The place that I think should be renamed HarryPotterLand.
When
preparing for California, I had only one real request: that my
boyfriend took me to the Universal Studios. Being the big Harry
Potter nerd that I am, there was no way I missed seeing Hogwarts for
real. So there we went, arriving from San Diego to LA at six in the
morning to have access to the park as early as we could and beat
traffic.
I
didn't take a lot of photos in the park, but I really wanted to share
about this experience and maybe give a few tips and tricks for those
planning a visit in the future. Universal Studios Hollywood are a fun
amusement park and if you love cinema, you'll enjoy exploring it.
Now, should I start with my favourite area? Oh yes.
YES.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The place where the dreams of
thousands and thousands of fans come true. This had been on my bucket
list ever since the park opened in Florida, and being able to visit
it in LA this year is something I never thought would happen. Being a
Harry Potter fan since the Philosopher's Stone film came out, this is
a pretty big deal to me. It felt magical to walk around Hogsmeade,
wander in the perfectly-recreated streets, get some sweets in
Honeydukes and even buy your own wand at Ollivander's.
Working
on my Beauxbâtons moves.
By
the way, I've said this on my post about the Warner Bros Studios in
London (post), but Butterbeer is sickly sweet and you probably won't drink more than one
sip of it. While you're there, make sure to check out Honeydukes,
where you'll find the most amazing sweets and extravagant displays.
Ollivander's is also rather impressive, I got my boyfriend a wand there
(living the geek life to the fullest haha) and you're sure to find
the one that matches your personality.
As
for the rides, there are two: The Forbidden
Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff. The latter
is children-friendly and gives you a nice view of the whole area, but
the real star is of course The Forbidden Journey. Set
inside the castle, you'll walk around beautiful decors before
reaching the ride proper. The waiting line goes through corridors
full of moving paintings, passes by the Sorting Hat, Dumbledore's
office, the Defence Against the Dark Arts room, and so on. The ride
itself is an amazing journey in which you fly over the castle and on
the Quidditch pitch, through the Forbidden Forest and live all kinds
of fantastic adventures which I won't give too much detail about,
because keeping the surprise is even better. A magical ride in a
magical setting, from start to finish.
The
rest of the park is amazing too of course. The Universal Studios are
fairly small, and you'll easily walk around to reach the different
rides. My favourite was the Jurassic Park Ride (which leaves you
completely soaked, perfect on a warm summer day), while my
boyfriend's favourite was The Mummy Ride.
My advice for visiting Universal Studios Hollywood!
Buy
your tickets online on the
Universal Studios website, and you'll get early entry in the park
to explore the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. People who get their
tickets on the website get to enter the Studios one hour early, but
only to visit the Harry Potter area. This means Hogsmeade and all the
rides without the crowds. That is what we did during our visit, and
it saved us a
lot of
time for the rest of the day.
One full day is more than enough to visit the whole park and do all the rides once. Granted you probably couldn't see all the shows, but you could squeeze in one or two (we saw Waterworld and it was awesome.) Don't bother getting VIP tickets and all that, if you arrive at the opening, you've got the whole day to see everything. As I said, the Universal Studios isn't a big park like Disneyland can be, so trust me and you'll save money!
One full day is more than enough to visit the whole park and do all the rides once. Granted you probably couldn't see all the shows, but you could squeeze in one or two (we saw Waterworld and it was awesome.) Don't bother getting VIP tickets and all that, if you arrive at the opening, you've got the whole day to see everything. As I said, the Universal Studios isn't a big park like Disneyland can be, so trust me and you'll save money!
Try
and do as many rides as possible in the morning, when the lines
aren't too long and you'll wait only about twenty minutes for any of
them. The most popular rides, from what I've seen, are The Forbidden
Journey, The Jurassic Park Ride, and The Simpsons Ride. In the
afternoon they'll most likely have a waiting time of more than an
hour. So do them all before noon, and you'll have time in the
afternoon to walk around, do the less popular attractions, and watch
shows, which are set on specific times.
The
food inside the park doesn't seem spectacular. They do have a
Starbucks, but the prices are higher than usual there (not
surprising). However, right outside the park is the really cool
Universal CityWalk, where you'll find plenty of restaurants and
coffee places. We skipped food in the Studios and went to the
CityWalk for dinner. Even if you don't plan on eating there, just go
for the sights because it's a really cool area.
If
you are around LA, make sure to visit the Studios. It's such a fun,
well-made park and the rides are all really fun and I was pleasantly
surprised by the technology used for the most recent ones. If you
feel like Disney isn't your thing, try out Universal - it's all
cinema related and a whole lot of fun. I couldn't stop smiling and
jumping around from the moment we entered the park. We're never too
old for stuff like that!
LOOKING FOR MORE TRAVEL GUIDES ABOUT THE US? CHECK THESE OUT:
LOOKING FOR MORE TRAVEL GUIDES ABOUT THE US? CHECK THESE OUT:
Do you like theme parks? Have you ever been to the Universal Studios?
Lots of love,
Julia x
Lots of love,
Julia x
