We’ve been to Diagon Alley and yet photos from today’s opening of the Wizarding World expansion are actually making us tear up.

Throughout today Universal Orlando has been sharing a slew of photos from the Diagon Alley soft opening and this morning’s official Grand Opening, which took place at 8 a.m. local time.

Many fans waited in line from the early hours of Thursday to be one of the first people to go inside. Thursday marks the first time the new thrill ride “Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts” was letting guests in despite soft openings for the rest of Diagon Alley earlier in the week.

Wait times for Gringotts ticked upwards of seven hours this afternoon as more and more fans filled Universal Orlando and the queue.

These photos taken by Universal capture the genuine excitement fans felt as they got to see Diagon Alley in person. We have to agree with their reactions – the new expansion looks cool in photos, but you have to be there to truly believe it.

People really love Harry Potter.

Thanks to Inside the Magic you can check out the small ceremony that occurred this morning when guests were first allowed in. A small fireworks show and lots of confetti followed a countdown by two Universal reps.

No Harry Potter stars were on hand for today’s event, but several were present during the Diagon Alley media preview in June.

To see more of Diagon Alley, check out the gorgeous photos we took!

(Top image credit: @Moomoooalnem on Twitter)