{"id":34374,"date":"2014-08-21T08:59:08","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T12:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/?p=34374"},"modified":"2022-05-05T01:01:15","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T05:01:15","slug":"wizarding-world-harry-potter-diagon-alley-hogwarts-express","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wizarding-world-harry-potter-diagon-alley-hogwarts-express\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think Harry Potter fans world over can relate to what I’m about to say. Who hasn\u2019t read the series and at least once had the thought, \u201cI wish that world were real…”<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a><\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m happy to say that I think the Wizarding World of Harry Potter<\/strong> comes in at a very <\/em>close second! Universal Orlando<\/strong> offers two parks with two distinct Harry Potter experiences to create the Wizarding World: Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure<\/strong> and the brand new Diagon Alley at Universal Studios<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There is so much to see and share that it\u2019s hard to know where to start\u2026 I guess it\u2019s best to start the same place Harry started his journey to Hogwarts: by entering Diagon Alley by way of the streets of London.<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\nMost guests are currently making a beeline towards \u201cHarry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts<\/strong>,\u201d the newest ride at Universal Studios.<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a><\/p>\n

Here you\u2019ll have your chance to encounter characters from the series in a 3D adventure\u2026 if you\u2019re able to get past the goblins keeping guard. Be sure to watch for the fire-breathing dragon that sits atop Gringotts!<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\nBut Gringotts isn\u2019t the only place you\u2019ll find goblins. At the Money Exchange, we traded our \u201cMuggle money\u201d for Wizard Money for use all around the Wizarding World section, in both food and merchandise locations. (Ed. note:\u00a0 Keep in mind that it is not required that you trade in my “Muggle Money” for Wizard Money in order to make purchases at Diagon Alley or Hogsmede, but the experience of doing so is extremely fun.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\nThis audio-animatronic goblin — hard at work — interacts with guests!<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\nSo where would you spend your Gringotts Bucks? How about Weasley\u2019s Wizard Wheezes<\/strong>, the joke shop that Fred and George Weasley opened with a little help from Harry.<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\nOr maybe you\u2019ll grab a meal at the Leaky Cauldron<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\nYou can\u2019t miss buying some ice cream at Florean Fortescue\u2019s Ice Cream Parlor<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\nWe used our Gringotts Bucks to purchase an absolute must-have: BUTTERBEER<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\nOf course, you don\u2019t have to spend any additional money at all to enjoy visiting any of these places. The best fun to be had lies simply in taking in the copious amount of detail all over Diagon Alley; from window displays to a scary turn down Knockturn Alley.\u00a0 Speaking of Knockturn Alley, it is full to the brim with nods to the series that fans will love to take in.<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\nYou could spend an entire day looking at the windows in the various shops (some you can enter, some are false-front).<\/p>\n

While you can\u2019t tell from my simple Muggle photos ;), the displays are motion-filled, and it really does feel like you\u2019re in a world of magic when you see self-knitting needles creating scarves and self-stirring cauldrons boiling with potions.<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\nYou also can’t miss Ollivander\u2019s Wand Shop<\/strong>: be sure to ask where you can go to watch a wand choose its wizard!<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\nAdditionally, guests can attend live performances by Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees<\/strong> (Molly Weasley\u2019s favorite :).<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a><\/p>\n

There is also a memorable presentation of The Tale of the Three Brothers<\/strong> from “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.”<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a><\/p>\n

If you have park-to-park admission<\/strong> (a ticket that allows you to visit both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure on the same day), then you can hitch a ride from one park to the other on \u2013 what else? — Hogwarts Express<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\nJust hop on Platform 9 \u00be<\/strong> by way of King\u2019s Cross station!<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a>
\n\"universal<\/a>
\nExcuse me, please, while I geek out for a moment here\u2026 fans of Harry Potter understand the significance of the Hogwarts Express: the train that carried Harry, Rob, Hermione and all the other young wizards to Hogwarts to start each new school year.<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a><\/p>\n

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, this is like a dream come true for young and old Harry fans alike, as the train moves from one station to the next, weaving elements of the story throughout the trip with some fun effects. And some friends may come along for the ride\u2026<\/p>\n

\"universal<\/a><\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s waiting on the other side? Hogsmeade Village<\/strong> and Hogwarts itself, featuring (among other experiences) \u201cHarry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.\u201d But that’s another story for another time, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you in a future post!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think Harry Potter fans world over can relate to what I’m about to say. Who hasn\u2019t read the series and at least once had the thought, \u201cI wish that world were real…”? Well, I\u2019m happy to say that I think the Wizarding World of Harry Potter comes in at a very close second! Universal…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":34382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[486],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-universal-orlando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86212,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34374\/revisions\/86212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}