24 hours in Universal Orlando!
Drew and I decided to take a spontaneous, quick little Spring trip to Universal in Orlando, FL! We have both been here before, but never together so we were excited to explore and experience the thrill and adventure together.
To preface this blog post, we are HUGE Harry Potter fans, so we did spend most of our day in that world. We wanted to soak up as much Harry Potter as we could, so this is from the perspective of 2 Harry Potter fanatics. We did visit other worlds and areas of the parks, but we were not able to fully experience everything else Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure has to offer. After spending only 1 day in the parks, we came to the conclusion that if you want to fully experience everything and ride all the rides, then give yourself 2-3 days to visit both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.
We went on the first weekend in May and visited the park on a Monday. After talking to our waitress at dinner and a security guard at the park (shout out to Antony), we learned that May is a good time to visit the parks if you want low crowds.
Now, with all this being said, it is a popular theme park, so we did wait in lines, there were still a lot of people around, and the park did not feel “empty”.
We flew into Orlando on Sunday and headed over to the City Walk in the evening. We shopped around, ate dinner, and had a fun start to our trip!
On Monday we went to the parks. We purchased a park hopper ticket so that we could experience both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.
I have written the rest of the blog in different sections of our trip - lodging, food, rides, and shows/other experiences to do in the parks.
Lodging
We stayed at Four Points by Sheraton. It was your average hotel, but something special is that it’s walking distance to Universal and it has a nice pool area. We walked from the hotel to the parks once and from Universal City Walk to the hotel once. There is a paved sidewalk the entire way, but since it’s about a 30 minute walk, I do not recommend taking the walk alone or at night.
Food & Dining
We budgeted a lot for snacks and drinks because this is our favorite category to spend on during vacation! I have categorized what we ordered to eat and drink based on the different locations in the Universal Resort.
City Walk
On the night of our arrival, we ate dinner at Vivo Italian Kitchen in the City Walk. It was very yummy! We got there right when the restaurant opened at 4pm so we did not have to wait for a table. The meal came with bread and olive oil. We ordered fried ricotta as an appetizer and caesar salad to share. For our main entrees, I got the bolognese and Drew got the veal parmesan. Overall, this is a good italian restaurant, but we agreed it was not the best we have ever had. We do recommend this place!
On the morning of our park day, we went to the Starbucks in the City Walk. It was shockingly not crowded at all. On a typical day, I bet you could find this line out the door.
Other places we did not visit, but have heard great things about: Voodoo Doughnuts, The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen, Hard Rock Cafe
*Fun fact: You can see a legit piece of the Berlin Wall at Universal’s City Walk! It is on the back side of the Hard Rock Cafe. It’s hidden back there, so not a lot of people know about it.
Islands of Adventure
Does butterbeer count as a “snack”?! In our book it does! Our first snack of the park day was a regular butter beer with the sweet foam on top from Hogsmeade. It’s delicious, refreshing, and so good. It’s a classic you must get when you visit Universal Studios. The cost at the date we visited was $8.49.
*Fun fact: If you see a long line at butter beer stands in Hogsmeade, hop into the Hogs Head. There’s often a shorter line at the bar and you can order butter beer inside the comfort of an air conditioned restaurant.
Our first official snack of the day was in the morning, so we made our way over to Seuss Landing at the Green Eggs and Ham Cafe for green eggs and ham tater tots. Okay…I know…sounds gross, but I PROMISE they are delicious!!! The “green” part of the dish tasted like pesto and they were smothered in white queso (or cheese sauce for the non-Texans). The cost at the date we visited was $9.99.
For dinner at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, I ordered the Beef Pasties with Garden Salad and Drew ordered the Smoked Turkey Leg and added a side salad. To drink, I wanted to try the Pumpkin Juice (very refreshing and taste like fall in a cup) and also the warm butter beer (also very fall vibes). The total cost at the date we visited was $51.60.
Universal Studios
For lunch at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley, we ordered the Peachtree Fizzing Tea and Tongue Tying Lemon Squash to drink - both were refreshing but not a “must get”. For the grub we ordered the Shepherd’s Pasty Pie and the Fish & Chips…YUM! We shared both dishes. The total cost at the date we visited was $47.88.
Our next snack was after lunch, we got a ginger newt cookie at Sugar Plum’s in Diagon Alley. The cost at the date we visited was $6.39.
It’s so cute – it’s a ginger cookie in the shape of a newt, which is a type of amphibian related to salamanders. This is referenced in the 5th book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Professor McGonagall offers Harry a ginger newt biscuit while in her office.
Next treat was from The Fountain of Fair Fortune. I was waiting in the ice cream line while Drew was getting us a frozen butterbeer and I died laughing when he came out double fisting drinks!! One hand had the frozen butterbeer and his other hand held a beer called Dragon Scale that you can only get at Diagon Alley. The frozen butter beer might have been my favorite form of butterbeer, or maybe that’s because it was a warm afternoon in Florida?! Either way, you must try the frozen butter beer if it’s a warm day! I do not like beer, but Drew said that the beer was good. The cost for both drinks at the date we visited was $21.29.
At Florean Fortescue Ice Cream Parlour, I got the opportunity to try both the butterbeer soft serve and the peanut butter and strawberries ice cream (shout out to Frank). Both were delicious…I love sweets! But my favorite of the two was the butterbeer soft serve. The cost at the date we visited was $7.44 (for one ice cream cone).
*Fun fact: Strawberry and peanut butter ice cream is Harry Potter’s favorite ice cream! Therefore, I had to try it!
Rides
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, if you are a person that loves to ride all the rides and experience most of what the park has to offer, we recommend committing to 2-3 days at the Universal parks to experience everything. With us only being in the parks 1 day, this is what we got to ride:
Hogwarts Express - You must have a park hopper ticket to ride the train. If you have never ridden it before, make sure to give yourself time to ride the train both ways! There are different stories each way you travel. Very magical experience!
Islands of Adventure
Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure - we began and ended our day with this one. It was the only ride we rode more than once. It really is that good!
*Fun fact: If you get in the que (aka the line) before the close of the park, you can finish riding the ride, even if it’s after the official close time of the park. For the day that we went, the park closed at 9pm, so we got in line for Hagrid’s around 8:50pm and we did not leave the park until about 10pm.
Forbidden Journey - aka the Hogwarts castle ride. You can walk through the que to see everything, but not ride the ride. This ride is known to cause nausea for those that are prone to motion sickness, but the detail of the castle interior is definitely worth the tour. Apparently on low attendance park days, you can ask a cast member for a tour of the castle.
Velocicoaster - HUGE roller coaster. If you love thrills, then this one is for you! It was a lot of fun and the props and animatronics in the que are amazing.
Hippogriff roller coaster - very great entry roller coaster for young ones. Still a lot of fun! Honestly, the buck beak animatronic is worth it to ride this one. (Fun fact: Notice how Buckbeak bows at you right before the ride takes off! Love that little detail)
Universal Studios
E.T. Adventure - this is a classic ride-along story ride. Very laid back and enjoyable. It’s one of the few opening day rides still running!
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts - great ride! The animatronics of the goblins are incredible. You do have to wear 3D goggles for this ride.
Shows & Other Experiences
Islands of Adventure
Meet a velociraptor!
Send a letter through “owl mail”
Hogsmeade shopping
Triwizard Spirit Rally
Frog Choir (Hogsmeade)
Ollivanders Experience in Hogsmeade
Universal Studios
Beat Builders - amazing!!
The Blues Brothers Show
Horror Makeup Show - just go to look around at the cool props!
Go inside spongebob’s house
Talk to the Knight Bus driver & get a pic!
The Tales of Beedle the Bard in Diagon Alley
Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees (singers) in Diagon Alley
Diagon Alley shopping
Diagon Alley fire breathing dragon - goes off every 10 minutes. Now you don’t have to wait with your phone out for 8 minutes to try to catch a photo :) It goes off on the 10s.
Ollivanders Wand Experience
Exchange your money at Gringotts Bank
What is your favorite part about Universal Orlando? We love a good theme park and we had such a great time! Excited for our next adventure :)
