DePhoMo'12 Day 18 The Hogwarts Perspective

The majestic Hogwarts Castle stands in all its glory at The Wizarding Of Harry Potter, Universal Orlando, Florida.

December Photography Month 2012

Day 18, Prompt "Perspective (high/low)

You have to be there, in front of it, on the cobbled stone streets of the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter to be able to feel the grandeur of this castle. It's an amazing replica of what we Potterheads feasted our eyes upon in the movie. The only bit missing is a cheerful Quidditch field to match its ethos. Sherris and I had the pleasure of sitting at the very base of this spectacular building, chilly graphite stone floor, and looking up at the towers and turrets. I can confidently state that Hogwarts, despite its hues of greys and browns, and ebony, beats the ethos of Disney's castle.

The Hogwarts castle is a walk-through experience that concludes with the most spectacular ride known to mankind! The experience follows a storyline so you might want to keep your ears open and give each part of the castle the time it deserves. The waiting lines are super long, all the way to the outside of the castle, and the time to the ride is 45 minutes. We were lucky and made it a bit more quickly, but since there is a walk-through experience waiting for you, you should not run along with others who walk quick-paced. 

When we entered, we were greeted by a Hogwarts prefect who asked us to dump our belongings (our gianormous handbags) into digitally encoded lockers. You might want to consider some useful tips here:

• If you have cracked skin on your fingers, dry skin, or any less quality of skin than Miss America, please allow someone else to enter their fingerprints on the touchscreen.
• Jot down, or type in, your locker number for safekeeping because when you disembark the ride you are way too blown away to remember your own name.
• Exercise patience! Because no matter how Miss America perfect your skin was, the digital system will deny access to your locker by refusing your fingerprint at least 10 times! 
• The locker areas are super crowded, and people don't really consider regular bathing or body sprays these days. So claustrophobics and asthmatics should stay away and let a healthier family member fight the Hogwarts lockers.

As we walked in, we passed the dark dungeons and then came out into the open into the greenhouse. This is where the queue of visitors has to wait the most as the line goes around, winding several times like snake, before finally entering the great door that leads to the halls inside.

We found ourselves marveling at the talking photographs of great witches and wizards. This is where you get to hear the story behind the short film of the phenomenal ride Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey. Apparently, dark forces are at work and a dragon's been set loose. Bloody Brilliant! 

You get to see The Fat Lady, the Mirror of Erised, and the eagle that marks the entrance to Prof. Dumbledore's office. You also get to meet Prof. Dumbledore once you're inside his office. I was fighting the urge to go hug him, but he's a 3D version being portrayed on a monitor and there are chained barriers that keep crazy fanatics from flooding into the office. 

The experience deserves a detailed entry, full of photographs, and a video of our adventure. Stay tuned!

Adventure continues ...