We finally made it down to Orlando to celebrate Emma’s birthday and all things Harry Potter! Recapping our trip in two parts; Focusing one on Universal Islands of Adventure and one on Universal Studios.
We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and we were able to get into the park an hour earlier which was awesome. The hotel itself was lovely and had an incredible pool area.
We started on the Islands of Adventure side – the interactive map is key and the app was a game changer. Naturally, we loved the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter | Hogsmeade. For our review of Universal Studios of Florida see this post.
Get the express passes – it is SO worth it. You skip so much of the lines for everything and still to see the experiential portions of the wait. It allows you to ride everything so many more times, and cuts the wait for each ride by about a third – with some rides becoming basically no wait at all!
Hogsmeade
Hogsmeade and Hogwarts were hands down incredible. The attention to detail in the castle and in the shops was absolutely incredible. Hagrid’s motorbike was probably our overall favorite ride, but the Forbidden Journey was right there up top as well. We certainly more time in this park, and always made a stop for a butterbeer. Our consensus; the frozen butterbeer is far superior!
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter | Hogsmeade
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
Hogwarts™ Express: Hogsmeade Station
You’ll need a Park-to-Park ticket to ride the Hogwarts™ Express and visit both lands of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™. The train travels between Hogsmeade™ in Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Diagon Alley™ in Universal Studios Florida.
Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods
Hidden Spell Locations & Interactive Wands
Jurassic World
Fun fact, when Emma was younger she was obsessed with the Jurassic World movie, so of course we had to hit this part of the park. And the rides were phenomenal! The VelociCoaster was a bit hit, and I am confident we dis the River Adventure at least 5 times each day.
Other
There were a few other rides we checked out as well that were honorable mentions:
We also had lots of yummy food including a birthday dinner for Emma! I will say, you don’t come to Universal for the food scene; you come for the rides. Everything we had was good, just not particularly noteworthy.
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