If you’re a Harry Potter fan but haven’t been able to make it to Universal Orlando for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, you can now at least bring a bit of it to you. Just in time for the penultimate movie’s release today, much of the attraction’s exclusive merchandise is being made available for purchase online.
When I visited the attraction back in August, I marveled at how many amazing souvenirs, collectibles, toys, etc. could be bought there that I had never seen before because they simply weren’t sold anywhere else. Of course, I didn’t have enough available money to buy everything my kids, my wife and I might have wanted to — nor did I relish the idea of trying to fit a lot of merchandise into our suitcases for the flight home. So I was excited this morning to find a package on my doorstep from the folks at Universal Orlando, containing an official resin (not cheap plastic) replica of Harry’s wand and a note telling me about the online store opening.
This is great news for Potter fans everywhere, if perhaps not such great news for our wallets. While the selection is still somewhat limited (though it will be expanded soon, they’ve said), you can still get such cool items as a riding broom with fiber optic “magic” effects, any one of 25 different wands, or silly things like a Pygmy Puff or a multicolor light-up hairbrush called Comb-A-Chameleon (which must be hard to keep on the shelves, as it comes and goes*).
I have a feeling my kids will be getting a few things from this store for the holidays. And maybe their parents will, too.
* – For those readers too young to remember 1983, this will explain the joke.
