Warning: The next few paragraphs will contain many sentences that are not really sentences. If you are expecting exceptional grammar... you might as well stop reading this.
Before I begin: my pictures can be found here.
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 - Angela rides a plane alone for the first time.
At the airport I met a girl who was also attending Leakycon and got to talk to her for a bit, unfortunately I didn't get to sit with her on the plane. Instead I was stuck between two older men, nice men, but all I wanted to do was talk Harry Potter at that point. However, it did give me a chance to reread "A Wrinkle in Time."(A good book for traveling... especially through space and time.. ^_~)
The rest of the day looked like this... dressing up as Hogwarts students... registration... seeing t-shirts and costumes... bought a Hufflepuff ties... Universal's Island of Adventures... realized how awkward it is to ride a coaster in a skirt (huzzah for wearing shorts underneath!).... running into Starkid's Nick Lang and having a short conversation with him... Open at the Close (Leakycon registrants/wizards had the chance to have the Wizarding World of Harry Potter free of muggles from 10 p.m. - 1:30 a.m. with unlimited food, butterbeer, and pumpkin juice!)... learning how to tie a tie from the Hogwarts Express conductor... seeing a bright moon between the towers of Hogwarts... I don't think I will ever go on the Forbidden Journey ride and not cover my face, it is amazing, and feels so real at times though you know it's not... I love it though... every time!... we basically walked on the Flight of the Hippogriff at night... it's better at night!... remembered to check out the bathroom this time to hear Moaning Myrtle... at night Evanna Lynch in the Wizarding World... I also danced danced to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry with a bunch of wizards in Hogsmeade at 1a.m. LOVE IT!
This looks like a postcard!
Thursday, July 14th, 2011 - Let the Con games begin!
Got my registration... attended a session entitled "Why Fred?" and got really sad, but it was very enlightening although I could only stay for half of it *sad face*... attended a dance workshop then an acting improv session (with Gryffinpuffs!) both very fun... Then it was off to see Potion Master's Corner LIVE (Very funny!) and Potter Puppet Pals LIVE (Hysterical!! Loved it! Got most of it on video too!) ... then we traveled passed Hogwarts and on to Downtown Disney... chilled for a bit and had dinner and dessert at Beaches and Cream at Disney's Beach Resort.... our burgers were amazing... and we tried the "Kitchen Sink."
8 Scoops of ice cream, all the toppings they had, and one whole can of whipped cream!
So close to finishing... yet so very, very far!
We ventured back to Downtown Disney and spotted many witches and wizards walking around. I even talked to a Cast member at one of the stores about Muggle Quidditch. Off to the movies... which our theater was HUGE... we went to the AMC 24 Downtown Disney midnight showing in 2D (no dine-in theater for us... we did a regular one, but the dine-in theaters sound amazing!) We sat in the balcony level of the movie theater (that new for me) and prepared for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." I've cried at movies... I've cried very hard at movies... but there haven't been many movies that have made me cry a long time before the ending. Then again, this book made me cry way before its ending. Still have yet to see it a second time, but will do that VERY SOON. :) The funniest part about the movie was I was so sad, but I walked outside and I instantly felt a bit better because, hey, I was in Disney World!
Friday, July 15th, 2011 - So last night (or early this morning) we witnessed the 'end of an era;' What now?
Got to see most of the second act of "The Final Battle," which was written by a friend of one of my friends, so I thought it would be cool to check that out and I'm glad I did. It was very good! I loved the music, and I was a bit bummed I missed the first act after seeing the second. After that went to the "Dancing Against the Dark Arts" session which was one of my favorite things from the conference. We had to move like a DADA teacher... I walked across the room like Umbridge. Then we learned a dance to this fun song. It was like Wizard Zumba. :) Decided to get lunch and didn't really know what to do next, so I peaked in to the main ballroom and saw Evanna Lynch with Pottercast... so I sat in and I'm very glad I did. I love movie discussions... and hearing stuff I might have missed or things that others might have missed but I actually caught. After that was POTTERMORE!! This is very exciting! I think I'm most excited for the wand choosing and the Sorting Hat... finally a JK Rowling approved Sorting Hat quiz (that will not be an obvious 4 answer quiz... Hallelujah!) From what we got to see, art and animations look AMAZING. You can find out more on the Pottermore Insider Blog. I stuck around after that session to see the live Mugglecast. I'm not a podcast listener, however both live podcasts I sat in on were very entertaining... I may have to tune in more often. After that, Sarah and I got ready for some wizard rock concerts in the evening. We were a little late and missed the first few bands, but we heard Gred and Forge, The Whomping Willows, Tonks and the Aurors, Draco and the Malfoys, and Harry and the Potters. I've heard a few wizard rock songs before, but this concert has kicked started an interest and I will certainly be downloading some songs in the near future from these bands and some of the bands I missed.
Oh... and here's Evanna Lynch playing bass guitar with Harry and the Potters:
Saturday, July 16th, 2011 - Wizards love to dance.
Our morning started out with watching most of the operetta, "The Warlock's Hairy Heart." The music was fantastic, and for the performers only having 1 practice together it was entertaining! And I'm glad people watched it even though they were there for the Starkid performance. I love Starkid, but it's cool to see other people performing Harry Potter stories too. So yeah, next is the Starkid event which was a lot of fun! Loved hearing Joe Walker sing as Voldemort and Umbridge live! :) Also seeing the "Stutter" dance was hysterical! Tyler Brunsman dances like my best guy friend from high school, Julia is adorable, and I never thought Brian Holden could dance like that! Sweet.... now we go to the line for the Starkid signing. We spent 2 hours around some very friendly people in line, even played the "Actor/Movie/Actor/Movie" game for at least a thirty minutes with them. Unfortunately, the line was cut off right before us due to time. Sad face. We decided against waiting in the line for Movie cast signing because we would be even farther back in the line. (Bummer. *sad face*) So instead, we decided on venturing to lunch at Downtown Disney's "Earl of Sandwich." Delicious! After that we prepared for the Esther Earl Rocking Charity Ball... and waiting out the storm... then finally drove to the Royal Pacific and rocked out with our wands out.
Got some crazy pictures from the actors/actresses/musicians/Leakycon Staff on stage. Pictures of the Ball and more of the event can be found at my photobucket. After the event... Sarah and I just chilled in the front and ended up getting our pictures taken with Starkid's Brian Rosenthal and getting some pictures of him and Joey Ritcher. We saw the 10th Doctor and Rose! Then when we walked out to the parking lot, we saw Tyler Brunsman and got a picture. Very nice of them to take pictures after the event, so kudos to them for not being party poopers... or creeped out by fangirls... even if they are the same age as them. ANYWAY...
Sunday, July 17th, 2011 - Back to the Muggle world.
No goodbye feast for us. :( Sarah had to get back to NC and I had to return to my family who were picking me up from the Philly airport to vacation to the Jersey Shore.
So Leakycon = Success!
However for future cons you (or I) may attend... bring snacks/lunch/dinner (especially if they over price their food at the venue where the conference is held,) stay close to or at the venue if possible, keep in mind that you won't be able to do everything, but make the best out of what you can do and do do. Take more pictures than I did. I think I waited until the last night to really get click happy on that camera.
That's it for this loooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnngggggg super-sized entry. Ciao!
