The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: From a Muggle’s perspective

Do they take renters?

Yes, I am 24 years old. And yes, I did travel from Seattle WA all the way down to Orlando FL (which is a whopping 3,000 miles away) all in the name of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter Wizarding World opened in June 2010 as an additional attraction at Universal Studios. Going to Orlando for anything other than Disney World is one of the highest forms of treachery in my family. Yet here we were, my two sisters and I, making the long ass journey all the way there. But my god, was it worth it.

It took a while to get to the actual Wizarding World. Like any good amusement park tycoons they knew that it was their big ticket item so they make you hoof it through all of these crazy places like Seuss Land before you make it to the Hogwarts Gates. Momma wanted to see more hippogriffs and less loraxes (loraxi?) so I was keeping a brisk pace. When we finally reached the entrance it happened so quickly I kind of missed it. I thought the entrance would have been more grandiose and I would feel a magical shift in being. I didn’t. But I didn’t let that get me down. We were finally there and we had some serious ground to cover.

The Wizarding World itself isn’t that big. If we’re going to compare it to Disney World which, let’s be honest, I’m going to be doing this entire review, it would be comparable to Adentureland in the Magic Kingdom. So, not as big as Fantasyland, but not too shabby. The crowds were pretty thick, but we arrived at 8:30 am and were able to beat a lot of the rush. Don’t let it fool you when it says that the doors open at 9 am. That’s crap. But we successfully visited every attraction that the Wizarding World had to offer and stretched it out for an amazing 8 hours. (I’d say a typical visit should only last 4 or 5 depending on lines). So here’s what to look forward to along with some insider tips:

Theme Song Tryouts: Take 4

I know, I know, it’s already the middle of July and we (by which I mean “I”) haven’t even posted our AWESOMELY OUTDOOR July Movie Preview yet… but to be fair, the only movie we’re even remotely excited about this month doesn’t come out till THIS FRIDAY (!!!), so up till now it hasn’t really mattered, right?  Hello?  Please?

Mom…???

At any rate, please accept this amusing little ditty as my atonement for services not rendered, and I promise you I will get that preview out by Friday morning!

Emmys Noms: First Impressions

You might be tolerable this year!

The Emmy nominations were announced today and I was SHOCKED with some of the results. And by that I mean that it didn’t look like an exact replica of last year’s ballot which is a huge breakthrough for the Emmys. I have been watching the Emmys since I was a little kid (probably long before the Oscars since I wasn’t old enough to watch any of the movies–but dammit I was old enough to watch Fraiser) and I gotta say, I’m pretty happy with how things shook out. Here are my random thoughts on the whole thing, take ‘em or leave ‘em.

-Jack Bender got nominated for his direction of the final episode of LOST and all I have to say is hallelujah. He has probably directed the most episodes of the show and is responsible for so many of those long, sweeping montages or action-packed running-in-the-jungle sequences that were so beautiful we can’t get them out of our head. I hope he wins but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it went to Mad Men or Breaking Bad.