Tips for Visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

When you have been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as many times as I have, you come home with only about four new pictures on your camera. My last trip--which will literally be my last for a while because our passes are expiring and we're switching to Busch Gardens--ended a few days ago, and I realized I dragged my camera around needlessly. Oh well, fun was had.

So, instead of sharing images of my trip (although I'll include a few) I'm going to give you some tips:

1-- Ride the train both ways. If you have passes to both parks, you can ride the Hogwarts Express back and forth between Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. The train rides have their own form of entertainment, including a view out the "window" and some cool stuff that happens inside the train as well. These are different each way. If you want the full experience, ride both ways.

Side note: the line for the train in Hogsmeade Station is pretty boring, but the line in Kings Cross Station is really cool.

2-- You can take food and drinks on the Hogwarts Express. You know how when you get in most lines, some costumed person tells you that you have to finish your drink before you get on? Well, not on the train. You can bring open drinks and food right on, even beer. Actually, in the line at Kings Cross there is a small store that sells snacks and drinks (including beer), although I've found it closed more often than open.

3-- In Diagon Alley, you don't have to wait in that horrendous line for Butterbeer ice cream. There is a place called The Fountain of Fair Fortune right next to the ice cream shop (Florean Fortescue's) that serves Butterbeer and regular beer, and if all you're getting is a Butterbeer ice cream in a cup (not cone, and not any other flavor), they have a secret little door they go through to get it for you. Shhhhhh......

4-- Speaking of secret doors, there are actually three entrances to Knockturn Alley at Diagon Alley. Let's see if you can find them.

5-- Actually, let's see if you can find Diagon Alley. For real, it's not marked, and once you know where it is and how to get in, sit outside the entrance and watch all the noobs with their maps and their confused expressions walking right past. It's true entertainment.

6-- Outside Diagon Alley sits the Knight Bus. Everyone lines up at the front of the bus to get pictures with the snarky talking head and Stan Shunpike. You need to go to the back of the bus. There are steps that lead up to where you can see into the bus really well, and you can't see inside from the front. The detail is amazing. I even smells like an old bus.

7-- Universal Studios got it ALL WRONG when they put Ollivanders in Hogsmeade. Any true Harry Potter fan will tell you that. They sort of fixed that by putting an Ollivanders in Diagon Alley, but most people don't realize that it's there, or that it's much bigger than the other one. The line is shorter because there are several wand rooms there. Also, there's more inside waiting room, and in Florida that means air conditioning! So, do yourself a favor and go to the real Ollivanders, and maybe people will think you've actually paid attention to the books and movies as well.

8-- You can buy interactive wands at either Ollivanders, and use them at various places in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. You probably know that. What you may not know is that there are secret, unmarked places where the wands work. They are not marked on the map you get with the wand, nor is the ground marked where you stand. You have to find those places, and the local wizards and witches are generally more than happy to help you.

9-- Some of the coolest interactive wand sites are in Knockturn Alley. Some of the coolest witches and wizards are back there, too. Watch out for the creepy ones....they'll follow you around.

10-- Some of the coolest Harry Potter merchandise isn't actually sold in the Harry Potter areas. If you can't make it into the shops in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley--and that's quite possible, as they are far too small (poor planning, dear Universal, poor planning)--you can still find just about everything, and some stuff you can't get in the HP sections, in the big stores up in the fronts of both parks.

11-- Honeydukes sells candy by the pound, and it can often be a bit less expensive than the prepackaged versions. This includes Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. That one in particular is a big savings. So if you've already splurged on the packaged one, and gotten the flavor guide, hold onto that paper and just buy the beans next time. (That said, I have bought so many glass jars of candy there because I love the jars. I use the empties for all kinds of things, like toothbrush holders.)

12-- Saving money on merchandise is easy if you have an annual pass. The Preferred Pass and Premier Pass get you 10% off all food and merchandise. ALL food, and ALL merchandise. The only thing it doesn't apply to is alcoholic beverages. Also, it includes parking, which is normally $17. If you're a Florida resident, though, I recommend having one family member get that pass, so you get all the discounts, then have everyone else get the Power Pass, which does have black-out dates, but who the heck wants to go during the hottest and most crowded times anyway?

13-- For you foodies: The Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley has a significantly bigger menu than The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. (Although we like the atmosphere at Three Broomsticks better.) Leaky Couldron also has a full breakfast, which is really good. Fun tip: let your kid order the breakfast with black pudding and don't tell him what it really is....bwahahahahaha....

14-- For you crafties: Beer, that is. Hogsmeade has their own brew, the Hogshead Ale. Diagon Alley has their one as well, Dragon Scale red ale, each of which can NOT be found at the other park. Don't even try. I promise, they are exclusive.

15-- Some miscellaneous ride and hotel stuff:

• If you stay at a Universal hotel (other than Cabana Bay) your hotel key card is an express pass, from the day you check in until the day you check out. 
• You also get in an hour early to one or the other Harry Potter section (they let you know which according to which day) and it is totally worth it to be able to walk around and get on those big rides that don't take express passes, like Gringott's and The Forbidden Journey
• The Hippogriff is a cute ride, but it is really short. We don't even bother unless we've got express passes.
• All the big rides have walk-through lines that let you see the really cool stuff--and there is REALLY COOL STUFF--without having to go on the ride. This is worth doing even if you want to ride, because you get up close and personal to take pictures without having impatient people behind you wanting to get to the ride.
• Some of the rides have size limits. No, this is not Univesral's way of fat-shaming. The rides fling you about, and they can only make them so big or we'd be losing our children on the rides. 
• For the rides where bags are not allowed, if you have a fanny pack (hip pack, whatever you call it) that buckles around your waist, you can wear that on the ride and not have to get a locker. The only exception is The Dragon Challenge. That one actually makes you go through a metal detector and you can have *nothing* in your pockets. 
• If you AT ALL suffer from motion sickness, reconsider whether you really want to go on The Forbidden Journey (the ride at Hogwarts). I know so many people who get sick on that ride. It doesn't bother me, but be forewarned.
• To alleviate the above, some choose to just close their eyes during the video segments of the ride, and only open them during the animatronic segments.
• There are giant spiders (that spit) in The Forbidden Journey. I forgot to tell my arachnophobic friend about that and I suffered such wrath. Again, you have been forewarned.

And....I think that should do it. It's plenty for you to remember if/when you make it to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Oh, wait! One more thing. See the puppet shows on the open stage in Diagon Alley! They are amazing!!

Pointing at Harry Potter

This month away from writing has given me time to let my mind float a bit. Instead of me thinking about writing and editing and marketing in a purposeful way, my thoughts have just sort of flitted over to those things now and then between scrubbing baseboards and cleaning windows.

I received a few new reviews during this past month, for both Finding Angel and Seeking Unseen, and during those flitting moments I've given thought to some of the common concepts in them. The main one being the fact that several readers looked at the premise of Finding Angel and assumed it would be just another Harry Potter rip-off. But they all agree that my story does stand on its own.

I will admit, I was worried when I was writing it. I did NOT want Finding Angel to feel like Harry Potter in any way. (And it drove me NUTS that I would tell people I was writing YA fantasy and their response always seemed to be, "The next J.K. Rowling, eh?") But the HP books have all the elements I already loved in fantasy, which is why I fell for them so hard. It's not like J.K. Rowling was the first person to think up all those things--she was just the first to put them into a story the exact way she did so and make it into a blockbuster. (And to do so with killer writing skills).

Finding out I had magic or came from some amazing secret place was a common fantasy of mine as a kid. My back yard was an "enchanted forest" and there was a "secret passage" in my closet... I watched all kinds of shows with magic, like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, and wanted so badly to find out I was like little Tabitha, with my mom just waiting to see if I developed powers. And anyone remember H.R. Pufnstuf? Magic flutes and talking dragons on an enchanted island! Not to mention books like A Wrinkle in Time, or The Phantom Tollbooth.

The point is, while I certainly am not saying "I thought of it first," there is nothing that says "young teen finds out he/she's magic" or "main character discovers secret magical world" are original ideas owned exclusively by J.K. Rowling. It's just a cultural thing, a result of her being the big name in that arena, that makes anything along those lines point to her work.

And while Finding Angel has been assumed to follow suit with the HP novels, it's actually been compared to many others, such as A Wrinkle in Time, Fablehaven, and The Spiderwick Chronicles--all three of which are favorites of mine. The fact is, writers draw from what they read, whether it's intentional or not. The stories that capture our hearts make a home there, and they influence us. We just have to make sure that influence stays at a reasonable level, and find our own voice. Which, judging by reviews, I've managed to do.

(And, just as an update--there is one day left in my month off from writing. And I have one more room to super-clean. Funny how that just worked out, eh? Here's to diving back into writing with a clean house around me!)

Passion Post: Cover Art

In my recent post about my "passions" I included art. I didn't say specifically cover art, but that is definitely part of my passion.

I am as guilty as anyone of "judging a book by its cover." But I have realized over the past few years that books with beautiful covers are not necessarily brilliant on the inside, and vice versa. Today, I want to give some examples of book covers I have loved and hated, that illustrate that lack of correspondence. You may or may not agree with me. I get that. It's all personal taste.

Well, mostly :P. Some art just simply sucks.

Anyway....

I'm going to start with the book that was the subject of my post on Monday. Harry Potter.

Yep, as much as I adore these books, I have never liked the covers. I don't like the style of painting, the nearly monochromatic color schemes, the lack of contrast in the images. I find them un-eye-catching. If I had not been told about these books with such enthusiasm by my next door neighbor, I may not have ever opened one.

Next, The Secret of the Rose by Sarah L. Thomson:

I. Love. This. Book.

I discovered it after reading another book by her, Dragon's Egg. It's cover was much cooler, but I honestly picked it up because of the title (hello, dragon!). I went back to the library to see what other books she'd written, and found The Secret of the Rose. Inside is a beautifully written story. Outside is, well, a very plain, ugly painting and a rose that is pasted in. Bleh.

But please, follow in my footsteps and bypass the cover art!

And the most recent offender--the one which prompted this whole post. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. 

I just finished reading this. The prose in this book is gorgeous. It's what I'd call a paranormal romance/urban fantasy. But the romance didn't get too squishy (except a couple spots) and the author's descriptive ability blew my mind. The story is very deep, with a unique and imaginative story world.

But I bypassed this book many times. The cover, to me, screams "Mardi Gras" and the mask looks pasted in. And once I got into the book, I just got angrier and angrier about the cover. The main character is a tattoo covered chick with peacock blue hair. She is raised by chimeara (creatures composed essentially of human and animal combined--think head of tiger, human torso, reptilian legs--you get the picture). Oh, and she's an artist, who draws these creatures all the time. My mind goes to a million places where this cover could use all of that, yet it is about as un-artistic and un-other-worldly as can be. Not the least bit representative of what is inside. There is actually a mask worn by the MC about three-fourths of the way through the book, but it is not just blue feathers, it is a bird face complete with beak.

Ugh. Seriously.

In preparation for this post, I did some searching to find other posts about the cover of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and did discover that there is a German version that is quite lovely and closer to what I'd imagine for this story. Although, I still would love to see something--even if just an element of the cover--drawn, because, hello, the MC is a freaking artist (as referenced about a bazillion times in the book).

Hm...okay...this post is getting longer than I expected. So, I'm gonna cut it here, for now, and pick it up next time. Tell me--shall I continue with more books I love with covers I hate, or go on to the other side of the coin and post some books I hate with covers I love?

Passion Post: the Harry Potter Series

In my last blog post I listed some things I'm passionate about and asked which of those things ya'll would like to hear about. The first vote was for "What made me fall so head over heels in love with the Harry Potter books." (BTW--I think what I'll do is label these "passion posts" and put them up maybe once a week for a while. Sound good?)


So here goes....


The first should be obvious. If you've read anything I've ever written, you know I love the idea of magic. And "adolescent boy discovers he's really a wizard" is absolutely a recipe for success with me.


The Britishness of the writing. I don't mean to say all British writers sound the same or anything, but pick up just about any book by a British author and you see similarities. No, I'm not talking about spelling "color" as "colour," nor do I mean the use of words like "Mum" and "mental."  Honestly, I don't know exactly how to put it. Something about the way British humor (humour?) works its way in, even in the darkest moment, and without being intrusive. Americans simply can't pull it off. The British just have a certain tilt with which they see the world.


The train. I simply adore trains. The old-fashioned kind, like the Hogwarts Express. The kind of train you see in Back to the Future III, and Wild Wild West, and the new Sherlock Holmes movie. All wood and big red engine and clackety-clack. My family went on a train trip one time, and it was so not like that. New trains are more like airplanes or buses. My husband did take me on one of those "mystery dinner" trains once, and it was close in feel, but the scenery out the window left a lot to be desired.


The scenery. Okay, so maybe that's for the movies. But the movies did help me fall even more in love with the books. Rolling green hills. The giant forest trees. I am seriously dying to visit Scotland now.


Mystery. I mentioned the mystery dinner train. My husband took me on that because I love mysteries. And at its heart, Harry Potter is a mystery as well as fantasy. (BTW, I think of Finding Angel the same way.) The standard mystery novel rarely holds my attention. After reading a few of them, I've gotten tired of the "whodunit" meaning "who killed the victim." Harry Potter gave us a mystery about someone trying to become immortal. All the sleuth-ness, but no body count.


Hermione Granger. Smart and she knows it. Strong, but she doesn't know it. She learns, though. And watching her do so is grand. I adore the way she really runs the show. I read a blog post not long ago (can't remember where, sorry!) written by someone who claims Hermione is the real Main Character, and that JK Rowling is just slick and sneaky and brilliant by giving her a "side role" to fool us into thinking she's not. 


Snape. Do I even have to elaborate on this one???


The castle. I simply love castles, even more so than trains. The stone, the stairways, the secret passages...and add to it the magic...I want to live there. I just really, really want to live there. 


The creatures. I love her use of mythical creatures, and how she combines traditional ones and original ones, and takes liberties with her use of both. Like house elves are much like traditional brownies, and the resident werewolf is lovable.


Let's dig a little deeper....


The intricacy. This, I think, is actually what I love the most. Harry Potter is plotted so deeply, so intricately. We writers talk about "plot threads." JK Rowling weaves a tapestry of such beauty and detail. The way the tiniest reference in book two will show its significance in, say, book five or six, or even seven! And all the books are filled with such links! I could spend hours, days, weeks, months, just analyzing how it's all plotted out and where this refers to that and ties these two (or more) things together. So subtle, so brilliant. 


The symbolism. I truly do not understand how anyone (that means Christians, folks) can not see the Christian symbolism in the Harry Potter books. It goes so much farther than good vs. evil. And there are more obvious symbols and more subtle symbols, and they are everywhere. Every. Where. There is an awesome book that addresses this whole thing: Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger. Go buy it, read it, then come back to me.


OK, do I need to add more? Hm, I think that's a pretty good list. I'm sure I could go on (and on and on), but a blog post should be only so big :P. 


So my fellow HP fans, do these ring true with any of you?

You Won't Change My Mind, and You Probably Won't Like My Book

I've noticed a lot of posts lately--blogs, Facebook, etc.--about Harry Potter. Not just those involving the movie currently in theaters (I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the title), but rather the old debate among Christians about Harry Potter and magic. Mike Duran has a good one HERE in favor of the Potter books/movies. A post with which I wholeheartedly agree (and includes my favorite Stephen King quote ever).

This morning I also noticed a Facebook friend had posted a link to a blog that was in favor of Harry Potter, and someone came along and left this comment:

"Maybe I am the only hold out in the entire world, but comparing any kind of witchcraft with Jesus is a blasphemy! Christians are deceived by this and the Bible clearly states that in the end times the lie will become the truth and the truth will seem to become the lie. I am so sorry for all of you Christian people who think Harry Potter is a type of Christ. Open up your eyes and be awakened!"

Um....okay. I don't know anyone who thinks Harry Potter is a "type of Christ." There's only ONE Christ, right? Not types of Him, eh? Harry Potter may have been used as an allegory for Christ, but that is so, so, so different. He's a character in a novel, folks. JK Rowling may have used him to point to Christ, but that doesn't mean he gets to step in and take the Role.

And for the hundredth time--the Bible does warn against sorcery. As in, using the power of demons. Contacting the dead. Divination. (Oh, and btw, divination is made fun of in HP--seen as something of a scam.) In Harry Potter, magic is an ability. I honestly don't see how anyone can compare levitating feathers with biblical sorcery. If that's the case, then we better not use magnets--did you know you can levitate things with magnets?

The magic in HP is nothing more than a different way of doing things. Science, done with words and wands. It warns over and over and over against the use of "dark magic"--which is something that can be compared to biblical sorcery. So, those Christians who gripe about HP are griping against a book that warns against "real" sorcery.

All that said, if you are uncomfortable with the Harry Potter novels, don't read them. But you probably won't like my books either.