Universal Orlando Resort

Universal Orlando Resort has two parks - Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida - and they are both great to visit. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a prominent feature in both places so get ready for a wicked good time!

At Universal Studios Florida be sure to visit Diagon Alley but keep sharp; you can walk right by it and not know it is there! Diagon Alley is where we started and it is hard to find. You need to walk behind a wall to find it which added to its mysticism. I felt like I was in the movie.

One of the many highlights included Ollivanders Wand Shop where some lucky kids get to test some wands out. You can purchase a wand at the shop that is a replica of that of your favorite character. My daughter wanted a Hermione wand.

The wands are interactive with many areas of Diagon Alley as well as Hogsmeade. There are spells you can incant and “things” happen. I don’t want to ruin it but it is very well done and extremely cool. I think this was the highlight for my daughter, well worth the $45 on a wand.

The major highlight for us was the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts ride. This was by far the best ride I have experienced, crazy amount of special effects, 3D and extremely realistic. We felt we were in Gringotts!

We loved that you can take the Hogwarts Express between the two parks. You need to have admission for both parks in order to ride the train. We rode it both ways and it was an awesome and different experience each direction.

At Universal Islands of Adventure we visited Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade had its own highlights. After arriving on the Hogwarts Express, we had lunch at the Three Broomsticks which was pretty good and you get to try butterbeer and pumpkin juice.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was a pretty intense ride. Definitely don’t ride it after lunch! The shops in Hogsmeade are great and my daughter enjoyed using her wand once again.

Besides both Wizarding Worlds there are so many other themed areas to visit in both parks. Islands of Adventure favorites for us were Seuss Landing and Jurassic Park. We really enjoyed the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Ride as well as the Jurassic Park Discovery Center.

In Universal Studios Florida we loved the Blues Brothers Show in New York, the Despicable Me Minion Ride in Production Central and the Simpsons Ride and Fast Food Boulevard in the World Expo.

We were at Universal Orlando Resort only one day which was not enough time without running around to try and fit everything in. We will definitely be back to explore more areas!