Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter Shines With Extra Magic at Night

in Theme Parks, Universal Orlando

With the Wizarding World of Harry Potter now officially opens at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure theme park, crowds are flocking there by the thousands each day to walk through Hogsmeade Village and tour Hogwarts Castle. But while most of the excited Harry Potter fans are showing up when the park opens in the morning, the real magic comes alive within the Wizarding World at night.

Theme parks are famously more beautiful at night as carefully designed lighting often injects additional character into the surroundings. But when night falls on a highly detailed themed environment like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a bit of extra magic takes place as the area sparkles with life.

Not only is the Wizarding World more beautiful at night, but it’s also a lot less crowded. The many thousands of guests that showed up when Islands of Adventure opened have dwindled down to a few hundred by the time the park closes. With considerably shorter lines and temperatures falling 10-15 degrees less than the hot daytime highs, a couple of peaceful nighttime hours in the Wizarding World can easily result in more fun and enjoyment than being there for half the day. And if you linger around until the park closes, you can even enjoy the freedom to slowly walk out of the area nearly alone, as if it was all built just for you.

I could try to further describe the complete feeling of taking a stroll around Hogsmeade Village at night, but I’d rather let it speak for itself. So I present below a nighttime photo and video tour of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter:

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Hogsmeade Village entrance at night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Hogwarts Express at night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Hogsmeade Village at night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Hogsmeade Village at night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Hogsmeade Village at night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Dragon Challenge entrance at night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Hogwarts Castle at night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey sign at night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Hogwarts Castle at night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

An extra incentive for visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at night is that you can peer into the many animated shop windows throughout Hogsmeade Village without struggling to avoid the glare the sun produces during the day. As a result, you can spot fun visuals like a golden snitch flying around in the background of this window, which I hadn’t even noticed during the daytime:

In walking around the Wizarding World at night, you may find yourself wondering as I was if you are really just in a theme park or if you have somehow transported to another time and place. And once most of the other tourists have left for the night and Hogsmeade Village quiets down with only the triumphant chords of “Hedwig’s Theme” audible, you may feel like you’ve stepped beyond the boundaries of Universal Orlando and into your own private Harry Potter film – with you as the star.

Visit our photo gallery to find even more of our nighttime photos from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

For more excitement from within the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, don’t miss our daytime tours of Hogsmeade Village, Hogwarts Castle (the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey queue), and plenty more.

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