From the first time I picked up a Harry Potter book, my imagination soared, creating fantastical mental images of what the magical places and objects featured in the stories must look like. Then, as I fell in love with the books, it was impossible not to wish that a place existed where this wondrous magic could actually exist. What IF Hogwarts was real? What IF I could really play Quidditch? What IF we could really use magic?

These thoughts propelled me to organize an incredible vacation around the idea of visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Florida. All year we continued to look at the website hoping for a quick peek to reveal how someone could actually bring this to life. I imagine that JK Rowling must have experienced a strange sensation as she stepped into the park to see her dreams realized in a theme park.

Hogwarts was now real. Hogsmeade with all of its snow-capped glory was real. The butterbeer that made readers salivate was real.

Even I, as I walked into the park, hung back a little from our group and teared up. (Yes, this is a confession from a literary geek. . .) The gigantic form of Hogwarts and the confirmation of how I thought it would look made me look in wonder. Amazing.

The only damper on this experience was that Harry Potter maniacs from all over the world were also reveling in the same experience. Our first night there we went right after/ during a thunderstorm so many, many people were not there. That night we were able to ride the main ride and see many shops in relative comfort without crazy crowds. The very next morning when we entered Universal, we could see that the line to even enter the Harry Potter section stretched through the entire Jurassic Park world --equivalent to maybe 1/2 mile? Navigating Harry Potter world during the day was like evacuating a nightclub on fire. Surging bodies, tremendous heat and no where to move.

Yet even this could not diminish the experience. I was honored to see magic come to life- something I did not believe possible. The visit to Harry Potter world is further confirmation to me of the power of words- this creation came from JK Rowling's mind. She envisioned Harry and the challenging life he would have, created Hogwarts and the wizarding world, and now, the rest of the world is reaping the benefit.

Truly, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a fantastic voyage of imagination turning to reality.