My Harry Potter World Experience - Hogsmeade

Sharing the second part of my Wizarding World of Harry Potter adventure! 

(Part one is here in case you missed it!)

After riding Escape from Gringotts, we decided to hop on the Hogwarts Express and head over to Hogsmeade!

Scanning our tickets and checking the train times.

Once you go into King's Cross, an employee scans your ticket (you need the Park to Park pass to be able to travel between Universal Studios, where Diagon Alley is, and Islands of Adventure, where Hogsmeade is).

The employees of the park do such a good job of staying in character. A ticket counter employee in King's Cross asked if my wand was a back scratcher and commented "yeah, lots of people walking around with those, kinda weird right?"

The queue weaves through King's Cross and it felt just like when Harry is in King's Cross looking for Platform 9 3/4.

If you remember in HBP, Dumbledore appears in front of this advert!

Once we weaved through the station, we waited for the Hogwarts Express to pull in.

The employees put us in groups and escorted us into the train cars.

All aboard the Hogwarts Express, off to Hogsmeade and Hogwarts!

Looking out the windows on either side of the train car, you see scenes that are very reminiscent of the movies. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but there's almost a little story that goes along with the train ride (and it's different going to Hogsmeade versus going back to Diagon Alley, so make sure you take it both directions!)

Respect the Spell Limits!

Once we were off the Hogwarts Express, we walked through the station and into Hogsmeade. We visited all the staples - Honeydukes, The Hog's Head, and the post office (where you can mail postcards and they will have a Hogsmeade stamp on them). We ate breakfast at The Hog's Head and enjoyed a traditional English breakfast. Pro tip: the platter they give you is more than enough for two people, so you can split it! B wasn't super hungry so he just snacked on a few of the items while I inhaled most of it.

Trying Butterbeer for the first time!

It had started to get pretty warm by this point, so B got us a butterbeer to enjoy. They are very delicious but VERY sweet - I'm glad we split one, I would not have been able to finish it on my own!

Wanted.

After checking out all the little stores that carry a lot of the same merchandise as the stores in Diagon Alley (including another wand shop), we headed towards Hogwarts so that we could go on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

Pick a destination.

There is a bridge that connects Hogsmeade to the Jurassic Park area of Islands of Adventure, which also happens to be a perfect photo op in front of Hogwarts.

Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.

Standing in front of that castle almost brought me to tears. Harry Potter and that whole world that JK Rowling created has been a part of my life since 5th grade. No matter what was going on in life, I could always get lost in Harry's world and it provided me with an escape. Being in front of that castle was surreal and so emotional!

Entering the Forbidden Journey.

Next we headed over to the entrance of the castle for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is a continuous motion ride that is extremely fun (and I'm not someone who likes rides!). The queue goes through the castle and you see the greenhouses, the Great Hall, and the hallways with the talking paintings. 

Platform 9 3/4 this way!

After going on the ride, we took the Hogwarts Express back to Diagon Alley, then walked out through Universal Studios to go back to the hotel for a power nap and to find some dinner.

Too bad they didn't have a real snack trolley!

In the evenings, there is a light show that is projected onto the castle. We had been at the park most of the day and decided to go back to the hotel, power nap, then hit up the pool and had some snacks poolside. 

The light show was at 8:15 and 8:45 (I believe) so we took the water taxi back to the Islands of Adventure entrance and walked in that way, checked out some of the Jurassic Park area along the way. But the light show is amazing and totally worth going back to the park or staying at the park to see. I didn't take any video or pictures of it, but there's tons on YouTube.

I could not have asked for a better WWoHP experience. The attention to detail is crazy and I really felt like I was in the Harry Potter world. In retrospect I kind of wish that we had had two days at the park instead of just one, but c'est la vie.

I also highly recommend the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort - our room was very nice, the pool area is so cool and has chair-side ordering for food and drinks, and the rum bar in the hotel has amazing food and drinks. 

Can't wait to go back!

I also have an IG story of our day at WWoHP, follow me on Instagram here!