You know what can really put a damper on your theme park vacation? If your favorite ride is closed and you weren’t expecting it to be!

Universal Orlando

From weather to technical difficulties to refurbishments, we’ve seen rides in the parks close for all kinds of reasons in the past. Typically, longer refurbishments are announced ahead of time and listed on theme park websites so that you can plan around the closure. And if you’re going to Universal Orlando soon, then you need to be prepared for the closure of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey!

The popular ride, located inside Hogwarts Castle at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, is set to close for refurbishment on April 9th, 2025. Currently, it’s listed as temporarily closed on the calendar when you click through June 30th, though that could change as more dates and hours are added.

Hogwarts at Universal Orlando

The only other attraction unavailable at this time is The Nighttime Lights at Hogwarts Castle, which could be related to this Forbidden Journey closure. If you’re a Harry Potter fan hoping to step inside the castle during your upcoming visit, then you may want to push back your trip until these offerings return. We know that the castle is a huge draw for many people visiting the park.

Hogwarts Always nighttime show

But even with this one Harry Potter ride closed, we have good news — a NEW Harry Potter-themed attraction is officially opening soon. Universal’s new theme park Epic Universe is set to open on May 22nd, 2025, and it includes The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic. Inside the land is Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry.

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry Queue

So if you’re a Harry Potter fan hoping to visit Universal Orlando, you’ll soon have three lands to explore (Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and the Ministry of Magic), six rides to enjoy, several restaurants at which to dine, and lots of butterbeer to drink! It’s a great time to be a Harry Potter fan.

The Office of Professor Delores Umbridge

If you’re heading to Epic Universe soon, make sure to check out our video inside the new park!

Stay tuned to DFB for more news and updates from Universal Orlando.

I’m an Orlando Local, and I’m Begging You to Stop Sleeping on Universal Orlando — Click Here!

Are you heading to Universal Orlando soon? Tell us 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 Epic Universe. 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