When a super popular movie becomes an attraction or gets a huge store, it is always a fun experience to go and visit. As a fan of Harry Potter, we visited Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Florida. It was SO MUCH FUN! And yes, we visited all the food spots there too, like the Honeydukes & Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop, the Leaky Cauldron, and the Three Broomsticks. All of them were really great! We also had our own wizarding practice at The Cauldron NYC, creating magical and tasty potions and cocktails.
They opened the WORLD’S LARGEST Harry Potter Store in the summer, and I have been waiting for all the madness to calm down before I made my visit. And after several months, we finally went to check out the store. Now, even though this is a store, selling merchandise like clothes and accessories, but you can NOT enter like you would any other regular store. Here at Harry Potter New York, you have to go though some special process to gain an entry. First, you have to physically go to the store, and find a staff holding a QR code, or a sign that has a QR code by the door (check the hour on their website, as it can vary depends on the day and holidays). You can get the code in your phone, which will put you in their virtual line. You can see how many people are in front of you, and most likely, you have to wait 1-2 hours before it is your turn to enter the store. You can visit other places around there in a meantime to kill some time, but don’t go too far. Once your number is called, you have one hour to return to the store. If you miss that window, you have to do it all over again! Another thing to note, your number will be called when there are still 100 or so people in front of you, because, once again, there is that one hour window for everyone in the queue to enter the store. But once you are in, you can stay there for as long as you want/need.
Our number was called when there were more than 100 people in front of us. We hurried back with excitement. From the moment you enter the store, you are immersed into everything Harry Potter. The beautiful phoenix welcomes you from above with vibrant fire orange wings, and you fly right into the world’s largest Harry Potter store. Everything was pretty well organized, very easy to find whatever you are looking for. They do offer several merchandises that are exclusively sold at Harry Potter New York, so check those ones out too.
Harry Potter New York offers all sorts of merchandises, but also, you get to see some real movie props as well. There are a few spots where you can take fun photos also, which was fun. They of course have all the robes, wands, stationaries, books… you name it, they have it. They even have a section called “Things That Must Be Named” where you can get the merchandises customized for you! They added VR experience here as well, one more for kids, and another one for older kids/adults. We didn’t try it during this visit, but maybe in a near future.
They also have the Honeydukes section, where you can get all sorts of sweets and non-alcoholic Butterbeer. You can buy one with a special New York label, shown below, which I believe you can only get from Harry Potter New York. This is just a small section inside the New York Harry Potter store, so nothing like the real deal Honeydukes & Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop in Universal Studios, but it is still fun to check out what they have here.
If you want to taste the Butterbeer right there and then, instead of waiting for open up the bottle at home, you can certainly do that here as well. Just head over to their Butterbeer Bar! It is located on the street level, just go towards the left back corner from the entrance.
The ordering counter is small but impressive. It has this beautifully lit Butterbeer bottles that are magically floating up into the ceiling. And under the floating Butterbeer bottles, you will find all the wizarding world inspired treats.
I have seen many photos of the Hedwig Cupcakes everywhere, but I didn’t know there were other treats until I got there. They had these adorable Jumper (a.k.a. Sweater in the US) cookies…
Sorting Hat Cookies, and Trever the Toad Cupcake. I don’t know how Trevor got so popular during the Harry Potter series, but hey, I hope he is out there living a good like with other toads out there, away from Neville Longbottom and other crazy (but adorable) wizards.
They had cool decoration on the walls, with shiny copper-colored pipes, where you can see Butterbeer moving from wooden barrels to the ordering counter. There is no table or chair in this space (maybe after the pandemic, there will add some seating?), but skinny, long counter where you can stand and enjoy the treats. They had this interesting section near the entry/exit to the Butterbeer Bar, with napkins in the middle, and two washing station on each side. What are they for? Good question! When you order a draft Butterbeer, it comes in a souvenir cup, and you can wash it here before you put it in your bag. How thoughtful!
We were there to get the most iconic treats, so we ordered the Butterbeer Ice Cream ($7), Draft Butterbeer ($12), and Hedwig Cupcake ($9).
The Hedwig Cupcake ($9) was adorable, he is carrying a letter with a red seal that makes it look pretty darn official… The detail on the Hedwig was impressive, especially for the small size. I liked how it looked as if he was sitting on a top of fluffy, sparkly snow. Now, the taste. As adorable as this cupcake was, but it lacked flavor. All I tasted was sugar. The letter and Hedwig were made of fondant, again, just tasted like sugar. I say it needs to be just the “once in a lifetime” experience, no need to have it again…
Let’s move on to the Butterbeer ($12) and Butterbeer Ice Cream ($7). You might say $12 for Butterbeer is pricy, and I agree with you. BUT, you do get the souvenir tankard that comes in, so if you consider that, the price is not so bad. Again, you can wash off the tankard after you finish drinking it. Frozen Butterbeer from Three Broomsticks and Butterbeer Potted Cream from Leaky Cauldron both had a pleasant butterscotch flavor, and these ones here had very similar flavor. Butterbeer was refreshing, sweet but not overly sweet, and I liked the frothy head. Butterbeer Ice Cream was really nice, it was almost whipped, so light and fluffy! I really enjoyed them both.
Overall, it was a super fun visit. We visited on the day of Halloween, so it was less busy (as many people were out doing Halloween things), but at the same time, we go to see many patrons coming in and out of the store in their own Harry Potter costumes! Also, there are some interactive experiences throughout the store, and the amount of merchandise they offer was really impressive! So, if you are a fan of Harry Potter and/or Fantastic Beasts fan, you should definitely check out this flagship store, Harry Potter New York!
Harry Potter New York – 935 Broadway, New York, NY 10010