Okay, fellow travelers. For those of you who’ve been hoping to go, planning to go, and emailing me about the details of our trip, here’s how we did it:
(Note: This is one of my most popular posts, originally written in Jan 2011. A friend visited recently and said it’s still good info for those of you heading to Florida for Spring Break.)
Overview
For those of you who, like me, don’t have a bevy of Florida theme park experience, here’s the scoop: there are two Universal theme parks next to each other. The first is the Islands of Adventure; the second is Universal Studios. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is just one part of the Islands of Adventure, so that’s where you’re headed. You’ll may also want to check out some of the other areas of the park: Suess Landing, Toon Lagoon, The Lost Continent and Jurassic Park. If you plan a full day at the park, you should have time for most or all of the areas.
Where to Stay
I strongly recommend staying at one of the three on-site hotels. We stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort. It’s closest to the Islands of Adventure, which makes heading over super-early in the morning a little easier. (There is a boat you can take, but it’s an easy walk.) When you stay at any of the onsite hotels, your room key allows you early access to the park and puts you in the “express” line for most of the rides. These two perks alone are absolutely worth the money. Stay there!
Note: If for whatever reason you don’t stay on the property, there are a limited number of Express Passes available for purchase each day. The price varies by the day–some days they cost $19.99 each, others as much as $59.99 each. The days we were there the Express Passes cost $49.99 a piece. Please know, though, that these do run out and, even more importantly, they’re only good ONCE on EACH RIDE. Yes, I know that seems like yelling, but it’s a big distinction. I can’t tell you how many times we whipped through a line and did the ride again because the express line was so much quicker. We lapped one poor woman (and I guess everyone around her) 3 times using our room key express passes. You’d only be allowed one trip through the express line with your potentially expensive Express Pass.
Which Tickets to Buy
This decision sets the rest in motion, and I struggled over it for quite a bit. Still, I’m very happy with what I ended up purchasing–it worked very well for our family of 5.
Universal offers vacation packages, some of which are tailored for guests who love Harry Potter. You can purchase a package, as we did, that includes breakfast at the Three Broomsticks (see Where to Eat). You can also purchase theme park tickets separately, without a package. Either way, you have to decide 1) how many days, 2) one or both parks, and 3) one park per day or both parks each day.
If you’re going for the Harry Potter experience, I don’t see any reason to visit both parks each day. True, they’re close enough to walk, but there’s no way we would’ve left the Islands of Adventure that first day. The second day, we went to Universal Studios, and I would consider returning to the Islands of Adventure at the end of the day for a last butterbeer or final ride on the Forbidden Journey, but I don’t know. Our Wizarding World day was nearly perfect. I’d hate to ruin it by trying to re-create it. That said, I’m not a big amusement park fan in general, so if you are, perhaps you’d thrive visiting both parks both days. Take your pick.
Plan for the Day
Keep in mind that our kids are well-travelled. That is, they’re used to being hauled around and walking long distances for sight-seeing. Needless to say, being hauled around and walking long distances for amusement park fun was a complete joy for them!
First things first: Park hours vary, but the days we were there Islands of Adventure opened to the public at 8:00. That meant, as on-site hotel guests, we could get in at 7:00. We did, and we were glad! Listen to me very carefully: go straight to the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. There is no express pass for this, the most popular new ride, and it is fantastic. Go get in line, pronto! We did, and only waited a few minutes. We exited the ride and got back in line. This time, we waited about 10-15 minutes. Totally worth it–the line snakes through Hogwarts and there’s plenty to see while you wait, including moving photographs, just like in the books. By the time we exited the ride the 2nd time, the line had grown immensely. Very quickly, the wait was over an hour for something we rode twice in less than half an hour. Go early!
Roller Coasters: We hit the two roller coasters in the park next, using our room key express pass for both of them. The Flight of the Hippogriff which is just my speed (that is to say: not scary) and the Dragon Challenge, which I took a pass on but the boys loved. Again, by going early and using the express line, we got through these rides without much of a wait.
Next, we enjoyed breakfast at the Three Broomsticks. Reservations are required and a bit difficult to come by, so schedule early! (See Where to Eat for more info.)
The park has done a fantastic job of recreating the village of Hogsmeade, and even my sons, who know everything Harry Potter, were impressed. We visited all of the stores, and bought too much at Honeydukes. It’s so very pretty, though, it’s hard not to!
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| yummy treats at Honeydukes |
- Dervish and Banges and Filchs Emporium of Confiscated Goods are great places to find keepsakes. We came home with a quaffle, the Triwizard Tournament Cup, and a very fancy crest-type thingy.
- Honeydukes. Chocolate Frogs (delicious), Fizzing Whizzbees and Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans. What’s not to like?
- Zonko’s is attached to Honeydukes, and has every sort of Harry Potter-related novelty item you could ask for. The boys couldn’t get enough of it!
- Ollivanders: Yes, the it’s the wand shop, and you can buy one of your very own. There’s also a very small back room where they do a wand-choosing demonstration. It’s cool but not worth the super long wait we saw there all day. Around 9 PM, the line dropped to a more reasonable 15 minutes or so, and for that kind of wait, it’s a neat experience for kids who love these books. Over an hour, though? I wouldn’t suggest it.
After perusing the village and stores, we decided to check out the rest of the Islands of Adventure. We did, and when we returned to the Wizarding World around 1:00, there was a line just to enter the Harry Potter part of the park! An hour and a half! We were all exhausted, running on 6 hrs of sleep at most, and getting grouchy. We decided to take a midday siesta and it was one of our best decisions of the day. Rather than waiting in line, we slept, and when we returned to the park two hours later, the line was gone. We revisited our favorites from the AM, except for the Forbidden Journey, where the line was still impossibly long, then headed to dinner. We had reservations at Mythos, which, I’m sorry to say, did not live up to its billing. (More in Where to Eat.)
After a late dinner, we returned to the park (around 8:30), rode rides again, and saw fun performances by both the Beaubatons and the Durmstrangs. Then we got in line for the wand-choosing show at Ollivanders (the wand chooses you).
Early AM: Everyone grabbed a quick bagel to eat on our walk to the park (breakfast reservations weren’t until 9ish).
Breakfast: The Three Broomsticks. The food is fine–you choose from a fixed menu when you enter (eggs, pancakes, etc), then pick your order up at a counter and seat yourself. But to have eaten there, at this restaurant, was a thrill for my kids. And I have to admit they did a fine job–it looks like some of the places we ate when we actually visited England with our three kids. Plus, we bought a package that included this meal–alone, it would’ve totalled $70 for the 5 of us.
Lunch: Grab anything. Really. I wouldn’t waste time sitting somewhere during the middle of the day!
Butterbeer: BUY THE COMMEMORATIVE CUP! Yes, it’s pricey (around $11) and you still have to pay for refills ($3.25, I think) but it’s sooo tasty and let’s face it–it’s a cool souvenir. You can buy butterbeer straight up (just cold) or frosty (think slurpee). Either is good, but I think the plain old cold one is best.
Pumpkin juice: Try it if you must, but it’s very much like pumpkin pie in a cup. Super sweet and not something I’d like to drink an entire cup of. At breakfast, you can choose a drink, including butterbeer or pumpkin juice, so that might be a good place to try it. Yuk.
Dinner: We had reservations at the much heralded Mythos, supposedly the “best theme park restaurant 5 years in a row” or something like that. The food was fine. Totally fine. But I wouldn’t give it any awards. It’s best feature? It’s right, and I mean right, outside the entrance to the Wizarding World. Location, location, location.
Meal Deal: One thing I would not recommend is the Meal Deal. The places are sporadically located and it’s not the type of food you want to eat several times a day. Trust me. Unless you totally love the nuggets and pizza scene, eat something else.
Extra Fees
We didn’t get hit with any charges we weren’t expecting. The two we did have, we knew about in advance:
- Rollaway Bed added $25 per night
- Parking added $15 per night. You don’t need a car AT ALL, unless you’re planning to leave the property. We were staying a couple of extra days, so we needed a car but taking airport transportation to the hotel might be cheaper.
Questions, comments? Let me know!
