I will refund your money now". Of course you will, lady; you just had the force used on you. End of story. I got my Cord and a dualshock 3, which I didn't have already.

The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter

Ok..where do I start? This place is crazy. I had a great deal of anticipation from the moment I heard about the construction, and now that it's completed, open and I've gotten to witness it and walk the streets of, "Hogwarts/Hogsmeade"..All I can really say is, "Wow". I think you would have to be a true fan of Harry Potter, the books, Movies, etc..to get a full grasp and understanding, as well as respect for the wizarding world of Harry Potter. From the outside looking in, I'm sure its an amazingly, imaginatively, well-constructed addition to the islands of adventure at Orlando, but to an actual fan, its much, much more.
I wouldn't say it's perfect and everything I thought it would be, because it's not. But I can say I loved the experience, as well as being able so share something I'm a huge fan of, with D. The pros certainly out-weigh the cons, and I really have nothing, "bad" to say about the park, I just had a little (very little) more expectations. I guess you could equate it to when you see a great movie, but the ending wasn't what you would've expected it to be, or maybe some scenes you wish were done differently.
All in all, the wizarding world of Harry Potter is AMAZING. It's a must-see.



Hogwarts castle from a distance. You can literally see this sight from the entrance of the islands of adventure, eventhough to get to the actual castle is a bit of a hike.



A view of some of the shops at Hogsmeade. These were taken while D and I were waiting in the longest queue I believe we've ever been it. It took us over an hour to get into the actual w.w.o.h.p. section of the park.








It may sound corny but the sight of Hogwarts castle is literally magical; I was more in awe the closer we got.



I started to ask internal questions once I saw this sign, as well as signs of some of the shops...



One of the winged boars outside of Hogwarts. This is the entrance to the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. You're actually taken on a tour through the castle and see some extremely recognizable items from the movies and books. We waited nearly TWO hours before we even got on the ride by the way.







THE marauders map, found in Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods, located beneath Hogwarts castle. This place was a mad house; D and I made two attempts to look around but it was WAY too crowded.



A mandrake, cadged inside of Professor Sprout's Greenhouse. Fortunately, they were quiet!





THE flying car, owned by the Weasleys, is located near. The Dragon Challenge ride. This coaster was incredible, and the wait surprisingly wasn't long. I didn't have a chance to photograph the Goblet of Fire but it's located here.





The Pumkin Juice is exquisite, and fillling! They're are multiple locations where you can purchase this drink, but we got this one right outside of Filch's emporium (and another inside of honeydukes).




The four houses of Hogwrts compete to earn points for their respected, "house", and win the house cup at the end of the school year. Points are recorded in four enchanted hourglasses located at the Entrance Hall of the school. For each point or penalty a student may earn, a jewel that matches the color of the house, falls or is replaced inside the hourglass. At the end of each school year, the points are added up, and the house with the most points wins the House Cup. Each house has their specific jewel:

Rubies = Gryffindor
Topaz = Hufflepuff
Sapphires =Ravenclaw
Emeralds =Slytherin





The Entrance to Professor Dumbledore's quarters and inside his office. If i'm not mistaken, the pensieve is located somewhere to the left of the room. The first one from the film.



The D.A.D.A (defense against the dark arts) Classroom. Again, the details are amazing; one couldn't possibly see all there is to see at the w.w.o.h.p. in just one visit. There's random Gilderoy Lockhart items in here too, which I thought was funny.



THE Sorting Hat. At the start of Each year at Hogwarts, each student sits upon a stool in front of the rest of the student body, and an enchanted hat, The Sorting Hat, is placed on the student's head. The Hat examines the student's mind and places them in one of the four houses.





Details..Not sure who would be teaching the dueling club after what Happened to Lockhart.





The Hogwarts Express takes students from the muggle world to Hogwarts. You can catch the train at platform 9 3/4's.





D drinking a Butterbeer. If I had to choose, I'd say the pumpkin juice was my favorite of the two drinks, although we weren't fortunate enough to try the frozen butterbeer because the queue was too long. we made multiple attempts but settled when an employee came around with drinks on a tray. I'm not sure if you can get frozen butterbeer at the hog's head or three broomsticks.



Olivander's wand shop..this queue was one of the longest that there was. We didn't even bother to make an attempt to wait and go in. In the film and books, Olivander's is actually located in Diagon Alley, not Hogsmeade, as it is here at universal. This was one of those minor things that I kinda had an issue (for lack of a better word) with. Not really a big deal though.

I did spot a, "Gringott's" sign, which turned out to be an atm machine. I thought that was clever. Gringotts, for you muggle-readers, is the Wizarding bank, located in Diagon Alley.





The Three Broomsticks and Hog's Head inn. You can eat at both, although I don't think you can actually stay at the inn. I didn't stick around long enough to see if the head on the wall moved but as you can see, the details are amazing.





Zonko's Joke shop and Honeydukes. These were a must-see for me. I'm not sure how long we waited to get in, but it wasn't very long at all. In the Books, as well as the films, Zonko's and Honeydukes, as well as The Three Broomsticks, The Hog's Head, and Dervish and Banges, are all located in Hogsemeade. It would've been neat if they had the Shrieking Shack somewhere here, even if you couldn't go in it.







We didn't purchase anything from Zonko's, but I couldn't leave Honeydukes without getting some of Bott's every flavor beans! They were definitely worth the price. Some of the flavors I think I had the misfortune of consuming were ear wax and black pepper, as well as something that was reminiscent of sage or another herb. Overall they were good, and I suppose that's part of the fun, not knowing, right? Had I known you could buy extendable ears, I may have considered getting some from Zonko's though.



Chocolate frogs..I passed on these because I was fearful it would melt. It was an extremely hot (and humid) day while we were there.





You can kinda get a feel for how busy it was here at Hogsmeade; the Butterbeer sign is barely visible amongst the crowd.

With everything said, I had probably one of the most memorable experiences i've had thus far. D and I plan to go back within the next few months, and hopefully, although I doubt it, it won't be as crowded. Perhaps we'll even go later on in the day, which I would recommend, because in the mornign when we were there, it was to the point where employees were handing out tickets that you HAD to have to enter Hogwarts/Hogsmeade.

I completely forgot to mention the rides! The Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride was without doubt, worth the nearly two hour wait. I don't want to give anything away for anyone who might read this, but there's much to see inside the castle and the actual ride is the icining on the cake. I thought it was really advanced for a ride/coaster. I'm nit ashamed to say I was yelling through a portion of it. Not as bad as D was though! Again, without saying too much..The Whomping willow is located here, as well Aragog, and family, Dementors, and some other surprises.

The Dragon Challenge ride was..Well, it had me scared for my life! I'm not a big fan of roller coasters but I ended up on a few while at universal. It was fun though and had me yelling the ENTIRE time. Partly because I was scared, and also because I had over $1,000 worth of camera and lens stuffed into my pocket. I thought I was gonna loose something going upside down.

The Flight of the Hippogriff..Foolish mistaken on my part to not investigate. I don't know if we would've been able to get on because it's supposedly a children's ride, but I saw photos online last night, and only then realized that Hagrid's hut is located somewhere by the ride!

Finally, I've just got to say again that I'm thankful I got to go and share this experience with D. Even though she's no, "fan" like I am, I think she enjoyed herself as well.

The details are so worth seeing and are in such abundance, it's one of those things that you just have to see for yourself; photos can't and won't do the experience justice.

P.S. We never made it into Dervish and Banges either! Bloody lines..Next time though.

Islands Of Adventure

D and I just got back from Orlando, where we attended Universal's Islands of Adventure. We had an amazing time, although the heat and humidity was at an extreme. It's June though, so it's expected, but GAWD DAMN it was hot! Here are a portion of the photos I took; I'm posting the ones from Hogsmean/Hogwarts separately. Mind you, these were all taken while waiting in line to get into the Harry Potter portion of the park!