The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is here!

Snow capped roofs, cobblestone streets, stone buildings and in the distance a massive castle sits, waiting to be explored. If not for the California sun beating down, one would easily mistake this place for a European town waking up from a long winter. It in fact, it's  Hogsmead  a mythical town from the world of Harry Potter, and the castle?  That would be Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry.

If your a Harry Potter fan and live on the west coast, you have been looking forward to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, if you are not,  you're living a lie and your not a real fan.  The Wizarding World's grand opening at Universal Studios Hollywood is slated for April 7th but on my recent trip most of the magical world is up and running.

There are two main rides in the Harry Potter world at Universal Studios:  Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey takes guests through Hogwarts castle where the Harry, Ron, and Hermione attempt to sneak you through the castle and get you onto the Quidditch pitch and on the way you get to relive some of the experiences from the movies.

The Flight of the Hippogriff is a family oriented roller coaster that takes guests on magical flight, just like Harry's ride on Buckbeak in The Prisoner of Azkaban.

Other than the two rides, the rest Wizarding world is about immersing your self in the magical places you experience in the Harry Potter movies. Although the sign at the entrance clearly says you're in Hogsmead, sharp eyed fans will notice it's also includes shops from Diagon Alley where Harry shops for supplies before heading of to Hogwarts.

 In this combined world you will find a good amount of places that will make you nostalgic and make you geek out about experiencing what Harry and his friends got to in the movies. Here are some of the storefronts and that you will find:

Ollivanders: Although out of business during the Half-Blood Prince, it seems after he who must not be named was defeated, it must have been reopened. Outside of the store you can queue up to experience a wand choose you. If your not keen on lines and rather just pick a wand you can also find replica wands from your favorite characters in two forms. In the basic form you have a nice replica of a wand and for a few dollars more you get a magical wand that allows you to cast spells at certain things around the Wizarding World and interact with your surroundings.

Honeydukes: Home to a vast collection of confectionery delights, you will many of the iconic candies you see in the film. Chocolate Frogs with actual wizard trading cards, exploding bonbons, Fudge Flies and good luck with the Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans. A bonus is that they come in movie accurate packaging!

Zonkos Joke Shop: One of Fred and George's go to places for jokes and tricks is now open to you to buy love potions, extendable ears, screaming yo-yo's and much more fun toys and knick-knacks.

Three Broomsticks: The only place to get an actual meal, unless your meals consists of only candy. The three broomsticks is a beautiful rendition of the inn where many of the characters spend their off time. Although not an actual inn, it is in fact a restaurant. Fortunately for fans you can still get butterbeer and pumpkin juice and if you're hungry try some somewhat traditional English fare. Shepards pie, turkey legs, fish and chips, Sunday roast and much more is available.

These are only some of the most notable stores in the magical land, there are many more shops to visit and souvenirs to buy. Other than stores the storefront windows are beautifully put together and the details in the fixtures all around the world are detailed and all tie back to the movies and if you're a fan you will love the little details  like the owls, mandrakes, and posters strewn throughout for you to find.

A mandatory experience for any fan of the franchise, I'm excited to go back at least 73 more times with my annual pass. I didn't take very many photos this time because I wanted to really immerse my self in my first experience, next time, I try and fail horribly at capturing the beauty that is Hogwarts and Hogsmead. Once you walk through the stone archway and under the Hogsmead sign and see the town and platform nine and three-quarters with Hogwarts in the background it's aweinspiring and once you get closer and see all the detail from the movies you may come close to passing out from excitement.