A few years back, pre COVID (since that is how we measure things nowadays), I brought my kids to Universal. It was one of the first trips I’d brought them on as a single mom and it felt big. But I ended up with my first ever huge migraine, out of nowhere, and was so sick. It was a terrible visit. So since then I’ve been wanting a redo. Today was that big day!
Basically Universal is split into 3 parks, the main Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay. I feel Islands of Adventure connotes a water park, it is not. Volcano Bay is the water park. It is important to note that Harry Potter World is situated in Both Universal and Islands. So you fully enjoy you really need a ticket to both of those parks.
Universal consists of the following worlds: Production Central, New York, San Francisco, Harry Potter: Diagon Alley, Simpsons, Hollywood and Woody Woodpecker (kids area). Islands contains: Harry Potter: Hogsmeade, Marvel Super Hero, The Lost Continent, Jurassic, Toon Lagoon (water based rides) and Seuss Landing (kids area).
This time I had studied up on Harry Potter world. My boys are huge Harry Potter fans. When I was homeschooling them these were the first books they took off reading. They’ve also loved the movies. So I purchased one day tickets to the two parks between which Harry Potter works is situated. There are several guides on how to cover Harry Potter world in one day. I guess my family is super efficient because we covered both parks with good success in one day! Here I tell you how….
Basically Diagon Alley is London, Harry’s home. Hogsmeade is the school/castle. Diagon has only one ride which we did not do, Gringotts.
We aimed to arrive at the 9 am parking opening but actually arrived around 9:20. Parked in the garage. Walked to the park. Started at the main Universal. Rode the NEST (Transformers) ride. Had an incident with losing an Express pass and had to head back to Guest Services to correct. Once corrected we explored Diagon Alley. We also rode the Rip Ride Rockit (in Production Central) We were unanimous that, however cool it is to ride straight up and also the fact that my youngest was deemed of sufficient height, the ride really shakes up your head. Note to send: Tylenol!!
After checking out Diagon Alley briefly, we entered Kings Cross where you board the train to Islands. I should say that we are more riders than shoppers in general so I honesty cannot comment on any shopping experience other than having to buy a fanny pack ☺️ because I forgot a backpack and decided I should carry the express passes (which are paper rather than wristbands which just seems completely impractical especially since they get soaked on the water rides!) I chose a very cute unicorn one that served me well. Pricey mistake however: $26. The train ride across to Islands was fun. It is both attraction/ride and transportation. One of my daughters didn’t even realize we’d crossed into another park.
In general Universal is more discuss effects than huge roller coasters. It’s not that it does not have roller coasters but the real main attractions seem to be rides that incorporate loads of special effects. Several have 3D glasses such as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey in the castle which we rode a couple of times.
Note: unfortunately the Pteranodon Flyers, which looked super fun, have a height ceiling so are mostly for smaller kids. The rides Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure & the VelociCoaster do not accept Express Pass so we passed on those as the lines were long (one hour or more). On the Universal app you can sign up for an alert but the lines never reached our threshold of 15 minutes or less.
One of our favorites was the Revenge of the Mummy in NY World. I thought both NY. And SF worlds replicated the actual cities in a very fun way. We had late night slices of pizza in NY, reminiscent of my days living there (the real NYC) long ago. 🍕
The water ride, Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges, is no joke. My girls and I got so soaked we had to invest in the $5 dryers for the first time ever!
Some rides were down as seems typical, Men in Black in Universal and Poseidon’s Fury in Islands.
Universal was very strict with mask wearing on the attractions.
Universal is not currently offering an all you can eat dining pass, probably because they heard about my teenagers at Busch Gardens last month, so be prepared to spend some bucks. Apparently you can bring in food but we like to travel light. The butter beer is good, especially the frozen variety. Also real beer for those of you traveling with kids/teens needing a break! We found one restaurant, Burger Digs in Jurassic, that advertised a vegan burger. In reality it turned out to be a portabella mushroom with a dairy sauce. I ate it but my 11 year old daughter was squeamish about the mushroom, claiming it was slimy. In general it is probably not an item the amusement park restaurants should be attempting. I’d rather they stick with the regular prepared patties.
Finally, the area surrounding the park, City Walk, appears to be a fun area to eat and hang out whether you have park passes and plans or not. Perhaps akin to Disney’s Disney Springs?
Enjoy & Happy New Year!✨
Notes From Real Life 