The big box bookstores were the more exciting events. One Barnes and Noble that we went to out west was an enormous two-story affair and kids (and adults) dressed in robes and pointy hats were draped all along the balcony overlooking the crowded main floor. We managed to secure ourselves a bench in the magazine section. We weren't even there to buy a book, as we had ordered ours online and it was going to be delivered the following day. We were there to be a part of it. We were living through a once in a lifetime phenomenon and we bloody well didn't want to miss it. And it was brilliant. At midnight there was a countdown and people cheered like crazy that the time had come to buy their next Harry Potter book. Many would go home and read through the night. Kids sprawled on their beds and read for hours, people took it to work and read on their breaks, slower readers sequestered themselves so as not to hear spoilers. That was a time when were blessed with summer vacations interwoven with the events at Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.
Though not as exciting, one year for the midnight party we went with some friends and family to a small independent bookstore. (Big Sister wasn't into the Potter-mania at the time, but was there to add outsider commentary like: "Those who are trying to get away with wearing different accessories with their their Tolkien-wear aren't fooling anybody.") I tried to figure out what these things were hanging from the ceiling. It ended up being some metallic spiraling bad-prom decorations with stars in the middle. "What is that?" I asked. Our friend answered: "Magic." I guffawed at the feeble attempt. Yet, by the time midnight came and went I had to agree. Though not as impressive of a gathering, the magic was in the tiny bookstore. Thus is the power of the world that J.K. Rowling created -- a world strong enough to make a community.
And so, while The Wizarding World of Harry Potter of Universal Studios is certainly nothing compared to the world that each reader has conjured up, and isn't even as impressive as the world that the movie summons -- both as a set and with all the magic that computers create -- it is still really, really cool. Years ago The Dad showed me an article that mentioned the plan to create this little world. How happy I am that the time finally worked for us to visit. I'm particularly happy because I now have muggle-moppets that also love the Harry Potter books/world. Because of maturity levels, and in order to somewhat recreate what the kids who first began the journey in 1997 experienced, we introduce one new Harry Potter book a year and read it together as a family. We start in May, right after Judd the Red Chicken's birthday, and begin with the first book -- adding one every year. In a few months we will begin again and read through The Goblet of Fire.
Today, standing next to a couple in their 50's who were swishing wands to see if they "felt right," reading the bright boxes at Zonko's, listening to a kid chant a spell under his breath, sipping the sweet butterscotchy foam on our Butter Beer, observing people in their Hogwarts robes/shirts/hats, and hearing snatches of vocabulary and names, I thought, these people have laughed and cried with us. My kids didn't get to live through the agony of waiting for each new book to come out (or the solid, broad satisfaction of holding a never opened book in your hands and realizing that you had that many pages of absolute bliss in front of you), or even the movie releases (I remember a really funny student showing me his ticket for the first midnight showing of the first movie -- he kissed that ticket before putting it back in his wallet), BUT they certainly saw today how many people are in the order.
The attention to detail in the park is impressive. They really did a bang up job. From the "gum ball machine" of a skeleton who repeatedly endures a crow pecking out his eye (which then comes down through the gum ball shoot) in the window of Honeydukes, to the enormous flying skeleton hanging from the ceiling in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, there are details. Was the food good? Not at all (though the Butter Beer and the Pumpkin Juice are both nice). Was the ride inside of Hogwarts kind of scary/jarring/seizure-inducing? I thought so, but I'm Grammy. But none of that mattered when you looked at that cluster of wonky chimneys, or saw the outline of Hogwarts... or even when you heard Moaning Myrtle in the loo.
Of course we checked out the rest of the park. We all thought that the Dr. Seuss section was properly zany.
And the Jurassic Park section held our interest. Specifically, we went on the water ride three body-shocking times. We had fun climbing in the rope nets. We went to the discovery lab and happened to be there when a baby velociraptor was hatching. The head scientist picked The Boy out of the group to name her (he named her Billy). After the demonstration, an intern came up to The Boy and asked him his name and presented him with a certificate for being the namer. It was a super proud moment. In fact, Judd the Red Chicken possessively held the certificate for the remainder of the day, and when he was passing by the Spiderman Ride the guy in charge of the line called to him as he was passing, made a fuss over the certificate, and took him and The Dad to the front of the line. Sure, it wasn't a ride that The Boy wanted to go on, but it was still really awesome to be treated like a V.I.P.
The lines throughout the park weren't bad at all. The longest we waited was probably 30 minutes. As we sliced our way along all of the corrals used during busier times we all happily sang, "Hurrah for the scheme!"
Ultimately, the world of wizardry and witchcraft drew us back. I always say that theme parks are usually best at night, and this one is no exception. Hogwarts was lit up, as were all the little shop windows. We might have had a meltdown that included some flying fish, a rubber chicken, and a damp sweatshirt, but hopefully it will be the magic that we all remember, as well as the reminder from one of the talking portraits: anyone who has passed through Hogwarts might be the next great witch or wizard who does not yet know his or her full potential.
