Planning a Florida travel vacation? You are in for a big treat! That Wizarding World of Harry Potter is always full of surprises and he is now coming to Florida’s Island of Adventures. Scheduled to open in the spring, this will be the biggest attraction at Universal Studios. The excitement begins as you go through the towering Hogwarts castle gates. Here you will be able to explore familiar passageways, corridors, classrooms and explore the shops of Hogsmeade™, where you will find all sorts of wares from the Wizarding best establishments including the ‘Three Broomsticks’ ™, ‘Zonko’s'™, Honeydukes’™, ‘Ollivanders’™ and much more. (photo courtesy: Universal Studios)

Ready for a surprising treat? Then head on over to Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer or get a pumpkin juice at the Hog’s Head pub. While there, be sure to visit Honeydukes ™ for unique sweets that include chocolate frogs ™, Bertie Bott’s every flavor beans™, cauldron cakes and treacle fudge. And don’t forget to visit Zonko’s ™ Joke shop where you will find a huge selection of jokes and tricks like extendable ears and sneakoscopes. If you want to impress family members and friends, head on over to the Owl Post and send them a postcard or letter with a Hogsmeaded postmark. From here you can then visit Ollivanders ™ wand shop where a wand chooses you for an incredible interactive experience.

There is so much to do at this new theme park and the plan is to bring a collection of rides and attractions designed around the magic and adventures of Harry Potter. It is believed that the main attraction will be ‘Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.’ Other rides include Dragon Challenge™, which is a twin high speed roller coaster and Flight of the Hippogriff ™ a smaller family coaster that takes you through the sky over Hogwarts castle grounds. The Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ™ said to be the main attraction uses new state of the art technology to bring the magic, stories and characters of Harry Potter to life. (photo courtesy: Universal Studios)

Everyone is saying that this is the biggest attraction opening this spring at Universal Studio’s Island of Adventure. The Harry Potter fever is growing in leaps and bounds in popularity and the Brits are thrilled. Already British tourists are flocking in thousands for the event and according to Trevor Davis of tour giant Co-operative Travel, family bookings are up seven percent compared to last year. Imagine 20 acres of the magic of Harry Potter! It is time to start planning your Florida travel vacation and be sure to spend some time at this incredible new theme park in Orlando. This will be definitely an unforgettable experience for the whole family.

Islands of Adventure, which is part of Universal Studios in Florida, consists of five different themed lands. Here all your favorite children’s stories, legends, myths, comic books, and cartoon heroes come to life in state-of-the-art rides and attractions providing adventure-filled days for all ages. When you arrive at the park, you are escorted to a main port of entry where guests depart to an inland sea to visit the islands. Islands of Adventure opened in 1999 along with CityWalk making Universal Studios in Florida the famous Universal Orlando Resort. (photo credit: newphx.org)

Attractions at Marvel Super Hero Island

The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman – if you love roller coasters this will be the ultimate coaster adventure for you.
Dr. Dooms Fear Fall – here you will be taking fear to new heights as Doctor Doom prepares to submit you to his evil experiments via a device that will extract all fear from your body by rocketing you 200 feet into the air and then sending you back down faster than gravity itself.
Storm Force Accelatron – get ready for a whirling and spinning ride and watch a battle between the world’s super heroes against villains in a battle of good and evil.

Attractions at Toon Lagoon Island

Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges – watch as Popeye rescues Olive from Bluto in this water ride and you can help too.
Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls – an action packed side-splitting flume ride that will get you soaked when you plummet down Ripsaw Falls. (photo credit: wikipedia.org)

Attractions at Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park River Adventure – take a river raft ride and see dinosaurs in their natural habitats. Watch out when they brake loose and your only escape is an 85-foot plunge in total darkness.
Pteranodon Flyers – here you can soar through the air and view the Camp Jurassic play area. It is a great journey you will never forget.

Attractions at The Lost Continent Island

Dueling Dragons – ride the Fire Dragon or Ice Dragon coasters and soar 125 feet in the air while they are dueling across the sky. You will experience a heart pounding adventure as you explore ancient myths and legends.
The Eight Voyage of Sindbad – this is a stunt show in an open air amphitheater of heroic proportions.
Poseidon’s Fury – tour the remains of the ancient temple of Poseidon in this explosive under sea adventure and find yourself trapped beneath the sea as huge fireballs, lasers and explosions erupt around you.

Attractions at Seuss Landing Island

The Cat in the Hat – here you can ride the pages of famous children’s books as Dr. Seuss’s whimsical children’s tales come to life.
The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride – this ride will take you on a journey high above the colorful rides and attractions below.

For young children

Young children can have lots of fun at Islands of Adventure with special attractions throughout the park. Some of the rides here include, If I ran the Zoo, Caro-Seuss-el, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Camp Jurassic, Jurassic Park Discovery Center, Me Ship, The Olive, and King’s Row and Comic Strip Lane. All these children’s attractions are sure to make your family vacation an unforgettable one. (photo credit: wikipedia.org)

CityWalk

At CityWalk, you will find one of the famous Margaritaville restaurants owned by singer Jimmy Buffet from a song he wrote in 1977 called Margaritaville and named after the margarita drink. The song truly reflects a relaxing, laid-back lifestyle in a tropical climate. The beauty of this restaurant is that every corner of it is a reflection of Jimmy Buffet’s classic songs. For example, the main dining room was inspired by one of Jimmy’s favorite South Florida waterfront concerts and the Volcano, Land Shark and 12 Volt bars are all named after some of Jimmy Buffet songs. The menu features a unique combination of Caribbean and Key West foods and known as ‘Floribbean Cuisine’. (photo credit: wikipedia.org)

Other restaurants at CityWalk include Hard Rock Café, Nascar Sports Grille, NBA City, Emeril’s Restaurant Orlando, Latin Quarter, Pat O’Brien’s, Bubba Gump Shrimp company and restaurant, Bob Marleys’s and Pastamore. Along with restaurants at CityWalk, the resort also has three hotels on site, Loews Royal Pacific, Hard Rock, and Loews Portofino Bay hotel making it quite easy for families to book their Florida travel vacation at one location and enjoy all the great features that Universal Studios has to offer. And if you prefer just a bite to eat, you can go to Cinnabon, Starbucks Coffee, TCBY, Top of the Walk Food Court, Whopper Bar, Moe’s Southwest Grill, or Panda Express.

And, scheduled to open sometime in 2010, ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park is coming to Islands of Adventure creating even more excitement for the whole family.