Tweens! I have tween(S) now that Hailey is 12 and Kaitlyn is newly 10 years old. Celebrating her entering double digits by visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was magical and fun for all of us! Well, perhaps David just tolerated it- thrilled to be with his family; not so thrilled to be at a theme park. But I digress…
We arrived to our hotel on a Tuesday afternoon. We used credit card points to stay at Portofino Bay and despite the massive construction project it was undergoing, I’d stay there again in a heartbeat for two reasons. First, the proximity to the parks. It’s a five minute boat road with boats coming every 10ish minutes, starting at 7:00 AM. Alternatively it’s about a one mile walk along the water to get to the parks; which is nice if you want to feel in control of your own day. That was our plan, but then the boats just made it so much easier.
The second reason I’d stay at Portofino Bay again in a heartbeat is because your room key acts as a Unlimited Express Pass! Separate from the park tickets, but with a value of roughly $300+ EACH, the unlimited express pass allows you to take the express lane on every ride at both parks as many times as you want. Except Hagrid’s Motorbike; there is currently no express option for that popular ride. These passes made the whole experience so much more relaxed than a Disney trip. We really stepped back and let the kids lead the way.
I should probably mention the pool since the kids really enjoyed the water slide and the bingo game played every hour. One entrance to the pool has a sandy zero entry bottom and the other has steps. There is also a bar and grill in the pool area which is convenient. It was a nice add to the otherwise very blocked off construction project state that the hotel is currently in.
We spent two full days at the park. The first day our plan was to rope drop so we could get to Hagrid’s first thing and avoid the typical 60+ minute wait. We woke up at 6:15, were out the door at the downstairs Starbucks (very convenient) by 6:45, and took the first boat over to City Walk at 7:00. The park opened at 9:00 but had early entry at 8:00 for onsite guests. They opened the gate a few minutes prior to that. They were slow with letting us in because they had to scan our tickets and take face pictures of everyone, but then we took off (along with every single other person) to Hagrid’s. Just as we arrived we noticed they weren’t letting anyone into the line… weather delay. And sure enough, 15 minutes later in MONSOONED. Our plan to hit Hagrid’s first was completely thwarted.
The kids were a little bummed, mostly because of the early wake up, but we were still so excited to be in Hogsmead and immediately switched to making the best of it. After we waited out the rain under shelter, we took off to use our express passes on our first ride- Forbidden Journey inside Hogwarts Castle. It’s is a Kaitlyn’s favorite, but Hailey hadn’t gone on it last time so she was a little nervous. We had no line for her to have time to reconsider consider, so one flight on a broom across the Quidditch field later, she was elated. The kids loved it and rode it again immediately, which kicked off our day of FUN!
We deduced that the rain kept the crowds a little lower than usual, despite the fact that it has fully moved out by mid-morning. We had a very Harry Potter-focused morning, which was the main focus of the trip. They girls wanted to do everything at once so it was a bit of a jerky path as we darted between rides, wand magic, Diagon alley stores, street shows, the Knight Bus, 12 Grimmauld Place, the phone booth to call the Ministry of Magic, and riding the Hogwarts Express. But they loved it!
We packed it in and were at The Three Broomsticks for lunch by 11:15, where we walked right in and it was rather empty. The food was surprisingly good! David and I split a beer because apparently they have their own brewery and can only get their special brews in the park. It was fine enough, but we weren’t super bummed we couldn’t buy it at our local grocer.
The rest of the day went by in a blur of much of the same- rides, wand magic, visit to Honeydukes for Kaitlyn to buy candy, and venturing to areas outside of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. One standout was the Velocicoaster in Jurassic Park land. It looked like SO much fun, but I could not convince anyone to go with me. How I ended up in a family where no one is a coaster fan is beyond me. Neither of my kids love the thrill rides, but they all convinced me to go for it. Afterall, we had the express pass. So I did. AND IT WAS AWESOME. It accelerates so quickly, rides so smoothly, and is long enough that you can really enjoy the experience. Highly recommend- even if you have to ride by yourself.
At the end of the first day, Universal closed early for a private event and we missed catching the Hogwarts Express back to Islands of Adventure by ONE minute. The girls really wanted to ride Hagrid’s, so we walked the mile between the parks to make it happen.
We had been watching the wait times on the app all day, but people are right when they say it never drops below an hour. It oscillated between 60-90 minutes consistently throughout the day. However, if you’re in line before the park closes, they’ll let you ride. We all LOVE Hagrid’s though so we decided to just endure the wait. It really wasn’t bad, the queue is mostly inside, themed, and moves quickly. We ended up boarding at the 55 minute mark with two giddy girls who ended up loving it even more than they remembered. It’s truly the best ride ever, especially if you’re a Harry Potter fan.
We got off Hagrid’s after closing and left the park happily exhausted and hungry. I hadn’t made reservations at City Walk, but we ended up being able to get in fairly quickly at the NBC Grill, where we had burgers and fish tacos before taking the boat back to the hotel for showers and falling quickly into bed around 10:00 PM.
Day one stats: Arrival time: 7:15 AM. Early entry: 8:00 AM. Miles walked: 11.5. Rides ridden with Express Unlimited Pass: Forbidden Journey (x3), Flight of the Hippogriff, Hogwarts Express (x4), Escape from Gringott’s (x2), Dr. Seuss Sky Train, Velocicoaster, Dr. Doom’s Freefall, Spiderman (x2), The Simpson’s (a surprise kid favorite), Minion Mayhem, Hagrid’s Motorbike.
Day two we decided to have a more relaxed morning, sleeping until 8:00ish and rode the boat, arriving at the park around 9:00. We decided to start things off on the Universal side with some rides we didn’t make it to on our HP-focused first day. The kids were nervous about The Revenge of the Mummy and ended up loving this indoor coaster, so we rode it twice!
We rode the Jimmy Fallon ride (one of my favs), ET which was very underwhelming for the kids (think Peter Pan level of thrill), shot villains at Minion Mayhem, and made it to our lunch spot at our reserved 11:45 AM sitting. Kaitlyn had been awe-struck by the Chocolate Emporium, a large restaurant between the two parks. It was a great spot! It was cool and clean and the food was really good. Kaitlyn picked out her massive milkshake dessert to top it all off- a great birthday lunch!
I’m glad we had some mid-day downtime because it was hot and the park was packed, much more than the previous day. We caught The Bourne Stuntacular (which was fabulous!) and then found ourselves drawn back into Harry Potter, riding the Hippogriff, visiting shops for souvenirs (a time-turner for K and a journal and wax seal kit for H), escaping Gringotts, watching a street show, and doing wand magic. After chatting about how much everyone loved Hagrid’s, we decided to wait again. This time we grabbed refreshments to eat and drink in line for the 80 (!) minute wait, which was a good call. Hailey braved the motorbike over the sidecar and was all giggles. We all loved the ride just as much the second time!
After Hagrid’s, the girls were on a high about coasters, and Kaitlyn said she’d ride Velocicoaster with me so we darted to the line. Unfortunately by the time we made it there, fear had set in and she said no way. The girls walked through to the other side and waited while David took one for the team and rode it with me; it is seriously SO much fun! What a trooper 🙂
After getting worked up with fear, we had the girls each pick a last ride to squeeze in before the park closed. Kaitlyn picked Hippogriff and Hailey picked Dr. Doom’s Free fall. We squeezed both in before the park closed and we went search of guacamole (which we found at City Walk at Antojitos). As we were leaving the park at close, Kaitlyn mentioned that she was happy to head home the next day, as she wouldn’t know what we’d do if we came back for another day. That, to me, felt like success; we had truly done it all!
Day two stats: arrival time: 9:00 AM. Miles walked: 7.5. Rides ridden with Express Unlimited Pass: Race Through New York, Revenge of the Mummy (x2), Minion Mayhem, ET, Transformers (x2), Men in Black Alien Attack, The Bourne Stuntacular, Escape from Gringott’s (x2), Dr. Doom Free Fall, Spiderman, Hogwarts Express (x2), Velocicoaster, Hagrid’s Motorbike, Flight of the Hippogriff, Forbidden Journey (x2)
I’m so grateful we could make this trip work out for Kaitlyn’s 10th birthday. Like I feel there is a sweet spot for Disney magic, I feel like this was the sweet spot for us for Harry Potter fun, and these memories will undoubtedly stick for all of us for years to come.
