The Cloak & Blaster’s Harry Potter Birthday Celebration Event
I am so excited! This past weekend, I had the great opportunity to go to the Cloak & Blaster’s Harry Potter Birthday Celebration and observe their festivities! The Cloak & Blaster is a gaming pub in the greater Orlando area, fairly close to the University of Central Florida. The Cloak & Blaster got its start in late October 2013 on the website Kickstarter where it raised nearly 92% of its goal in the first 24 hours! Less than a year later in June of 2014, the only tabletop gaming pub in the Orlando area officially opened for business, showcasing draft beers and an eclectic menu, as well as featuring hundreds of tabletop and virtual games for patrons to enjoy. It’s one of the greatest nerd watering holes that I have ever been to! The event was truly magical, with a costume contest, a raffle, Harry Potter movies playing constantly, a menu designed specifically for this event, and butterbeer! Here are my favorite highlights!
Most Magical Moments!
The Menu
While its usual menu is stunningly creative, the Cloak & Blaster really stepped it up for its Potterverse-themed menu! Featuring butterbeer, House-themed craft beers and ales that gave your House extra points, and a flight of four drinks called “Snape’s Potions Class,” and that was just the drinks! The food was equally spectacular with items such as “Fat Friar’s Fries,” “King’s Cross Fish&Chips,” and the challenge of the evening – “The Tri-Wizard Burger,” composed of three half-pound patties with three different cheeses complete with tomato, lettuce, onion, and all on a pretzel bun! There were many “Tri-Wizard” champions of the event who managed to finish the entire thing! I’m hungry remembering it all!
The Raffles
As part of the festivities, the Cloak & Blaster had a costume contest and a charity raffle drawing at eight o’clock. The charity raffle was hosted by the Central Florida Slug Club raising donations for a disabilities-friendly library for elementary school kids at the UCP Charter School in Pine Hills, Florida. The library will focus on making reading fun and available for children with autism, down syndrome, and other disabilities. A charity I feel Hermione Granger would approve of! The raffle was for four Hogwarts House-themed baskets filled with homemade and House-specific goodies. Congratulations to all of the winners of the raffle, and congratulations on raising more than a thousand dollars for the library! In a special all-day event on Sunday, anyone who purchased something off of the featured menu got raffle tickets to go toward a raffle drawing to win their very own copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child! Congratulations to the winner of that!
The Costumes!
Although not everyone dressed up, those who did really went all out! Even the servers were Hogwarts students in full uniforms! It really made the magic more real. There were so many patrons wearing Harry Potter shirts, scarves, and jewelry. My favorites had to be the Hufflepuff earrings worn by Andrea, the extraordinarily accurate Tonks and Lupin couple cosplay, and a Hufflepuff Quidditch player who made his own replica flying broom in Hufflepuff colors! Since Tonks, Lupin, and the Quidditch player were the only ones who signed up for the costume contest, they all were winners! Congratulations!
The Atmosphere
While geeks of all ages can usually find something to gawk upon at the tavern, the Cloak & Blaster was done up to the rafters in Harry Potter memorabilia and themed decor. From House-themed tables, to a Platform 9 ¾ near the bathrooms, to Knockturn Alley in the loft, this is a truly magical place! My favorite had to be the individual places of honor for the Hogwarts Houses above the bar. Every year during this event, House points are calculated based on different things that you can order off of the menu or do, like finding a hidden Golden Snitch, and the House with the most points becomes the House Champion for the rest of the year! According to Andrea, Gryffindor is currently in the lead, with Slytherin not far behind! There are several more House points awarding events during the week, so keep your eye on the Cloak & Blaster’s Facebook page to see who becomes Champion on August 9! I’m rooting for Hufflepuff, though!
The People
Is there anything better than witches and wizards gathering together to celebrate the Boy Who Lived? So many conversations about Harry Potter, about the books, movies, the events we’ve shared, what we’ve all lived through together. There were so many people to talk to and to share our Potter experiences with. There was so much magic in the air that for a while you forgot you were Muggle.
I would love to give a special shout-out to Markus and Andrea, the power behind the magic and the owners of the Cloak & Blaster! They worked so hard to make it one of the most amazing events of the year for their patrons and staff. It wouldn’t have been half as wonderful and magical without their hard work and extraordinary vision.
My Poll!
I asked as many patrons as I could which of the fantastic beasts from the wizarding world they would want for a pet if they were real! While the phoenix kept a strong lead all night, the hippogriff and Norwegian Ridgeback were close behind, with a surprise favorite of the unicorn!
A Phoenix – 63
A Hippogriff – 39
A Norwegian Ridgeback – 33
A Unicorn – 19
A Thunderbird – 16
A Pygmy Puff – 12
A Cerberus – 11
A Thestral – 5
A Horned Serpent – 2
Other: tell me!
A Hungarian Horntail – 5
A Niffler – 4
A Merperson – 3
A Boggart – 2
A Centaur – 2
A Basilisk – 2
A Crumple-Horned Snorkack – 1
Troll in the Dungeon – 1
