My One Day Comprehensive Guide to Harry Potter World (Universal Studios’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter) – one of the most magical days of my life! I truly hope you have the opportunity to experience the magic for yourself and visit someday. In the meantime, I hope you can live a bit vicariously through this post. You can check out my Instagram to catch the story highlight I saved from the day.

I grew up with Harry Potter. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was my favourite book in second grade, soon after it had been published in the US. Over the years I eagerly devoured each book whenever a new one was released. I went to midnight book release parties, queueing up to finally get a book in hand by 2am and then going home to read the rest of the night and following day. You better believe I went to the midnight movie showings too. To this day I am still a massive Harry Potter fan, and the world JK Rowling created is a comforting and familiar place for me to enter again and again.

My Day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Islands of Adventure

Our day started bright and early with the sunrise. The day we went (Friday, 18^th May, 2018) the park actually had unusual hours, opening an hour earlier than expected from 8am-6pm (different from the normal opening hour of 9am). We ended up arriving only a little bit before 8am, rushing to get to the entrance as soon as possible to queue. I think we weren’t the only ones caught off guard by the earlier opening though, as there was literally no queue. This was a real shock, but definitely worked in our favour!

Tip: Make sure you look up the opening hours for the park on the day you’re going, as it can vary. Plan to arrive at the park as early as possible to avoid queues.

We breezed through the entrance, and made a beeline straight for Harry Potter World, which is located towards the back of the park. We walked through some fun and colourful areas on the way, including Seuss Landing (with the delights of Dr. Seuss) and The Lost Continent. But we were on a mission. I snapped a few shots on the way, but we didn’t pause. The amazing thing about getting to the park before anyone else was that it was virtually empty. Best feeling ever.

Tip: Arrive as early as possible to get the park at its quietest.

We arrived just in time to witness a proposal happening right at the entrance! The staff were applauding the happy couple as we walked up. My sisters and I gave them a bit of space for a moment (but not too long, we were super keen to get in there), before making our way into the park.

We walked under the arch and immediately saw the Hogwarts Express sitting there, smoke billowing, with a conductor in uniform standing in front. With the Harry Potter soundtrack playing in the background, entering the village of Hogsmeade honestly felt like stepping into the pages of JK Rowling’s books. We passed the Leaky Cauldron, and I felt like my day had already been made just in those first few minutes. But then we rounded the corner and saw it. Hogwarts Castle.

Ok, now that really was the Best. Feeling. Ever. Seeing Hogwarts in front of me, larger than life and as real as it appeared in my imagination reading the books and from watching the films – it’s so impressive, and I honestly felt a bit emotional.

Ride: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

We spent a little time taking in the moment, and then made our way straight to our first ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. This very well might be one of my favourite rides EVER. It starts with an interactive walk through Hogwarts Castle, where you see familiar characters and rooms along the way. We breezed through the queue (it was literally non-existent) and were quickly strapped into the ride. This took us all throughout Hogwarts and the grounds. It honestly felt like you’re flying alongside Harry, who is ahead of you on broomstick. I screamed pretty much the whole time – partially in delight, mostly in fear. It was exhilarating.

Going through the ride took so much faster than we had expected, so we decided to hop right back in the queue and do it again! If the queues aren’t bad, I highly recommend this, as you see new things and notice new details (both from the queue through Hogwarts and on the ride itself) the second time around. I personally found the first time magical, but also a bit scary. I’m pretty easily scared and not great with roller coasters, so I can get stressed when I don’t know what’s coming up next in a ride like that. The second time was definitely more enjoyable for me.

Side Note (I just had to share): My Nana (grandmother), who is almost 90 years old, ended up going on this ride! We had cautioned her against it. But she was fine, and apparently didn’t even scream at all the whole time – she’s a strong lady!

Tip: Go on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride twice if you can, so you can experience and take in new things the second time.

Ride: Flight of Buckbeak

Coming out of Hogwarts, we next went on the Flight of Buckbeak, a cute little roller coaster perfect for little ones, and those who are bad at riding roller coasters (i.e. me). This was a fun ride, with gentle drops and reasonable speeds. Look out for Hagrid’s hut just outside of it!

Hogsmeade Village

Rides checked off the list, we then started to explore Hogsmeade Village. There are so many familiar shops to discover! We quickly queued up to get into Ollivander’s. You’ll want to do this early. The queue started to get long soon after we joined. Once inside the shop we watched a young girl choose a wand – or rather get chosen by a wand (after all, it’s the wand that chooses the wizard). This was cute and pretty fun! I love all of the little touches they put into making Harry Potter World magical.

Tip: The wands purchased from Ollivander’s can be used throughout the park at specific checkpoints that cleverly control ‘magical’ animations!

By the time we came out of Ollivander’s, the rest of my family (my parents, Aunt and Nana) had made it into the park. So we met up and took photos around Hogsmeade and Hogwarts Castle. It’s best to get photos in as early as possible as the park gets more and more crowded as the day progresses. You can stop by the Leaky Cauldron, Honeyduke’s, Zonko’s, the Post Office (where you can actually send ‘owl’ post to friends), and so much more. We also caught a performance from the Toad Choir, who came out and performed on the stage by Hogwarts Castle. They were fantastic – engaging, high spirited, quality singing, with some familiar tunes as well.

Tips: Get in photos of and with the Castle and Hogsmeade shops as early as possible, to avoid the crowds which increase as the day goes on. And stay to see the Toad Choir perform!

Ride: Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure

Update: This wasn’t here during my visit, but if you’re visiting after the 13th June 2019, there’s a new ride that you just might want to check out. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is a new immersive coaster experience, which sounds amazing! More than 1,000 trees were planted to recreate the Forbidden Forest and there’s multiple ways to experience the ride depending on if you’re on the motorbike or in the side-car. You can find out more information about the ride here.

Hogwarts Express

After wandering around Hogsmeade and getting as many photos as possible, we made our way onto the Hogwarts Express to get to the other half of Harry Potter World. The train ride is really fun and different both ways!

Tip: Take the Hogwarts Express going in both directions – it’s a different experience both ways, and it gets you back to where you started for easy access to your car to get home.

Universal Studios Florida

Kings Cross Station, Knight Bus, Grimmauld Place

Coming out of the Hogwarts Express, we found ourselves in Central London. I found this particularly funny, joking that I had come all the way to Orlando, FL just to see London (where I currently live). We also found a London Phone Booth (aka the entrance to the Ministry of Magic), the Knight Bus, and Grimmauld Place. All great little photo ops.

Lunch Time

We stopped for a brief late lunch on some park benches outside the station. (I packed a hummus wrap, chopped veggies, and sushi). We also caught a bit of the Full Beat Builders street show – if you know STOMP, it’s a similar idea, with four construction worker guys putting on a percussion show using buckets, scaffolding, wrench xylophones, and everything in between. As a musician, I was very impressed.

Diagon Alley

Then we made our way to Diagon Alley, through the entrance behind Leicester Square. My family hilariously found it a little bit tricky to find the entrance. My sisters and I kept insisting to our parents it was through an ambiguous brick wall, but there weren’t really any signs so they were sceptical at first. We finally gave it a shot, and again it felt like being right back in the books: entering through the brick wall that Hagrid had tapped with his pink umbrella to introduce the wizarding world to little Harry. If you remember Harry’s face taking in the shops, the animals, the atmosphere – I felt just like that. Pure magic. And down the end of the cobbled path looms Gringotts Bank, with a fire-breathing dragon perched on top (who actually breathes real fire every 10 minutes).

Tip: If you want the golden shot/video of the dragon breathing fire, listen for a low growl which you’ll hear right before the sparks come out. A side view is best, and he repeats every ten minutes. So you can have multiple takes to capture the moment.

Escape from Gringotts

Here my family split up again, with me and a couple of my sisters going off to queue for the Escape from Gringotts ride. I’m not gonna lie, I was so nervous for this one – butterflies in my stomach, clammy palms, etc. We queued for a little over an hour, so I was feeling jittery for a while.

But, I was in Harry Potter World! I knew I had to go on all of the rides, regardless of my fear of heights and drops. I spent the hour queuing trying to distract myself, and it went fairly quickly. Once inside the bank it also got much more interactive. The detail of Gringotts, with its marbled floor and columns, sweeping ceiling, working goblins, and offices and paperwork as you go deeper and deeper underground, is exquisite. My sisters and I had fun pointing out familiar goblin names on office doors, trying to recall where they were from in the books (we’re HP nerds and proud of it).

The ride itself is fast-paced and thrilling. Using remarkable 3D technology, you meet up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, have a run-in with Voldemort and Bellatrix, and other dark creatures as you battle to return to Diagon Alley. There was only one drop on this ride and it was mild. I genuinely loved the whole experience. I think my sisters loved this ride the best, but I have to say my favourite is still Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Definitely go on all the rides though!

Touring around Diagon Alley 
             

We joined back up with the rest of our family in time to see Mrs. Weasley’s favourite singer, Celestina Warbeck, perform on the centre stage. She was a fabulous singer, who captivated the crowd and gave a fantastic performance. My family had also caught the Tales of Beedle the Bard while we were on ‘Escape’, so catch it if you can!

We then explored Diagon Alley. I spent most of my time in Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, which is vibrantly colourful and filled with all kinds of familiar delights – Chocolate Frogs, Extendable Ears, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. Other fun shops to check out are: Quality Quidditch Supplies, if you’re a quidditch fan; and Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, where you can go inside and stand in front of a magical mirror who will comment on your fashion sense (sometimes she’s nice, sometimes she’s not so nice).

If you’re daring, you can explore dark and ominous Knockturn Alley. You can also exchange your Muggle money for Wizarding Money right at Gringotts Bank. You could then keep your galleons and sickles as a souvenir, or actually spend it in the shops and restaurants. And if you’re craving butterbeer, my littlest sister recommends the ice cream (I didn’t try it as it’s not vegan)!

Hogwarts Express – back to the Islands of Adventure

To finish up our day we made our way back to Kings Cross Station and Platform 9 and ¾ quarters to catch the Hogwarts Express back to the Islands of Adventure. Here you queue up to have the chance to go through the wall barrier onto the platform. Through the use of mirrors and some sound effects, it actually looks to people behind you in the queue like you’re walking through the wall! It’s clever touches like this that really make Harry Potter World such a magical experience.

Finally we boarded the Hogwarts Express for the last time. Arriving back in Hogsmeade, we got a few final photos of Hogwarts, and then said good-bye to Harry Potter World. We left just a bit before 6pm, when the park closed for the day, so we didn’t see Hogwarts by night. But the day had been so full, plus we were going to Disney World the next day (check out my One Day Guide to Disney World). So we were pretty exhausted and ready for home. After all, it had been an emotional and exciting day, fulfilling childhood dreams and everything.

Final Thoughts

When people ask me what my favourite part of my Orlando trip was, I hands-down say it was Harry Potter World. It truly was a dream come true to walk the streets of Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and explore Hogwarts Castle. I would argue that it may be the most magical place on Earth (literally). Don’t get me wrong, I love Disney so much, but there’s something about Harry Potter that holds a special place in my heart.

Anyways, enough sappiness! I’ve included some additional resources below with: links to the websites; tips on tickets and other time saving tools; maps; useful items to pack; and an outline of our day in case you wanted to loosely follow our path. I hope it’s helpful, and that you got a little piece of the magic from this post. Have you been to Harry Potter World? What was your favourite part?

Additional Resources

Websites:

• Universal Studios
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Tickets:

Harry Potter World is split across two Universal Studios Parks: Islands of Adventure (Hogwarts and Hogsmeade) and Universal Studios (Diagon Alley). The Hogwarts Express connects the two parks, and you need an Explorer Ticket to hop on and access both parks. You’ll want to see both sides of Harry Potter World, so although it’s a bit more expensive, it’s absolutely worth it!

Other Time Saving Tools:

Express Line Passes

You could purchase an Express Line Passes, which allows you to jump queues. This pass didn’t used to be valid on Harry Potter rides, but apparently now it is. There’s also the option of jumping into the ‘Single Rider Lines’. These are often even faster than the Express Pass Lines. So if you don’t mind splitting up and sitting with other people on the ride, you could get through queues much faster with this option. You’ll queue with your friends/family in the Single Rider Line, but then split up to fill in empty seats on the ride. It’s worth noting, if you elect this option for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, you will bypass most of the experience of walking through Hogwarts Castle.

My family and I actually didn’t utilise either of these options because we wanted to save money, and to sit together on rides. As we got to the park so early, the first rides we went on didn’t have massive queues. When we got to the second park, we did have to queue for a little over an hour. But considering that was the only queue we waited in, it really wasn’t so bad.

Apps:

Definitely download the official Universal Orlando Resort App! This shows ride and show wait times, has detailed maps and navigation directions, and is just super useful to have.

Maps (which we downloaded in advance):

• Universal Studios – Whole Park
• Universal Studios with Harry Potter World’s Diagon Alley
• Islands of Adventure with Harry Potter World’s Hogsmeade

To Pack:

There are a number of items that may be useful to pack for a day out in a theme park. These are some that I recommend:

• A rucksack/backpack to carry everything
• Camera – trust me, you’ll want to capture the magic
• Portable battery to recharge your phone – these are lifesavers
• Jumper/Sweater – if you stay late into the evening
• Food/Snacks – check out my Top Tips for Healthy Vegan Travel for lots of packed lunch/portable snack ideas
• For rainy weather:
  • Umbrella and Poncho – it may seem uncool, but if it ends up being rainy you’ll be grateful for that poncho!
  • Flip flops to change into
  • A change of clothes (if you think you’ll get wet)

Overview of My Day Plan:

Islands of Adventure:

• Ride: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
  • Tour around the castle
• Ride: Flight of the Hippogriff
• Explore Hogsmeade Shops
  • Ollivander’s
  • Leaky Cauldron
  • Honeyduke’s
  • Zonko’s
  • Post Office
• Performance: Toad Choir
• Hogwarts Express →Universal Studios Florida

Universal Studios Florida:

• Kings Cross Station, Knight Bus, Grimmauld Place
• Lunch Break
• Diagon Alley
  • Ride: Escape from Gringotts
  • Exploring shops:
    • Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes
    • Quality Quidditch Supplies
    • Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions
    • Knockturn Alley
  • Performances:
    • Celestina Warbeck
    • Tales of Beedle the Bard
  • Hogwarts Express →Islands of Adventure

Islands of Adventure:

• Final photos by Hogwarts

This post was originally published on 2nd Sept, 2018 and updated on 12th May, 2019.