An Epic 24 Hours: Harry Potter Magic, Avatar Adventure, and Festive Finds at Shwick Holiday Market in NYC

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Finally, after the fiasco of the NYC Harry Potter store being too full, and using a Virtual Line, I came back to Midtown NYC to explore the NYC Harry Potter Store for the Holidays.

The store this time was just a walk on thankfully, and welcomed us with Fawkes and a ton of merch just in time for the holidays.

In the next room most of the merchandise was related to the different houses of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

More towards the middle of the store you can find the Phoenix statue similar to the one at the entrance of Albus Dumbledore’s office. You can use this stair to go to the lower level, but there is also an elevator available.

Among all the things you can buy, there’s the character wands. These are usually more pricey but could be a good gift for a Potterhead.

Another addition this year is the Holiday Edition of the bottled Butterbeer, for $7 the bottle.

Besides the VR Experiences, another thing you can find in this store are the multiple photo opportunities like this old fashion London phone booth.

Minalima is the studio that basically created all the art for the Wizarding World and they have their own section of merchandise in the store. The floor is a replica of the Marauder’s Map.

A winter activity I recommend in NYC is spent an afternoon doing the VR experiences. They need to be booked weeks in advance but I managed to do both, Chaos at Hogwarts and Wizards Take Flight in the same afternoon with my nephew back in January 2022. They were a lot of fun, especially the one where you have to be on top of your broomstick. Kind of feel like you are really flying but without the motion sickness.

Nagini sneaking around the Dark Arts section of the store.

Finally, the time had come to try something from the Butterbeer bar. When I am not in Universal Orlando trying these drinks, I just come in here to treat myself. Even though they do not taste the same, here you can find a few options for the foodies and fans of Harry Potter in general.

And for $8, I tried the butterbeer ice cream which never dissapoints.

It’s the next morning and very early I had booked the matinee tickets for Avatar: The Way Of Water, in the best (and only) real IMAX in New York City: AMC Lincoln Square 13, in the Upper West Side. I love the huge screen and ambience that this theater has. I am never going back to AMC Empire or any of those fake IMAX in Midtown lol.

The movie was long, we arrived there right before 9 AM and left at 1 PM, but it was worth it because I enjoyed it a lot. I think it was a good idea not too rush on the Thursday night of the release, since it was not spoiled and I would have been just super tired. I would give the movie a 8/10.

Time to go back to Brooklyn, this time for the Shwick Holiday Market in Williamsburg. I was excited to have some hot cocoa, and holiday food, and go inside the mythical Williamsburg Savings Bank.

The view of the dome and in general the architecture and interior design of this old structure was worthy for me to come all the way here, BUT the entire holiday market was just stand after stand of local stuff that really did not catch my attention. There was not even a good option of food or drinks.

The building was gorgeous tho.

Would I go back next year? Probably not. I will continue to give a chance to the Holiday Markets in the city, I think there are better options in Manhattan in this case.

Lastly, from the building there was a good view of the Williamsburg Bridge.

Let me know if you have a questions about any of these experiences.