Our visit to Universal’s Islands of Adventures in Orlando started at the most exciting and crowded place there – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, one of seven themed areas within the park. We spotted the lighthouse tower indicating that we are approaching the Islands of Adventures (IOA) from Universal’s City Walk.
We were done fairly quickly with the security at the entrance and entered the park under arch with the slogan “The Adventure Begins.”
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was added to the Islands of Adventures in 2010 and it is the most popular place at Universal since then. After crossing the bridge, the visitors end up on the streets of Hogsmeade surrounded by the shops and restaurants from the famous book “Harry Potter” written by British novelist J.K. Rowling.
The view from the bridge. The Lost Continent island is seen in the background.
This cute Snowman with the white owl was just passed Hogsmeade’s entrance.
The crowded streets of Hogsmeade Village.
Here is the famous Owl Post. The visitors can send a postcard from Hogwarts via the Owlery with an official Hogsmeade postmark.
We visited Honeydukes store, which was selling chocolate frogs and every flavor bean (the booger and ear wax variety including) among other sweets.
Zonko’s joke shop is next to Honeydukes sweetshop. Zonko’s is the closest the park gets to featuring the clever Weasley brother’s products, after Fred and George open their own joke shop in The Order of the Phoenix.
Here is the interactive Ollivanders wand shop on the left with the hanging metal sign, where the guests can purchase their own wands made of holly and the tail of a phoenix. We wanted to visit Ollivanders shop, but the line was huge, so we didn’t go there.
The entrance to the station with the Hogwarts Express, the iconic, smoke-blowing steam engine, made famous in the Harry Potter books and films for transporting students to a world of magic and wonder.
Greetings from the conductor of the Hogwarts Express. A students luggage waiting to be stowed on the Hogwarts Express, for the trip back to school at Hogwarts Castle.
A talking announcement board “Have you seen this vizard?”
Our lunch stop was at Three Broomsticks, the popular restaurant of the main characters from the book. The restaurant looked rustic with a moving menu, which offered traditional English food and frozen butterbeer among them.
Inside the Tree Broomsticks restaurant.
A couple more pictures of Tree Broomsticks interior.
The “live” (changing display) menu.
We ordered fish and chips and butterbeer in souvenir cups.
Have you ever wondered what butterbeer taste like? There are two kind of buttebeer sold at the Wizarding World. The frozen is sold at the restaurant and tasted sort of like a butterscotch slurpee. To me, Butterbeer is very sweet. There was a big barrell with the sign Butterbeer next to the entrance, which was selling non-frozen butterbeer and pumpkin juice. The non-frozen is like a cream soda with a butterscotch flavor with a delicious topping. I’ve found that everyone has their own way of describing Butterbeer, but it’s usually along the same lines: Butterscotch and cream soda.
After lunch we moved towards Hogwarts which is seen in the picture below.
The signpost in Hogsmeade Village.
The closer views of Hogwarts castle.
Weasley’s flying car. According to the book, the Flying Ford Anglia was a light blue Ford Anglia 105E Deluxe that was modified by Arthur Weasley to be able to fly, as well as become invisible. It was also modified so that it could fit eight people, six trunks, two owls, and a rat comfortably. It also either doesn’t run on petrol, or it can never run out of petrol, as it was still running after being in the Forbidden Forest on its own for several months.
Wizarding World of Harry Potter offers 3 rides there and we couldn’t miss any of them. The most exciting was Harry Potter and Forbidden journey ride. The queue started at the green house and continued through the hallways and corridors of Hogwarts castle. There was plenty of the talking portraits on the walls of the castle.
Dumbeldore’s Office. Dumbledore welcomed us to Hogwarts and asked us to proceed to the Dark Arts Classroom.
The holograms of Harry, Ron, and Hermione greeted us there, from the balcony, and invited us to the Quidditch match instead of staying and listening to another boring lecture.
Moving portraits in the Gryffindor Common Room informed us on how to ride the enchanted benches.
The famous Sorting Hat.
We then boarded special 4-seat “enchanted benches” which allowed us to soar above the castle grounds. This simulated ride took us out of the castle, through the quidditch pitch, and on a mini adventure with Harry and his friends. During our journey we encountered dragons, spiders, the Whomping Willow, and dementors! Effects were awesome! Loose articles and cameras were not permitted on this attraction. Free lockers were available for storage for the duration of our visit to this ride.
Welcome Triwizard Champions. Exiting the Hogswarts castle and moving towards the Dragon Challenge roller coaster ride.
Next, we experienced the Dragon Challenge Ride. I like the description from the official IOA site: You’ll need the courage of a Triwizard Tournament Champion as you climb aboard one of two ferocious dragons that twist, loop and nearly collide in a high-speed, intertwining roller coaster chase across the sky. Choose between the Chinese Fireball or the Hungarian Horntail. Each dragon is a completely different ride! We did enjoy this ride!
Guests enjoying the Dragon Challenge roller coaster in Hogsmeade Village at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We also rode the Hippogriff roller coaster but it was a family-friendly ride, so it wasn’t much of the excitement for us there.
A short green passage took us from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade.
Leaving Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There are more islands to explore! 🙂
