Hogwarts Castle by Express Train

Last week, my son and I took a magical trip to visit Harry Potter, son of Colonel Sherman T. Potter, in Orlando. It was a cold and blustery day, but with sufficient crowds of wizard seekers, we found human windbreaks galore. Harry was a no-show, perhaps off to Korea to visit his dad, but we did see many of the local inhabitants garbed in their Olde English clothing. All seemed a bit overweight, until we realized these were native Floridians wearing ski parkas under their cloaks and gowns. It was that cold, I swear.

Universal studios for me was a first time visit, and the Studios side of the park featured a number of familiar street landscapes, and several interactive rides. We also had an opportunity to watch two guys doing a great takeoff on the Blues Brothers, complete with driving off in the old police car from the movie. we got to take the Men In Black ride, and participate in a disaster movie.

Leaving the studio side, you passed once again through the City Walk and headed to the Island of Adventure. And, of course the feature this year was the town of Hogsmeade (which I thought at first was a ham flavored beer), the many shops (all offering tempting trinkets to purchase), and of course the rides. If so inclined (inclined, get it?) you could ride the "Flight of the Hippogriff", a roller coaster pulled by a giant bird. J.B. and I passed on that one, and we also declined to eat at the Hogs Head Pub, or the Three Broomsticks restaurant. I did take a number of pictures, and should I actually read the books, I might gain a better perspective of that funny little car, or why you'd name a store "Dervish and Banges".

If you are in the Orlando area, and anxious to drop a couple of hundred easily, I would suggest that you visit Universal's Island of Adventure. It is a true Marvel, where Spiderman and you can ride the Incredible Hulk Coaster, among other rides. I personally chose not to sacrifice my expensive Hard Rock lunch over the side of any coaster, and on a day that spray from the water rides was freezing in mid-air, I stayed high and dry, although not necessarily warm.

Very much like "Downtown Disney", there are some nice places to eat and browse outside the gates of the two parks ("City Walk"), but then you go through the turnstiles where they scan your finger (or thumb) print and the bar code on your ticket, which upon visiting the second park (one is Universal Studios, the other Islands of Adventure) you simply present your chosen digit and they allow you to pass back and forth all day long. Of course, when I gave them the finger, it failed to scan before finally working. I guess my prints are now FIRMLY in "the system". I'm sure our federal government has hacked this database as well. Maybe I should have bought one of those magic wands in Hogsmeade, so I could erase my presence, although those bright flash memory erasers sold at MIB might do the trick as well.

The literature in the tourist brochure tells you "be courageous, be outrageous, be extraordinary" - shucks, I mastered that crap in eighth grade. What's next?