HP: Because Alison demands it. (And because she deserves it.)

"Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry,  

but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

I know Harry Potter is not real.  But I know Harry Potter World is real.

And when you're walking up to the park through the gate, and steam is coming out of the Hogwarts Express, and you hear the train conductor ring his bell and call, "All aboard!  Last train to Hogwarts!"...that's when you start believing that anything could be real.

It wasn't until my sister, Maria, went to HPW that I actually wanted to go.  She took pictures of all the cool details they had there and not just of the roofs.  Everyone I had ever known that went to HPW would just come back with pictures of rooftops.  It didn't make sense, is that all they had there?

Then I saw the rooftops, and I understood.

They were...magical.

But then again, so was everything there.

The butterbeer...mm.mm.mm.mmmagical.

Just as good as the stuff we make at home (cream soda with butterscotch ice cream syrup).  In order to figure out what the stuff on top was made of, we drank two each (purely for scientific purposes, of course).

The details in this park are...magical.  Hermione's dress sits in the shop window...the sorting hat entertains you while you wait in line for the castle ride...all safety signs are from different departments in the Ministry...all pictures move...all bludgers and quaffles actually bludger and quaffle.

I wore a Gryffindor scarf all day and got quite the attention for it.

Train conductor:  "I see we have a Gryffindor with us today...an old school one judging by the look of that scarf."

Every other park worker: "Thank you for supporting Gryffindor today!"

Castle ride worker: "Hufflepuff is better."

Ironically, Kelly and I decided while we were there that I would be sorted into Hufflepuff if ever given the chance.  

I felt like a traitor all day.

I know I'm showing you a lot of roof pictures, but look at what happens when you try to take a picture of something other than a roof.

So you might as well just turn around and take a picture of the actual roof.

Here are some pictures we took of Kelly, making fun/trying to copy the coolness of other tourists that we saw doing the same things. (We had a lot of time on our hands at the end of the day, it was a small park.)

The performances were...magical.

And yes, we did stand in line to take a picture with them.  And yes, Kelly was embarrassed.

And yes, it was magical.

Kelly, however, gave the most magical performance of the day.

One of my favorite things was the wand demonstration at Ollivander's.  I can't really describe it, you just have to go see it in person, it was...magical.

They also sold wands in a cart on the street.

The wand master filled us in on the wand scoop.  The Harry Potter wand is the biggest seller.  Followed by Dumbledore's Elder Wand.  And coming up third...Voldemort.  What kind of person buys Voldemort's wand?

Personally, I'd get Hermione's, purely based on looks - it's so pretty.

Interesting fact (also told to us by the wand master): In the first two movies, everyones' wands look the like the wand that is now known as Draco Malfoy's wand.  It wasn't until the third movie that everyone got a wand that looked unique and are now the exact replicas sold at the park.

I wanted to get the Triwizard Tournament Cup so that I could use it while watching Harry Potter, sipping butterbeer out of one hand while having my wand at the ready in the other hand.

Kelly convinced me not to get it because it wouldn't hold liquid since it was, afterall, a toy that was battery-powered with blue light and not the actuall Triwizard Tournament Cup.

But just imagine how awesome that would have been.

We ate at the Three Broomsticks...got treats at Honeydukes...and everything tasted magical.

And when I say magical in this particular instance, I mean to say authentic somewhat weird British food.  

Guess what?  In the castle, Hermione says a spell to make it snow...and it really snows!  It's magical.

Even though the details were amazing, they weren't always accurate.  For example, this little guy was shrieking nonstop in a shop window, but anyone who hears his cry with their natural ears either feints or dies.  Everybody knows that, so this baby mandrake is obviously fake.

Around every corner there was one more magical thing that made me never want to leave.

Overall, it was a beautiful day spent in a magical place with beautiful rooftops.

All was well.