California Adventures!

Hello everyone! Long time, no see!

For the past week, I've been in California with my family. We went to Disneyland for three days, then spent a day driving down the California coast, which was gorgeous. I had an amazing time soaking in the sun, going on rides, and generally eating badly for a week. Here's some pictures of our adventure.

California Adventure!

Mickey Mouse himself in Frontierland

Grad 2013!

We watched the Jedi training, which was adorable and awesome.

Paradise Pier at night.

We were all really excited about the massive Californian beaches... we truly are small-town folk

It was a lovely week! Now we're back to the real world, blah. At least the weather is nice!

-Hannah

The Wizarding World

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios is expanding. And this makes me excited!

They're adding a Diagon Alley (with a dragon on top of Gringott's!), and it's set to open in 2014. Is that cool or what?!

I went to Universal Studios last summer, and Hogsmeade was definitely one of my favourite parts of the park. The three rides were awesome, butterbeer was delicious, and even though the Orlando weather was way hotter than anything my poor Canadian body was used to, I had a blast.

Entering the park - click the pictures to expand

There was just something so magical (totally intended) about experiencing Hogsmeade in that way. Both my sister and I are crazy Harry Potter fans, and this really was a dream come true for us. Honeydukes, the Hog's Head, Ollivander's (which technically should have been in Diagon Alley, but hey, nothing's perfect)... it was all so incredible.

The entire Universal Studios experience was incredible, actually! My mum and I had been to Disneyland for field hockey a couple years previous, and kept telling my dad and sister how AMAZING it was and how much we NEEDED to go to a park as a family, and when it finally happened, I was thrilled. And, as I said, HP has always had a special place in my heart. This expansion makes me really happy!

Universal has confirmed it - a dragon atop Gringott's!

According to this article on Hypable, there will be destinations like Gringotts, Weasley Wizard Wheezes, and King's Cross, which will have the Hogwarts Express waiting to take people over to Hogsmeade. Awesome concept art has been released, showing what these stores and stations will possibly look like. It's all very exciting!

My favourite piece of art from the article is this one below:

Absolutely gorgeous. On a side note, I used to want to be a concept artist. Still sort of do, actually.

Anyway, this is what has been exciting me lately! I've been telling my friends, some more than once, and I really hope I can visit the expanded park once it's open.

BUT - super excited for this - my family is going to Disneyland and Yosemite this summer! YAY! I absolutely love Disneyland, and I think Yosemite will be really beautiful. I'll definitely be telling you guys ALL about it :)

Until the next!