<p>I’m watching DH part 1 getting ready for the final movie. We are out of town with family but 18 yr old S and I have tickets for the midnight show. I have loved this series for many reasons most of all is the shared love of it with my kids. Who else is going tonight? I’ll share my thoughts when I awake tomorrow!!</p>
<p>We watched DH 1 last night. DS is going to midnight showing. I’m taking DS2 tomorrow around noon–we would both be miserable if we went to midnight show. I’m looking forward to it, but in a bittersweet way. I will miss looking forward to the next installment. I was glad when they split the last book into 2 movies, because there’s just no way to do it in one.</p>
<p>We are taking DD and 11 others to the midnight show…it’s her birthday, so we are doing a birthday party while waiting in line to see a movie.
DH and I will see the movie, too. I hope he doesn’t ask a bunch of questions…DD and I are major fans, I re-read the book to get ready for the movie.</p>
<p>We’ve had our tickets for the midnight show tonight for a couple of weeks and will be at the theatre at 10PM. In an odd way, I’m not looking forward to it a bit, because it’s the end of something that was very special in our family…</p>
<p>My D saw part 2 this afternoon. She really liked it.</p>
<p>I’m like the rest of you, it’s bittersweet for me too. It had to end one day. I can understand why they say J.K. Rowling cried as she finished writing it.</p>
<p>One scene I really hope they left in is one of my favorites - when Mrs. Weasley confronts Bellatrix LaStrange. When I read her great line in the book, I practically yelled, You go girl.</p>
<p>Hayden,
They showed a clip of that scene during the Larry King special the other night. The actress said she’d just returned from maternity leave to film it and had some bladder control issues during the filming…</p>
<p>I can’t wait!!!</p>
<p>My daughter’s at the theater now with a friend for the 1:00 a.m. show. She has to get up for work tomorrow too. But I’m sure she will think it’s worth it. She is more of a fan of the books than the movies, though.</p>
<p>The whole thing is making me very nostalgic. I well remember how young my son was when he read the first book while we were living in California. Now I’m in Texas and he is in Boston seeing the midnight showing of the very last movie. My goodness, how time flies.</p>
<p>Daughter is going with a friend at midnight. They were each decorating t-shirts to wear. Not sure if they wanted them to match. Daughter’s is decorated football style. I think on one side it said, “Neville”. Back said “Longbottom” with a big #1, then under that she wrote BAMF. Told her no place was she to write the meaning of those letters or to use asterisks or the like. Hope no one finds it too offensive. Somehow, the juxtaposition was sweet, and in killing Nagini, Neville really was a BAMF if one uses those terms.</p>
<p>Just got back from midnight showing with 18yo S and 11yoD. S who just reread the book did not like the movie. Similar issues that a lot of folks had with last book. I thought movie was good and will see it again. Now I am off to bed for an hour of sleep. :(</p>
<p>Just got back. Sooooooo amazing.</p>
<p>The theatre where my D works did a midnight showing on all 16 screens, and it sold out - something like 6000 seats. They did a 3:00 AM showing too. Amazing.</p>
<p>^ and was it chaos? Waiting for the three household Potter fans to wake up, to hear the official report, but texts about last night’s movie atmosphere were “insane, disorganized, and crazy”.
They viewed the moviefrom third row, so hope it was worth it.</p>
<p>My daughters went to midnight showings 1000 miles apart, and both sent me the same text message: “the screen writers must not have read the book”. Said theatrically it was good, but HP it was not.</p>
<p>One also gave this advice: “When you go see HP, walk out when it goes black. Do not stay for the final three ish minutes or you too will want to bash your head in.”
(I guess the epilogue really made her mad…)</p>
<p>@SouthJersyChessMom, my D wasn’t allowed to work the midnight show, she is not old enough.</p>
<p>They did an employee screening at noon yesterday that she went to, which she could have gotten me into, if only I didn’t have to work!</p>
<p>Ah well - when I do go to see it, at least I will get in free, one of the perks of D’s job. 
</p>
<p>Daughter and her friends got to the theater at 7:20 for the midnight show and they were third on line (the other two groups got there at 3:00 and 7:00)! It was fine though, they started letting people in around 9:30 and allowed them to go into any theater they wanted (it was showing in 8 theaters). It was so well done and I was glad as I did get a little nervous about a crowd becoming a mob. I got there around 9 and both the girls and I got the exact seats we wanted, so that was nice. I think the crowd was about 40% or more from our town, everyone was there. Adults and kids were hopping from theater to theater to chat with friends, it was a great party atmosphere. Some of the costumes were amazing and the kids stayed in character, quite a sight!</p>
<p>I thought the movie was okay, not great by any means. But to me the phenomenon of the HP series both books and movies is truly amazing, having never occurred before and unlikely to be seen again. Between the midnight book party releases and the midnight movie party releases, the excitement, the number of kids, boys and girls, who read these books, a true international magic. I am so truly happy that my kids were the right age as all this was unfolding. Those kids just joining in will still have the wonder of the books and movies but it won’t be the same. This is this generations Woodstock where the next generation wishes they could have been there.</p>
<p>S and his friends also got to the theater around 7:30 for the midnight showing. They were also allowed to enter early and go to any theater they wanted to watch. I haven’t talked to him yet so don’t know what he thought of it. We are going tomorrow night. I absolutely love the books and loved reading them with some of my kids and then on my own as they grew older. I am not a big fan of the movies, as every time they seemed to leave out some crucial detail or some character developing moment that was important. They are fun to watch but I never looked forward to the movies the way I did to the books. Hoping this is a good one, but a bit worried by KKmama’s post.</p>
<p>My daughter enjoyed the experience of seeing the last movie (at 1:00 a.m. this morning), but she didn’t say anything specific about the film itself. She got to the theater around 10:00 p.m., and lots of people were dressed up in Hogwarts gowns and such. She wore a HP T-shirt. She said that people all around her in the theater were crying, because several characters die. The Harry Potter phenomenon spanned her childhood, so this is really like the end of an era.</p>
<p>Somehow she managed not to wake me up when she got home last night (good training from college?), and she pulled herself out of bed at 7:30 a.m. to get ready for work!</p>