A Celebration of Harry Potter Weekend

By: Rebecca JonesDecember 14, 2017For the past few years, the last weekend in January has been where all of those who long to visit Hogwarts and are fascinated with all things in the wizard world gather together at Universal Orlando Resort for a Celebration of Harry Potter. My oldest daughter and I attended in 2017, and it really was an experience like no other.We reserved the Celebration of Harry Potter (HP) room package at the Hard Rock Hotel. In addition to the Unlimited Express Pass and Early Morning Park Admission that come with your stay at that particular hotel, we also received a special gift upon arrival. We were given a framed ticket for the Hogwarts Express, along with a special lanyard and credentials noting we had purchased a HP package. We were also given tickets for entry into some of the special events being held that weekend.That was honestly one of the frustrations for a planner like me. There was virtually no information given to us prior to arrival. I couldn’t plan where we’d be each day and have an idea of our plans ahead of time. I knew that there were certain events happening, and that we would have entry to them, I just didn’t know what day or time they were. Once we arrived and received our tickets, I could make plans, but this is definitely more of a “go with the flow” type of weekend than I’m used to.We arrived on Thursday evening, and the celebration officially opened Friday evening, after park closing. With our credentials, we were allowed to stay in Universal Studios theme park after hours to attend a ceremony with various wizarding world entertainment, including the frog choir. At the end of the ceremony, the actors who traveled to attend the weekend, officially opened the celebration. They included Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick and Griphook the Goblin), and Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy).After the opening ceremony, Diagon Alley was open for all attendees, with complimentary food, both savory and sweet options, as well as all the pumpkin juice, gilly water, and butterbeer we could drink. I discovered hot butterbeer during this trip, and it was amazing! It’s like a thick, caramel hot chocolate, and I probably had 5-6 over the course of the weekend, it was that good.During the days, we were able to attend the Harry Potter Expo. There was an Expo building in each theme park, so if one was crowded and you had park-to-park tickets, you could go to the other one. Our credentials got us into a shorter line and gave us preferred entry into the Expo buildings, but they were open to anyone with a park ticket, not just the people who had purchased Celebration weekend packages.Some of the displays in the Expo buildings included a trivia game, sponsored by Audible. About 6 people at a time would listen to an excerpt of one of the Harry Potter books on audio, then answer trivia questions about that part of the book. If you won your round, you received a bookmark with one of the book covers on it, and once you collected all possible covers, you could turn it in for a prize.My favorite display was the makeup and special effects area, where we saw goblin heads, spider legs, Hagrid’s costume, and even Aragog himself! There were special effects artists answering questions, and showing us how they threaded individual strands of “hair” into the spider legs to give it an authentic look. Then, we went into a separate room where they took our photo with Aragog, the gigantic spider from the Forbidden Forest, hanging above us.Our package purchase also entitled us to attend a Q&A with the actors who were present. They answered questions from the audience for about an hour, both on Saturday and Sunday that weekend. That was obviously the highlight of the weekend for my daughter and I. She has grown up watching these people portray characters that she adores and feels like she knows, and I have a great affection for these stories, as well. I was actually chosen to ask the final question of the day, so that was really exciting!Lastly, a description of our Celebration of Harry Potter weekend wouldn’t be complete without telling you about all the cosplay we saw. Several attendees went all out to create their costumes, and they were so authentic-looking! We saw a wizard carrying Dobby the house elf in his backpack. We saw Snape dressed as Neville’s grandmother, and even Myrtle, the ghost who lives in the toilet. Because “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” had just been released in theaters, we even saw several folks dressed as those characters.My daughter and I had a great time at the Celebration of Harry Potter weekend. It was an opportunity for us to be immersed in the stories that we share a love for, with special events and treats that don’t happen other times of the year. I highly recommend reserving a vacation package, and taking advantage of this special event.If you have questions about the Celebration of Harry Potter, or a vacation to Universal Orlando Resort in general, please contact me at Rebecca@wishesfamilytravel.com. I’d love to assist with your vacation planning!