Wizarding World of Harry Potter Part 2: Hogsmeade

I posted about the new expansion for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, and now I am on to the Hogsmeade side at Islands of Adventure. I have been looking forward to posting about The Wizarding World since I am a huge Harry Potter fan, but thought it would be best to hold off until I saw the new Diagon Alley expansion to post them back to back. One misconception is that  these areas are and entire stand alone Harry Potter theme park but they actually aren’t…they are a section of two theme parks. I will warn you, chances are this is going to be a long post! I have been to the Hogsmeade section many times (about 8-9 actually), where I have only been to Diagon Alley this past trip. So I am a lot more familiar with the Hogsmeade section and have had time to notice a lot more!

This is an incredibly unique theme park experience as a whole since The Wizarding World has two sections broken up between the two theme parks. Diagon Alley is in the Universal Park while Hogsmeade is in Islands of Adventure. I actually love that they did it this way because it adds to the authenticity of the Harry Potter franchise since Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are not side by side, you would have to take the Hogwarts Express from London where Diagon Alley is located to get to Hogwarts. And of course you can ride the Hogwarts Express between the two areas from park to park (with a multi park admission ticket), which is another completely unique experience never done before in a theme park. I think separating the two sections just completely added to the experience and it was certainly a smart move for Universal, as it disperses the crowds and helps them bring people into both of their theme parks and increase the revenue in both parks instead of just the one. 

Hogsmeade is the original section Universal Orlando opened on June 18, 2010 and it was a huge success! Hogsmeade cost an estimated $200 Million to build and after only around something like 4 months it is reported the park made that amount back! Getting the rights to the Harry Potter franchise within its parks was one of the best decisions Universal has made because it has paid off huge for them and has given them the cash flow to add other new attractions to their parks. It is heavily rumored that Disney actually had tried to obtain the rights, however they could not reach an agreement due to J.K Rowling’s demands since she wanted to maintain final say on any of the park decisions and wanted things a certain way to stay true to the series. Disney doesn't exactly relinquish control within their theme parks very easily.

Universal has done an amazing job with both of the Harry Potter sections. The attention to detail is absolutely incredible and I would say that the Harry Potter park areas are the best theming I have ever seen in a theme park, even compared to anything currently at Disney (which I VERY rarely will ever say because I am such a Disney addict)! When you walk through Hogsmeade and up to Hogwarts castle located hear you are completely immersed. Even someone who isn’t a Harry Potter fan (I know shockingly they exist - muggles!) would appreciate how detailed Hogsmeade is. The Harry Potter fans will appreciate all of the things in the windows and throughout the queue areas that only they would notice. It is impossible either way to not be impressed. 

Walking through Hogsmeade if you take the time you will find a lot of the fine details throughout. You may want to keep your eyes opened even in areas higher up in the shops and buildings. For example; if you are in the Three Broomsticks keep an eye on the second floor for the shadows of house elves moving around. And when you are walking around the streets keep your eye on the Owlery because every 15 minutes an owl will come out of the clock. Throughout the shop windows you will also find little often overlooked things. In the Three Broomsticks window you will find pots and pans washing themselves, a Mandrake (screams included – so you may want to wear your earmuffs ;P) in the window for Dogweed and Deathcap, Hermione’s dress that she wore to the Yule ball in the Goblet of Fire is in the window for Glandrags Wizard wear just to name a few! 

You also want to be listening carefully as well when you are walking around for many of the sounds in the park. When walking through Hogsmeade you will hear the music from the movies. Such as the choir singing through the lineup for Dragon challenge and so on. If you go into the washroom in Hogsmeade you will of course hear Moaning Myrtle whining and complaining in the washrooms. Even in line for the Forbidden Journey in Hogwarts keep a lookout for the door to the potions classroom and if you listen carefully you will hear a female professor lecturing Neville about how to properly perform a spell! It is all of the little details that make the Wizarding World of Harry Potter truly amazing!

As I mentioned earlier the Harry Potter areas are not actually their own theme parks. So you will find Hogsmeade in the back corner of the Islands of Adventure Park at Universal Orlando. As soon as you enter Islands of Adventure it is impossible to miss Hogwarts directly across the lake. And it really does look exactly like what you see in the movies with all of the little details included. It is high up and uses the same forced perspective (making a structure look much taller than it is by gradually making windows and parts of the building smaller as you go up) used by Disney on Cinderella’s castle to make it actually look much larger than it really is. 

 

Inside Hogwarts castle is the main attraction found in Hogsmeade called The Forbidden Journey. And of course all of the details I have talked about that you can find throughout Hogsmeade you will find throughout the castle queue! You will walk through hallways, A portrait Gallery where you will find talking paintings of Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor. You will walk Dumbledore’s office (where Dumbledore will talk to you). You will then head into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where Ron, Hermione and Harry will be above and come out from under the cloak of invincibility to talk to the muggles in line. Of course you also go through the Gryffindor common room. You will eventually reach the room of requirement which is where you board the ride on your bench that is “enchanted” by Hermione so that muggles can fly to each location. The ride itself is a dark ride which uses a combination of wrap around projection screens and real scenes complete with animatronics. Throughout the ride you will come face to face with a dragon,  Aragog (a very large spider, this is where I always close my eyes since I am a huge arachnaphobe!), the Whomping Willow and of course Dementors!  Again I am not going to ruin any details on the actual ride itself because I hate to spoil anything for anyone, but whether you have seen the movies or not you will enjoy this ride! The fact that I will still ride this even though the ride has spiders in it is actually saying a lot about how great it is!!

The other rides in Hogsmeade are re-themed attractions.  Dragon Challenge (originally Dueling Dragons) is two simultaneous roller coasters (The Chinese Fireball – originally fire and the Hungarian Horntail – originally ice) that are intertwined with one another. As the name implies the two tracks are supposed to be two dragons dueling. The theme for this roller coaster fit into the Harry Potter theming very easily. This is definitely a thrill ride and it is an overall great roller coaster. The third ride is Flight of the Hippogriff (originally the flying unicorn). Which is a mild roller coaster (especially in comparison to all of the other coasters in Universal Orlando). The story behind the coaster is that Hagrid is teaching wizards to fly a Hippogriff and you are taking a test flight over the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid’s Hut with some minor dips and turns along the way. 

And of course newly added is the Hogwarts Express and was technically added as part of Diagon Alley which you can ride between the two parks. The wait time at the station in Hogsmeade over to London actually had a shorter wait than the London station did when we were there this month. But it is two different experiences each way. The views of the countryside and London are the same but the events that happen along the way are different. 

Of course there is a lot more to experience in Hogsmeade besides just the rides as even the shops are an experience in themselves. Even though there is no Ollivanders in Hogsmeade in the series an you will also find one in both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. The one located in Hogsmeade is portrayed as a “branch: of the original shop. In both shops visitors are chosen in small groups to go into a back room and one guest in each group is picked to have the wand “choose” them. After going through this experience you are given the choice to then purchase your wand. Or anyone can purchase a souvenir wand in the shop of course. When the wand is choosing the wizard there will be special effects such as thunder and items in the shop moving. Additional shops are Honeydukes which naturally sells many sweets including the famous Bertie Bott’s Every flavor beans, Chocolate Frogs, many variations of unique candy, Pumpkin Juice, etc. .Over at Dervish and Bangs you will find Quidditch supplies and magical items. Filch’s Emporium is the general gift shop for souvenirs at the exit for the Forbidden Journey. In order to keep with the authenticity of the stores (and meet J.K Rowling’s demands), the shops are very small and therefore can get a little crowded. Also at the Owl post next to Ollivanders wand shop you will find an actual post office where you can mail letters and postcards, which will be delivered with an authentic Hogsmeade postmark! In this shop you can also purchase stationary items and owl related gifts…how fitting!

If you get hungry while you are visiting Hogsmeade I recommend a meal at The Three Broomsticks, which is based on the Inn and Pub from the series. I mentioned The Three Broomsticks earlier on in my post when I told you too keep an eye on the second floor for some house elves shadows! I generally love to go to the Three Broomsticks in the morning for breakfast (although this could change with the addition of the Leaky Cauldron). In the morning you will find options like pancakes, porridge, fruit, etc. Or if you are looking for a meal later in the day they sell fish & chips, Shepherd’s Pie, Rotisserie chicken, ribs and so on. And of course no visit is complete without a delicious cup of Butter Beer!!! 

Overall both sections of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter are amazing! If you are a fan this is an absolute must see! And even if you aren't (muggles...) then you will still enjoy both areas! If you want to see the inside of Hogwarts but do not want to actually go on the ride there is also a walk through queue that will take you through the elaborate queue areas or another variation of them.Universal has had so much success in the Orlando theme park that they recently opened a Hogsmeade area in their Osaka, Japan theme park (not quite as much is included as there is no Dragon Challenge) and they are currently building Hogsmeade in their Hollywood, California park opening in 2016.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter Part 1: Diagon Alley

This is my first post in a little while and I know I have been a little bit slack with posting (summer was so busy!), but I just returned from a fantastic trip to Florida and figured this would be the perfect time to get back to my blog :) For this trip I was most excited for the newly opened Diagon Alley Harry Potter expansion at Universal Studios so that is where I am going to start! 

I am a huge Harry Potter fan so I have been excited for this expansion ever since it was officially announced! Since I follow the parks so closely I pretty much knew a lot of the details even before Universal confirmed them to be true so that is a couple of years of anticipation. And I must say Diagon Alley did not disappoint! 

Universal worked very closely with J.K Rowling for the creation of both Wizarding World sections and it can clearly be seen in the phenomenal attention to detail in these parks. It was very important to her that everything be authentic to the series. The only downfall to this is that the shops and many areas are not as large as as spacious as you will normally find in a theme park but to make them larger would break the feeling that you are actually in these stores which she would not allow. 

When you are in the Universal park and reach the Diagon Alley section, Universal has set up a London facade so that you are really getting the true experience. It is complete with King's Cross Station, 12 Grimmauld Place (home of Sirius Black in the series) and even the Knight bus. What is amazing is how well Diagon Alley is hidden behind the London facade! You don't even see it at all from the outside (like you wouldn't in the muggle world). 

The entrance to Diagon Alley is very well blended in the Leicester Square building near the center. This is where you will find some of that amazing attention to detail. In an opening you will see brick walls and once you go around a turn you will of course see the brick wall open up to Diagon Alley!! J.K Rowling wanted people to enter into Diagon Alley this way just like Harry first did, and while I was skeptical this would be able to work without causing a lot of crowd congestion, this was done very well and it was not difficult at all to get through at all due to crowds!

Once you walk through the wall you enter into Diagon Alley and it truly looks like you just walked into the actual Diagon Alley you see in the movies (except wider streets!!). You are instantly fully immersed into the Diagon Alley experience with fully detailed buildings and music played in the movies in Diagon Alley. You will see familiar places like Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, Ollivanders wand shop, Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour and of course Gringott's!! And just like you can't see Diagon Alley from outside, you can't see anything outside of Diagon Alley so the experience is not broken.      

 

 

We started off our morning of course in Diagon Alley, eating breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron.

The breakfast was delicious (a little pricey but worth it). Also created for the park found at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour was butterbeer ice cream. Since I love butterbeer I had to try this and it was absolutely delicious!!! This may have to be a new must have treat whenever we are at Universal!! I would highly recommend if you visit the park you try the butterbeer ice cream :)

Along with Diagon Alley J.K Rowling also created a new street called Horizont Alley just for the theme park which is an area to the right of Diagon Alley. Also to the left you will find a dark Alley which leads you into Knockturn Alley, a covered area so that it is always dark (like Knockturn Alley is) and of course includes Borgins and Burkes. 

 

Escape to Gringott's is the areas major attraction which is really unlike any other theme park ride and more of a combination of several rides. The outside of the building is complete with a fire breathing dragon atop the building. And yes it really does periodically breath fire! The waits for this ride can be incredibly lengthy since it is so new and unfortunately it does break down a fair amount since they are still working out all of the bugs so I suggest getting on it early in your day. Since we were staying on site at the Hard Rock Resort we had early entry and were able to ride with only a 10 minute wait. Luckily even the queue area as soon as you reach the entrance to the building is incredibly detailed! You enter the bank into the main room seen in the movies (and it truly looks like you walked into the movie) complete with large chandeliers and animatronic goblins working away. 

The ride experience itself is phenomenal. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone so I won't give details on the actual ride itself. Basically the best comparison for this ride is that it is a combination of the Mummy and Spiderman or Transformers. You go through and come to many very large screens that almost surround your ride vehicle at points with 3D picture. But it also has parts which would be a mild roller coaster through the caverns below Gringotts. I am very happy to see this turned into a ride because my husband and I have always said when watching the movies that would make a great roller coaster ride (can you tell we are theme park addicts lol)! The only thing I can really say is that I would have like it to be little more thrilling during the roller coaster portions, but I think they were trying to create something anyone could enjoy and overall it was still an amazing ride experience! 

 

The other major attraction built for this expansion is the Hogwarts Express. This also is a very innovative thing Universal has done as this doubles as transportation between the two Harry Potter sections in each park. You can't get to it from Diagon Alley itself as this is located in King's Cross Station naturally.As you enter and go through half of the queue it just looks as though you are going through King's Cross station in London. Eventually you reach a brick wall which Universal has made it look like you are watching people literally walk through the wall from a portion of the queue and of course when you reach it there is an opening for you to walk through to enter platform 9 3/4!

At platform 9 3/4 you board the Hogwarts Express train(which truly looks like you are on the train) and enter a hallway which has cabins to one side which you sit in. During the train ride over to Hogsmeade the window is equipped with screens to make it look like you are making the journey over to Hogwarts. You will see the countryside and of course the ride doesn't go completely smooth along the way. There is incredible technology on the train on both the doors to your cabin and the screen in your window. The ride in the opposite direction as well from Hogsmeade back to London is a completely different experience. Now keep in mind in order to experience this attraction you must have a multi park ticket for the same day since it is giving you admission to both. The only thing about the ride that drives me crazy is that Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson would not do the voice over for Harry and Hermione for the ride so they had to have them done by someone else. The voice for Harry is close enough that most people probably wouldn't even notice the difference. However the voice for Hermione is clearly not Emma Watson and sounds nothing like her! People in our train even commented on how that was not Hermione talking.

So in conclusion, I thought as a whole Diagon Alley was amazing and done incredibly well and as mentioned before with insane attention to detail. This is a must visit for any Harry Potter fan and I personally think even someone who hasn't seen the movies or read the books would be impressed with Diagon Alley and enjoy it as well! We had a fantastic time exploring the new area and really don't think there is much that they could have done any better. It is probably the best theming in a theme park area I have ever seen with the only other theme park area to match it being Hogsmeade!