If you’re a massive Potterhead like me, I know you’ve got to have a visit to one of the Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter on your bucket list. But if you’re not as fortunate as I am to live within a few hour’s drive from one, you have to maximize your time (and money!) for your trip. I’m here for you with some detailed suggestions and tips on how to navigate the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the most fun experience possible. Please note that these tips are for the Orlando, Florida version of the theme park only.
Tickets
Florida Residents: Buy one of the Florida resident annual passes. This is by far the best deal if you’re planning on going for more than say, three days in a year. I usually buy the Preferred pass. It gives you free parking (after the first time, in which you pay full price), discounts on some of the food and merchandise, and early access to the parks. You can add on the water parks and other perks with the more expensive passes, but I find the Preferred pass works well for me. Please keep in mind that the Preferred pass has blackout dates, when you cannot attend the park or use early access hours. Check the Universal website for when the Blackout dates occur, as they change. If you’re only planning on going one or two days, please read the section below.
Non Florida Residents: Are you planning on staying one day? More? Whatever you do, as a Harry Potter fan you must buy the 2 park pass. (Not a pass that only gives you access to one park per day.) Why? If you buy the 2 park pass you can ride the Hogwarts express from Diagon Alley (located in the original Universal Studios Park) to Hogsmeade Village (located in the Islands of Adventure Park) and vice versa. If you only have a one park pass, you cannot ride on the Hogwarts Express. My friends, family and I find this one of the most enjoyable parts of the Wizarding World, so I advise that you do not miss this experience! It’s not like the monorail at Disney, or a tram, which are solely ways to get from one park to the other. The lines are fun and themed, and the train itself is a mini ride. Universal sells vacation packages but as I haven’t bought these, I’m afraid I can’t give you more advice or detail on them. Sorry! If you’ve bought one of these packages and have some insight, please comment down below.
Where to Stay
I’m not rich and I live close enough, so as a Florida resident I often make day trips. If this is not an option for you, there are cheap but nice hotels located off of Major Boulevard that offer a bus shuttle service. I don’t find the shuttle particularly convenient as it goes to multiple hotels and only once per hour, so I often walk (takes 20-40 minutes depending on your pace and which hotel you are staying at) or I drive and park for free with my Florida resident pass. Parking is pricey if you don’t have a pass that allows you to park for free, but if you’re going one day or money is not an object, parking is probably your best option.
A good budget choice is the Cabana Bay Beach Resort, Universal’s cheapest option alongside the new Aventura hotel. (I haven’t stayed at Aventura so I will comment only on Cabana Bay.) Cabana Bay is not as cheap as the Major Boulevard hotels, but it’s a fun themed hotel with a giant pool and lazy river, early admission to the parks, and a free bus service that drops you very close to the main entrance. My experience staying at this hotel was that the bus was incredibly convenient, frequently ran and was a short ride. If you’re not on a super tight budget, I recommend this hotel. As stated earlier, you also get early access to one of the parks (not the park of your choosing, check Universal’s website on which park opens early which day) if you stay in a Universal hotel. I’ll talk more about the advantages of that later.
If money is not a problem or you’ve been saving for a splurge, stay at one of Universal’s more expensive hotels. Not only do you get transport and early admission, you get express pass access to certain rides. This means you can skip the lines for free! You can only skip one line per ride per day. (So you can’t, say, ride The Hulk coaster with an express pass over and over, just once.) I’ve never stayed in one of the pricier hotels but a good friend of mine was a fan.
When to go
I cannot emphasize this enough: Florida resident or non Florida resident…do not go to the park during peak times unless you have no other choice. I grew up going to Disney World and when I was older, Universal, so I can tell you with assurance that the quality of your experience skyrockets when the park is less busy. You wait less in lines. You get to linger in popular spots more. You can often have a more private experience (for instance, an Ollivander’s wand choosing with only two other people,) and you can get better pictures. (Many of the pictures in this blog were taken in the early morning, with minimal crowds.) To experience the magic of the Wizarding World, less people enhances your fun tenfold. Often the busiest times of the year coincide with the hottest as well. If you’ve haven’t experienced Florida summer humidity, it’s like stepping into a broiling oven, so avoid late May, June, July, and most of August for this reason as well.
How will you know when it’s peak season? For one, check the Blockout dates on Florida resident tickets. In the past, this was usually summer dates, around Christmas and New Year’s, and Spring Break, but now it seems to be late December only. Do not come during Blockout dates unless you absolutely have no other choice. Lines can be two hours long. You can’t fit into stores. Express passes and hotels are much more expensive. I would still avoid the dates that used to be Blockout dates in the past, late June, July, early August, around New Year’s, and Spring Break times. Most holidays are also very busy. Due to the enormous crowds it’s just not worth coming during these times of year, unless you can afford the express passes, or these are the only times you can come to the parks.
You can also tell peak season by express pass prices. As described above, you can get express passes by staying in a hotel, or you can buy them. During busier times, express prices are astronomically expensive. Less busy times, just pricey. It’s not worth buying express passes during slow times unless you have tons of money to throw around, because the lines can be minutes long, or you can walk on without a wait.
The third way you can gauge crowd size is through fan run sites with crowd traffic estimates. Internet search “Universal Studios Florida crowds.” They base their calendars on past year’s data so they are not completely reliable. I often cross check three or four of them. If one is claiming a slow day and three are claiming a busy day, I know it’s most likely going to be a busy day at the park. 
Avoid weekends, the day before/after weekends like Monday/Friday, and also avoid holidays. If you can manage Tuesday-Thursday on the off season, by all means, go then! Now that the park has started decorating for Christmas, I also recommend going in early to mid December to enjoy the festive decor and castle lights. Don’t go the days around Christmas itself, this is one of the busiest times of the year. In general late August, September, parts of October and November, early December, mid to late January and February are good times to go to the park. If you’re really excited about water rides, avoid the colder times of the year.
Health
Please watch out for your own health, especially if you go in the very hot and humid months and stay hydrated. Yes drinks aren’t a good deal, but spend the money. To save money you can buy one bottle of water and refill for free in water fountains. Duck into lines and stores with A/C. Bring a small handheld fan into the park. Ride a water ride. If you’re feeling very overheated, try my trick of wetting paper towels in cold water and rubbing down your hot and sweaty flesh with it. Drink frozen butterbeer. Take a break in your hotel if you have one at the hottest (which will usually also be the busiest) time of the day. See a first aid center if need be.
Arrival Time to Park
If you listen to my tips and advice about nothing else, please heed this one. Arrive at the park the earliest time you can. Does the park open at 9, but you have access to early hours at 8? arrive at 7:45. Does the park open at 8 and you have early hour access at 7? Then yes, arrive right before 7. It’s rough for us non morning people, but it’s going to be one of the best decisions you make. If you’re staying in a Universal hotel or have bought passes with early access hours, utilize them! Most people start arriving in larger numbers around 10:30-11. This gives you a few hours of shorter lines, cooler weather, and an emptier Wizarding World for pictures, rides, shopping, and just soaking in the atmosphere. If you have these early access hours, you will be asked to prove it in the park by employees so don’t try to sneak in, it won’t work. (Unless you get a lax employee, but I don’t recommend risking this!) If you don’t have early access, arrive about fifteen minutes earlier than you are able to enter. You still have to go through security lines and ticket lines so come earlier then official opening times. Ticket lines (for purchase) can get very long so try to pick up your tickets before your first day if possible. If the park is open say, 9-6 try to stay the whole time. If it’s open very long hours, around 9AM-11PM, you can take a break in your hotel midday (particularly on those super hot days) in order to maximize your time early and late in the day, the times less people are in the park.
Wizarding World Navigation Strategy
This part is tricky, and down to pure preference. I’ll try to present both sides for you to pick.
I had the good fortune to experience Hogsmeade Village and the Hogwarts Castle (this is in Islands of Adventure) before the park even officially opened as part of what they call a “soft opening;” a trial to how the park will run. I experienced Diagon Alley (inside of Universal Studios Park) years later as someone who has already been to Hogsmeade many, many times. In my personal opinion, the Diagon Alley portion of the park is more impressive. Some of the critiques of Hogsmeade (too small inside the shops, too small of an area in general, not enough shade,) were corrected in Diagon Alley, which is larger and less hot. Diagon Alley also has the bonus of walking through the brick wall of the Leaky Cauldron and hitting you with the splendor of Diagon Alley, all at once. It’s a breath taking moment. However, the castle and Hogsmeade are special and wonderful as well, especially the first time you see it. My personal preference is to go to Hogsmeade Village first, ride the Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff, then walk around taking pictures, enjoying the shops, maybe eating at the Three Broomsticks. (You can also skip this leisurely part for later, when the crowds in line for rides are longer.) Then hop on the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley, ride Escape from Gringotts, experience the Ollivander wand choosing (do this in Diagon Alley and not Hogsmeade, the line is shorter and mostly indoors), explore the shops and eateries like Florian Fortescue’s and The Leaky Cauldron, and then ride the Hogwarts Express back. Please note that you get a different experience each way you ride the Hogwarts Express, so ride both ways!
However, if it’s your dream to do things in the correct order that Harry did in the story, reverse all that and start in Diagon Alley, then make your way to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts castle. And if you have early access to the park, go to whichever park opens early first. (Unfortunately Universal only opens one of the parks for early admission, so check their website.) At this point hang out as long as you want in the Wizarding World sections, or make your way to the rest of the park.
Food
The Leaky Cauldron and the Three Broomsticks both serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For me a lot of the food is a bit heavy (but filling!) on very humid and hot days, but the atmosphere is so much fun I order something lighter and drag my friends and family anyway. You can also get pumpkin juice and Butterbeer inside of these places (as well as the Hog’s Head) so you don’t have to wait in long lines at the Butterbeer carts.
Florian Fortescue’s is fun and yummy, but located only in Diagon Alley. I prefer the hard ice cream to the soft serve, as the soft serve flavors are really vanilla tinged with a hint of the flavoring on the edge, but get what you prefer of course!
Drinks
The Wizarding World has pumpkin juice (kind of like an apple cider flavored with pumpkin), gillywater (water that you can get dyed various colors) Fishy Green Ale, Tongue Tying Lemon Squash, Otter’s Fizzy Orange Juice, Peachtree Fizzing Tea, and Butterbeer, which now comes in it’s original form, frozen, ice cream, and hot. I’ve tried all but the ice cream, and I vastly prefer the frozen or hot to the original, depending on the temperature outside. There are also alcoholic beverages on option.
Rides
Almost anyone will be able to handle the Hogwarts Express, unless you have very extreme motion sickness. Flight of the Hippogriff is more of a children’s rollercoaster that is over very fast. The Forbidden Journey is a unique, fun ride but if you have back/neck problems or are prone to motion sickness be wary. I’ve ridden this ride many times, and occasionally I get off of it feeling very nauseous. (Other times I’m fine, go figure!) You can still experience the very fun lines of The Forbidden Journey without riding the ride, just skip out at the end and the cast members will direct you on where to go. Enjoy entering Hogwarts Castle and seeing the trio and Dumbledore’s office. Escape from Gringotts is also not a great idea for those prone to motion sickness or those effected by 3-D special effects. (This ride has never made me feel motion sickness, in comparison to the Forbidden Journey.) The line is also well made and fun and you can join your party and skip out at the end if you want to see it but avoid the ride. Both of these rides require you to stow any bags inside free lockers provided at the front of the rides. The lines for the Forbidden Journey and the Escape from Gringotts are generally longest, so try to ride those first.
Shopping
The Wizarding World areas of both parks have plenty of opportunity for you to get your shopping fix…generally I have to restrain myself and chant in my head that I shouldn’t have gotten a liberal arts degree if I want to own every piece of Harry Potter memorabilia. You can also shop for merchandise in the stores near the front entrances of both parks, and a store in City Walk outside the parks. There is no single store in either park (or City Walk) that contains every piece of merchandise on offer, so be prepared to shop about for the perfect item. If you want a wand, there are two Ollivander’s shops, one in each park, that are usually packed no matter how empty the park is, but there’s also Gregorovitch’s in Diagon Alley (the same wands, less busy) and also some other stores and stands that sell wands. Be advised that you can get merchandising and food discounts with certain annual passes, but not for collectibles, like the wands.
What to Bring
I suggest a light backpack with sunscreen, sunglasses, a hair tie if you have long or medium length hair, a few small snacks if you’re prone to sudden hunger like me, a poncho or umbrella if you’re coming in rainy season, and a small portable fan if you’re coming in the hot part of the year. Please keep in mind you will be forced to throw out any drinks at the security check.
What to Wear
This is the place you can let your cosplay flag fly! I’ve seen so many fun outfits and tons of people wear full robes, even in the heat! I love to wear my yoda backpack (hey he holds a lot and is lightweight) and a Harry Potter related shirt, along with comfortable shoes. Also, as always be aware of the temperature and prepare accordingly.
All in all, enjoy your time in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I know I always do! Do you have questions I didn’t answer? Tips to add? Pictures of you at the Wizarding World? Let me know down below!
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