We managed to get a great deal on a vacation package (flights, hotel, and car rental) but we had to fly out of Bismarck, North Dakota. We told Nigel that we were going to Bismarck for a little bit of shopping and water-sliding. About an hour into our drive, we gave him a riddle to solve, and he was thrilled when the answer revealed that we were going to "Hogwarts".
I found the idea on Pinterest and tried to find the original post to link here, but was unsuccessful.
We bought 4-Day park hopper tickets.
- It was the perfect amount of time for us as it allowed us to spend lots of time in both Harry Potter sections of the parks.
- We probably could have seen most of both parks in 3 days, but we enjoyed not feeling rushed. We were also travelling with one 11-year-old child, not younger children and not multiple children.
- We also had lots of time for the rest of Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure.
- The nice thing about the 4-Day ticket is that you don't have to go for consecutive days. We went for a couple of days, but we also had days of rest and other activities in Orlando before returning for our other two days.
- The park-hopper option allowed us to take Hogwart's Express between the two parks.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter includes two parks: Hogsmeade (Islands of Adventure) and Diagon Alley (Universal Studios Florida).
Diagon Alley
- We went to Diagon Alley first. We figured that, similar to Harry Potter, we would go pick up a wand and wander around this magical section of London before taking Hogwarts express to Hogsmeade.
- The Night Bus is located in front of the London façade. It's worth lining up for a chat with the driver and Dre, the shrunken head.
- Also, make sure to watch the windows in London because someone might peak out at you.
- There was a payphone in the London section that was supposed to call the Ministry of Magic, but someone had broken it before our visit. I'm assuming they've fixed that by now.
- Once you enter Diagon Alley, it's like the rest of the park disappears and you've been transported to another world. It's truly magical.
- We went to Ollivander's and picked up an interactive wand which allowed our son to "cast spells" throughout Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. The wand comes with a map, but if you hold your map under the black lights in Knockturn Alley, a few more spell locations are revealed.
- If you look at the ground in front of the spell location, you will find instructions on how to move the wand.
- Knockturn Alley is dark and cool, so it's a great place to go to cool off (and also a place to go if it starts to rain).
- The dragon on top of Gringott's breathes fire. Make sure you experience that at least once. We saw it during the day, but it was especially splendid at night.
- The Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringott's Ride was amazing, but since we were there the month that Diagon Alley opened, the lines for this ride were very long, so we rode it only once.
- You must put all of your loose items (purses, bags, etc). in lockers before you ride. The lockers are free, but they are also small.
- Even though the lines are long, there is much to see as you walk through the bank. The animatronic goblins are incredibly life-like and full of character.
- In fact, all of Diagon Alley is a feast for the eyes. Take the time to look around at the store windows, signs, advertising, etc. There is excellent attention to detail.
- Make sure to have some butterbeer when you're there. It comes in two forms: frozen and regular. I preferred frozen, but my husband preferred regular butterbeer.
- While you can get butterbeer at The Leaky Cauldron, we found it to be refreshing in the mid-afternoon heat. We stopped in at the Fountain of Fair Fortune in Horizont Alley.
- There is also butterbeer flavoured ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.
- We ate at The Leaky Cauldron. They serve British pub fare, and we enjoyed it, but our son is a foodie who loves to eat all kinds of food. If you have picky eaters, you may want to eat elsewhere in the park.
- We asked for Coke to drink and were informed that they do not serve Muggle drinks, so we ordered some pumpkin juice and lemonade. We were not fans of the pumpkin juice at all, but the lemonade was delicious.
Hogwarts Express
- The train stations have great attention to detail.
- When walking through Platform 9 3/4, you can watch people walk "into" the wall. If you want a photo of this, someone from your party needs to hang back to snap the photo.
- Once on the train, images are projected on the door and window. There are different experiences each way, so make sure to ride Hogwart's Express in both directions.
Hogsmeade
- Hogwarts is impressive, both inside and out, and the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride is awesome. We rode it a couple of times. Similar to the Gringotts ride, you need to put loose items in a locker.
- The Flight of the Hippogriff is a smaller roller-coaster that was a perfect fit for my then 11-year-old son. You also get a great view of Hagrid's hut while in line, and a spectacular view of Hogwarts.
- There is a post office that post-marks your mail with Owl Post. Our son sent post cards to friends, but he also sent one home (to our cat) so that he would have the Owl Post postmark for his scrapbook.
- We purchased Owl Post stamps, but they are US postage. Keep in mind, if you are mailing postcards outside of the US, you will need to add additional postage. Luckily we were there for more than one day, and we were able to purchase postage at a post office and return to mail them at Owl Post when we returned to the park.
- Be sure to visit Honeydukes. They have packaged candy as well as freshly baked goods and fudge. We loved the Fizzing Whizbees.
Other Tips:
- We travelled in July. Florida in July is VERY hot & humid. That's probably why our vacation was such a good deal!
- It was also storm season. We knew to expect a storm each afternoon, so we watched the skies and planned accordingly. We made sure that we were at an indoor ride or at a restaurant when the storm hit. For safety, they shut down outdoor rides during storms, so we always planned to ride those rides in the morning or evening.
- I wouldn't go back to Florida during the summer months, but spring or fall would be a great time to return - and we certainly want to visit Diagon Alley again!
- Take a re-usable water bottle with you as we were able to get free ice water at many of the stands throughout the park.
- We splurged for preferred parking. After long days of walking in the Florida heat, we were glad to have a shorter walk to our air conditioned vehicle!
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