On August 3rd, 2019- my 28th birthday- one of my biggest goals/dreams/hopes came true- I got to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL! It was a trip that I had been anticipating for months and one that I will never forget.

I know I had previously stated I would take a lot of pictures of the trip, but in all honesty, I didn’t take nearly as many photos as I thought I would! The reason for this is I was so excited and I immediately became immersed in the experience, making it hard for me to pull out my phone and take photos of every single thing. The excitement really overtook me! And if you’ve ever experienced it yourself, you probably understand exactly what I mean- It’s a wonderful overwhelming feeling that needs to be viewed with your own eyes and not through the eyes of a camera. For that reason, I have only chosen to share a small portion of the photos I took and encourage you to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter if you ever get the chance to.

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The whole experience felt like a dream. Even now, looking back, none of it feels real. I got to see the Knight Bus in person and actually had a conversation with the shrunken head in the window! And it was personalized and so special! I was able to buy my interactive wand from Ollivander’s. That was our first stop in Diagon Alley. I chose Hermione’s wand because she is my favorite character. My boyfriend chose Sirius Black’s wand, which is really cool. The card readers at the counter threw me off a bit, but I got past it. Gringotts was amazing inside and outside. Seeing the dragon breathe fire was one of the best experiences of the trip, it was so awesome! There was nothing about Diagon Alley that I didn’t absolutely love. We didn’t get to eat at The Leaky Cauldron, but we are saving that for our next trip.

When we got to Hogsmeade and I first saw the castle, I cried. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. Honeydukes was so brightly colored and full of candy, it was definitely one of the best shops in the park. The chocolate frog was the size of my hand and I couldn’t even eat the whole thing! And the frozen Butterbeer was delicious and refreshing. And getting to ride the Hogwarts Express was another amazing experience. We rode it six times over the 2 days we were there and it didn’t get old for me. I wish we could have rode in more to be honest.

Overall, I don’t think I have enough words or even the right words to express how amazing the trip was. I can’t wait until I get to go back there and experience it all over again! It was hands down, the absolute best birthday of my entire life.