If you’re a big fan of Harry Potter, you probably already heard about this amazing place: the Harry Potter Wizarding World! It’s part of the theme park Islands of Adventure and it is a must-see for every fan. I’m a big fan of Harry Potter myself and when I went to Florida with my parents in 2011, I kept asking them to go there all the time. And eventually I got my way. When we were in Orlando, we visited the park and it was an amazing experience.
You enter this part of the park through a big gate, behind which lies the village of Hogsmeade. This is where all the shops are, like Zonko’s, Ollivander’s and Honeyduke’s. Even if you don’t plan to buy anything, it’s worth it to walk around in the stores for a while. There is so much to see and to recognize from the movies, like Bertie Bott’s Beans and chocolate frogs.
I bought the Bertie Bott’s Beans, but I was sometimes afraid to eat them. You really don’t know what flavor they will be, they all smell the same and one color can have many different flavors. I also bought a time turner, the thing Hermoine used in the third book to go back in time. And I bought my own wand at Ollivander’s! You can buy the wand of a character or your own wand. And as you know, the wand chooses you, so which wand you get depends on your date of birth.
You can also spot the Hogwarts express in Hogsmeade. And there are a lot of other details, like a snowman dressed up as Harry Potter, a stand that sells Butterbeer and a choir of Hogwarts students, singing songs with their frogs, just like in the movies!
There are many cool attractions around Hogsmeade, but the best one according to me was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. We had to stand in line for a really long time, but it wasn’t so bad, because the decor around the line was amazing. It went through the office of Dumbledore, the Defence against the dark arts classroom, the Gryffindor Common Room, the Room of Requirement, the sorting hat and much more.
Afterwards, you get on a ride where it looks like you are flying behind Harry on his broomstick. You pass a dragon, the spiders and the quidditch field where you are attacked by dementors. It was an amazing experience and if it wasn’t for the long line, I’d have ridden it again.
This looks fantastic, thank you for the insight!
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Love it!! What an AMAZING entry!!!
I was at HP Orlando in 2013!!! Couldn’t BELIEVE I was there!!
My dad and I turn HP wands on my dad’s wood lathe – I mainly do pens, but my dad does everything, from vases to bowls & urns, he taught me how to do a wand. I ‘ve only made one – for the narrator of the US books Jim Dale! Have you ever heard the books on audio? If not you are MISSING OUT!
Soon I will have an entire page devoted to HP! I’ve listened to the series #NonStop for nearly 10Years as I sleep (almost every night & nap) since July 2006!
Excepting a few times when it couldn’t be helped:
– like the first night after each brain surgery (I’ve had a total of 7, including 3 resections),
– when the cats knocked my iPod off the clock cradle and under the bed. It was lost for 2mos!
Then I listened to it in German, or listened to Jim Dale read a different novel.)
Jim does a different voice for each character, and ALL the characters!
I have met Jim twice! Sheer LUCK, I assure you!
I made the photo of our first meeting, the day before my 40th birthday, the picture on my “rebuild my credit after bankruptcy credit card” and also placed it inside a “Mirror of Erised” frame I purchased when I visited HP Orlando! When I saw him 4 years later, backstage after his one-man-show “Just Jim Dale”, I asked him to autograph our photo and placed it back inside the frame! Photos will be on my page when I create it!!
On my #SurvivalDay20 trip I am visiting the WarnerBrothersUK studios where they FILMED the series just North of London! WOW! I’m staying in an Airbnb WALKING DISTANCE from the park, so I’m not rushed and spending a fortune on transport & an arm and a leg on lodging in London.
Were you sorted via Pottermore? I am a PROUD Ravenclaw!
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You have experienced lots of Harry Potter-related things, so awesome! I’m a Ravenclaw as well 🙂
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#TheBestHouse
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Reblogged this on my traveling world and commented:
This is on my list of places to see thanks for the pics.
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You’re welcome, I hope you will have the chance to see it soon!
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So do I
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Man, that looks awesome!
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It is! 🙂
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This is awesome! 😀 I must go there some day!
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I hope you do! 🙂
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I want to get my own wand! That all looks so fun 😀 Thank you for sharing!
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There is even a little sort of show where one person of the group gets to test out their wand and destroys half the store!
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You need to go back and also go to Diagon Alley! It’s amazing as well!
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I believe they built Diagon Alley after I visited. I wish I could have seen it at the time. I probably won’t return anytime soon but I hope to go back some day :).
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Great photos! I lovelovelove the Harry Potter series, but I still haven’t visited Orlando. (And I’m even American! I feel like a traitor to the fandom.)
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No need, I’m sure lots of big Harry Potter fans haven’t seen it yet. 🙂
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Omg, thanks for the pics. Really hope to be there one day!
I just need to get my own wand, and it must be from Ollivander!
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Yes! I mean you could order a wand online but it’s just not the same as getting it from Ollivander’s!
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We are planning to go there this year! 🙂 I didn’t know that it has the Harry Potter themepark until I came across your site. Now, I got more excited! Thank you! 🙂
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Awesome, I hope you have lots of fun!
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It’s even great for those who aren’t big Harry Potter fans, like me. I loved it when I went!
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Yes, of course, and even if you don’t like Harry Potter at all, there’s always the rollercoaster!
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Yes! That was one of my favourites, it’s so different!
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Oh my! You are one lucky girl. I hope one day I will get to see this! 🙂
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I felt very lucky indeed! I hope you will 🙂
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This looks amazing, I need to go ASAP!
Alicja | http://www.lifeofaluxaholic.com
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Yes, it can -and SHOULD- be enjoyed by ALL! It’s truly a unique place! If not for my cousins planning ahead and buying my tickets AND my room at the hotel! (I’m on SSDI, limited income)
I could not have gone at all!
#YayFamily!
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That is so sweet of them, I hope you had lots of fun!
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I don’t know why it says it’s 8:31am… It’s 2:33am in my time zone… Gotta check my WordPress…
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Great post! I was there a couple of years ago. I’ve been craving butterbeer ever since!
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Thank you! I believe there are some online recipes for butterbeer!
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Hmmm, with my luck i’ll probably burn it some how. jaja
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You look great!
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Thank you!
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