Ever wanted to fight a Hungarian Horntail? Or be guided through Hogwarts by Harry, Ron, and Hermione? Well, you can’t—because they don’t exist. But you can recreate the experience at Universal Studios’ newest park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The park opened as part of the already existing Islands of Adventure on June 18, 2010. The day before, a handful of obsessed fans were able to buy tickets for a sneak preview. On opening day, the park was packed with people, both costumed and in muggle garb. In addition to being an exciting moment for fans of the series, the park is also brilliantly designed as an amusement park.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter brings together an excellent mix of rides, stores, and atmosphere that recreates a surprisingly accurate experience of visiting Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. The park includes Dervish and Banges, Filch’s Emporium, Honeydukes, Ollivander’s, and Zonko’s, all more than ready to take your money for Harry Potter memorabilia. For those not familiar with the series, do not worry, I will explain. Dervish and Banges is a shop that sells magical instruments. In the park you can purchase items such as omnioculars, golden snitches, wizard robes, and sneakoscopes. Emporium, while not actually a shop from the books, is the gift shop at the end of the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Ride (because how can you have a ride without a gift shop?). The shop contains items Filch has allegedly confiscated from students, such as house scarves, Death Eater masks, and house crest pins.

Honeydukes is the Hogsmeade candy shop and the version in the park succeeds in providing guests with candy right from the books and movies. From Chocolate Frogs to Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, they’ve got ’em. Zonko’s, the joke shop in Hogsmeade, is a great provider of gag gifts such as chattering teeth, screaiming yo-yos, and robot lilliputs. Perhaps the most interesting shop is Ollivander’s, the wand shop. Only 20 park guests are allowed in at a time. One of these guests is selected for the experience of having a wand choose them, just like it did for Harry in the books. Everyone, however, has the opportunity to purchase their own wand.

As far as food goes, the two places to eat are the Three Broomsticks and the Hog’s Head Pub. At the Three Broomsticks guests can eat typical British food, which is not for the picky eater. The real interest is the Hog’s Head Pub, where guests can get Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice, drinks that are mentioned in both the books and movies.

Purchasing opportunities aside, when going to an amusement park, one typically goes for the rides, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter does not disappoint. The two most talked about rides are Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and the Dragon Challenge. The Forbidden Journey is a ride through Hogwarts, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as your guides. In this ride you are strapped into a bench that zooms around the castle, encountering characters and events from the books and movies. Using screens and sets, the ride provides a realistic experience, or at least as realistic as you can get when recreating Harry Potter. For those who know Universal Studios Amusement park, the Dragon Challenge should seem familiar: it’s the Dueling Dragons coaster remade to be an experience about the dragon fight of the Triwizard Tournament. If you like rollercoasters, this inverted racing coaster is one of the best. For children (or those who are too afraid to go on a real rollercoaster) the kid coaster Flight of the Hippogriff is a great option. The park also provides two shows, the Triwizard Spirit Rally and Frog Choir show.

All in all, both fans and amusement park goers can enjoy the park. However, the park truly was made for those who have at least a basic knowledge of the Harry Potter universe, with even the littlest details in the park referencing the books and movie. The exciting aspect of the park is that due to its success, Universal has possible plans to expand it by taking over part of Islands of Adventure (just The Lost Continent portion). While just a rumor, this possibility will likely make every Potter fan even giddier than when the park first opened. So visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and release the freakishly obsessed fan inside of you.