The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, Orlando Fl.
June 9 - 16th, 2019
NERD ALERT!!
My family is a big bunch of Harry Potter nerds.
So when all 4 of us were not only in the same country but in the same city we thought a family trip was in order. And what better place to go for a family trip than The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando Florida. We had already been to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour of the Harry Potter set in London, England so why not add this to the list.
And let me tell you, IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!
Universal Studios is made up of 3 different parks:
Island of Adventure
Universal Studios
Universal's Volcano Bay (Waterpark)
Now we did manage to do all of the (open) rides in all 3 parks but our main focus was Harry Potter World.
There were two different Harry Potter areas, we paid for the add-on to our ticket to get the Hogwarts Train which takes you from Universal Studios to Island of Adventure and vice versa. You can walk between the two parks but if you have been on your feet for 10 hours every day then that little bit of time will be so helpful!
Diagon Alley was located in Universal Studios:
Hogsmeade was located in Island of Adventure:
These were soooo well made!! It was all very impressive and just pure magic!
While we were there, it was the Opening Day for the new Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure ride!!! So naturally we decided to wait in line. We started in line outside the front gate at 8:00am. We then learnt that people had been waiting since close to 5:00am... When we were finally let in and got into the main line we were told it was an 8 hour wait. After about an hour of debating we decided to go for it. So taking turns standing in line we waited, and waited, and waited.
Little did we know, we would end up waiting a total of 14 HOURS!! After multiple weather delays, being drenched by rain and mechanical delays we finally got on the ride at 10:00 pm! The park closed at 9:00 pm but they allowed the people in the final queue line to wait it out to ride! This was smart on their part because there would of been a riot if we were told to leave after over 10 hours!
Now as for the ride itself.... it was incredible!! I'm not sure it was worth 14 hours of wait, but definitely worth at least 8 hours of waiting lol However we were overjoyed that we were able to say we rode the new Harry Potter ride on opening day. We came back the next day and I asked when the last rider went the day before, the gentleman said that the final ride was done at 12:30am. It was a longggg day but totally worth it!
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
Tips and Tricks for Universal
GET THE EXPRESS PASS, it is totally worth it!
The express pass for Island of Adventure and Universal Studio does not work for Volcano Bay. There is a separate express pass for the water park.
Volcano Bay:
- Get there as early as you can and go on the best rides first as the wait time gets very very long past 11:00 am. Chose what rides you want to do first and tap in for the one with the longest wait and then go on any ride now rides while you wait.
- The action river is sooo much fun!
- Keep an eye on your watch, I lost mine once. It's not a big deal they just replace it but its a bit annoying and doesn't carry over your wait time to the new watch so you have to retap and wait again.
We got a 5 day pass and it was perfect length of time, this included one full day of waiting in line. If we didn't spend a day waiting in line we all agreed that 4 days was enough. However we also spent at least 10 hours every day at the parks so they are long full days. And we are all adults... lol
The cost of food was what we expected, it was definitely a bit high but not insane.
It was on and off raining and cloudy the whole time we were there and I am so thankful for that! If it had been sunny we would of gotten so burnt and got far too warm! It was still low 30s and super humid!
Overall review, it was an amazing time!
