Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Nothing could possibly contain my excitement.

I woke up early, hopped in the shower and quickly got ready for the day. I was giddy and completely prepared to ignore the fact that it was pouring buckets of rain that morning. We might as well have been back in England.

Well, we sort of were in England… except a slighter warmer version at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida.

We were back at Universal Studios after the previous night, merely a few hours later. Fun fact: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens an hour before the rest of the park does for select guests. If you’re staying at one of the hotels at the park, I think you get the early morning pass. We did and I was ecstatic. With a coffee in hand, we stood in the rain waiting to go into the Islands of Adventure.

First order of business was to purchase two unattractive plastic ponchos to protect us from the rain. Check.

Next we dashed to the Hogsmeade park, rain or shine, it didn’t matter. This was my moment.

For such a fanatic, it certainly feels a little bit like coming home. Does that sound strange? Despite the fact that I’d been to the park a few years ago, I wanted to explore anything and everything. Things had definitely changed within five years time.

So first, we went to the castle to try and escape the rain for a bit.

The Hogwarts Castle ride has one of the longest wait times in the park. Best to beat the lines and go ASAP, right?

The rain was relentless as we made our way through the short line into the castle. But once you walk inside, you’re filled with entertainment as you make your way through the dark corridors of Hogwarts. Talking portraits, detours through classrooms… well. It’s a magical experience.

Bonus: These portraits of the Hogwarts founders share some witty banter back and forth while you wait.

After traveling through the classrooms, you go on the ride. It’s fast. Twisting and turning, and well, makes your stomach drop. Make sure you have a good hold on everything! My camera nearly slipped out of my pocket… which would have been a shame because then I couldn’t share the rest of the fun.

When we stepped back outside, the rain had subsided. So we took a better look around Hogsmeade.

Basically, everyone looked like wizards with their plastic raincoats. So, it was almost an authentic look.

We popped into Honeydukes to see if we needed any sweets.

From Hogsmeade, we took the train over to London. Even though we’d just come all the way to Florida from London, the Hogwarts Express seemed to really cut down on the travel time… Good to keep in mind!

With a big roar, the train came to a halt and we were able to board. Little carriages shared by groups were filled and an interactive adventure onboard awaited. You’re transported to the other half of the park (make sure you have park to park tickets!). We shared a carriage with an absolutely giddy family from Sheffield. Like I said, authentic.

When you arrive, you find yourself inside King’s Cross station.

Travel London posters everywhere.

Hmmm. Very familiar.

Before you can blink, hello Leicester Square. (I may have sent my friend a photo of this and said ‘see you in five!’)

And Eros in Piccadilly… without the steps.

And Number 12 Grimmauld Place…

London in all it’s glory!

After playing around in the rainy streets of London, we decided to step into the most magical place.

Diagon Alley.

It really is stunning.

As a sidenote, I went to the Harry Potter Studios in Watford where they filmed… and while that was amazing (come on, the original is always best) being outside at the Universal Studios Diagon Alley was incredible. Everything is massive, it’s quirky, and except for the unusually warm day and the swarm of American accents, you would swear you were hidden away in the old cobbled streets of London.

The only proper thing I could think to kickstart our time in Diagon Alley… Butterbeer. 

Even though it was only 9am, we decided to treat ourselves. You can order your Butterbeer cold or frozen. After enquiring about which was the best, we were informed, no contest get the frozen one…

IT WAS INCREDIBLE.

Probably loaded with absolutely horrific amounts of sugar, but it doesn’t count as it’s magic. (Another note: this is much much better than the Butterbeer we tried at the Watford Studios in England. So if you had it there and were horrified, try the Orlando one. Much better!)

I believe I’m looking at it in astonishment, because I’ve found my new favorite drink. This is also what two hours outside in humid rain has done to me. Moving on…

Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream. Believe me, we stopped in later on.

Gringotts Bank in the background with the dragon about to take flight…

I should mention that you may not want to get too close to this guy…

Careful, the fire is hot!

Eventually, we started to get hungry. It was shockingly still breakfast time so we settled in for a meal at The Leaky Cauldron.

So. I didn’t take any photos of the meal. We went for scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and a croissant to share because the meal was $15. It was not very pretty and not very much food, even for one person. And it was ehhh okay. If you’re going to eat in the park. I’d say try and find some cheaper options elsewhere.

But it was fun to go in, so maybe grab a Butterbeer and take a seat to rest (and potentially escape the rain). 

Finally we thought that maybe we should go on the Gringotts ride. J is not a massive roller coaster fan, and neither am I. But we were there, so well, we should go deep inside Gringotts Bank.

It’s actually stunning inside.

Beautiful marble and stunning chandeliers.

I’d like a twenty out of my account please.

Slightly intimidating, but we’re heading down to the vaults. (I also hope everyone is envious of my Gryffindor hoodie, purchased after chills were setting in from my clothes getting drenched by the rain that morning.)

It’s a good look.

All in all, we waited for quite a long time (maybe an hour) to get on the ride. But it’s worth it! We had a lot of fun. Again, make sure you have your pockets secured. We were lucky nothing fell out. However, my advice would still be to avoid taking any sort of bag to the park if you can. Unless you have someone in your group who is going to sit out from the rides, it’s just not worth having to secure your items in a unit for the duration of the ride time.

After Gringotts, we said our goodbyes to Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley in a summary is overwhelming. You don’t want to miss a thing, but I’m wholeheartedly sure we must have. Make sure to wander until you find yourself in Knockturn Alley as well. It’s carefully hidden.

After leaving, we went exploring through the rest of the Universal Park before deciding to take the Hogwarts Express back to Hogsmeade.

One last look.

We had an incredible time visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.

We specifically went to Universal to check out the Harry Potter sections of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, so we didn’t feel like we needed to spend the entire day at the rest of the park. So when we left mid afternoon, we felt like we had done our share of sightseeing. Also, we were very jet lagged.

If you’re a fan, and even if you’re not, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing. You feel like you’re living the books, everything is extremely authentic (or as much as it can be) and you feel like you’ve truly been taken into another realm.

Because when you’re at Universal, everyone is a part of the Wizarding World.

Kelly xoxo

PS. Have you been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter? Would you like to go? This was definitely on my must list and I’m so happy we had the time to go for the day!