Mel's #50 - Go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

I was super late getting into the Harry Potter game.

When the Harry Potter books were first released, I was in high school and I can’t remember any of my friends reading the books or making a big fuss about them. This may have been due to my entrenchment in a faction of American Evangelicalism that believed that the Harry Potter books were the new manifestation of evil in our sinful world. It wasn’t until I was at college in Minnesota that I noticed some friends had the books on their bookshelves, which was surprising since I went to an Evangelical Christian university.

I’ve never been one of those people to argue about books, or board games, or television shows, music, or movies being “of the devil.” In fact, I tend to roll my eyes whenever I hear pastors blame culture for the deteriorating state of humanity.

Let’s fast-forward a bit to my first job out of college, at a non-denominational church in western Colorado. It was summer and I had a house full of interns to look after and a new town and job to adjust to. The final Harry Potter book was to be released and some of my interns and students from our church youth group were planning on going to the local bookstore for a sort of release party. I thought it would be fun to come along and we all had a great time together. Again, I found myself scratching my head as to why this whole thing was so taboo among the community of believers we were a part of. The next day at work in the church, the youth pastor mentioned something in passing about praying for the kids who had exposed themselves to witchcraft through reading the Harry Potter books, which eventually led to a really weird conversation that ended in me completing a reading assignment…I was to read a book called “Shadowboxing,” which was a book about spiritual warfare. In the conversation I found out that this particular church was very against the Harry Potter series and culture, and believed it was a sort of gateway drug that would lead to teenagers becoming satan-worshippers. Weird, right?

Well, rebel that I am, I decided to read all of the Harry Potter books. It was difficult for me to understand how this pastor could take such a serious stance against a children’s book, but had never actually read any of the books for herself. I knew that I had to do this in secret, out of fear that if the youth pastor found out I was reading the Harry Potter series, I could lose my job. Yes, I know that is ridiculous. So, I became a 25 year old top-secret Harry Potter reader and managed to read all of the books within 7 weeks. And yes, I was hooked, and no, I wasn’t compelled to go practice witchcraft or sorcery.

Fast forward another 7 years, and I found myself posing for a photo on a bridge in front of Hogwarts at Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Smiling with a frosty cup of Butterbeer in my hand. Erica and I decided to trek up to Orlando after our Cayamo trip to extend our vacation a bit. Here’s the review that this 32 year old, formerly secret Harry Potter reader gives this place:

It.

Was.

Awesome.

Seriously, I’ve never seen anything like it. Universal Studios did a really incredible job of transforming a section of the park into a real-life version of the best parts of the Harry Potter books and movies. I was so impressed with the recreation of Hogsmeade as the theme of the area surrounding the Harry Potter themed attractions. Of course, the coolest thing was the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey attraction that takes place in the mock-up of Hogwarts Castle. The attraction is incredible, giving visitors a tour of the castle, which includes really cool interaction with props and settings from the series, ending with a thrilling ride using elements of simulated flight and animatronics. It was a truly incredible experience. We stopped in to a couple of the shops in Hogsmeade, and marveled at the line of people waiting to get in to Ollivanders wand shop, which is in and of itself, a superb attraction. I had a really great time and the joy I felt might be childlike, but it was so cool. I hope I never lose the ability to feel that way, and I know that as we walked through the rest of Universal Studios, Erica and I both were thinking that we can’t wait to bring our children here someday.