The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Superheroes, and a Bunch of Other Stuffs...
So, this past week, I took a little trip down to Florida (Cocoa Beach, to be precise). And holy cow was it amazing. Like, for reals.
I'm not the biggest beach person; don't get me wrong, I love the water (it'd be hard to be a swimmer and a lifeguard otherwise), but I could live without the sand factor. It's all gross and nasty, and... ick. But, as a general thing, the ocean itself is pretty awesome.
But the focal point of the trip -- for me anyways -- was visiting Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
I've been to Disney World twice before (three times total if you count this vacation) and while it's undeniably amazing, Universal is hands down the "big kid" park. We spent the day in the Islands of Adventure Park (home to Marvel's Superhero Island, Harry Potter World, etc) and that alone was brilliant.
For those that don't know, I'm one of the biggest Harry Potter nerds. (Seriously, I can do the HP Name Chain on Sporcle in about a minute or so -- given that my spelling abilities are cooperating. Quirrell, why must your name be so infuriating?) So, with that in mind, it's no surprise that my day in the park was like, well, a kid in Zonko's or Honeyduke's (which, conveniently enough, seem to be located within one another).
The park was amazing -- like anyone doubted that. The Forbidden Journey ride? Yeah, it's definitely as awesome as everyone claims. Even the wait to get in (only thirty minutes) was enjoyable. Yeah, the greenhouse portion got old fairly quick, but once you were inside the castle... That was almost as interesting as the ride itself. Which was, once again, AMAZING. (I think I'm beginning to lose the element of surprise...) The Dragon Ride (I'm forgetting it's exact name, though it involves the Triwizard Tournament) was awesome too if you're big on thrill rides (TAKE THE RED DRAGON!); it was a five minute wait. And, seriously, the five minutes was pretty much just the navigating through the freakin' maze to get to the loading section, then it was pretty much a walk on.
And I got a wand. (Luna Lovegood's for me, Neville Longbottom for my brother.) And, well, two t-shirts (representing my indecisivness with both a Ravenclaw and Slytherin), a copy of the Quibbler, a Chocolate Frog, a Butterbeer mug, and, well, I think that's it. (That alone wore a serious dent in my wallet.)
We spent the majority of the day there; eating lunch in the Three Broomsticks, amazing enough. It was beyond surreal.
After a while, my friend finally dragged me out and into the rest of the park.
While the individual sections were all awesome, Superhero Island was, without a doubt, my second favorite. While I'm more of a DC gal myself, I respect certain aspects of Marvel (specifically select X-Men and Spiderman if my mood's right). The rides (Hulk and Spiderman in particular) were excellent, even if the X-Men tea cups made me queasy with only an hour left in the day. And I bought yet another t-shirt there. A pretty awesome one, in my opinion.
As an added bonus, I saw a Doctor Who fan! I didn't get the chance to talk to her, but I loved her t-shirt. So, ma'am, if you're reading this and happened to be in line for the Spiderman ride at Universal on the first Tuesday of October, I apologize for starting. You're technically the first Whovian I've encountered! (With the exception of my old Spanish teacher who turned me onto the show to begin with). Hey, I live in a small southern town with very little sci-fi (or fandom in general) knowledge. Way to represent! :)
And now I have to be a good soul and finish working on the fanfic I've been meaning to upload for ages!!! So, make sure to check back in for that! :)
-Inky
I'm not the biggest beach person; don't get me wrong, I love the water (it'd be hard to be a swimmer and a lifeguard otherwise), but I could live without the sand factor. It's all gross and nasty, and... ick. But, as a general thing, the ocean itself is pretty awesome.
But the focal point of the trip -- for me anyways -- was visiting Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
I've been to Disney World twice before (three times total if you count this vacation) and while it's undeniably amazing, Universal is hands down the "big kid" park. We spent the day in the Islands of Adventure Park (home to Marvel's Superhero Island, Harry Potter World, etc) and that alone was brilliant.
For those that don't know, I'm one of the biggest Harry Potter nerds. (Seriously, I can do the HP Name Chain on Sporcle in about a minute or so -- given that my spelling abilities are cooperating. Quirrell, why must your name be so infuriating?) So, with that in mind, it's no surprise that my day in the park was like, well, a kid in Zonko's or Honeyduke's (which, conveniently enough, seem to be located within one another).
The park was amazing -- like anyone doubted that. The Forbidden Journey ride? Yeah, it's definitely as awesome as everyone claims. Even the wait to get in (only thirty minutes) was enjoyable. Yeah, the greenhouse portion got old fairly quick, but once you were inside the castle... That was almost as interesting as the ride itself. Which was, once again, AMAZING. (I think I'm beginning to lose the element of surprise...) The Dragon Ride (I'm forgetting it's exact name, though it involves the Triwizard Tournament) was awesome too if you're big on thrill rides (TAKE THE RED DRAGON!); it was a five minute wait. And, seriously, the five minutes was pretty much just the navigating through the freakin' maze to get to the loading section, then it was pretty much a walk on.
And I got a wand. (Luna Lovegood's for me, Neville Longbottom for my brother.) And, well, two t-shirts (representing my indecisivness with both a Ravenclaw and Slytherin), a copy of the Quibbler, a Chocolate Frog, a Butterbeer mug, and, well, I think that's it. (That alone wore a serious dent in my wallet.)
We spent the majority of the day there; eating lunch in the Three Broomsticks, amazing enough. It was beyond surreal.
After a while, my friend finally dragged me out and into the rest of the park.
While the individual sections were all awesome, Superhero Island was, without a doubt, my second favorite. While I'm more of a DC gal myself, I respect certain aspects of Marvel (specifically select X-Men and Spiderman if my mood's right). The rides (Hulk and Spiderman in particular) were excellent, even if the X-Men tea cups made me queasy with only an hour left in the day. And I bought yet another t-shirt there. A pretty awesome one, in my opinion.
As an added bonus, I saw a Doctor Who fan! I didn't get the chance to talk to her, but I loved her t-shirt. So, ma'am, if you're reading this and happened to be in line for the Spiderman ride at Universal on the first Tuesday of October, I apologize for starting. You're technically the first Whovian I've encountered! (With the exception of my old Spanish teacher who turned me onto the show to begin with). Hey, I live in a small southern town with very little sci-fi (or fandom in general) knowledge. Way to represent! :)
And now I have to be a good soul and finish working on the fanfic I've been meaning to upload for ages!!! So, make sure to check back in for that! :)
-Inky