Tips for Visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

This summer, my family and I visited Universal Studios Hollywood and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It's a great place to go if you want to go to Hogsmead and pretend that you aren't a muggle for a little while. This is a very popular place at Universal Studios, with a long line for just the $6.45 Butterbeer. It's also not as big of an area as you'd expect so a lot of people can make it seem even more crowded.

Below are my tips for getting the most out of your visit.

1) Buy your season passes at Costco. Costco sells the passes for $109 but on the Universal Studios website it's $119. It's also $119 for the 2 day pass. We were there over three days so it was cheaper to buy the $109 year pass than it was to purchase a two day pass.

2) Go midweek if you can. We were there from Tuesday through Thursday at the end of August. Many of the less popular attractions at the park had much shorter lines than they did earlier in the summer. Even the Flight of the Hippogriff was only about 20 minutes on the first day.



3) Go early! The first day we arrived at around 3pm and it was so crowded that it was difficult to see inside the shop windows, much less go inside the shops. Even if you don't buy anything, visit the shops. They are all elaborately decorated to give you the feel of the films and the books. On our second day, we were at the park at 9am when it opened. With the exception of the Ollivander's wand buying experience, we walked right on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The day before the line had been 75 minutes. We were even able to get off and right back on for about a half hour before it was no longer possible. At that point, we headed over to Flight of the Hippogriff and rode it several times with little to no wait. By 11:30 am the park began to really fill and the wait times rose dramatically. Be aware that the Forbidden Journey ride is dark and might be scary for younger children.

4) Bring your own costume. If you or your little one already own a Gryffindor cloak then wear it when you enter the park. It's actually encouraged. The robes they sell in the gift shops are nice but at $109 a bit steep. Wear in your own costume and you can still have fun but for a lot less money.

5) If your little ones have their hearts set on the Ollivander's wand fitting experience then make that your first stop when you get there at 9am. Even at that point the wait was 20 minutes since they only let in a few people at a time. If you can live without the wand fitting experience then just poke around Ollivander's. It's still amazing and you can skip the line.

6) Use your phone to check the website for updates on ride wait times. Universal Studios also has numerous boards throughout the park that list wait times. It allows you to better plan the next activity you want to do.

7) Have fun and get lost in the magic of Harry Potter!


If you need to get lost in a story then check out my novels because they are fun to read.

For other places to visit and tips check out this post and this post.