Friday, January 21, 2011

A Literary Adventure

Imagine a place where literary adventures come to life. A theme park where you can visit some of the most beloved characters and places ever written about in technicolor life.
It exists. And I went there.

Butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks anyone?

Yeah, on the last day of our vacation we spent the day at Universal's Islands of Adventure. I don't know if the people planning the park had this in mind, but it is seriously the most literary theme park I've ever been to and it was amazing. Of course they have the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which we all loved, but there's also Seuss Landing with a super cool Cat in the Hat Ride, Jurassic Park with the exciting River Adventure ride (and a replica of the museum from the movie), Marvel Super Hero Island with the incredible Spider Man ride and The Lost Continent where you can explore Poseidon's Fury.

Okay, so Spider Man may not be strictly literary, but I was surprised that the inspiration for so much of the park came from the printed word. How cool is that? And walking through a town that looks like it had sprung from the pages of a comic book? Awesome!

As for Harry Potter world, where do I begin?

The level of detail put into every part of the park is just mind boggling, but seeing Hagrid's hut and the car in the whomping willow, watching people take money out of the Gringott's ATM and seeing Extendable Ears on the shelf -- it was SO FREAKING COOL!! We couldn't stop grinning the whole time we were there :D

The Pumpkin Fizz that my son got was surprisingly delicious, but the Butterbeer -- YUM! That thick head you see tasted like a creamy melted butterscotch candy. SO good! And yeah, I look like I'm wasted, but there isn't any alcohol in the butterbeer :)

Apparently the recipe for this drink is a highly guarded secret and the chef who created it actually flew to Edinburgh to bring J.K. Rowling a sample, to get her stamp of approval before the park opened. (You can watch an interview with him here.)

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is seriously the coolest ride ever and the walk through the castle to get to the ride is half the fun. Dumbledore talks to you as you pass through his office. Paintings on the wall talk to each other. The Fat Lady wakes up and scolds you when you go by the entrance to Gryffindor house.

But this might be my favorite thing. My souvenir from the day. My Gryffindor scarf.

Now if it would just get cold enough here so I could wear the dang thing!

And this has nothing to do with my post, but I had to give a shout out to blogging buddy Beth Revis. Her fabulous book, Across the Universe, is going to debut at #7 on the NYT Bestseller List! Holy Freaking Cow! So excited for her!!!

27 comments:

Laura Pauling said...

That is like a writer's dream vacation! Some day! And that's awesome news for Beth! She must be so excited.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

You lucky girl, you! I wish that park wasn't on the other side of the country. One thing, for sure, I want to go in winter like you did. I have a hard time imagining Hogwarts in a Florida summer. Those photos of you prove how much fun it's got to be.
And, I'm so excited for Beth. She's soaring, for sure.

Christina Lee said...

I want to go soooo bad *pouts*

Bish Denham said...

That is SO cool!

storyqueen said...

Isn't it the coolest ever! I am so glad I got to go...would go back in a second, but alas...too far away.

Love the scarf!

Shelley

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Awesome!!

Butterbeer and the Three Broomsticks...I keep repeating that. I just like it. lol

Jamie Grey said...

I am SO jealous! It looks like a fantastic vacation - I swear I'm going to make it there some day! Especially now after seeing your pics! Glad you guys had such a good time!

Unknown said...

I almost shared this with my daughters but decided not to. They were supposed to go to the Harry Potter theme park in December with my mother, but their flights were canceled twice because of snow. Fortunately, we're going in April, when there will hopefully be no snow ... I think I'll read through your post with them before we go : )

Stina said...

I'm soooo jealous! And so are my kids. ;)

Kristan said...

Jealous of the HP world visit, and jealous of Beth's debut, lol. And her BOOK COVER zomg gorgeous.

JEM said...

Sounds amazing! I'm jealous, I think I need to plan a trip now...

Melissa Gill said...

Sherrie-

I'm so glad you and your family got to experience that. I'm extremely jealous, it looks like an amazing time. I'm reading Across the Universe now. I was forced to put it down because I have to work. Anyway, great book!

Windy Aphayrath said...

so jealous! Lucky you! Sounds like you had a blast and rock that Gryffindor pride!

Caroline Starr Rose said...

I used to teach a few miles from Islands of Adventure. The high school my students eventually went to, Dr. Phillips, was right across the street. You could stand in the parking lot and hear the roller coaster screams. ;)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

J-E-A-L-O-U-S!!! :-)

Roxy said...

This looks so amazing! I've got to go, and take my kids. I would even ride an airplane to get there. (That's saying something . . .)

Unknown said...

Mmmm...butterbeer. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

Krispy said...

Oh man, sounds like so much fun! I want to go to Harry Potter world so much! :) Love the scarf!

Kelly Polark said...

I can't wait to take my kids there!
Looks like an awesome trip!!
(my son has the same scarf!)

Colene Murphy said...

Mmmm want butterbeer!! Looks like you had a great time!! Super jealous.

lotusgirl said...

That looks cool. I want to see that Harry Potter adventure place. I'm also celebrating for Beth. Cool!

C.R. Evers said...

wow! sounds like an amazing place to visit. My family will have to go there some time.

Casey McCormick said...

SO INCREDIBLY JEALOUS!


And YAAYYYYYY, BETH!! *Confetti* I'm SO happy and excited for her!

Lori W. said...

Jealous? Me too!! Love that you are wearing that scarf out and about so much. And hooray for Beth Revis. How long do we have to wait for the next one?

Tess said...

that looks WAY fun!

Shari Green said...

Oh I am SO jealous! But very glad for you that you had such a good time. :)

Unknown said...

Thank you for the shout-out!!! And also: WHAT A COOL VACATION!

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