Rasika DalviIf you love sunshine, palm trees, thrilling rides, fun activities and most of all if you are muggle who fantasize about being at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft where Harry Potter had all his adventures with Hermione and Ron; then Universal Orlando Resort is the place for you.
Let’s begin our exciting journey in this magical world of Universal Studio, Florida.
As soon as we enter the park, the iconic Universal Studio’s globe greets us. And from here our journey to a magical world begins.
Diagon Alley is the place in the world where you will feel as if you are in the Harry Potter films. The films are brought to life in a magical way with all your favorite shops, treats, and characters from the franchise making appearances. As you strolled around the Diagon Alley, you would be transformed into the world of Harry Potter.
The cobblestone streets, friendly Harry Potter dressed staff, and general enthusiasm of the crowds adds to the excitement of Diagon Alley.
As Ollivander said to Harry Potter when he visited Ollivanders Wand Shop, “the wand chooses the wizard…”. A great souvenir for any Harry Potter fan is a Magic Wand. At Ollivanders, you can watch — and hopefully take part in — a wand pairing show with a wand keeper. Inside, towering walls reveal thousands of boxes stacked to the ceiling. And within each box, a wand is waiting to choose its wizard. Even if you are not shopping for a wand, this pairing is worth the wait for diehard Harry Potter fans.
Do not miss the Wand Experience at Ollivanders (wand costs $52). Interactive wands can be used throughout Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley to activate special experiences.
The railway station was brilliantly built, and it gives you a sneak pick of what you are going to enjoy in this enchanted world of Harry Potter. In this short journey, we could enjoy the scenic view and familiar characters from Harry Potter’s films. The views of the British countryside from the train’s digital windows are peaceful and realistic, making you believe you are really traveling to London. There were also few surprising elements liking passing of the shadows from corridors, frogs’ croaking, spiders crawling on the compartment door. So, be ready for such mischievous moments.
As soon as we get off from the train we could see a huge, beautiful and enchanted Hogwarts castle in front of us.
The signature attraction at Hogsmeade is a ride called “HARRY POTTER AND THE FORBIDDEN JOURNEY”. When you’re moving through a portrait gallery, you’ll discover the paintings come to life. Going along for the ride is the whole point of Forbidden Journey. We can see many iconic locations such as Dumbledore’s office, classrooms, talking portraits on the wall, Dark Arts Classrooms.
Professor Dumbledore has opened the school to the outside world for the first time and has invited muggles to learn about its history. The headmaster sends his visitors along to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. However, Harry, Hermione, and Ron off their cloak of invisibility in the classroom to warn the visitors about the boring lecture and ask them to follow them to the Quidditch pitch.
It was an unforgettably thrilling experience, where we could sneak down to the Quidditch match. Here we need to sit on the enchanted bench to experience the fun of the game. This ride is full of twists and turns, swirls and spins. During this ride, we face huge spiders, skeletons, dementor who emerges from the darkness and blast cool air and heartbeat-like sound towards riders. This ride ends up by cheering of the Hogwarts’ students. This is a ride you need to venture on at least twice to take it all in. Needless to say, one time was just not enough for me.
After this intense and magical ride, we went for a DRAGON CHALLENGE, a pair of intertwined roller coaster. This ride was also equally thrilling and full of twists and turns. We both thoroughly enjoyed this ride, though our heads were spinning for few minutes even after getting off the ride 😀 (You will not find this ride now, as they had removed it in Sept.2017, due to series of accidents.)
After a thrilling experience of this roller coaster; one more ride was waiting for us, “FLIGHT OF HIPPOGRIFF”. This ride is comparatively very family friendly, without too many swirls and ups-downs. This ride is of a shape of Hippogriff which has the head of a giant eagle and the body of a horse. This attraction takes you around the pumpkin patch and swooping past Hagrid’s hut.
You will also find an Owl Post, from where you can send a postcard with an official Hogsmeade stamp.
It is enthralling to see how they have used technology and creativity in new and startling ways while keeping the “how’d-they-do-that?” magic seamless. It transports we muggles into the fanciful realm of J.K. Rowling. A perfect experience for Harry Potter fans – even better than you ever imagined!
After returning from Harry’s world, one more amazing creature was waiting for us, to whom I was fascinated since childhood and the one which still manages to scare my husband, DINOSAURS. We entered a “JURASSIC PARK DISCOVERY CENTRE”. As we entered the center we could see towering remains of a massive T-rex and other dinosaurs. We could experience how dinosaurs see and hear the world. We were quite lucky, as we could watch a baby velociraptor hatching. Dummy doctors were giving demonstration and information about the whole process. It was quite entertaining and informative too. (That’s the different my husband quickly had his power nap there).
After meeting most prehistoric creatures on the earth, we were ready to face the army of the warrior mummies, “REVENGE OF THE MUMMY”. As I am a huge fan of this Mummy series and always enjoyed watching Rick and Evelyn had an adventurous journey in Egypt, I fancied getting that thrilling experience. And believe me, this not-to-be-missed, high-speed, indoor roller coaster ride would give you that spine tumbling excitement. As soon as you enter this sacred temple, you’ll plunge in total darkness, plagued on all sides by huge fireballs (we could literally feel the heat), beetles and an army of warrior mummies. We loved this mind-boggling ride, which mummifies us in all senses. Hands down!!
After all these wild rides, it’s time to lighten the mood, relax and have fun. So, we headed to “DESPICABLE ME: MINION MAYHEM”. It’s a 3D ride, where we became an actual Minion and become a part of Gru’s latest scheme. We just need to grab our seats and our adventure began at Gru’s home. We got a little “Minion Training” from Margo, Edith, Agnes. But when things don’t go as planned, you’re launched into an unforgettable trip through his super-villain laboratory. I must say they have created a hilarious storyline and very interactive animation. It’s totally a fun-ride.
One more not-to-be-missed ride is “TRANSFORMERS”; an intense 3D simulator experience. The fate of the planet is at stake, and you are along for the ride in the incredibly immersive, larger-than-life battle to the finish between the Decepticons and the Autobots. When you’re driving through the city streets, it really feels like you’re moving fast. Whether you’re launched into the air by a Decepticon, knocked back from a punch, or falling towards certain doom, you forget that you’re in a vehicle. It really does look and feel like you’re right in the middle of a battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron.
Apart from all these brilliant, fun, thrilling rides; there are a few more which shouldn’t be missed. I haven’t tried all of them, as some of them are new additions or due to time constraint; but I would suggest you give a try.
- Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
- Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
- Race through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon
- Men in Black: Alien Attack
- The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
- Terminator 2: 3D
- The Incredible Hulk
- Jurassic Park River Adventure
- E.T.Adventure
- Dudley Do-Right’s Adventure
- Skull Island : Reign of Kong
After this power-packed adventures day, it’s time to experience dramatic night show. This show is known as “UNIVERSAL CINEMATIC SPECTACULAR” which gives tribute to Universal Studio’s 100 years journey with memorable movie clips projected on high-tech water screens and enhanced by dancing colorful fountains and fireworks. This is truly an amazing experience where entertainment is coming from all the sides; huge fountains, laser show, movie clips, music, and dazzling firework; what else could we expect to end our incredible day. This epic show under the stars is indeed a cherry on the cake which puts a smile on everyone’s face.
After gathering so many delightful memories of this wonderland, it was time to say adios to this magical world.
Here are handful of tips for your visit to this paradise:
- The Orlando resort now has three separate parks – Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay – and if you’ve never been before you may have no clue which one(s) are going to be right for you. The easiest way to describe the difference is that the rides and attractions at Universal Studios are based more on movies and TV shows, and Islands of Adventure is where the fantasy and thrill rides are.
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is now spread across both Universal parks in Orlando; Universal Studios has Diagon Alley, and Islands of Adventure has Hogsmeade – plus there’s a real Hogwarts Express train that links both the parks together!
- Volcano Bay, the newest addition, features a 200-foot-tall waterfall, a huge wave pool, more than a dozen thrilling water rides and slides, and two lazy rivers. So, if you’re a water baby and time permits just experience this incredible water park. (I haven’t visited yet, as it has opened in May 2017. But, it’s on my list).
- To experience everything the Universal Orlando theme parks have to offer, you’ll need Park-to-Park tickets. The best rides are spread out across both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure and a park to park ticket will let you hop between them on the same day. Plus, that’s the only way you’ll be able to ride on the Hogwarts Express.
- If you are not staying on-site, you can purchase Express passes for an additional cost. These allow you to ride every participating attraction once without waiting in the regular line.
- If you can plan your visit around weekdays and saving weekends for travel or enjoying at the hotel, you’ll likely have fewer crowds to deal with at the parks. Avoid taking your vacation during school holidays if possible.
- Universal has a very useful app that shows wait times, show times, maps of the parks, and a lot more.
- Wear comfortable shoes. Experiencing everything at a theme park will require you to walk a lot of miles, and good footwear can go a long way toward helping you go the distance.
- If you’re looking to save money, keep in mind that Universal Orlando Resort will let you bring outside food and drink, so long as the food doesn’t need to be heated and the beverages aren’t alcoholic.
- Single Riders Lines, when offered, can save a lot of time if you don’t mind riding separate from your party. Great option if you wish to repeat an attraction.
- Lockers are available (additional cost) near the front of the park and at some attractions throughout the parks. Some attractions require you to leave all your loose belongings in a locker while you ride – in this case, use of the locker is free for a period that extends a bit beyond the current standby ride time.
