Harry Potter Shop Chicago

 

Welcome to the brand new Harry Potter Chicago shop on Michigan Avenue

The stag patronus stands guard outside the shop

Upon entry you are greeted by the stained glass window from the prefects' bathroom and one of the champion's eggs from the first task

In the center of the store you see the Goblet of Fire, which will occasionally turn to red to "spit out the name of a champion"

Above the shelves of souvenirs for purchase you will find different props from the movies.  For instance here you can see a Quidditch jersey and broom.  On the right you can see Luna's head gear she wore to support Harry in his match

Additional Quidditch gear

Here you can see items from the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes shop

Plants from Mrs. Sprout's classrooms

Flying acceptance letters

That appear to be coming from the Dursley's front door

Lots of wands are available from the Ollivander's stand inside the shop

The most popular part of the shop is definitely the Butterbeer cafe

Here you can get the famous Butterbeer in either the regular format or frozen.  Each draft comes in a souvenir cup you can take home

We had so much fun visiting the shop.  This has quickly become a "must stop" for us anytime we visit the Windy City

Silver Dollar City - Summer Celebration

 

Welcome to the Summer Celebration at Silver Dollar City

Here's a look at all of the fun activities you can participate in during the festival

Two of the Ginormous Games can be found on the square...

This is Big Boy Checkers

This is Tricky Triangle

Canopy Sky can be found on Valley Road

Fun Junction can be found in the Frisco Barn.  Lots of cool things to purchase in here

In the Red Gold Courtyard you can find the Rock"er" Bed

AND the World's Largest Can of Tomatoes

Inside the Red Gold Heritage Hall you will find the brand new Wild West Comedy Stunt Show

A very cute and fun show that features one big stunt (as seen here)

Kin Folk Bluegrass Band entertaining guests out on the Plaza

Only two boutique shops out on the Plaza right now

Appear to just be festival themed park souvenirs

The Splash Pad is now open on The Plaza

The SDC Social Committee on their way to The Plaza for some fun

The Rainmaker has successfully made it "rain" again near Mystic River Falls

Giant Cornhole

Giant Hook and Ring.

We were unable to watch the Circus show since it does not run on Thursdays, but we will be back in July to cover it and the Fireworks and Drone Show.  Summer Celebration will run now through August 3rd

Silver Dollar City - Miner's Mountain Express Construction

 

The retaining wall behind Lumber Camp Falls is looking a lot more solid.  Will this be a new connecting pathway between PowderKeg and American Plunge?

It makes sense to us.  It would be a straight shot from one to the other.  Perhaps they will turn the Falls facade into a cave or something?

Yep.  American Plunge new tunnel is still there.  We found it interesting how they sliced off that hill so severely there in the background

Zooming out you can see how flat this parcel of land is now.  Will it become a "footer garden" soon?

Things are starting to really get going on the Wildfire side.  They took out the maintenance building that was next to the American Plunge lift and they are really going to town tearing up the terrain

They are even tearing up stuff over here by the section of American Plunge where they load boats on from maintenance

There is a giant footer right past this wall where the orange fence is.  You can see it from both Wildfire and PowderKeg.  I tried every legal angle I could to get a photo but it is perfectly hidden

More footers have gone in here as well (inside the organge fences)

Looking at the front part of the construction site, this time from PowderKeg's side, you can see just how flat they have made this area

Again, we're pretty confident that they are getting closer to making this a "footer garden"

There is a new roof on this cabin next to PowderKeg - we are pretty confident that this will become the new "exit shop" from the new attraction

More clearing happening out past PowderKeg

They have these areas pretty flat as well

The BOH road behind Outlaw Run appears to be ready for all of the things to start showing up