The Franklin Institute-Science After Hours-Wizard School

From the moment we entered the Franklin Institute's main lobby at 7 pm, I knew it was going to be a fun night.

There were so many activities going on, and only three hours, so I had to make my choices carefully.

Only a few days before the event, Science After Hours revealed an added surprise, Harry and the Potters would be performing in the Planetarium. I've always regretted never seeing a Wizard Rock band play live when Wizard Rock was at the height of popularity, so I was ecstatic over the idea that I would get to see the most famous of Wizard Rock bands play. 

Before entering the Planetarium, we grabbed a beverage. Science After Hours is a 21+ only event. There are bars set up around the museum.

Pumpkin Juice - Juice + Butter Beer - Butter = Pumpkin Beer 

There were also at least two places with free alcohol tastings, but the lines were super long, so we skipped them.

Seasonally approved beers in hand, we stepped into the Planetarium. It was already very cool, and the concert hadn't even started yet. 

The Franklin Institute really knows how to throw an event. 

They changed the ceiling a few times during the concert. The moon was especially fitting during the My Teacher is a Werewolf song. 

The concert was amazing! They are really good musicians. 

Harry Potter, Harry Potter, and the ghost of Cedric Diggory had a ton of energy and really knew how to work a crowd. 

There was quite a bit of running through the audience and a little audience participation as well. 

I was so excited and had so much fun. Seeing Harry and the Potters live = Life Goal Complete. 

I saw people during the concert holding up their light up wands. I knew making a wand was what I wanted to do next. Unfortunately wand making proved to be so popular that they quickly ran out of supplies, so no wand for me. 

Since I wore my Hogwarts Express outfit, I wanted to get a picture in Franklin Institute's train room. 

The entrance was decorated. 

It was the perfect place to get a picture. 

I still feel strange about asking people if I can take a photo of them, but I did manage to get a few.

One of best things about being at The Franklin Institute at night was getting to go to the roof to see the giant telescope. 

It was an extra cloudy night, but we were still able to see the star Vega with the telescope. It was neat. 

After the telescope, there was only a little time left before the big finale, so we wandered into the Quidditch room, but all of the matches were over. There were tables where you could make origami snitches, but it looked a little too involved for the time that we had left. 

We did have time to try the dragon's breath. It involved graham crackers in liquid nitrogen. 

We were instructed to chew the graham crackers quickly and to not let them adhere to our tongues or to the inside of our mouths. The effect was a lot of fun.

The big finale took place in the lobby. Everyone gathered, and with wands held high (those who were able to make their wands before the unfortunate wand shortage that is) began the count down,

then a shout of INCENDIO!!!

The finale was spectacular. The fireball could have burned the eyebrows off of at least fifty Seamus Finnigans. 

It was a great night. I was extremely impressed by how organized the event was and by how many activities there were. Small touches and details really made the night. It was well worth the $15.00 admission. 

The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia hosts Science After Hours events every month. Each has its own, unique theme. I can't wait to attend another one. They sent me a survey and in the comments I suggested a Doctor Who night, fingers crossed. 

Neil Gaiman Gives me Arm Tingles

There are three writers who inspire me the most to write, Roald Dahl, Neil Gaiman, and Aaron Starmer.  I love their vast, bizarre, crazy imaginations. If you are a writer you might be familiar with the feeling.  You read something by a writer or you hear a writer speak and it begins, an effervescent feeling in your brain like a glass of newly poured soda.  The feeling moves from your head, down your neck, then into your shoulder.  From your shoulder it rests briefly in your elbow before swirling its way to your wrist. Finally the tingles seep into your hand, to your very finger tips. You know that if you cannot find a pen, or a keyboard, a hammer and chisel, your arm will explode .  That is how the above mentioned writers make me feel.

Now unless I encounter him in zombie or ghost form, there is no possibility of meeting Roald Dahl. I've not only met Aaron Starmer, but I have had the extreme fortune of having him as a teacher for a writing class. Then there is Neil Gaiman. It seemed that every time there was a chance to hear him speak, something would happen, and the opportunity would slip through my fingers.  The more missed chances, the higher Neil Gaiman rose on my bucket list, so as you can imagine, I practically sprained my fingers to acquire tickets when I saw that he would be speaking at The Tower Theater in Pennsylvania. 

During the evening Neil worked back and forth between answering audience questions (written on note cards prior to the show's start), and reading from his works.  He is a marvelous storyteller, which is what makes him such a marvelous writer.  Every question that he answered elicited a beautifully crafted story, from his first encounter with Terry Pratchett to meeting Benedict Cumberbatch (if only you could have seen the joy on my face during that one).  

Some of my favorites from the evening-

Favorite personal life story- Neil explained that when he was 11, he dreamed about finding a parallel universe where he existed, but J.R.R Tolkien did not. He would bring Lord of the Rings with him to that universe, commit a robbery, then use the money to hire an adult to re-type Lord of the Rings. He would then have to kill that adult, and then he could pass off the Lord of the Rings manuscript as his own.  This is when he had second thoughts about being a writer, because it seemed like rather bloody work.

Favorite story about his own writing- He explained how Coraline was inspired by a story his  daughter used to tell him when she was five.

Favorite piece of writing advice- An 11 year old asked what advice did Neil have for an 11 year old who wants to be an author.  Neil first stated, read everything. He then went on to say that built up in your arm are about 100,000 rubbish words. What you have to do is write them out.  You must write, and write, and write, and write so that all of those rubbish words can move down your arm and out. Eventually  when all of the rubbish words have moved out of your arm, the good words will work their way down and onto your page.

Things to be excited about- Something that sounds like a show or mini-series that will air on BBC (he couldn't give details yet), working with Bryan Fuller on the American Gods television series, and another episode of Doctor Who because he promised Peter Capaldi he would write an episode for him (though not this season).  

I could have listened to Neil Gaiman speak all night, and not just because of his cool accent or his kind of Alan Rickmanish melodic tone. Everything that he said was smart, funny, and inspiring. Hopefully my writing tingles from experiencing this incredible evening will last far into the future.  

I Scream, You Scream, we eat a lot of Ice Cream

When it comes to eating desserts, I could easily pass. I’d rather have a burger over cake.  I am however a great appreciator of ice cream. It is one of my favorite foods.  I prefer hard ice cream over soft serve.  Depending on the flavor, I can eat ice cream with or without toppings. Disney World and Universal  in Orlando are filled with a great variety of frozen delights, and I was ready to try as many as I thought my waist line could handle.  

Animal Kingdom

   Riding the first day of vacation high, and feeling the need for something to top off our Tamu Tamu lunch, we went in search of the elusive Animal Kingdom ice cream sandwich.  

There is no sign naming the kiosk where the ice cream sandwiches are sold. You just have to look for the kiosk that has it on the menu.  We found that kiosk located in between the entrance to the Discovery Island Trail and the large entryway to the Harambe Africa section of the park. 

 We stood in line and debated if we should get one to share or our own.  Fortunately the girl in front of us ordered an ice cream sandwich. Once we saw how gigantic it was, there was no need to get more than one.

 The chocolate chip cookies are the star of the this treat.  They were fresh and delicious and the cold super creamy vanilla ice cream complemented the cookies well.  There were only two issues

1)      We had to put a lot of muscle into hacking away at the cookie in order to split it in half.

2)      The hot weather caused the ice cream to melt rather quickly. 

Things got messy, especially towards the end. I had to take a trip to the restroom to get un-sticky. 

Minor problems however compared to the delightfulness of the sandwich. It was my favorite of our Disney World ice cream treats.  I recommend getting one if you ever find yourself in Animal Kingdom.

Magic Kingdom

I know, this might sound a little crazy to all of the Disney people, but this was our first time trying the popular Dole Whip vs. Citrus Swirl treats.  I was unaware in the past that they were such a thing. We wanted to see what the fuss was all about. To make a proper assessment, we had to get one of each.

The biggest pro to the Citrus Swirl is that the lines at The Sunshine Tree Terrace are refreshingly short.

The Citrus Swirl is tasty, but it does have a more tart slightly bitter pithy orange taste, so if you aren’t into that, it may not be your preferred treat.

The Dole Whip line was the longest line I waited in during our entire trip. There is a significant lack of shade and I could feel my skin crisping as I stood there waiting, and waiting.  I think the problem was that most groups nominate one poor soul to be their Dole Whip point person so each person standing at the window ordered three, six, even ten Dole Whips.

There was a British mother and daughter standing in front of me in line and a woman from Texas standing in front of them.  I witnessed what I could only describe as a British SNL skit where the British people make fun of what they think the stereotypical American is like.

First the woman from Texas kept pushing her sun block on the British ladies as though they were so foreign sun block must be a revolutionary invention to them.

“It’s cloudy and rainy all the time where y’all are from right?”

Texas must have asked that at least four times. At first the British ladies tried explaining that during the summer the weather in the UK is pretty much the same as the US, but they finally gave up trying to reason with Texas and replied yes. 

Texas continued talking the composed polite Brits’ ears off. She was TMIng all over the place and at one point the conversation devolved into her telling the ladies how in the US simple minded people kill babies by accidentally leaving them in hot cars. I really wanted to throw the flag at that point and tell her you can’t talk about dying babies at Disney World.  Really there should be a Disney task force that sweeps in and carts you away if you broach such topics.  I  also wanted to apologize to the two British ladies and let them know that we aren’t all like Texas. I imagine that once they had their Dole Whips in hand, they ran as fast as they could to the other side of the park to evade Texas for the rest of the day.

I liked the Citrus Swirl but if I had to choose, I liked the Dole Whip a little more.  It is sweet, light, and maybe it was the dehydration I experienced while standing in line, but I thought it was the more refreshing of the two. 

 The other most popular ice cream treat in Disney World is the Mickey Bar.  I’m not sure if it’s that you are on vacation and at Disney World, but I think that The Mickey Bar is better than your normal grocery store ice cream bar of a similar kind. 

The Mickey Bar’s chocolate coating is thick and the chocolate is good quality. We enjoyed our Mickey Bar break, but like the ice cream sandwich, they can get messy quick.

 Downtown Disney

We were feeling a little worn out the night we went to Downtown Disney.  Shannon skipped on ice cream, but I felt like I had to have my Ghirardelli sundae.  

If we are at a destination that has a Ghirardelli Shop we try to make a stop.  I’m not sure what it was, if it really wasn’t as good as it used to be, or if we had had such great ice cream already on the trip that it couldn’t measure up.  I got the Caramel Sundae and it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t fantastic like I remembered.

It could have been just an off night for them. It was a busy night at Downtown Disney and the woman taking our order was grumpy and reminded me of the Lunch Lady from the Billy Madison movie.  I’m willing to give Ghirardelli the benefit of the doubt and another try on a future trip.

Epcot

This is a bit of a cheat. We had every intention of having ice cream at L’Artisan de Glaces in France.  I was looking forward to it well before our plane departed for Orlando, but we visited Epcot at the end of our trip and by then we were feeling a little daired- out. 

Instead of ice cream we stopped in Japan at the Kabuki Café to try a Kaki-gori.

Kaki-gori is shaved ice that is topped with fruit flavor.  You can get strawberry, cherry, melon (tastes like honeydew), tangerine, or you can get rainbow if you want to try all of the flavors.  

Shannon got tangerine, while I went all in and got the rainbow with an added topping of sweet milk (that makes it ice creamish right?).  

This sounds a little strange, but as soon as I took the first bite I was transported to a Spanish colonial square draped with purple-pink flowers in the San Felipe section of Panama City.  Kaki-gori was exactly the same fruit flavored topped with sweet milk treat we had in Panama, but there they were called raspados.  We enjoyed our Kaki-goris so much that if we hadn’t strayed so far from Japan and scored a good fireworks viewing spot, we would have had a second.

Universal Studios-Diagon Alley

The ice cream place that I was most looking forward to visiting during our trip was Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor in Diagon Alley.  

I remember reading The Prisoner of Azkaban and being jealous of Harry as he hung out at Florean Fortescue’s, eating strawberry peanut butter ice cream while Florean shared his knowledge of the Goblin Wars.  I couldn’t believe I was standing in front of that actual ice cream parlor. It was the place I most wanted to see brought to life in Diagon Alley.

 The theming is fun and charming, but the service is no joke.  

Everyone is pleasant and polite but the line works like the Soup Nazi of ice cream lines.  You better know what you want when they ask, which is easier said than done as there are so many wonderful choices. 

 They have a Butterbeer soft serve, but I really wanted to try the strawberry peanut butter ice cream since 1) it is directly from the books and 2) peanut butter is my favorite ice cream flavor.  I got one scoop of strawberry peanut butter and a scoop of earl grey lavender because how could I pass up a chance to do a Potter- Next Generation ice cream mash up?

I adored the strawberry peanut butter. Oh how I wish I could have some right now.  It needs to become a more popular ice cream flavor.  I felt that the earl grey lavender was too mild.  Maybe they made it that way so it wouldn’t overwhelm the not so adventurous, but I thought that the earl grey ice cream that I had in Bryant Park in NYC was more flavorful. 

The ice cream at Florean Fortescue’s was so good, we returned for a second round the next day. On our second visit Shannon tried the clotted cream ice cream.  It was a strange mixture of tart and sour, I was not a fan.   I couldn’t pass up a chance to have the strawberry peanut butter again and I also got a scoop of the salted caramel blondie. That flavor was also divine.  I look forward to trying the other flavors and maybe even the butterbeer soft serve the next time I'm at Universal Orlando.

Our Orlando Parks trip turned out to be a great ice cream/ice treat tour.  

If you have a favorite Disney ice cream stop let me know. We are working on putting together another trip this fall and I’d love to try some different creamy indulgences.

J.K. Rowling skipped over the part of Harry's life where he blew all of his inheritance money partying in his 20s and had to earn money by scooping ice cream at Florean Fortescue's 

I Wonder how Ben's Doing?- Disney Hollywood Studios

Back to vacation posts.

“Ben, it’s okay. It’s okay Ben. You need to calm down. Ben, really you need to stop now.”

Our morning started with Ben. 

We settled into a seat on the parking lot’s tram and watched two flustered- wearied exasperated parents with  four children under seven, the youngest being Ben, settle into the seats in front of us.  Ben was having a melt down and the day had barely started (usual Disney child melt down time is between 2pm and 3pm). There was sobbing, wailing; huge tears cascaded down his cheeks. He was perhaps three years old?  He would not be consoled. He would not be distracted by his parents and siblings trying to point out all of the amazing things to see along the tram ride; telling Ben which characters he would meet and what he would ride that day. Ben remained stalwart.

I have to admit that I expelled a sigh of relief as we exited the tram with no little ones in tow. Those parents had a long day ahead.  I wondered how long it took before Ben actually calmed down and for the remainder of our trip one of us would wistfully ponder out loud,

“I wonder how Ben’s doing?” 

We were on a mission when we first entered Hollywood Studios. 

We had booked an early morning fast pass for Toy Story Midway Mania. The only fast pass we needed to use at Hollywood Studios. 

Even with the fast pass it was one of the longest lines we waited in during our entire trip.  Fortunately the queue is a feast for the eyes and imagination.

I left Toy Story Mania slightly baffled.  When you break it down, it is pretty much just a video game with a moving car. It seems like it wouldn’t feel all that spectacular, but it does.  We had a lot of fun on the ride playing the variety of 3D shooting games. We would have gone on it again and again like Men in Black if the wait time wasn’t  75 minutes for the rest of the entire day (we checked several times).

 The thing we were most looking forward to at Hollywood Studios was all of the Star Wars fun.

I realize that from an audience standpoint watching little kids fight Darth Vader is far more loveable and entertaining than watching an adult fangirl fight Darth Vader, but I am still sad that the Jedi Training Academy is for kids only.

We rode the Star Wars ride 5 times during our trip.  

Each ride is different because the simulator pulls different scenarios that are sequenced together each time.  We were really hoping to get Hoth during one of the rides, but alas it never happened.

The plot of the ride is that your ship is transporting a Rebel Spy to safety.  At the beginning of the ride a photo of the Rebel Spy flashes on the screen.  It is a photo of one of the guests on the ride.  On our 5^th ride, Shannon’s image popped on the screen as the Rebel Spy.  It was awesome, though I was slightly jealous because being the Rebel Spy allows you to legitimately purchase/wear the I am the Rebel Spy t-shirt.  It would have been a nice one to add to my collection.  

We loved hanging out in the Star Wars section and I can’t wait to see what the new Lucas Land brings.

Speaking of Lucas Land, we were fortunate to ride the Back Lot Tour one last time before it closed for good. We also caught a viewing of the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular just in case its time comes up before our next visit.

It’s strange because on a few of the podcasts I listen to, they complain a lot about how lame Hollywood Studios has become. I just don’t get it. Maybe you have to be a cinephile to truly enjoy the park?  

We especially appreciated our time at Hollywood Studios and I guess people complain because there aren’t a lot of flashy major attractions there, but we found this a positive. It was a slower relaxing day where we didn’t feel like we were racing around to cram everything in. It gave us a day to catch our breath.  

I have a phobia of costumed characters, but I made an exception because I love Phineas and Ferb. Okay mostly I love Perry the Platypus. At least he's in the background. 

Our Hollywood Studios day was also the hottest day of our trip and we were grateful for all of the air-conditioned places like One Man's Dream and Voyage of the Little Mermaid (yes Mermaid is a little outdated with its cheesy laser goodness, but Ursula is my favorite villain and bubbles fall on you so it’s A+ for me).

 The Great Movie Ride is a good time even though the munchkins creep me out. 

 In the evening we saw Fantasmic.  

Again, something people state as being lame and outdated, but I still found it goose bump worthy.  I love theatrical productions. I’m always fascinated by the costumes, props, and effects. They are all things that someone had to see first in their head and then they made those ideas happen.  For me, Fantastmic still retains its magic and was a great way to top off what had already been a wonderful day.

I'm a writer so I had to stop

 If we had been in Orlando longer, we probably would have spent another day at Hollywood Studios just chilling out; satiating our cinephile desires, and wondering about Ben.