Harry Potter World: California Edition

Ok if you hadn’t heard, Universal Studios opened up a new Harry Potter World in the Hollywood Park! YAY!!! This is awesome news for us because flying to California is so much faster, cheaper, and easier than flying to Florida. We just spent a day there but it was magical!

So I’ve been asked a few times what the differences between the two parks are and here it is: Orlando is bigger and busier. When the Florida park was opened, there was Hogsmeade with a bunch of shops, Hogwarts castle with a ride inside, a big dragon rollercoaster, and Flight of the Hippogriff. Then they opened up “the other side” where there was Diagon Alley, Gringotts, Knockturn Alley, and they built the Hogwarts Express! It’s really SO amazing. All of it.

So California has the first side, almost identically laid out minus the big dragon rollercoaster. It was kind of like deja vu walking around it’s so much like the Orlando one!

One of my best tips: Go into the Hogshead for butterbeer!! There’s two carts around the park that you can buy it at and they always have super long lines and it’s usually super hot. So go into this little pub! The line is usually pretty short but there’s always air conditioning!DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT even waste your time with regular butterbeer. Just get frozen butterbeer and thank me later. I’ve literally never had anyone tell me how much they love butterbeer. But everyone I talk to raves about frozen butterbeer! Dave was holding my drink while I got my camera setup-haha!
Ok let’s talk food.. we usually always eat at the 3 Broomsticks while we’re there! Dave always gets a Turkey leg, which is huge and delicious and the corn that comes with it is really good too! We both get salads too! It’s nice to have something fresh on a hot day.

Then I’ll get a different meal each time. This was Shepherds Pie, it came with my salad and some fruit! The “ranch” isn’t exactly ranch but it’s good and I also like the balsamic dressing.

And I’ve been LOVING my new LowePro camera bag–I’ll have to do a review on it!Ok then we went out of Harry Potter World and explored the rest of the park!The had one of those creepy lifelike dinosaurs! It was really cool though!

Until next time!!