Trip Report Day 2: Universal Orlando VIP Experience

If you missed day 1 of my trip report, you can read it by clicking here.

Day 2 is all about our first visit to Universal Orlando and the private VIP experience that we did.  (We have also done the private VIP tour at Disney World which you can read about here, and the Ultimate Disney Classics VIP tour which you can read about here).  We only had one day to spend at the parks and were mainly focused on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter because my family are HUGE Harry Potter fans.  If you are not interested in or don’t care for Harry Potter, you probably will not find this post interesting.  But, be sure to come back for day 3 as we board the Disney Dream for a 3 night cruise.  If you like Harry Potter, then read on.

The morning started very early.  We were up at 6:00 to get everyone ready to head to breakfast at 7:00.  Normally it is hard to wake my girls up that early, but they were so excited that they got up easily.  They had been looking forward to this day for months and it was finally here!

For breakfast we headed over to the food court area at our hotel, Cabana Bay.  I thought the food court had an great selection of breakfast items and it was easy to navigate and get through, even with 4 kids.  All of the employees were nice and helpful.  The food was good, and we enjoyed watching the retro (i.e. 1960-70’s) commercials that are played on 2 giant screens.  My kids thought that the toys from that time period were hysterical.  My husband and I talked about how we used to play with toys like that and officially felt old.  Here we are finishing up breakfast:

 

After breakfast we got in our car and made the 5 minute drive Universal Orlando.  The VIP experience includes valet parking, so we followed the signs to the valet parking entrance.  Here we are pulling up:

I was not impressed with the valet guys.  We sat in our car for at least 5 minutes and despite being the only car there (the minivan above was empty), no one came to greet us.  Finally my husband got out of the car and walked over to the little booth area and managed to find someone to take our car.  We went through the security screening and then headed off to find the main entrance of the park, taking pictures along the way.

We were following the directions to the VIP lounge given in my email confirmation and we easily found it.  We were a few minutes early and the door was locked, so we waited outside.

Let me take a minute and tell you little bit about the VIP experience.  We did the Private VIP experience and I reserved it over the phone about 6 months in advance.  You pay in full when you reserve, but you can cancel up to a few days in advance (I think it was 48 hours, but I’m not completely sure on that) and get a full refund.  You can read all of the details here on the Universal Orlando website.

Ater a few minutes, a nice man let us through the door and we waited inside.  It was all decorated for Halloween:

This stairwell reminded me of the portraits in Hogwarts:

We were so excited to get this day started!!!

Soon we were greeted by a young man who asked to see our park tickets.  Sadly, park admission is not included in the cost of the tour (which I think is crazy!) so we had to purchase tickets separately.  He went off to scan our tickets, came back, and told us we were welcome to walk upstairs to the lounge area where there were food and beverages available.  The lounge area was really nice:

I knew that breakfast would be available here, but we chose to eat at the hotel so that we could hit the parks sooner and not waste precious time eating.  We only waited a few minutes until our guide Veronica came over and introduced herself.  I’m sure all of the guides are wonderful, but I think we really lucked out in getting Veronica.  She was amazing!  We spent a few minutes getting acquainted and then let her know that our number one priority for the day was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  We told her that once we soaked up every ounce of WWHP, then we were open to going to other areas of the parks but that the WWHP was our main focus.  Before we hit the parks I took a quick picture of the girls with Veronica:

As we headed into the park we stopped for a photo op with a park photographer.  Unlike the WDW VIP tour, digital copies of all of the My Universal Photos that you take are included in the price of the VIP experience.

We walked towards the WWHP, chatting with Veronica along the way.  Before we knew it we saw this:

We were all so excited!  We had been waiting for this day for such a long time!  The sun was really bright here so this is the best picture we got:

This was a replica of a typical London street.  My kids quickly spotted the Leaky Cauldron:

The phone booth entrance to the Ministry of Magic was really neat:

It was at this point that we realized our kids do not know how to operate a rotary phone.  They remembered the code from the book (62442 which spells MAGIC) and went in ready to dial it, only to discover that they didn’t know what to do.  Veronica explained to them how you put your finger on a number and turn, wait or it to spin back, do the same thing for the second number, etc.  But, our 10 year old didn’t realize that she needed to first lift the hand piece and place it next to her ear!  Ha ha!  We got a good laugh over that.  If you do manage to successfully operate the phone, you will hear a message from the Ministry of Magic.

After the phone booth it was time to enter Diagon Alley.  The entrance in cleverly hidden along the London street so you have to look carefully to find it.  Here is what we first saw:

Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes:

Walking towards Gringott’s:

We passed the entrance to Knockturn Alley and stopped for a photo.  We would go inside of it later.

Family photo in Diagon Alley:

Veronica asked what we would like to do first and we decided to ride Escape from Gringott’s, so we kept walking towards the bank.

When we walked inside it was incredible!  It is so much like the movie and such a neat thing to experience.

Part of the VIP experience is that you get to skip the lines for rides.  Unlike the VIP tour at Disney World (you can read my trip report for that here) in which your tour guide leads you to the Fast Pass lines, this experience gets you straight to the front of the lines.  Even though we got to skip the lines on rides, Veronica was always careful to show us all of the neat things in the queue areas (and there are a lot!) so that we didn’t miss out on anything.  Veronica led us through some back hallways and staircases and soon we were at the front of the line and ready to ride Escape from Gringott’s.  She recommended that we ride it once in the front car, and then again in the second car because you get a different experience in each location.

We rode in the front car first and it was amazing!  We got off, walked through some back hallways and then got back right on a second time.  Veronica was right, it does feel different based on where you are sitting.  The girls chose to ride it a third time while the adults waited.

We exited Gringott’s and headed straight for Ollivander’s Wand Shop.  In addition to the store, there is a little show where a small group of people are led into a room and can watch a wand pairing ceremony.  The wand maker chooses someone from the crowd to come forward and have a wand choose them.  Veronica led us to the front of the line and we just had to wait a few minutes for the show in progress to finish.  Then, we went inside for the show.  The wand maker ended up choosing my youngest 2 girls to come forward and they were thrilled!  It was very dark inside so I didn’t try to take any pictures, but I did take a video:

When the show was over we walked into the shop next door to buy some wands.  They sell pretty much every character’s wand, and they also sell an assortment of non-character wands that will choose you based on your birthday or personality traits.  My girls wanted to go this route, so we found a wand maker amongst the crowd (it was VERY crowded in there!) and asked for her assistance.

All of the non-character wands are interactive, which means that there are special places throughout the WWHP where you can stand, wave your wand as instructed by a diagram, and make magic happen.  The characters’ wands are can be purchased either way – interactive or not, although the interactive wands are more expensive.

After purchasing our wands (this is a good place to let you know that with the VIP experience you get 10% off of all merchandise in the parks), we went out into Diagon Alley to try them out.  Veronica was very helpful throughout the day in showing us where the opportunities for magic were located and also helping the girls get them to work (they can be a little finicky).  Here my daughter was using her wand to make the eyeballs open, close and move around.

Next it was time to sample some butter beer and pumpkin juice.  We had been looking forward to this for months!  We all wanted to sample a few different items, so instead of each getting our own, we got one each of the cold butter beer, frozen butter beer, butter beer ice cream, and pumpkin juice, with 6 straws and 6 spoons.  They also sold hot butter beer like they drink in the books/movies, but we didn’t feel like a hot drink at the time.  I regret not taking pictures before we dug in, but I totally forgot.  Here we are sampling everything:

Some of us liked the frozen version better and some of us liked the cold version better.  We all thought the ice cream was delicious but only a couple of us liked the pumpkin juice.  My husband liked it, I thought it was okay, and I think one of the girls may have thought it was ok as well.  It is hard to describe but it has a very pumpkin pie spice flavor to it – sort of a cinnamon/nutmeg/clove flavor only in cold liquid form.  I’m glad I tried it but I don’t think I would buy it again.

We were right next to Magical Menagerie (the animal store) so we popped inside for a minute.  Veronica was so sweet to go to the bathroom and wash out our souvenir mugs while we were in there.  My youngest quickly found the pygmy puffs!

She had her heart set on buying a pygmy puff for quite a while, but Veronica told us that if we waited and bought one at the joke shop then they would perform an adoption ceremony.  So, we didn’t buy one here.  It was a cute shop to look around and by far the least crowded shop we experienced that day.

On our way to the joke shop, we did some more wand magic.

We went into Knockturn Alley but it was very dark in there so I didn’t take any pictures.  There were some opportunities to use your wand to perform some “dark” magic, like unlock a door, make a skeleton move, and torture a bird.  We did those and also went inside Borgin & Burkes which had some really cool stuff.  We didn’t buy anything but we did get to see the vanishing cabinet.  If you put your ear up to it you will hear a bird chirping.

Next up was the joke shop, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.  It looks exactly like it does in the movies.

It was really fun looking at all of the items from the books/movies.

My youngest two wanted to adopt a pygmy puff so they chose theirs and when you pay, they will perform an “adoption ceremony” if you ask.  We asked so they did!  They make an announcement to the whole store and everyone applauds.  It was really cute.

At this time we decided we were ready to ride the Hogwarts Express and head over to Hogsmeade Village.  Note that in order to ride the Hogwarts Express, which takes you between Universal Studios (Diagon Alley) and Islands of Adventure (Hogsmeade), you must purchase a park-to-park ticket for the day since you will be going from one park to the other.

On our way to Kings Cross to catch the train, we passed the Knight Bus and had to stop to take a look.

We went towards Kings Cross Station to board the train.  I like this picture of my neice running towards it – yes, we were that excited!

The muggles who work at the station know nothing of the Wizarding World, and one asked us why we were carrying funny sticks and what our shirts meant .  We stopped to pose with her:

Once again Veronica led us a back route to avoid the line.  Along, the way, she stopped and let us walk through the brick wall to platform 9 3/4.  Here is a picture I took of some other people walking through:

It really looks like they are walking through the wall.  Veronica was kind enough to take a video of our family walking through.

We only had to wait a few minutes to board the train.

They tell you which compartment to go to, and Veronica led the way:

It was so cool to be sitting inside a compartment that looked exactly like the movie!

When the train started moving, the graphics in the windows were very realistic.

You see all sorts of scenery from the movies out the window, and then there is also stuff to see (and hear!) through the translucent windows on the other side.  This is the best picture I got:

The train ride was short but really, really cool.  We got off and began walking into Hogsmeade Village.

Finally, we see Hogwarts!

Our first mission in Hogsmeade was to ride the Forbidden Journey.  I had done some research ahead of time and knew that this was a motion simulator that made some people sick.  I have felt queasy on motion simulators before so I asked Veronica what to expect.  She said that on a motion sickness scale of 1 to 10, this ride is a 10.  I was nervous, but too curious to not ride it.  Veronica said that we should definitely ride it before lunch instead of after.

After a quick bathroom stop and encounter with Moaning Myrtle, Veronica ushered us through the queue areas inside of Hogwarts Castle so that we could see all of the neat stuff that we would be missing by skipping the line.  It was very dark in there so I didn’t get many photos.  Here is the hall of portraits:

We also saw Dumbledore’s office, the Fat Lady portrait, the potions classroom, and maybe some others but it all happened so fast and without photos I am having a hard time remembering.

The ride itself was intense but spectacular.  I felt queasy pretty quickly and ended up shutting my eyes several times to try and calm it.  By the time it was over, I was very, very ready for it to be over.  I ended up feeling queasy for about an hour afterwards.  My kids, however, loved and it wanted to do it again immediately.  They handled it fine the second time as well, although my oldest said that she started feeling funny at the very end of the second turn.  My husband and I looked around the shops while Veronica took them for round 2.  Here are the photos from the ride.  Since we were 2 groups of 3, they placed someone from the single rider line with both of our groups.

After the Forbidden Journey we were right next to Flight of the Hippogriff so we decided to do that.  It is a small roller coaster very similar to the Barnstormer at Disney World.  I didn’t remember to take a picture, but here is one from the Universal Orlando website:

We probably would have ridden it a second time except for the fact that we were getting really hungry for lunch.  As we were exiting the ride, the frog choir walked past us on their way to perform so we followed them and watched the performance.

The performance was impressive considering it is all a cappella.  They are some very talented witches and wizards.

Next it was lunch time.  We went to the Three Broomsticks which is the counter service restaurant in Hogsmeade.  One neat fact about this restaurant is that the restaurant in Orlando was designed before the restaurant appeared in any of the films, so the movie set was based off this one instead of the other way around.  In my opinion, this restaurant is one of the best examples of theming in all of WWHP.

We had to wait in a line to order but the line moved very quickly.  While we were in line we looked at the menu.  They also had a display behind glass of all of the options which was helpful.  The price of lunch is included in the VIP experience, so Veronica let us know how much we could order and gave recommendations.  We ended up getting a Great Feast (garden salad, rotisserie smoked chicken and spareribs, corn on the cob, roasted veggies and potatoes) which is supposed to feed 4 but Veronica told us feeds more like 6-8.  We also got an order of fish & chips and a turkey leg with the intent of everyone sharing everything.  We drank mostly water, but did get a couple of butter beers to share between us, and we all chose butter beer ice cream for dessert.  The food was outstanding!  It looked and tasted so much better than typical theme park food.  Even the kids were raving about how good it was.  Although it is counter service, an employee will show you to a table so you don’t have to worry about looking for a place to sit while carrying your food.  We were lucky to be seated at the big table in front of the fireplace.

Veronica told us that there are several actual movie props on display here, including some (but not all) of the antlers above the fireplace.  I really wish I had remembered to take pictures of the food before we ate, but I ALWAYS forget to photograph food.  Always.  Here is what I have:

The details in this restaurant are amazing:

Finishing up our butter beer ice cream:

After that delicious lunch, we headed next door to Honeyduke’s candy shop.

It was very crowded in there, so I didn’t get many pictures.  Here are the only two that I took:

They have all of the candy that you would expect from the books/movies (chocolate frogs, fizzing whizbees, every flavor beans, etc) plus so much more.  We let the girls each pick out one thing to buy.

Next the girls used their wands to do some magic on the streets of Hogsmeade.

There is a roller coaster in Hogsmeade called Dragon Challenge, but we decided it was too intense for our group and skipped it.

This was the point in the day where I stopped taking so many pictures and thus, things get a little bit fuzzy.  I’ll try my best to remember everything in the right order.  I think we got back on the Hogwarts Express and rode it back to Diagon Alley.  The experience on the train is different going the other direction, so make sure you ride it both ways!

At this point we decided to venture outside of the Wizarding World and do a few rides in the rest of Universal Studios.  First we rode Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.  Well, the girls and my husband did.  I decided to sit this one out and just chat with Veronica.  While they were riding, I decided we should get a stroller for our youngest because she was starting to complain about being tired.  We also had a lot of bags of souvenirs by this point and were tired of carrying them.  Veronica offered to get the stroller, and came back a few minutes later with one.

After the Minions, we rode ET Adventure which Veronica told us is the oldest attraction at the park.  It was really fun and reminded me of being a kid.  After ET, we rode Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster.  It is a small roller coaster very similar to Flight of the Hippogriff.  We rode it two times in a row.

By this time it was getting close to 4:00 and our VIP Experience with Veronica was over at 5:00.  Also, Universal Studios (where we were) closed at 5:00 that day although Islands of Adventure was open until 8:00.  So, we needed to make sure and get onto the Hogwarts Express and back to Hogsmeade/Islands of Adventure before 5:00, while we still had Veronica to bypass the line for the train.  So, off we went back to Diagon Alley.  As we were walking towards Diagon Alley, we were talking about what our favorite ride was so far and the girls all said Escape from Gringott’s. So, we decided to ride it again since we would be walking right past it.

After quickly riding Escape from Gringott’s two more times (for a total of 5 times that day!), we walked through a few more shops like Madam Malkins Robes and Quality Quidditch Supplies.  Madam Malkins had some amazing (and expensive!) items like Hermione’s Yule Ball Gown and a very realistic-looking W sweater.  I was so tempted to buy one of the ball gowns for my girls but I resisted.  We also saw 12 Grimmauld Place which was really cool!  If you watch the upstairs window, you will see Kreacher peek through the curtains every so often.

It was almost 5:00 so back on the Hogwarts Express we went.  The line was really, really long at this point.  Veronica said it was a 2+ hour wait because this park was about to close and everyone wanted to get over to the other one that would still be open for 3 more hours.  She said that everyone who was in line by 5:00 would get to ride it, although it would be after 7:00 by the time they arrived and then they would only have less than an hour until that park closed.  Veronica got us past the line again and we were on the train a few minutes later.

After getting off the train, it was sadly time to say good bye to Veronica.  She was an amazing tour guide and we could not have enjoyed our day with her more.  Before saying good bye, she gave us our vouchers for dinner (which was included in the VIP experience) and gave us recommendations for restaurants.  We decided to eat at Vivo, an Italian restaurant in the City Walk area so we headed towards the exit of the park and towards the City Walk.  On the way we passed through Seuss Landing which was a spectacular sight with all of the bright colors.  I felt like I was inside of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  The wait for the High in the Sky Trolley Train ride was only 5 minutes, so my husband took the younger two on it.  The rest of us found a shady spot to sit and relax – we were all TIRED by this point!

Now, since the girls were all starting to complain about being tired, we were on a mission to get to VIVO as fast as possible as a chair and food were their only hope at this point.  It was a pretty far walk, but the girls were champs and hung in there.

Vivo is a very nice restaurant, much nicer than I was expecting to find in the City Walk.  No kids cups here, and water served from a bottle!

The food was outstanding.  My niece declared her lasagna “the best I’ve ever had”.  While eating dinner we discussed how great the day had been, and all agreed that this day would go down in the books as one of the best ever!

Sitting down and eating seemed to recharge the kids a little bit, but we were still all ready to just go back to the hotel after we finished eating.  The walk back to the valet area wasn’t very far, and before long we were in our car, driving back to our hotel.  We all showered and got into bed as we had another early wake-up call in the morning, this time to drive to Port Canaveral and board the Disney Dream!

Stay tuned for Day 3:  Boarding the Disney Dream!