Universal Orlando Resort is BRINGING IT. There is a LOT to talk about at this popular theme park right now. First, there’s a new nighttime show right on the lagoon (with some AMAZING new music). Then, there’s the brand-new DreamWorks land — complete with a SHREK pretzel. But today, we’re here to talk about another NEW nighttime attraction. Wizards, we’r going to Hogwarts.

Hogwarts

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s Hogsmeade Land is hosting a new nighttime extravaganza called Hogwarts Always. We love nighttime shows. We love Harry Potter. We’re ready to be WOWED. Now, does the show live up to our hopes and dreams? Let’s find out!

Universal Orlando is debuting a NEW show on June 14th! This castle projection show will take place in Hogsmeade at Universal Islands of Adventure. The Hogwarts Always show will run on select nights — check the calendar before your visit — taking fans through a journey of iconic moments of a school year at Hogwarts.

Universal Orlando

We were able to get a sneak peek of this show before it debuts, and we are bringing you along with us! The Hogwarts Always show takes us on a journey as a typical Hogwarts student. We start by getting our Hogwarts letter and then heading to Diagon Alley to shop for our essentials. 

Diagon Alley in Hogwarts Always

After we have shopped ’til we dropped, we hop on board the Hogwarts Express to make our way to school. Once we have arrived at Hogwarts, a sorting ceremony takes place, and we are divided up into our new Houses.

Off to Hogwarts!

Now that we have settled in a bit and have been sorted into our house, we head out to watch some good ol’ Quidditch. Now since this is Hogwarts, there is bound to be some trouble eventually. While we are enjoying the Quidditch match, we eventually end up in the Forbidden Forest and come face to face with none other than a Devil’s Snare.

Quidditch in Hogwarts Always

The Forbidden Forest is not a great place to be hanging out, so we need to do something, and fast. During this part, everyone needs to work together to get rid of the Devil’s Snare. Dumbledore is there and instructs everyone to raise up their wands to defeat the Devil’s Snare. 

Not The Forbidden Forest!

Whew! It looks like we survived! The final scene is a House Cup Ceremony where Dumbledore announces who has won the House Cup. What is really cool is that there are actually four different endings, so you never know which House may end up winning the House Cup!

Gryffindor has won!

Now, as we said, this show takes place on “select nights,” so make sure to check those dates and times carefully!

Hogwarts Always

We thought this show was a lot of fun! The projections are superbly crisp, and we sometimes found ourselves having a hard time believing it was only projections. The plot takes you through the journey of being a Hogwarts student, which is definitely one of our dreams come true. We recommend showing up 20-30 minutes early to make sure you can get a good view of the castle. You want to be on the main path leading to the castle, but before the castle starts getting blocked by the Hogsmeade buildings. The best viewing will be closer to the castle so that is why we recommend arriving early, as it will start to fill up as the showtime nears.

Hogwarts Always

We thought this show was a great addition to Universal’s Island of Adventure. If you are planning on heading to the park to check out this show, make sure you watch our video that has EVERYTHING you need to know about Universal’s Islands of Adventure in 15 minutes:

In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest theme park news, so stay tuned to DFB for more.

We Just Spotted a CLUE for a TOP-SECRET New Show Coming to Universal Orlando

Are you planning to see this new Harry Potter show? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Universal Orlando to attend their media preview of the Hogwarts Always show. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ