The Wand Chooses the Wizard, Harry

Orlando! Yay! So on Tuesday, I rented a car and drove to the Mariott Vista Resort where I picked up my friend Kim and her mom and we went to Universal Studios Island of Adventure! Of course our main goal of visiting this park was to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is, of course, the first thing we went to haha. It. Was. SO. COOL! The amount of detail they put into the park is ridiculous, and I could've just stayed there all day. We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks and I got pasties and a butterbeer. Also, the ride inside of Hogwarts is AMAZING! One of the best rides I've been on. And of course walking through the castle is so cool too. The architecture reminded me a lot of Oxford, which I miss :) I think I'm going to let the pictures speak for itself, though of course they don't do justice to seeing it in person:

Walking to the gate

Front gate! Getting so close!

Entrance to Hogsmeade!

AHHHH!!!!

The Hogwarts Express! We took a picture with the conductor haha

The castle!

The botanicals gardens at Hogwarts while waiting in line

The Three Broomsticks!

YUM!

Another side of the castle

Bert's Every Flavor Jelly Beans and Pumpkin Fizz!

Hogsmeade at dusk

This is in the Dr. Seuss land. It's the Circus McGerkus tent!

Cat in the Hat!

Yes, we rode on the carousel. And yes, my feet touched the ground when it went down haha

Comic strip land

Popeye!

Blondie's sandwich shop

Popeye's ship, The Olive

Jurassic Park!

We had an amazing day at the park, to say the least. Afterwards I drove Kim and her mom back to their hotel and I stayed and ate some dinner and walked around the complex, which was beautiful. That evening I stopped at club called Pulse pretty close to the train where I met my friends Adam and Emily. There weren't a lot of people there but we had a really fun night, and witnessed a fight that was hilarious to watch haha. Plus it was $10 all you can drink ;)

The next night me, Ian, Andrew, and Bill went to Downtown Disney and saw La Nouba. This show was AMAZING. I was completely blown away. Every single act in that show is impressive, the set and costumes and beautiful, and the music is awesome. I would definitely go back and see it again, ad I recommend everyone to see it.

The chocolate frog I bought!

I got Rowena Ravenclaw!

The La Nouba building

Yesterday was our opening in Orlando. My friend Janie came to the show and brought 13 of her castmates with her! It was great to see her and it was nice to make so many new friends. I took them on a tour of backstage and showed them the train as well. It's always great to see people's reactions to the train haha. Today Emily and I went downtown, had lunch, and went to the Orlando History Center, which was very nice. In one of the rooms there were people setting up for a wedding! It was Winter Wonderland themed, and it looked lovely. One of the women setting up asked if we were engaged haha. After that we went to Starbucks and planned our trip for Disney World next week! Woohoo!

I am aware that everything I am doing right now is working against my resolution to save money for NYC, but this is a great chance to visit all these places, and I can start saving after we leave Orlando haha :p