A Guide to Harry Potter World

If you know me, you know I geek out over Harry Potter. We celebrate his birthday every year in July, and I even dressed up as him for an epic Harry Potter book club retreat. As I’ve shared about our trips to Harry Potter World, I started getting questions about how to make the most of your time there, so I decided to create this guide to Harry Potter World.

My husband and I first went to Harry Potter World in Florida with our first baby the year it opened, and experienced the new and improved Wizarding World for the first time last year.

I took my daughter to the California park (with my sister and her daughter) after she finished all of the Harry Potter books. It was such a magical experience to go there with her, and I may or may not have cried when we entered the Hogsmeade gates.

We’ve since been lucky enough to go twice as an entire family. We’ve never been to Disneyland, because in our opinion, Harry Potter World is the happiest place on earth! Here are a few tips to help it be a magical experience for you.

Go to Orlando if you can and buy the Park-to-Park pass.

While the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing in both California and Florida, Orlando has an entire additional section of the park dedicated to Harry Potter. It’s a must for true fans!

If you do go to Orlando, it’s also a must to buy the Park-to-Park pass to experience both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. We have always done the one-day pass because we know we’ll be back again.

Download the Universal Studios app.

You can see ride wait times, weather delays, and show times on the app. Every time we’ve gone to Universal Studios, the weather has been perfect, except when we went in mid-November. It downpoured at the end of the day even though the forecast only showed a slight chance of rain, and we were wishing we’d brought umbrellas and ponchos. Also, it’s more fun to be at the park when you’re wearing Harry Potter shirts. Just sayin.

We’ve been in January, September, and November, and November was by far the busiest. You can pretty much expect lines any time of year, so just go when you can and avoid school holidays is possible. Try to get there when the park opens at 9am. If you book a vacation package, stay at a resort hotel, or use a Preferred or Premier Annual Pass, you can get in an hour before the park opens to the public. We usually just stay in a Marriott nearby.

The wands are worth it.

Once you’re in the park, I’d start at Hogsmeade and just take in the sights. Then, head to Ollivander’s wand shop for the wand experience. If your child gets chosen to be matched with a wand, it’s absolutely magical. We went to Ollivander’s twice in a row and my daughter and her cousin got picked the second time around. It was so fun.

Once you get your interactive wand (they’re $59 and a nice incentive for kids to earn them leading up to your trip), There are spots throughout the entire Harry Potter park to do spells in the shop windows that make things magically move. You stand on the gold emblem on the ground and follow the pattern shown there, keeping your wand movements small and pointing to the sensor. There should be workers around to help.

Don’t miss Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure.

Next, I’d recommend experiencing The Forbidden Journey, the original Harry Potter ride. The movement is not crazy at all, it’s more of a virtual experience, but there are Dementors, so if your kids easily get scared just keep that in mind. The Hippogriff is a really chill roller coaster next to The Forbidden Journey.

Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure is my favorite ride of all time. It had me giggling like a little girl because it’s SO FUN. There’s usually at least a 40-minute wait, but don’t miss it!

Experience the Food.

Next, get a bag of candy at Honeyduke’s. I love the milk bottles, jelly babies, and the teeny tiny gummies with white in the middle that I can’t remember the name of.

Try the Butter Beer, both the frozen and regular if you can, because you need to know what you like most! We tried the pumpkin juice last time we went and that was yummy too. Not as sweet as the Butter Beer.

Take your Butter Beer over to the stage to watch the Tri-Wizard Tournament show. You can check the app for showtimes, but they’re generally every hour. If you need to eat while you’re in Hogsmeade, The Three Broomsticks is a good option, if only to take a look inside. The shepherd’s pie was yummy. The potato leek soup isn’t too bad either. My kids like the mac and cheese and the rib platter with corn. But The Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley is our favorite place to eat!

Head to Diagon Alley.

After you’ve seen all you want to see at Hogsmeade, take the Hogwarts Express to Kings Cross Station. Note: The window show you see on the train is different going to Kings Cross and heading back to Hogsmeade, so do both if you have time.

Once you’re there, first, check out the Night Bus. The driver and talking shrunken head are a treat. Get your token photo inside the red British phone booth and at 12 Grimmauld Place (headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix). Then, head into Diagon Alley and just revel in the magic.

The wand shop on this side is a little different from the Hogsmeade one, so it’s worth doing again if the line isn’t too long. When we went last time, we were able to make an appointment but I’m not sure if that was just a temporary COVID thing. Eat at the Leaky Cauldron (prepare to wait in line). Afterwards, or while one of you waits in line, explore Knockturn Alley right next to Leaky Cauldron. It’s spooky and imaginative and has a few spots for wand spells.

The Escape from Gringotts ride is worth checking out too. There are plenty of spells to do, shops to check out, performances to watch, and nooks and crannies to explore in Diagon Alley. All the details are so well-done and it’s such an immersive experience to be there.

That’s about all I have to offer! If you have tips to add, I would love to know. I hope you have a magical time!

Other things we love to do in Florida:

NASA Kennedy Space Center (and don’t forget to check for rocket launches that may happen while you’re there!)

Cocoa Beach

Gatorland

Leu Gardens

Kelly’s Ice Cream

Keel Farms is the cutest place to eat on an actual farm (and a little playground)

Here’s our first Florida family trip video if you want to see that one too.

For more family trip tips and videos, click here.