The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

When I first found out that my Dad was planning on coming to Florida for their family vacation my sisters and I decided the one thing we had to do was to go to Universal Island's of Adventure and explore the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Before going I had watched videos and listened to what other people had thought of the park, but neither of these prepared me for what I was to walk in to!

When we first arrived at the park we were directed the opposite way that I wanted to go and the line for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter started in Marvel Super Hero Island and went through Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park until you finally reached the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the Lost Continent. Now just to get from Marvel Super Hero Island to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter took 2 hours. We were in a line was the directed through the park and you eventually got tickets for each person in your party and you could not access the Harry Potter park without these tickets! But I have to say, that 2 hour wait was worth it once you got into Harry Potter.

This was one of the views we got while standing in line

As you enter the Wizarding World of Harry Potter you are greeted by the Hogwarts Express and it's conductor! The conductor is there to greet each person and personally welcome them into Hogsmede. The Hogwarts Express is surrounded with luggage as if it is getting ready to take the students off to Hogwarts.

After you pass the Hogwarts Express you walk into Hogsmede. All of the buildings look like they came straight out of a Harry Potter movie and there are a lot of fun places to shop. The shops that you are able to go into are Zonkos Joke Shop, Honeydukes Candy Store, Dervish and Bangles, the Owl Post and of course Ollivanders Wand Shop. I was able to go into Zonkos and Honeydukes, but for the other 3 shops there was an hour to 2 hour wait (the longest wait is for Ollivanders and the line did not decrease in time the entire day.)

One thing that I highly suggest you try while you are in Hogsmede is the Butterbeer and the Pumpkin Juice. Those were two things I knew that I had to try while I was there and let me tell you, I am hooked! The Butterbeer tastes just like cream soda and the Pumpkin Juice tastes like Pumpkin Pie in a cup! They are both absolutely DELICIOUS!!

After you make your way through Hogsmede you are face-to-face with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The castle sits high up above Hogsmede so everyone can see it. Hogwats is also the home to the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. The wait time for the ride is always 90 minutes, but the ride is worth the wait. The wait time for the ride goes by really fast because you actually get to explore parts of the castle that are in the movies. During your wait you walk through Dumbledore's office, the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom, the Gryffindor Common Room, the Room of Requirement and more. I think the coolest part for me was the interactive paintings on the walls, it was really cool to see the painting talking and interacting with each other.

There are two other rides in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. One is the Flight of the Hippogriff which is a very small rolller coaster that takes you by Hagrid's Hut and you get to bow to the Hippogriff and then take a ride on him. The other ride puts you right in the middle of the Triwizard Tournment and that is the Dragon Challenge. During this ride you pick whether you want to ride the Hungarian Horntail or the Chinese Fireball. Each ride is different, but there are points where you come really close to the other riders!

I took a ton of photos! So instead of posting them all on here I decided that I would make a movie slideshow and put them to music. So I hope you enjoy all of my photos!