In January, I did something pretty incredible: I ran the Disney Marathon in Orlando, Florida. Now, I’m not going to put you through the details of that race since this is a travel blog, but the race was a lot of fun. But one of the biggest highlights of my trip to Florida was going to Universal Studios for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Before you even enter the park, be prepared to pay with you arm, your leg, and your youngest child. My dad was not happy when he had to pay over $500 for just the three of us. You see, Universal Studios was very smart to put the Harry Potter stuff in two different parks. If you want to visit both, you have to get the park hopper pass. They also try to get you to buy the “jump the line” pass. No thank you, I don’t want to sell my organs on the black market to pay for shorter lines.
Up and Down
We decided if we were going to pay all the money, we might as well do some other things besides Harry Potter. There’s a new roller coaster there called Rip Ride Rockit. It’s a pretty cool roller coaster. You get to choose the genre and song you want to listen to as you ride. I went with the Beastie Boys because I felt it was appropriate for the ride. Be prepared: Universal likes to milk every cent out of you and makes you buy a locker for you phone, wallet, etc.
I also have horrible luck with Universal. Back in 2010 when the first Harry Potter park was opening, we took a trip down there in April and the park didn’t open until June. This time around, there was a Jimmy Fallon ride opening two months after my visit!
The Wizarding World
If you really want to immerse yourself in the Wizarding World, it’s best to spend as much time as possible there. I had been to the park inside Island of Adventure, but this was my first time ever in Universal Studios. To make it authentic, they hide the entrance to the Harry Potter portion. You walk through these “slits” and then BOOM! You are walking through the wall into Diagon Alley.
As someone who has been in love with Harry Potter for 17 years, it’s hard to put into words how this makes me feel. It’s like magic. All the little things that are in the books and movies that they pay close attention to … it’s amazing. All the stores, like Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, Madame Malkin’s Robes, Florean Fortescue … you feel like you are there.
Safest Place in the Wizarding World
The main attraction is Escape from Gringotts. They built Gringotts, with breathing fire dragon and all. (People wait around to get a picture of the dragon breathing fire. You’ll hear a grumbling before.) We didn’t have to wait for very long, maybe an hour, but we did go in January. When you walk into Gringotts, it’s like the real thing. There are magical portraits, chandeliers, and of course, goblins. You are then plunged into the depths of the earth to feel like you are really riding into the vaults.
If you know the series well, it’s based off of the seventh book where they have to escape from Gringotts after stealing from the Lestrange vault. It’s really cool how they have the actors come back to appear on the ride. You’re loaded up into a cart and taken on a 3D adventure. In my opinion, it’s better than the Forbidden Journey ride in the other park.
Shopping in Diagon Alley
If you really want to feel like a wizard, you must go shopping! You’ll see families walking around in robes and wands. It makes my heart happy and their wallets empty. I wanted some robes, but I really didn’t want to spend $100 on them. Instead, I settled for just a wand. I went to Ollivander’s and the wand chose the witch. It was Fleur Delacour’s wand because it was pretty. I also wanted to have the interactive wand. If you have an interactive wand, you can walk around the park doing magic! There are spaced specially marked where you can wave your wand and perform magic. I definitely needed some more practice!
Don’t forget to stop by for a glass of butterbeer! I got the cold version because it was pretty hot, but if you are there in winter, I’ve heard the warm butterbeer is delicious!
All Aboard!
When you feel like you’ve seen enough of Diagon Alley, it’s time to get on board the Hogwarts Express and head to Hogsmeade (aka Islands of Adventure). We waited a pretty long time to board the train; probably close to an hour. The wait was pretty awesome though. They made the train station look like an authentic London train station, even with the posters along the walls. When you finally have waited half your life, you walk through the wall (there’s a visual trick to make it look like you are going through the barrier). Then you are shuffled along to the train.
On your way to the park, they have screens that show you scenes. It looks like Harry, Ron, and Hermione are walking by the glass doors and out the “window” you see yourself leaving London and entering Hogsmeade. The trip was a lot shorter than I had expected, but still awesome nonetheless. I think if you go the opposite way, you see different scenes.
Hogwarts: An Experience
We had been to this park before, so we didn’t feel like we needed to do as much. It was growing darker and we didn’t want to stay out until closing. We did ride “Dueling Dragons”, although rumor on the street is they might be getting rid of it for a new ride. We walked around a little, to take in the feeling.
The line for Forbidden Journey is pretty short now. It’s been out for seven years now, so people don’t really have a high demand to ride it. It was maybe a 20 or 30 minute wait. I decided to forgo this ride, though. Like I said, Escape from Gringotts is better.
No trip to Hogsmeade is complete without a trip to Honeydukes. They have so many magical candies. I had to get a Chocolate Frog, of course. It’s my thing. We also got some Pumpkin Pasties. I love magic.
You could spend the whole day just exploring the Harry Potter portions of the park. It’s incredible. While the studio tour gives you a look at the sets used in the movies, the amusement parks put you into the movies. We ended our night at Hogwarts and went for one last ride on the Incredible Hulk ride before exiting. $500 was an extreme price for entry, but I must say, it was worth it.
