How to get the most fun out of your Florida escape…
We have some great ideas for you ranging from time in Orlando at the parks to Gulf and Atlantic desinations as well as points in between. Here are some tips to max out the fun meter:
The Universal Pass pays if you visit the park even two times per year and includes train between parks. And you wouldn’t want to but necessarily a park-to-park ticket because there is enough park for each day’s fill.
The photo package is a big yes for value; do it and they are digitally delivered as well. Two free ones to print are included.
The food game is complicated. We opted to have some Wizarding World foods for the total Potter experience. We recommend Butter Beer in all three forms and the easiest place to buy is Diagon Alley. Leaky Cauldron at Diagon and Three Broomsticks at Hogsmead will transport you.
We stayed on property which saves parking fees (approximately 30$) and lends to the flexibility of taking a break and returning later. There is also an express pass and boat option. Endless Summer resorts sleep up to 6 comfortably and supply all you need.
If you want to experince some Halloween / Harry potter dark arts but don’t want to purchase an separate ticket for Halloween Horror Nights! some things you can enjoy when in the parks The Dark arts castle light show and the death eater show where you can even interact with them and maybe get a chance to duel them !plus they have Halloween decorations up and and Halloween store and limited yummy food to try .And the weather is Usually nice .just some of the perks of going in October!
The universal app is is must for any trip it’s free and easy to use ! Definitely will make your trip easier and more fun here are some of the perks of using the app ! You can see the wait times for rides shows and character meet and greets Plus if a ride is delayed you can have it remind you when it opens up so you can be the first to ride it when it opens up again you can even set timers to notify you if the ride goes down to a lower wait time! I absolutely love looking at the menus for food and drink ahead of time And
ordering on the app for pick up. You can even add your wallet to the app for paying easy with your phone and you and purchase tickets Express passes Merchandise and get all the best deals on the app . It also has a Map of cityWalk and all three parks so you can know your way around easily Plus you can even take a photo and write down your parking spot in the parking garage so you can easily remember where you parked after a long day of having fun you can awesome
You can also Rent scooters strollers and wheelchairs ( Deposit and Photo ID required)
They even have nearest places to use the restroom on the app and nearest lockers Side-note helpful tip for lockers Small lockers are free bigger ones you have to pay for ! The app is definitely a lifesaver for your first trip or going for you 100 time I couldn’t recommend it enough it was so many great features on it and it’s completely free
Let’s talk about some of the wizard drinks and snacks I recommend ( I haven’t tried them all yet but hopefully will soon;)
different ways you can enjoy Drinking butterbeer 1 Hot 2 regular 3 frozen (Hot is my favorite personally ) a little life hack mix regular butterbeer and butterbeer ice cream together for a yummy float !
Pumpkin juice is also one of my favorite drinks fizzing pumpkin juice is my favorite 
Now for some my favorite sweets only ones I have tried so far but they have so many Harry Potter things to try ! I love pumpkin pasties they so sweet and a nice taste of fall all year long!
Some more of my faves a cauldron cake if you love cake and lots of frosting this is a must it’s very sweet and super cute what I love about it the cauldron is reasonable so it’s a nice cheap souvenir and the box has the recipe so you can make it at home !
Chocolate frogs are great for your chocolate cravings and make a amazing Souvenir they all come with a Card inside
If you are a ice cream lover even if you are not a big Harry Potter fan you should to a visit into Diagon Alley and go to Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour for wizard world ice cream my favorite is the strawberry peanut butter! But they have so many unique flavors to pick like chocolate chili Apple Crumble Earl Grey and lavender sticky Toffee pudding butterbeer and more plus you can mix and Match flavors and for 10 dollars they give you a souvenir cup !
The best locations to get wizard snacks and drinks are if in Diagon Alley go the Hoping pot for all 3 of butter beers 🍻 pumpkin juices butterbeer ice cream other drinks like fizzing Peachtree Fizzing Tea Fishy Green Ale Otter’s Fizzy Orange Juice Tongue Tying Lemon And more these all non alcoholic drinks but you can purchase alcohol drinks must be 21 with ID
You can also get butterbeer from the carts but they only sell regular! Leaky cauldron and the three broomsticks are a must for any potter fan not only can you get snacks and wizard drinks but i highly recommend eating a meal in one of these places they have lots of food from the movie and it’s really is like you are inside the movie or book you can find the leaky cauldron in Diagon Alley ( universal) and the three broomsticks in hogs made ( Islands )
Sugar plums is the best you can buy cauldron cakes chocolate frogs pumpkin pasties the most delicious chocolate and Carmel apples i have had you don’t want to miss out on get some sweets from Fred and George’s shop they have fudge and my fave Fizzing Whizzbees they are chocolate and fruit flavors with candy’s inside that pop
You can also go to hogs head in location Islands in Hogsmeade they have wizard favorites non alcoholic and alcoholic beverages as well must be 21 with ID !If you are in cityWalk you can also find some wizard treats in stores
Here is the must dos and tips for any Harry Potter fans! I recommend going 2 days so you can get the most of your days ( look into getting the cheapest Annual pass it pays off in about 2 trips plus you get to ride the Hogwarts express included in your pass ! I also recommend staying on site you get to go the parks about one hour early! Let’s talk about Diagon Alley must do’s first Diagon Alley is located in universal studios it’s Hidden from the Muggles so make sure you don’t miss it if you can’t find it ask a worker for help! You can easily spend a day in just in Diagon Alley so many things to see and shops and places to eat here are some of my favorites to do in Diagon Alley
1 eat at leaky cauldron so many amazing options and they have a kids menu plus it’s so well decorated in there it’s just like Harry Potter movies make sure to try all the butter beer I would recommend the original for first time but I love them all hot cold and ice cream! 2 go into Ollivanders you can do wand chooses a wizard ( you don’t have to buy if you don’t want it ) you can also get Harry Potter characters I received buying the Active wands as it’s only a couple dollars more expensive and it will make your trip magical with doing spells around the parks ! I recommend the Gringotts money Exchange it makes for a fun souvenir or just using for shopping
Ride escape from Gringotts it’s such a fun ride and I don’t think you will regret it if you’re a Potter fan or not even if it’s a long wait time it’ such a detail line you won’t get bored if you have done rides like revenge of the mummy spider man Hagrids Transformers and Simpsons you can definitely handle this ride even if you are a bit nervous I don’t think you will regrets going on it’s so magical if you get scared you can always close your eyes or look down! If you don’t want to ride still recommend asking a worker for a Tour inside the bank! Make sure you don’t miss out on the dragon breathing fire 🔥!
The knight bus show is one of the my favorites it’s a amazing photo opportunity and A fun character experience
You also don’t want to miss out on seeing Kreacher peeking his head out in 12 Grimmauld Place!!
Islands of adventure has so many Harry Potter stuff to do as well !! Like exploring hogsmeade village with so many shops like honeudukes getting a wand eating at the three broomstickss getting a butterbeer and more! Seeing the Hogwarts castle is a truly magical moment for any which or wizard! You can even go inside if riding the Harry Potter and the forbidden Journey or ask a team member for a tour if you don’t want to ride but i Recommend it’s so much fun
Flight of the hippogiff and Hagrids are both magical as well!
Let’s talk about some if my favorite shows to see ! Wand chooses wizard show locations in universal and Islands ( only one person gets chosen out of a big group) best chance of being chosen have no wands or giving your wants to someone in your group who doesn’t want to get picked seems like they pick people who don’t have any wands and try to be in the front row to have a better chance of getting noticed! Overall it’s a fun experience even if you don’t get picked and you can ask a team member for a wand recommend !
The horror makeup show is so funny and you learn facts about the classic monster movies ! Just a bit of a warning it might be creepy and gross for some people!! But it’s really well done and funny!!
Let’s talk about jurassic park/jurassic World section in the park! For all my jurassic and dinosaur fan you will be blown away by the jurassic stuff even if you aren’t a big fan you will still have fun on all the rides!! Universal Islands of Adventure has 3 jurassic rides 2 are jurassic park and one is World !
first up is my favorite jurassic River Adventure it is a water ride with a drop! Me and my family Love this one and go on it multiple times when we go! The animatronics and effects are amazing and the drop is seriously so much fun and I honestly don’t even recommend buying a poncho of any the water rides because it doesn’t really help!!
Joy.Star.Sky 