The ABSOLUTE GUIDE To The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando

hey everyone Krista here and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando is an incredibly magical place in this video I'm gonna go over absolutely everything there is to see in the Wizarding World and both hugsmead and Diagon Alley from attractions shops dining and more so you don't miss a thing while you're there also make sure to stick around to the end to get some tips and tricks to get the most out of your trip so let's get into it The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando resort is made up of two different lands hogspeed Village at Islands of Adventure in Diagon Alley that you can find at Universal Studios Florida we're going to start our magical Adventure where it all started at Universal Orlando hogsmeade Village at Islands of Adventure hogsmeade Village is located in the very back of Islands of Adventure and was the very first Harry Potter land to open in 2010. nestled at the foot of Hogwarts Castle The snow-capped Wizarding Village is packed with enchanting shops an inviting Tavern and of course the incredible Hogwarts Castle hogsmead has two entrances the bridge entrance from the Jurassic Park area and the stone entryway that you'll come across from the Lost Continent if you come from Jurassic Park then you'll start your adventure with this incredible view of Hogwarts Castle and the bridge that leads up to hogsmead is one of the best vantage points to admire this incredible Castle so you'll definitely want to take a moment and take in The beautiful landscape once you're ready for your first Adventure you'll head straight to Hogwarts Castle for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey this attraction is located inside Hogwarts Castle and has an incredible cue that will absolutely Mesmerize you you'll enter the queue through the Towering Castle Gates and make your way through the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry while you're in line you'll get to walk through the greenhouse where you'll see baby mandrakes then enter the Castle's back door entrance as you pass by a statue of godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin then head into multiple rooms of the castle that include Dumbledore's office defense against the dark arts classroom and the Gryffindor common room where you'll find more talking portraits chatting with each other and just before you get on the ride you'll be able to see the Sorting Hat the ride itself is a flying adventure around Hogwarts Castle where you'll get to visit a quidditch pitch face a dragon fly through the Forbidden Forest and avoid the Whomping Willow as you come face to face with Dementors this ride uses a combination of practical effects as well as immersive screens for a truly unique experience [Music] once you leave you'll go through filch's Emporium of confiscated Goods gift shop where the resident caretaker of Hogwarts Delights in Catching students with Contraband in this dungeon-like shop you can find unique gifts but also keep an eye out for artifacts that once belonged to unlucky students while you're there just outside of filch's Emporium is where you'll find the Flight of the hippogriff coaster the Flight of the hippogriff coaster is considered a family coaster but don't overlook it this coaster offers incredible views of the castle and a village and even a lifelike hippogriff animatronic this roller coaster will also ride through Hagrid's pumpkin patch before swooping pasta's Hut continuing further into Hogs media you'll encounter a small stage or a couple of different shows take place throughout the day you can find the Frog choir where a small choir of Hogwarts students and their giant croaking frogs will perform several Wizarding songs and during the holiday season they'll even perform festive holiday songs for the crowd also throughout the day is the performance of the tri-wizard spirit rally during the spirit rally you'll see students from durmstrang and bobaton's perform the Durham strings will demonstrate their aggressive biting techniques with their staffs and the Boba tons will perform a graceful dance just a short walk from the stage is one of two butter beer carts located here in hogsmead you can grab a cup of butter beer at either cart or at the three broomsticks or hogshead Pub if you don't know what butter beer is butter beer is a drink that is referenced all throughout the Harry Potter books and you can find it at Universal in several different forms the flavor is similar to butterscotch or cream soda and has a frothy Top butter beer is non-alcoholic and is very addictive you can enjoy it hot cold or my favorite way especially on a hot sunny day is Frozen but you can also find it an ice cream fudge potted cream and even vegan throughout hogsmead and Diagon Alley and it's definitely a must try for any Harry Potter fan continuing on through hogsmead the very first shop that you'll come across is the famous ollivanders and if you're not familiar ollivanders is where young Wizards and witches come and search for their wands this shop offers both a show and a shopping experience and during this show you'll get to watch this interactive experience and see the process of the one choosing its wizard each show when a visitor is chosen for the experience and at the end it gets the option of purchasing their wand [Music] try and give it away not the one for you no it would mean this is another wizards one [Music] in the Phoenix [Music] once the show is done you'll enter the shop area where ones of all kinds are stacked floor to ceiling there are over 50 different interactive wands to choose from and are modeled after characters from the books Anna movies the wands that come with a map of all the interactive wand locations for both hogsmead and Diagon Alley and don't require any batteries they each have a reflective tip for the magic to work and if you get too excited and happen to break your wand like Ron did don't worry because you can return it and get a replacement wand for free there are over nine interactive lawn locations in hogsmead and 25 locations in Diagon Alley just look for The Medallion on the ground and it will point the way to where you need the cast The spell right next to ollivanders is dervish and bandages and in this shop you can find all sorts of Wizarding merchandise and a quidditch supplies that include everything from Spirit Gear uniforms for each house journals golden snitches brooms including the Nimbus 2001 and the fireball as well as so much more and while you're here don't miss the care of magical creatures textbook locked away in this cage but don't get too close because the book is known to snap growl and even charge when you pass by connected to dervish and banjas is the owl post and the owl post is a magical post office where you can purchase postcards and other stationary items and get them stamped with a unique hogsmeade postmark if you would like to ship packages back home this is also where you can have them professionally wrapped and shipped but you can also find owl related toys quills inks and more if you're ready for your next adventure then you're gonna head across the way to Hagrid's magical creatures motorbike Adventure here you'll join Hagrid on at this thrilling immersive story coaster as you fly deep into the Wilds of the Forbidden Forest beyond the grounds of Hogwarts Castle you can ride in either the motorbike like Hagrid or the sidecar like Harry and of course along the way things will go awry as you encounter some magical creatures from the movie This coaster has an incredible seven total launches which is the most launches of any roller coaster in the world and has a total length of nearly a mile long at 5053 feet which makes it the longest coaster in Florida Hagrid's is a truly magical Innovative one-of-a-kind coaster and a must ride while you're at Islands of Adventure oh [Music] if you're looking for something more to eat while at hogsmeade then right across the walkway from Hagrid's is where you'll find the three broomsticks and hogshead Pub the three broomsticks is a quick service restaurant themed as a rustic Tavern where you can take a seat and enjoy a great feast of tasty British fare for breakfast lunch and dinner hogshead Pub has a separate entrance but is still located within the three broomsticks this is where you can enjoy some specialty alcoholic drinks and of course more butter beer you'll also want to keep an eye out for the stuffed hugs head hanging over the bar because he just may snarl at you if you just want a cup of butter beer on this side of Hog's meat but you don't want to step inside of either three broomsticks or hogshead Pub then there is a second butter beer cart that is located just outside right next door to the three broomsticks is where you'll find the famous honeydukes and honeydukes is a legendary sweet shop with all manner of colorful treats you'll find everything here from exploding bon bons cauldron cakes fizzing wisbees butter beer fudge and chocolate frogs which of course come with a Wizarding trading card in each box thank you once you're done Gathering all of your treats from honeydukes then you're ready for our adventure over to our next land which is the Wizarding World in Diagon Alley but before you even walk through the stone Archway and start making your way over to hogsmeade station don't forget to take a moment to grab a photo with the replica Hogwarts Express that's located right here in front of the archway you'll want to make sure that you capture this shot just in case you don't get a photo with the real train at hogsmeade station once you're ready you'll start making your way over to the Hogwarts Express train this steam train acts as both a transportation and a ride experience and travels between hogsmeade Village here and Islands of Adventure and King's cross London station located at Universal Studios Florida where you can experience Diagon Alley since this train does take you outside of Islands of Adventure Park you will need a park to park ticket in order to ride this attraction and this is not an ordinary train ride once you board you will take a seat in a cabin and enjoy a two-minute ride through the British Countryside as characters and creatures from the films will make an appearance make sure to ride this train in both directions as the experience is different each way to practice and when you step off the train on the other side you'll arrive at King's cross Station in London where we'll have our next adventure at Diagon Alley and after the resounding success of hogsmeade next door at Islands of Adventure daigon alley opened its doors four years later in July 2014 and it raised the bar to become one of the most immersive theme park areas in the world Diagon Alley takes everything that's awesome about hogsmeade and improves upon it in every single way and like hogsmead there are Whimsical secrets to find in every corner of this area and if you do take the Hogwarts Express over you'll enter the area through King's cross station this station is themed to resemble the authentic King's cross Station in London in a yes if you're traveling through King's cross in the opposite direction you'll get the chance to cross through the solid brick wall between platforms 9 and 10. we're the famous platform nine and three quarters is located to board the Hogwarts Express but if you're exiting you'll enter the area through downtown London that features a number of famous British landmarks all throughout the Waterfront and once you pass King's cross you'll see an iconic red London phone booth on the left where if you dial the ministry of magic using the number on the dial you'll get a special message on the other side of the walkway you'll pass by a souvenir stand where Muggles can purchase a selection of London and night bust themed apparel souvenirs and more once you pass the stand on the London Waterfront you'll come across the Eros Fountain modeled after the one in London's Piccadilly Circus as well as a huge Triple Decker purple bus who my fellow Harry Potter fans will recognize as the night bus that appeared in the Prisoner of Azkaban but before you leave make sure that you stop and have a chat with the bus conductor as well as the talking shrunken head is really bad jumper is done look at that you got the legs brother you can also peer in the windows to see curtains beds and an ornate Chandelier just across from the night bus is a row of London homes where you'll find number 12 grimwald place and if you're feeling brave knock on the door and keep a watch outside you may just catch sight of the familiar face of creature the house elf peeking out the window also in this area is where you'll find the London taxi Hut where you can grab traditional English snacks like shepherd's pie loaded jacket potatoes as well as hot dogs and crisp Windsor finish exploring London you'll enter Diagon Alley through the secret passageway the first thing that will catch your eye is the giant dragon that sits atop gringott's Wizarding Bank this Dragon breathes fire every 10 minutes on the DOT and if it doesn't it's likely asleep and you'll probably want to just check back later the Diagon Alley area is comprised of four areas Diagon Alley car kit Market Horizonte alley and Nocturne alley the first shops that you'll see as you enter onto the right as quality quidditch supplies and Weasley's wizard wheezes quality quidditch supplies is where you can get all of your quidditch related gear and memorabilia including brooms golden snitches bludgers waffles and a tire to show off your team spirit and at Weasley's wizard wheezes is a novelty joke shop run by the prankster Weasley twins Fred and George you won't miss this shop with its giant moving statue with arms poking through the windows in at this shop you can find all sorts of toys treats and novelties including skiving snack boxes you know poo pills nosebleed nougats fainting fancies fever fudge and more make sure to look up at the top of the shop to find Whimsical characters moving overhead as well as a firework show through the skylights just across the way is where you'll find the Leaky cauldron in this quick service restaurant serves breakfast lunch and dinner and is the main restaurant for Diagon Alley themed as the famous pub and Inn that Harry and his friends frequently visited you'll find towering cathedral ceilings wooden beams and a massive dining hall The Leaky cauldron offers traditional English fairs such as fish and chips bangers and mash and a beef lamb and Guinness stew served in a bread bowl you can also get a cup of the famous butter beer here in several different forms like cold frozen hot and potted [Music] after the Leaky cauldron you'll see an ominous dark alleyway called Nocturne alley this Alleyway acts as kind of a walk-through attraction if you're fans of the dark arts then you'll definitely want to check this out the alleyway is also a great spot to escape the heat since it's hidden away from the Sun the ceiling within Nocturne alley has projections of the Starry Sky to make it appear like your Outdoors despite it being inside and within Nocturne alley you will find all sorts of Easter eggs and nods to the films also in this area is where you'll find Borgen and Berks the dark and creepy shop is home to All Things dark arts including Death Eater masks skulls accessories curse jewelry and other nefarious items [Music] you'll exit Nocturne alley in the far corner where you'll enter Horizon alley right next door to the Fountain of fair Fortune modeled after a traditional British pub here is where you can get a variety of beers including dragon scale Wizards brew as well as non-alcoholic beverages like Gilly water pumpkin juice and butter beer at this location you can get your butter beer hot cold or frozen after enjoying a refreshing pint you'll come across the magical Menagerie across the walkway in this Whimsical pet store you can find magical creatures of All Sorts including Crookshanks Fang Buck beak fluffy and scabbers there's also Cornish Pixies ferrets pygmy Puffs and a variety of owls including pigwagen and Hedwig if you go along the back Alleyway and peek inside the store window you'll find a snake and hear him speak in parcel tongue thank you right next door to the magical Menagerie is Harry Potter and the escape from gring Gods you will begin your journey by entering Gringotts Bank located beneath the massive fire breathing dragon then you'll enter the lobby where you'll be in awe of all of the detail and Grandeur in hanging from the ceiling is four gigantic crystal chandeliers that will take your breath away then you'll see all of the Goblins hard at work as you eventually arrive at Bill Weasley's office where blordoc takes you on a tour beneath the bank to see the vaults you'll then take the lift to the caverns below while you're here be sure to look up at the giant security trolls looming overhead once underground you'll grab a pair of safety goggles and make your way to the cart station once aboard your car you'll Venture deep into the bowels of green Gods where things will go awry this ride is a combination of roller coaster with 360 degree themed sets and 3D projection systems and is a musteride for all fans of Harry Potter when do you make your Escape from Gringotts then you'll want to make sure to celebrate by grabbing a delicious cone of ice cream and just across the way is the perfect spot at Florian fortescu's ice cream parlor here is where Muggles and wizards of all ages can enjoy soft-serve ice cream with flavors that include butter beard chocolate chili Granny Smith Earl Gray and lavender salted caramel Blondie and more and by the way if you're finding this information helpful I would love it if you could hit that like button and subscribe if you would love to find more Amazing Adventures like this and my beautiful state of Florida I release a new video every week and the best way to be able to see them is by subscribing just pass Florian fortescue's ice cream parlor down Diagon Alley are two more fun shops to explore Madame malkin's Robes of All Occasions and shutter buttons Photography Studio the first one that you'll come across as Madame malkin's robes for All Occasions where you can add to your Wizarding wardrobe at this fun clothing shop in here you'll find uniforms scarves sweaters robes ties hats and more and you can also find authentic replicas of Hermione's Yule Ball Gown while you're here be sure to pose in front of this magical Talking Mirror you may just make some comments on your outfit right next door is shutter buttons photography studio where you'll be guided through 12 scenes from several iconic locations for a photo souvenir to take home with you or you can get a moving portrait just like the one in the book and movies for an extra fee directly across the street is where you'll find the famous ollivanders one shop and it just like the ollivanders and hogsmeade this shop offers both show and a shopping experience with over 50 different interactive wands to choose from accio ladder definitely not the ones come with a map and all of the interactive wand locations for both hogsmead and Diagon Alley there are over 25 One locations in Diagon Alley and nine interactive wand locations in hogsmead there are also One locations located within Nocturne alley so make sure to explore the area and check your map under the black lights of Nocturne alley for some fun surprises foreign with your brand new wand in hand you'll make your way further down horizontally and in the next shop that you'll come across is eternal's elixir of refreshment add to this small beverage kiosk you'll find a variety of elixirs when combined with Gilly water will transform before your eyes into colorful and flavorful beverages unfortunately at the time of filming the shop was still temporarily closed so if it's still closed during your visit you can purchase the elixirs at the hopping pot and Fountain of fair Fortune just across the alleyway and next to Gringotts bank is where you'll find a golden statue of the famous gringott himself I know right next door is wise Acres wizard equipment here is where you'll find a variety of Wizarding wears and supplies including House theme apparel toys collectibles as well as Ministry of magic themed merch next door to wise Acres wizard equipment is scribulous and here is where you can stock up on feather quill pens ink parchment postcards and other stationary equipment and writing supplies continuing past scrupulous is where you'll find Gringotts money exchange and in this shop you can exchange your muggle US currency for Gringotts banknotes in 10 or 20 denominations this can be used for purchases within Diagon Alley and hogsmeade and select other locations throughout Universal unused wizard money cannot be exchange back at Guest Services while you're here be sure to chat with the Gringotts Goblin and see if he'll answer back yourself no no walking further into horizontally you'll next come across Globus Mundy this shop is the official travel agency of the Wizarding World and here is where you can pick up everything for your next magical trip including travel themed souvenirs like passport holders luggage tags as well as other Globus Monday branded items like t-shirts mugs and more just past Globus Mundy is a stage where you can find a couple of different shows throughout the day the tales of beetle The Bard is a stage show presented by The Wizarding Academy of dramatic arts you'll see these puppeteers use props and puppets to retail two famous Tales of beetle The Bard who is a famous author of Wizarding fairy tales the stories told in this show include the Fountain of fair fortune and the tale of the three brothers the other show that you can catch on the stage is celestina warback and the Banshees during this magical show you can hear celestina and her banshees as they perform some of their hits including a cauldron full of hot strong love you stole my cauldron but you can't have my heart and you Charmed the heart right out of me also if you're here during the holiday season you'll get to hear a few Christmas tunes with a Wizarding twist be sure to check the app for show times for both of these shows after enjoying the shows you'll enter into the car kit market area of Diagon Alley in the first place that you'll see is the hopping pot and the hopping pot is a walk-up counter where you can cool off with a variety of drinks including butter beer pumpkin juice dragon scale beers and more and this is a great spot to grab a drink or snack before enjoying one of the stage shows right next to the hopping pot is the owl post this is where you used to be able to get your gifts professionally wrapped and shipped within the US unfortunately at the time of filming the owl post has been closed and I'm not quite sure if they'll be reopening it in the future also in car kit Market is where you'll find sugar plums sweet shop and in the shop you can stock up on Sweets and Treats of all kinds including chocolate frogs birdie Bots every flavor beans sugar quills exploding bon bons cauldron cakes and more once you've loaded up on all of the sweets you'll want to head across the alleyway to wands by gregorovich gregorovich is a long time rival of ollivanders and here he has a small store set up within car kit market and this is a really great spot to look for ones if the popular ollivanders is just a little too crowded for you both gregorovich and ollivanders offers the same ones so don't feel like you're missing out if you shop at either one if you do end up staying at the Wizarding World until the evening you'll want to make sure to hop back on the Hogwarts Express the hogsmeade because on select nights you won't want to miss the nighttime lights at Hogwarts Castle where you can experience a dazzling spectacle of music and a lights as a magical projection as cast against the Majestic background of the castle during this show you'll be able to embrace your Hogwarts Pride as the four houses are celebrated in this stunning show so make sure to double check the app for show times because you won't want to miss this spectacular showcase so if you are planning on spending the entire day out of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter here are a few tips and tricks to get the most out of your day The Wizarding World of Harry Potter currently spans across two parks at Universal Orlando so if you want to make sure that you see both sides of the Wizarding World then you're gonna need a two Park ticket and if you want to complete the adventure by taking the Hogwarts Express back and forth then you'll also want to make sure that that two-park ticket is also a park to park ticket so you're able to hop from one park to the other and while you're in the Wizarding World you want to make sure that you take your time even though you may be able to squeeze in everything in one day you want to at least take a couple of days to really enjoy it so you'll definitely want to allocate a whole day for each land if you want to give yourself enough time to experience all of it the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is still one of the most popular areas of Universal Orlando so you'll want to expect big crowds while you're here if you are staying at any participating Universal Orlando hotels or an eligible annual pass holder then you'll want to take advantage of the early Park admission hotel guest and other select groups can access one of the theme parks one hour prior to the park schedule opening time just make sure to double check the website to see which park is allowing early admission on the day of your visit also I highly recommend using early Park admission to knock out one of the popular Wizarding World attractions like Hagrid's motorbike Adventure or escape from gring Gods but it's also a great opportunity to enjoy a lot of the details in the land like the Juan locations and other shops without having to deal with as much of the crowd if you don't already have a wand then you'll want to make sure that you purchase an interactive wand at any of the one shops there are over 50 different interactive wand types so there's a style to fit each and every Witch and Wizard one of the ones comes with a map that highlights each and every single one location throughout hogsmead and Diagon Alley oh and don't forget that there's also seven different forms of butterbeer if you've already tried the original you still have hot Frozen ice cream fudge potted and vegan to try and I highly recommend trying as many as you can while you're there if you do have a favorite type of butter beer let me know which one it is down in the comments below and speaking of treats there are so many amazing treats that you'll be able to find throughout both lands from chocolate frogs cauldron cakes and every flavor beans and more so definitely leave some room to try at least a few of these as you make your way around the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is incredibly immersive so take your time to take in all of the Little D details that you can find throughout the lens every time that I've come and I thought I've seen it all there's always another Easter egg that I discover on my next trip it's definitely worth a trip to walk through every shop and Alleyway as well as look through every window to not miss a thing while you're there plus the ride cues are incredible so even if you do have an Express Pass and can skip the lines completely you may want to consider making your way through the queue just to experience it once because they are an experience all on their own last but not least one of my favorite things about the Wizarding World is this incredible dragon and Diagon Alley and like one of my viewers Diamond Kingston noticed is that the dragon breathes every 10 minutes right on the dot so if you want to make sure that you capture a photo of this awesome dragon then make sure to have your camera up and ready to go a minute or two before the tens in the hour if you've made it this far in the video I would have loved to hear from you on Instagram at chrisatravels where I release daily content on the videos I'm currently working on here on the channel if you're spending even more time at Universal Orlando you'll want to check out my absolute guide starting with Universal's Islands of Adventure that just popped up on the screen end of this video I'll take you on a full tour of everything there is to see throughout Islands of Adventure so you don't miss a thing while you're there until next time everyone I hope you have an amazing day and go out and enjoy some Florida Sunshine

Channel: Chrissa Travels

Views: 762,074

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Id: 5cJ8BpQuyXc

Length: 36min 1sec (2161 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 10 2023