Disney Cruise - Diagon Alley

When we woke up Sunday morning we were already tied up at Port Canaveral. It was a depressing feeling.

 We ate breakfast and on our way back to our rooms we finally got the picture we had been trying to get all week. Our four beautiful grandkids al in the port hole. 

I still don't know how many people were on that boat but when they all left at the same time it was quite a crowd.

 They said goodbye to us and we said goodbye to them and then we were off.

 Surprisingly those porters know how to get a whole lot of bags on a single cart. They must have a lot of practice. 

 Justin and Kira weren't leaving until the next day but we were leaving late that same day. They had decided to go to Universal Studio's and even though we would only get a part day in we decided to splurge and go with them. Universal Studio's is a big place but we decided to spend what little time we had in Diagon Alley. We were quite excited. It was amazing how accurately they portrayed the scene from the movie. As far as I could tell it was identical.

 Mom's favorite (and probably everyone's favorite) was the butter beer. Justin told me that Universal Studios had a plan to recover the cost  of the building Diagon Alley over a five year period. Once they opened they actually made their money back in fives months just off the sales of butter beer alone. I can believe it. It is very expensive and very delicious. 

 Gringots Bank

 Behind me you can see Ollivanders magic wand shop. You can buy a magic wand that you can used a several places throughout the park. If you point the wand in the right direction and wave it as instructed you can create magic. It was really quite fascinating. I felt a little bit stupid though because almost all of the people waving magic wands were under the age of six but I didn't let that stop me. 

  

 I did share my wand with the kids.

 Justin and Kira know how to travel.

 This is the exact wand that I got. If you know the story it is the Elder Wand used by Dumbledor through all of the movies and acquired by Harry in he end. Harry ended up destroying the wand in the end which I guess was the right thing to do but I'm pretty sure if it had been me I would have kept it. I guess now I have it. 

To be fair Mom bought herself a Time Turner. It is really quite beautiful. When it isn't around her beautiful neck it is display in the beautiful box. 

All too soon we had to bid farewell to our beautiful children and rush to the airport. Before we knew it we were fast asleep in our own beds. I missed being rocked to sleep by the ship.

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It is commonly believed that 50% of all marriages end in divorce and most of the marriages that do survive are not happy ones. Actually this is not true. The 50% figure was a projection made in the 70's when divorce rates began to rise. It actually peaked around 25% and has been falling for decades. It is now about 20% and most marriages are happy ones. Divorce rates among couples that attend church (any church) is in the single digits.

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