Two years ago, my family and I went on vacation to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The trip was a Christmas gift for my sisters and me. Some of my friends had already been there and had told me where to go and what to buy. Some of them even gave me money so I could buy chocolate frogs and other delicious treats for them. However, shortly after my family and I arrived at Harry Potter World, I learned a very important life lesson that I would never forget. I learned that it’s not the cost of the vacation or the souvenirs that you buy, but it’s the memories we make with the people we love that make a vacation so special.

When you first enter the park, you feel like you’ve stepped into one of the books or movies. The park is practically identical to the scenes from the movies. The snow covered roof tops of all of the stores and shops of Hogsmeade allow you to believe that you’re a character from the series. When you enter,  you don’t know what to do first because it’s so overwhelming. My family and I went through most of the shops and stores to look for souvenirs to buy, but we hadn’t found anything worth purchasing yet. We wanted to buy things that we would actually use and enjoy. Other tourists surrouned the Butterbeer cart in the middle of the road, egar to taste of the drink from the books. The amazing fragrance of the drink coming from the cart lured you toward it. The drink was very sweet and heavenly. The 4D rides that we went on allowed you feel like dragons were blowing fire at you while flying on a broomstick during a Quidditch match. There was also an entire other section of the park, Diagon Alley. The only way to get to Diagon Alley was to ride the Hogwarts Express. When you would look out the window of the train you could see Harry, Ron, Hermione and all of the other characters flying alongside you. My family and I felt like we were passengers on the actual iconic train ride.

You were blown away by the vibrant, busy and stunning view of Diagon Alley when you first enter the new section of the park. There was so much to do and see that you didn’t know where to start. The very first thing you see is Gringotts Bank with a monstrous, fire breathing dragon coming out of the top of the roof. Every hour the dragon would actually blow fire! Diagon Alley was full of vibrant, crooked, colorful buildings that are almost indistinguishable to what you would see in the movies and imagine while you read the books. There were so many different stores to visit and purchase in. However, there was one store in particular that caught my eye. One of my friends had told me about this store from when she came here with her family. It was the wand shop. She had told me that the man who owned the shop would choose one person from the group who went into the store with you to be the “chosen one.” The “chosen one” would get to test out multiple different wands until they found the wand that worked with the person who possessed it. I was dying to go in to see if the story was true. Sadly, whenever we passed the shop, the line was always insanely busy. It would have been at least an hour of waiting outside in an extremely long line instead of doing other rides and fun activities.

On our last day, as my family and I were leaving, we passed the wand shop. There was no one in line, so we decided to go in. Other families got in line behind us while we were waiting. When it was finally our turn to go in with about five other families, we entered the wand testing room. The shop owner chose me to be the “chosen one”. I was so surprised and excited at the same time. I tried three different wands until I found the perfect wand. Once the wand selection ceremony was over, the wand master led the group into a gift shop so that everyone could buy a wand. The man told me that I could buy my wand for only $60. I had to choose between spending $60 on a “magic” wand that would sit on my shelf and collect dust, or buying something that I would actually enjoy and use. I choose to not buy the wand. It’s not like the wand would clean my room or do my homework for me so what’s the point?

Leaving the amusement park was such a heartbreaking and difficult thing to do. I had such a fun time with my family and hope to go back very soon. The memories that we made on that trip are unforgettable and much more valuable than a wand that doesn’t do anything.