Confession time, I’m a Hufflepuff. My family took the quiz on Pottermore to find our Hogwarts houses. I was very surprised to find I was a Hufflepuff. Each one of us ended up in a different house. We did this because we took a trip down to Universal Studios specifically for HOGWARTS. And let me tell you it was a great time, we had a blast! The trip party included: my husband, my brother, my sister, her husband, and ME! We packed ourselves in a car Friday after work and drove what felt like all night just to get to Universal Studios in time for a packed Saturday. See, we went for what we initially planned to be a three day weekend but my brother was the only one who didn’t have Monday off (I’ll talk more about that in another post).
Saturday we woke up early and got there about an hour after the park opened. Whew, was it busy! We fought through parking, which was a little lacking in comparison to Disney World, and bee-lined to the Harry Potter section. Here is my breakdown of the experience.
Escape from Gringotts – This ride was so much fun! The goblins inside while you’re waiting were super well designed and all the effects of the ride only had up to go. If you don’t mind the long wait then I recommend this, even if it’s just to say you went on the ride. It is a virtual ride with a little plot and good thrill.
Forbidden Journey – Do not recommend. All five of us felt queasy after the ride, my sister even threw up after. I don’t know what did it! Mechanically it felt no different than the Escape from Gringotts but something with the combination of the effects made us all feel sick. We had a small respite because the ride “broke down” for about five minutes leaving us staring at a dark wall, my sister’s and brother-in-law’s seats were on their back facing a spider. That gave me time to look around and see way our seats were ingeniously attached to an arm. Maybe you’ll have a stronger stomach than my family and just enjoy the ride. My big thing to do while I wait in lines is play Heads Up, a phone game made by Ellen Degeneres. There’s a specific Harry Potter Deck that we could only get waiting in line for this ride. That alone made it worth it.
Butterbeer –The drink itself was pretty much cream soda but the whipped topping was straight divine. What did surprise me though was the variety of drinks other than Butterbeer that don’t get as much hype as they deserve. Don’t get suckered into only trying butterbeer because it’s the drink of Harry Potter. Gillywater was amazing and my favorite. It has these blueberry boba like pearls and a refreshing cinnamon taste. Pumpkin juice was interesting and tasted akin to apple cider. My sister loved it and wanted it just for the bottle it came in. She ended up keeping the whole thing because it was so cool.
Money – I don’t know what the exchange location is called but it’s directly next to the Gringotts ride. You can exchange normal currency for Harry Potter money. Now, in my head that meant Wizard Money like knuts, sickles, and galleons. What it really meant was monopoly-like paper that had a number printed on in equivalent to what you turned in. Not worth the effort. There was an animatronic goblin inside though that responded to you real time with a real conversation. It corrected a group of teenagers, and they thought it was a blast! It was a quick line that moved fast (because no one is really exchanging the money) and the goblin interaction was hilarious.
Shops – ALL of the shops were so fun. The entire set up between the two parks of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and Diagon Alley were impressive and really felt magical. We went into every single shop, regardless if we were planning to buy anything, simply to feel all the wonders of what Universal Studios had created. No regrets. Do it.
Wands – I kinda wanted one at first, partially to really entrench myself in the world, and partially to have a souvenir. Then I heard the price and was immediately dissuaded. I like Harry Potter, I like plot, the thrill, the magic, and world of it all. But I’m not a die-hard Harry Potter fan. I instead spent that money on way too many treats. The interactive wands were fun to watch but looked to be a bit of a little struggle. If you don’t know about the interactive wands, let me tell you. Throughout the park there are these stations where you can “perform a spell” and wave one of a specific set of wands around in the notated motion and unlock something special. Sometimes it was rain from a drainpipe or a puppet show but they were always things you wouldn’t see unless someone had that wand and the corresponding map. I was fortunate enough to be close by when someone else performed the magic trick. If you want to experience everything, get one of the interactive wands.
Food – There a significant number of yummy treats to try. The pastries were my favorite but I’m a biased sucker for baked treats. The ice cream flavors were interesting but I’m a sucker for the classic flavors. so it wasn’t my jam. I really wanted to eating one of the sit down locations but it didn’t time up well with our hunger clocks.
The overall Harry Potter experience was so much fun and I can’t recommend it enough. If you don’t want to walk between the two parks you can always take the Hogwarts Express which severs as a mini ride on its own. As I already said, I’m not obsessed with the series but this is definitely a stop worth making. I went in expecting it to be magical and it really was amazing. I read a lot of reviews though and watched a fair amount of videos. Sometimes, the hype lives up to the experience and this was absolutely one of them.
-M