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| It's time for a journey to Hogwarts! |
Orlando, Florida, USA
Dates of Travel: Thursday, February 10th – Sunday, February 13th, 2022
I am not so much a theme park kind of person, and especially not a theme park vacation kind of person. That said, Harry Potter is a favorite in our family, so it has been an aspiration to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for quite some time. Thus, we arranged an extended weekend getaway to Orlando, with all four days (two full days, in truth) at the Universal Orlando Resort. This getaway was especially momentous, as it was my sister and brother-in-law’s first vacation since both the pandemic began and since they became parents back in 2020.
Air Travel: Flying from O’Hare Airport to Orlando
Unfortunately, our flight from O’Hare wound up leaving about 3 hours late. Although February snow is always a concern, this time it was mechanical issues in Dallas, and not Chicago weather, that was the cause of our delay. We ultimately didn’t arrive in Orlando until about 5pm, and so we lost our first theme park day. Since we couldn’t visit the parks, we just had dinner in CityWalk and visited a few of the on-site resort hotels instead. The next day, we were finally able to visit both of the big parks: the Islands of Adventure (IoA) and the confusingly named Universal Studios Orlando (USO). For our third and final vacation day, we spent most of our time in USO, tying up loose ends, and catching an evening Mardi Gras parade.
Ground Transportation
We did not rent a car for this trip. Instead, we used Uber to cover the distance between the airport and the hotel. Since there were four of us and luggage, we booked an UberXL. It cost us about $44 each way.
Hotel: Universal's Aventura Hotel
Since this was such a short vacation, and we didn’t want to rent a car, we knew that we needed to stay on site at the Universal Orlando Resort. There are a few hotel options there, and all are pretty expensive compared to the places we usually stay. We ultimately chose to stay at the Aventura Hotel. It had a few appealing features that ultimately swayed us. For one, it was one of the cheaper hotels that is walking distance to the parks. Secondly, the property is tall and compact, making it easy to come and go from your room, unlike its closest competitor, Cabana Bay. I also liked that the Aventura is more sleek and modern compared to Cabana Bay. Finally, Aventura seems to appeal more to adults than to kids/families, which in our case was a plus.
Notes on Aventura Hotel:
- Check-in was quick and easy. We walked right up to the desk without a wait. You can also check-in and check-out from your phone or online.
- You can text the front desk with any questions that you may have during your stay. Convenient!
- There is no such thing as a free/included breakfast at any of the Universal Orlando hotels, so we never bothered to eat breakfast at Aventura. Since we were going to spend money no matter where we ate, we always had breakfast in the parks or at fancier hotels instead.
- Speaking of fancier hotels: we walked into Sapphire Falls, right next door to Aventura, literally every single day of the trip. From there we took the spiral staircase downstairs and back outside, where we could then either proceed to the park on foot via the Garden Walk (worth doing at least once), or else board a water taxi to CityWalk.
- The bus picks passengers up right outside of Aventura, so that is also an option for getting to the parks. We took the bus one time, just for the experience, but we did not prefer it to walking or taking the water taxi. The bus just lacks charm, plus there is the mundane annoyance of traffic and stoplights along the way, although the drive is in fact very short.
- I enjoy an evening cup of tea. This was a little hard for me to find at Aventura. Following the advice of the front desk, I went up to the Roast counter and asked for some tea, which was not advertised, but they had it nonetheless (Tea Forte brand). Weird secret menu item. One bag cost $3 or $4.
- Aventura’s rooftop bar offers a nice view over Orlando. We were able to catch Disney’s firework show from here.
- The hotel elevators advertised a VR gaming room on the second floor, but when we tried to find it, the sign and door were blacked out, so I’m not sure if it is gone forever or just being renovated? We did notice table hockey and a few other games offered outdoors near the poolside bar. You must pay to play.
- When you order room service, robots reputedly make the delivery to your room. We typically never order room service, but we tried to this time, just for the novelty. Unfortunately, our in-room tablet always returned an error, so we ultimately did not get room service or meet any robot butlers.😢
- The hotel bed was comfortable enough, but Andy and I did have some noise issues while trying to sleep. I think our neighbor had small kids, and just past midnight someone was repeatedly opening and slamming the door to their room as loudly as they could, followed by crying and screaming in the hallway. There was also an inexplicable jackhammering noise coming from their bathroom each morning. On the other hand, my sister and brother-in-law’s room adjoined ours, and we were their only neighbors, so they slept well. (With two babies at home, they definitely had more sleep to catch up on.)
- We found our room to be quite spacious (a double queen). Do note that the sink is in the bedroom, which we do not prefer, but at least there is a little bit of a divider, and the toilet and shower/tub (depending on the room) are in their own private space, concealed by a pocket door. Why is privacy such an uncertain commodity at hotels now? Finally, the room also has a small refrigerator, which is handy for keeping water bottles cool.
Restaurants
We got to eat at a lot of the popular, in-demand restaurants at Universal. Advance reservations were a big part of us being able to do that, so planning ahead definitely pays off! Some general notes about our overall dining experience:
- The Chicago area has some of the best food in the world, so this has made us all into food snobs while travelling. With that in mind, I can’t say I found any of the food, even at the most coveted restaurants, to be phenomenal. That is not to say that it was bad – indeed, we had some good meals, but nothing that would have been a major loss to miss out on. Just something to keep in mind, in case you can’t get a reservation at a popular restaurant you were hoping to visit.
- The timing of our Orlando getaway coincided with Universal’s Mardi Gras event, so many establishments were featuring special Mardi Gras-themed menu items for purchase. Sadly, unlike in previous years, there was no special tasting badge to let us try a little bit of everything. 😔
- Just as a bit of forewarning, it almost always took a very long time to receive our food at the sit-down restaurants. It’s probably hard to avoid a long a wait with the huge mobs of people that are everywhere, so the best advice I can give is to not show up anywhere too hungry.
Notes on specific restaurants:
Toothsome Chocolate Emporium: We ate here on the evening of our arrival. Since our flight was late, we were worried we wouldn’t make our reservation in time, but thankfully we just made it. The food was tasty, and the milkshakes were fanciful. They were quite large as well – I was happy to share a milkshake with Andy, rather than trying to confront one all on my own. There is also a candy shop of sorts at the front of the restaurant. Many macarons, chocolate-covered coffee beans, and other temptations are available for purchase there. This is where we picked up some consumable souvenirs for the folks back home (and occasionally a late-night treat for ourselves).
The Three Broomsticks: We had an English-style breakfast here the following morning. That is not my favorite kind of meal. The portions were fairly generous, however. We tried frozen butter beer and pumpkin juice here. I would say the butter beer was vastly superior. The pumpkin juice wasn’t bad, but to me it was nothing very special – it mostly just reminded me of very sweet apple cider. Obviously, a big part of this restaurant is the theming, which will not disappoint. The theming was so good, in fact, that my sister and I thought they had employed live owls to fly about the place – but it was only opportunistic sparrows.
Mythos: We had a 12:30pm lunch reservation booked here, but were hungry much earlier. Thus, we took our chances and arrived just after 11:00am. Mythos was graciously able to seat us right away, which is good, because it took a super long time to receive our order. In fact, it didn’t arrive until 12:30pm – the time of our original lunch reservation. The food was good; portions were not huge. The restaurant interior is massive and cave-like. The outdoor seating area affords some nice views of water and rollercoasters.
Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour: This isn’t really a restaurant, but it is a popular place for ice cream, so I wanted to make sure I mentioned it. Our first time here I ordered the chocolate chili ice cream, which was WAY too spicy. That is saying a lot since I generally like spicy things. One or two bites of it was okay, but the cumulative effect over time was just not enjoyable. It was like eating a habanero pepper dipped in a chocolate milkshake. If you want to try it all the same, I would suggest pairing it with a milder second flavor, such as earl grey, lavender, or clotted cream, all of which were pretty good.
Vivo Italian Kitchen: We didn’t have a reservation here. We tried making one earlier in the day, but allegedly they were already booked up. Undeterred, we arrived at the restaurant as soon as their dinner hours began, our hearts full of hope. This paid off, as they were able to seat us right away. In fact, they weren’t even very busy at all. The food here was pretty good, but again, it was unusually slow to arrive – even the bread. I would say this was probably one of the better meals we had.
Leaky Cauldron: We came here for an English-style lunch as opposed to an English-style breakfast. I liked this place about the same as The Three Broomsticks. I think the Leaky Cauldron was a bit more spacious, however, so there is a little more breathing room.
BigFire: The four of us tried strolling into Cowfish, reservationless, the way we had done to Vivo, but that didn’t work out for us as they were good and truly booked up. So instead, we wandered over to the apparently unpopular (or, at least, less popular) BigFire. This wound up being a happy turn of events. We were seated at a table on their outdoor patio. The patio offered a pleasant atmosphere with plants and a firepit, and moreover offered a rare moment of peace and tranquility. It truly felt like a singular oasis of quiet, insulated from the teeming masses that swarmed the rest of CityWalk. Our waitress was friendly and chatted with us for a bit. The food we ordered was all very good. Although BigFire is a steakhouse, the prices weren’t bad – I’d say they were comparable to any of the other higher-end dinner places at Universal.
Rides
Almost every ride in the parks had a massive, huge, long, and did I mention lengthy line, so we didn’t ride too many of them. We did keep our eye on the Universal app, which gave us estimated wait times (often grossly underestimated); this helped us to plan our course of attack somewhat. Some of the rides we made it onto were:
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey: This was our first ride of the trip. The tour through the castle (in the queue) was quite enjoyable. The ride itself was not. It made us all feel pretty sick, and we had taken Bonine (a motion sickness medication) beforehand. This made me suspect I was just too old for these rides, but none of the subsequent rides caused this problem. Looking around the internet, it seems motion sickness is pretty common on the Forbidden Journey ride, so be forewarned! If you just want to go through the castle and see the props and whatnot, without riding, you can do that as well. Just let them know you are a non-rider and they will escort you to the exit before the actual ride begins.
Velocicoaster: Only my brother-in-law rode this one, as he was the only genuine thrill-seeker in our group and the only one adequately motivated to stand in line. He waited about an hour and a half. He loved the Velocicoaster so much that he practically wanted to step right back into that line.
The Simpsons Ride: This is one of those 3D simulator rides, but as retro Simpsons fans, it was super fun for us. And no line whatsoever!
The Hogwarts Express: We rode the train between the parks in both directions, since the video that plays is different each way. The short train ride was pleasant enough, but as another park visitor announced to the waiting crowd while he disembarked, “An 80-minute wait for a four minute ride, people – AN 80-MINUTE WAIT FOR A FOUR MINUTE RIDE.”
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts: This was our favorite ride. The theming up to the actual ride was fantastic, and the ride itself was just the right amount of thrilling without being overly intense or nauseating.
Notably, we did not make it onto:
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure: We kept our eye on the Universal app, looking for any good opportunity to get in line for this most popular ride. Over the course of our three days, we never made it onto the ride. The wait time was always something like four hours long at least, and the ride frequently broke down (or was “Delayed,” as the app described it). It was too much of a time commitment for us, and also a risk, in the event the ride broke down after our four hours in line. Thus, we gave up on the dream. FYI, the virtual line (beta or otherwise) was not active during our visit and the Express Pass was not accepted here.
Shows and Attractions
There are a bunch of fun little street performances throughout the park, including musical acts and demonstrations of wizardry. There is a schedule of events letting you know exactly when these little shows will take place, but I think they generally work better as spontaneous happenstances. There were also some larger shows that are worth seeking out. A few that we saw were:
Mardi Gras Parade: I think there are actually several Mardi Gras parades throughout the day, but we caught the evening parade, once many other things were otherwise closed in the parks. The parade was spectacular, but unbelievably crowded at times. We found a spot to stand along the parade route, just behind a very old lady in a wheelchair. That meant all kinds of performers stopped right in front of us and countless beads flew in our direction. We had so many beads that we were giving them away. Incidentally, Diana Ross was also performing on stage this evening, and although we could hear her at times, the crowds in her direction were impermeable.
Animal Actors on Location: We are all animal lovers, so it is always fun and impressive to see how humans and animals can cooperate and perform together.
The Wand Ceremony: This is where one lucky person (usually a kid and/or birthday celebrant) is chosen to receive a wand in front of the onlooking crowd. You can see this show at either the Ollivander’s Wand Shop at IoA or USO. We chose the one at USO, in Diagon Alley. I am told that wand shop is the larger and more comfortable of the two. Speaking of wands, if you do buy or receive an interactive wand (or borrow one from a friend, like we did), you can perform a bit of magic in front of select displays throughout the parks. Although the interactive displays were meant to be a bit hidden and understated, they always tended to have a line in front of them, giving away their position.
Other Resort Hotels
Our vacation itinerary included a self-guided walking tour through each resort hotel. Here are my quick impressions/thoughts on each of them.
Cabana Bay was priced very similarly to Aventura Hotel, and so we had briefly considered staying there. I can see how Cabana Bay would be nice for families during a longer stay (they have a huge pool, a bowling alley, etc.), but I am glad we did not stay there. The property is massive, filled with running and screaming kids, and it’s not quite as conveniently located for getting to the parks.
Sapphire Falls, which is right next door to Aventura, mostly served as our shortcut to the water taxis and the Garden Walk. We had breakfast there one day, which was decent enough, and the lobby has an impressive, nautical-looking light fixture.
Were money no object, I might like to stay at the Royal Pacific, with its tranquil atmosphere and attractive courtyard (unfortunately mainly used as an outdoor smoking section). It is also very well-located to the parks and CityWalk, while still feeling a bit removed from the hustle and bustle of it all.
The Hard Rock Hotel would also be a good choice, both for its proximity to the parks and live musical performances. During our quick visit, there was also some kind of outdoor buffet event taking place. This is sort of the antithesis of the Royal Pacific, being a distinctly more lively place.
Finally, Portofino Bay Hotel was the most tempting hotel to consider during our research, but once we were actually there, it did not enamor me quite as much. The “piazza” out front was rather lifeless, and overall the property had the artificial feeling of a movie set. Most of all, when you could fly to Portofino, Italy for less than the cost of 3 nights at the Portofino Hotel, it just did not feel worthwhile to stay there.
Closing Thoughts
Moreso than any particular ride or show, the best part of visiting Universal for us was the atmosphere of the parks, and especially the feeling of being at Hogwarts. It is so fun to wander about, spying all of the subtle little touches, and feeling like you are in the movies. To that end, I would say that Universal Studios Orlando was by far the “true” Hogwarts of the park, with Islands of Adventure having just enough on offer that, as a Harry Potter pilgrim, you feel obligated to go there as well.
Other than Harry Potter, the other themed areas we most enjoyed were The Simpsons area (truly it was like being transported to Springfield) and the superhero area. I also enjoyed the somewhat Arabian Nights themed area in Islands of Adventure.
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