One of the many hats that I wear at school is that of a Beta Club sponsor. This is my first year as a sponsor, and it’s a role I took on because my BFF and ELA teacher has been a sponsor for several years. Every year, our Beta Club takes a trip to Orlando at the end of the year. This trip is a CMS tradition — in fact, the last time I went to Orlando and Disney World was when I went on the Beta Club trip as a 7th grader at CMS! So obviously I was very excited to attend this trip again as a sponsor this year. Anyone who has taken a group of students on a trip before knows how much planning, stress, and anxiety come with such a thing, but it was definitely worth it all! A total of 52 of us (38 students and 14 adults) took the trip, visiting Universal Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot.

The thing that I was obviously looking forward to the most was visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd, so I could hardly contain my excitement in the weeks leading up to the trip. I read so many articles and blog posts about how to make the most of my visit, and I knew everything I wanted to do there and the order in which I wanted to do it. Walking into this area of the park is literally like walking into the world of Harry Potter that we all know and love from the books and movies. It was everything I hoped it would be and more! Seriously, I got emotional as I entered Hogsmeade.

The first thing I needed to do immediately upon arrival was to head to Ollivander’s for my wand. Obviously, this is what every young wizard needs! I NEEDED to be selected as the person to get fitted for the wand in my group. I had two other teacher chaperones (including my BFF) and three of my awesome Beta students cheering me on as we entered the shop. They faked us out for a minute, telling my group that they ruined things for me with their over-enthusiasm (I think we all almost cried at that moment), but I WAS the lucky wizard who was selected!! I had to talk myself out of bursting into tears the entire time — I know it sounds crazy to anyone who isn’t Harry Potter obsessed, but this was one of those moments in life that I will NEVER forget! I still tear up and get chills just thinking about it. AND my amazingly fabulous friend videoed the whole scene:

AMAZING! This was my most magical moment of the trip, by far. Naturally, I purchased the wand that selected ME…along with tons of other awesome HP accessories! Next, we rode the Forbidden Journey, which was incredibly amazing as well. You work your way through Hogwarts, hop on your “broom” and feel like you are actually flying around with Harry and friends.

We saw the rest of the sights in Hogsmeade, had a frozen butterbeer, rode the Dueling Dragons coaster, and saw the Hogwarts Express!

    

This place is a must visit for any and all Harry Potter fans…it really was indescribable!

The rest of the trip was great as well. Lots of walking, lots of roller coasters, and we were unbelievably lucky to have lots of very short lines! It was a great time to visit and a great time was had by all. We had such amazing students and parents that attended the trip, which really made it all the better.

I have to share this awesome picture on my favorite coaster (and I think we rode them all!!) — Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios:

And I have to give a great big shout out to my awesome BFF Alaina for being the best trip master and coordinator EVER! Here we are waiting for her magical moment, the parade, light show, and fireworks in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom:

And if you’re interested in seeing the hundreds of pictures I took (what can I say, I love our Beta Club camera!!), you can see them here on Flickr.