Infinitus Part 2

Before we get back into the re-telling of Infinitus, I'd like to let you guys know that I am working on a LeakyCon collab channel which can be found here: AccioLeakyCon

We ran off to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in our Slytherin robes, knowing that Infinitus had worked it out so we could be in costume all day after 2pm when our Night of a Thousand Wizards (the after-hours park event for conference attendees) tickets went into effect.

There was some mild confusion finding the actual Wizarding World since neither of us knew where the heck we were going, but we finally found it after about twenty minutes of aimlessly wandering around, pretending we were able to read the map they'd given us.

When I laid eyes on Hogwarts castle on our way across the bridge to the park, I almost died. We obviously had our picture taken by one of the park workers before sprinting into the park to explore (and eat lunch). We ran into a few people who knew about Infinitus, and, after spotting our badges, came up to chat and ask us how we were enjoying the conference they couldn't afford to go to.

I don't want to go too much into the park experience since I know that there's a lot of people who are still doing their best to avoid spoilers, so we'll just say it was absolutely AMAZING! I think I squealed about every five seconds and cried for a good five minutes.

We ran back to the hotel to freshen up a bit after being out in the Florida heat all day before NoaTW started. The lines for the water taxis were atrocious on the way back, though. So, we decided then that we'd walk back that night after NoaTW was over.

We made it to the stadium event, which we'd heard about earlier that day before we went to the park the first time, on time and listened patiently to the presentation. There was major embarrassment when people started yelling at the Universal people and berating them with questions about the park, especially those that they had no authority to answer. One example was one girl yelling about weight restrictions on the rides, which had been covered extensively online. Every single amusement park has to enforce weight restrictions for safety. It went downhill from there so that it was just a list of complaints like someone complaining that they didn't have any authentic dishes from the books that were healthy. Um...when did JKR list any healthy foods in the books? I missed it. Anyway, a lot of people walked out, some while making loud remarks about how upset they were at being detained before getting into the park when it was obvious, if you thought about it, that they needed to set up the event for us. In the end, most of them missed out on the ride with Chris Rankin and Christian Coulson; there was a sticker or something under the benches of the stadium, and if you found it, you rode Forbidden Journey with them. The fifty of us or so left at the end had to scour the stadium for it. Less competition, I guess. Lol!

Then it was off to the park once more.

On the way back, we walked behind Joey Richter and a few other Starkids. At one point, Joey dropped his hat, I accidentally stepped on it, and Brae picked it up to give back to him. So, both my foot and Brae's hand have come in contact with Joey Richter. Lol! No, I'm seriously only joking. We had our mock fangirl moment when we got back to the room, and I told a few people who thought I was being serious and made fun of me a bit. It was mildly entertaining. Then, we ordered some room service since we hadn't had time to eat at NoaTW, which consisted of the single best turkey burger I've EVER had in my life, showered, and went to bed.

The next day was the premiere of A Very Potter Sequel, and I've mentioned before that the line had formed about an hour before we got to the conference space. Brae went off to a program, but I can't remember which one. I, mistakenly, went to see “Living the Magical Life: Wizarding Society of Harry Potter as an Emerging Subculture”. I say “mistakenly” because I was expecting something different. I'm not sure what, but I didn't get anything close to what I was expecting. They had us start by lining up according to what sub-sect of the HP community we fell under (i.e. Death Eater, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Dumbledore's Army, Order of the Phoenix, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, etc.) and talked about why we're drawn to those for about five seconds. Then, we moved on to discussing how to become your HP personality, whether it was an actual character from the book like Bellatrix (who was leading the workshop) or a new one. This wasn't cosplay or role play we were talking about here. These people wanted to be their characters. Bella only wanted to be called Bellatrix, bought clothes Bella would wear, ate what Bella would, decorated her house like Bella would, could have only married a pureblood wizard, had to find a job that Bella would work, etc. It was...uncomfortable to say the least and I generally have a high tolerance for unconventional things like that. A lot of people ended up walking out, but since the workshop was led by Death Eaters, they had placed the Slytherin section in the second row, where I was sitting. I didn't think I could leave without being rude and attracting attention to myself. So, I stayed through the entire workshop feeling uncomfortably sane the entire time.

Then, I joined the line for Starkid because it was wrapping the first time around the space when I got out of that program at 11am; I was also unsure how they would work my accommodations for vision for this program and I didn't want to risk not being in line. I made some friends nearby who were re-watching AVPM on their iphone and behind me with a family who turned out to be awesome! Brae joined me when his program got out, and then he disappeared to go back to the room and didn't return for hours. I eventually gave up on waiting for Brae to return and talked to one of the organizers at the door, stating my need for front row seats because of my vision and that I'd need my companion to sit next to me for the things that I still couldn't see. They said they'd come get me when I could go in. By that time, I didn't know what to do but to return to the line and wait where Brae could find me since there weren't any workshops that I could go to that would be over in time for me to make AVPS. They came to get me before Brae returned, so I asked the family to tell them where I'd gone and was escorted to sit with the Merlin's Circle registrants in the second row. Brae returned a few minutes later and joined me. When the event started, I literally could have reached out and touched the cast, and we were dying! At the end of the Sequel, everyone burst out into the reprise of Get Back to Hogwarts, and it was purely magical!

After that, Brae and I ran back to the room to get ready for the ball. By the time we'd returned, it had already started, but not many people had arrived. We got drinks (in an ungodly long line) and found some HP Ohio people in the crowd. There were some amazing costumes (which I posted pictures of in my Show and Tell post), but the most amazing moment of all was the “Don't Stop Believing” sing-along as documented on youtube:

By the end of the ball, Brae and I were so tired, we knew we weren't going to make it through the Midnight Comedy Slam wrock show, though I was disappointed at missing The Parselmouths. We went back to the room to pack to leave the next day and turn in early.

We arrived at the leaving feast after a lot of HP Ohio had gone to see two members renew their vows in a recreation of Fleur and Bill's wedding. The costumes were beautiful (again, there are pictures in my Show and Tell post), and the feast itself was amazing. I was very pleased to see that something had happened with the hotel not allowing The Parselmouths to perform the night before, I think because it was too late, and they performed at the leaving feast in their pajamas. I ran up and got pictures with them before we set off for the airport.

Overall, Infinitus was absolutely amazing! It was an experience I couldn't possibly have imagined and wouldn't change a thing about! Re-telling it has only made me that much more excited for LeakyCon, which I expect to be even more epic!

I talk a bit about Infinitus a bit more in this video, but I also discuss a program I would have liked to do but didn't have time with my thesis for seminary to put it together: