Happy (Belated) Birthday, Harry Potter

So, it's time again for my mini celebration of Harry Potter. It's a bit late this year, because I've been planning my annual party, working on some costumes for Yule Ball and Rose City Comic Con and volunteering at a Harry Potter event for the Harry Potter Alliance. 

Now that I'm a bit more caught up with life, let's talk about my Potter-related activities this past year. 

Another (several) visits to my favorite Potter-themed coffee shop was on the docket. I've gone to Vegas three times this year, two with a car, so of course I headed straight to Bad Owl Coffee in Henderson. Not only is the decor perfect, the coffee (themed and otherwise) and food are so delicious, I'd go there again and again even if it was just a regular coffee shop. 

I made my mom go with me on our short trip, drug my friends along while they were in Vegas with us, and Eric and I went again on our own before hitting up the Salt Room (which I highly recommend). My mom and I split the Tonks Italian Turkey. Last July Eric and I split the Siriusly Prosciutto (a toasted sandwich with prosciutto, arugula, fig and goat cheese). I got it again when I visited the next time (that's how good it is), and then we had to try the banana and strawberry waffles and the breakfast sandwich. 

For coffee, you have to at least try the ButterBrew Latte once. It's Siriusly delicious (see what I did there?). You can get all your favorites as well and I'm a little sad I forgot that I wanted to try the Earl Grey Latte, so I'll definitely be getting it next time. Instead, I tried their Chai Tea Latte and their Spanish Latte. Both were awesome over ice. While the prices may not be the cheapest, it's still fresher and tastier than a lot of Vegas options, so it's worth the drive.

We just finished a whirlwind Harry Potter weekend, where we threw our annual party - this year's theme was Quidditch World Cup - and volunteered at a fundraiser event for the Harry Potter Alliance. Our party was a hit and everyone had a blast dressing up as wizards trying to dress muggle, eating a bunch of foods that are featured in the books, and trying to one up each other in (my super hard) trivia to win the House Cup. 

I ran a raffle for some sweet Harry Potter goodies this year (in the past we've done a book drive) and it was very successful. My guests got a chance to win some cool swag and we raised money for the HPA that we donated the following day.

Sadly, we don't have that many pics of the awesome HPA fundraiser, because we were busy handing out programs and signing people up for the costume contest and pointing them toward the donation boxes, but that's great, right? Once I was done with my duties, I hit up the bar for an adult Butterbeer (I missed out on the topping, but I was cool with that, so sorry it just looks like whiskey in a glass) and some popcorn and was ready to play some trivia and watch Sorcerer's Stone with all the other Potterheads. 

In December, we went to SoCal and visited the new Hogsmeade area of Universal Studios. You all know that my visit to Universal Orlando was AH-mazing...like to the point that I broke up my Wizarding World visit into three posts. I was really hoping to get that feeling there, but was disappointed that the shops were super small and the world was just all around tiny. I mean, it didn't stop me from getting excited from entering the WWoHP, getting my pics taken on the train and meeting the conductor of the Hogwarts Express. 

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A post shared by Shereen Travels Cheap (@srayle) on Dec 21, 2016 at 12:00pm PST

We had a blast despite the crummy weather and the packed park. We walked the halls of Hogwarts, we rode Flight of the Hippogriff and admired Hagrid's hut, we had Butterbeer in all its forms and ate at the Three Broomsticks. We also enjoyed the frog choir which put on a special show, and we shopped a bit in the cramped shops. 

Our trip included a visit to the Warner Bros Studios, which you may have read about here on the blog. I highly recommend it. They were having a Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts exhibit, which was small, but really awesome. I was surprised by how much they packed into the space, and sad I only had 15 minutes to look at it all before continuing on the tour. 

I made the most of it though, running upstairs, taking pics and interacting with the employees there. I even got sorted...you know, into Ravenclaw! The Sorting Hat talked to me though, which was really fun. 

In December we'll be attending the HPA's Yule Ball event. I'm making my outfit for maximum awesomeness. You can get a sense of what I'm going for with this DIY video. Next month is Rose City Comic Con and I'm hoping to go two of the three days, which means I'll get a chance to wear two different cosplays. One of them will probably be Harry Potter themed. So, here's to another great year full of Harry Potter, travel and celebrations.

If you're interested in other HP travel we've done, check out this post.

Did you celebrate the Boy Who Lived in some way this year?

Start Planning for the Holidays

It's getting to that time when you will want to start planning your holiday travel, especially if you are traveling over Thanksgiving, because the longer you wait to book your airfare, the more expensive it'll be. I know, I know. It's only August, but with summer coming to a close, airfare is going to start dropping.

Want to learn all the secrets to saving big bucks on your holiday trips? Then check out my ebook. For just 99 cents, I give you all the ways to sneak savings out of your planning and how not to lock yourself in the garage with a bottle of wine because your family is stressing you out. So, not only will you save on your trip, but also on this fantastic info. (Remember, you can download this book even if you don't have a Kindle. The Kindle app is free on iTunes and Google Play and works on all your web-enabled devices.)

Closer to the holidays, I'll be posting some new reviews and lists of fabulous travel gifts that can be ordered and shipped or easily slipped into your carry-on, so you don't have to check a bag just to bring your presents with you on the plane.

If you like this ebook, make sure to check out my ebook for summer travel savings, too!

Planning Your Fall Travel On a Budget

So, it appears as if Fall may be right around the corner, at least for the travel industry. Airfare is on its way down to more reasonable rates come Monday and that means there will be deals galore for September/October/early November travel. If you want some of the best discounts, then make sure to follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Today, we’re going to talk about what you can do to make your fall travel less stressful and more affordable.

Pack less, even when your clothes are bigger. Yes, this is totally possible. I will always tell you to plan to do laundry whenever you travel, but it’s even more necessary when you are taking things bigger than tank tops and shorts, because more items mean less valuable space for things that aren’t clothes. Look for lightweight and warm layers, like a fleece pullover or waffle-knit hoodie. I take one or two of these that will match with all my travel clothing and am set to layer them over my t-shirts if they weather becomes chilly.

Here's how I pack light for a fall/winter trip. And here's another post on layering and mixing and matching for winter.

Women's Savvy Zippy from ExOfficio.com

You will also want to look for a good packable jacket. I have several and prefer to bring one with a hood when traveling, as weather can be uncertain and nothing sucks worse than getting rained on when it’s already cold. You could also bring a hat, but I don’t like to bring more things than I have to. This is also why I choose a hood over an umbrella, aside from the obvious reason that umbrellas are cumbersome and only really good for one thing. Everyone in your travel party is likely to bring a jacket, so everyone is covered. (Pun intended.)

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Late September and Early October are the cheapest times to fly during the year. Kids are back in school and it’s not Labor Day or Halloween, so there are no notable parties or holidays. This makes it the ideal time to travel, if you can, and can save you huge dollars. Airfare can be as much as 50% less than the rest of the year and hotels slash prices in order to get their rooms filled. Can’t beat that with a stick!

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Pay for your rental car up front. This is actually a trick that works throughout the year, but when trying to cut costs somewhere while planning the basics, this is a brilliant way to do it. I’ll use myself as an example. I usually travel in September. Last year I was looking for a car for 11 days. If I booked through the regular sites for car rentals that let me pay when I picked up my car, then my rate was going to be somewhere in the range of $432. That includes taxes, but come on! That’s over $40 per day.

I’d been holding out for something cheaper and caught a great email in my inbox saying I could find rates as low as $9.95 per day. While I never find that rate when I see that email (like once every two weeks), I did click through and found one for $16.95 and was able to book my rental car with Hertz through Hotwire for a total with taxes of $247. That’s almost $200 less! I paid up front and it was non-refundable, but I was fairly sure that was the best deal I was going to find. If my flight got delayed or cancelled, it said I was covered, so I reveled in my rental car hunting skillz. It pays to do your homework and compare multiple times before booking. A week later that rate was up to $303.

Here are more money-saving car rental tips.

                        

Head to the beach when the weather cools down. Fall and winter are not the times that people flock to places like Myrtle Beach or Santa Monica, so it’s the perfect time to go and beat the crowds and the soaring temps if you can go right before the weather turns. Next month is going to give you great weather and cheap hotel and condo rates. If you have a big travel party now is the time to book for a budget vacation for everyone.

Want more beach tips? Here you go!

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Plan a trip to Disney and other theme parks. Once school is back in session, the crowds drop dramatically around the big theme parks, so you can find huge deals on vacation packages to Anaheim and Orlando. You’ll face way shorter lines and be able to do more, even when the parks are open shorter hours. A lot of them have special events this time of year, too. Eric and I will be taking part in our 3rd Disney Halloween party. If you have little ones, this is like magic times two: Their favorite characters who are dressed up in (different) costumes, they get to stay up late, see special shows and fireworks and they get to dress up and go trick-or-treating in the parks. What?! Uh, yes! Even big kids like us have a blast on the trick-or-treat trail.

If you are into bigger thrills than Tigger dressed as a pirate and meeting Maleficent for the first time ever, then you might be more inclined to do Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. It’s truly terrifying, for those that like pee-in-your-pants-scary fun. These parties cost their own admission fee, so you can skip the park during the day to avoid paying double and then ride what’s open and see all the cool stuff that’s not available to the regular public before the sun starts to go down.

Here are some ideas for scary theme park travel, as well as tips for saving on theme park trips.

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These are just some of the ways to save and create a unique vacation experience outside of Summer. I use all these tips myself, plus we employ Go Cards and CityPASSes. They will save you a ton and are be super-easy to use...and they usually let you skip the ticket lines!

Do you have some useful Fall Travel Tips that have saved you big? Let us know what they are!