On June 18th, 2010, magic happened: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter officially opened in Orlando, Florida. Potterheads from around the world flocked to the streets of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, carefully recreated from the movie sets we know and love. At Ollivanders, you can buy your own wand; in Honeydukes, you can brave a taste of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans; and at the Hog's Head, you can relax with a mug of Butterbeer, hot or cold to your liking. Teenreads intern Maya was fortunate enough to visit this spell-binding theme park, and in this blog post shares the deep meaningfulness of her enchanting trip.
It’s going to sound rather silly, let’s just get that out of the way. For a young woman to find something like poignancy in a trip to a theme park --- shouldn’t she simply get her head of the clouds, stop trying so hard or focus on the real world? I’d argue, though, that the almost unnameable feeling that stirred within me as the Hogwarts Express shuttled me from Universal Studios to Islands of Adventure is as real as it gets.
Firstly, they’ve done a fantastic job with the park. The Hogwarts Express is set up in a comically realistic facsimile of London’s Kings Cross Station, where you walk through a tube stop complete with the advertisements visible in the sixth movie. The train ride features arrestingly believable digital landscapes of London and the outlying regions through the window and shadowed versions of familiar characters pass through the train carriages. Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley alike allow you to eat at The Three Broomsticks or The Leaky Cauldron, to shop at Ollivanders’ Wand Shop or Gladrags Wizardwear, and to ride through Gringotts or Hogwarts itself. Everything is carefully created to capture the whimsy and fantasy of the setting.
However, I think the truly crucial component --- the part that shifts the experience from simply an expensive theme park to a literalized dream come true --- is that all of this came from a book, and so did my love of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s writing is the well from which all of the animatronics and technology drew from, not merely blueprints but actualized ideas, objects, places and experiences into which she has already breathed life. Universal Studios has been approximating her world with the best Muggle technology money can buy, and they’ve worked very hard to make it feel like you’ve walked into Rowling’s imaginings. If you don’t have a deep connection to the wizarding world, I do believe the park would just feel like another component of Florida’s almost overwhelmingly expansive collection of roller coaster excuses --- fun if you’re into that sort of thing (which I’ll be the first to say I certainly am), but not really different from Tomorrowland or Animal Kingdom except in theme.
If you, like me, though, grew up with Harry Potter, it’s a different experience entirely.
HARRY POTTER was never just another book on my shelf. Rowling created a world that I would revisit when I sought the companionship of the trio, the adventures of magical creatures, the intricacy of spellwork, the empowerment of fighting against an unfair and cruel dictator. She created a place I would go when I sought solace, when I wanted to experience a fully realized contemporary fantasy universe with characters the same age as myself or simply because it became so fun and familiar. Describing my love of Harry Potter now, when the reigning era of midnight book releases is largely over and her fanbase is no longer adolescent, growing up with and through her characters --- feels a bit like describing my left ear. It will always be with me --- it is so much a part of me and has shaped my outlook on the world as intimately and quietly as a component of my own self.
It is that connection, I believe, that makes the Wizarding World stand out.
All of this myth and lore, landscape and history, character and narrative --- all of it was synthesized by one woman and set forth into our world through her voice in the vessel of seven books. Now it is a place to which I myself can travel, not simply through ink and paper but something tangible, sensory --- and it’s thrilling. Yes, it’s a theme park, yes, everything is commercialized and I don’t for a moment believe it will or should ever replace the Wizarding World us Potter fans envision when we revisit the books. Yet there’s a reality within the park that grounds me more than I’ve ever felt visiting a park like this, and not only does that speak to Rowling’s skill but to the power of books themselves. It felt familiar before I even stepped into it, welcoming without anyone speaking to me and comfortable despite its artifice.
It brought to life something I’ve been aching to live within since I was six years old, and that, to me, is magic.
Maya Gittelman, here with her very own wand, is an intern at Teenreads and a long-time Harry Potter fan. Lumos!
