You guys. DREAMS DO COME TRUE and not just at Disney. PS – working on that post for next week! But first, gluten free Wizarding World of Harry Potter (and the Universal Parks) goodies, plus all my favorite things to see, can’t miss things to do, and of course to eat. Because this is a food blog, after all.
You’ve probably realized that I’m a massive Harry Potter fan. I’ve read all the books more times than I can count, can quote almost every line from every movie, my best friend and I can even listen to the soundtracks on shuffle and tell you exactly which movie and which specific scene is going on during that song. I’ve been to every midnight release for a book and movie since 2000, and yes, I have two wands. It’s fine.
So I guess you could say I was a liiiiiittle excited to be going down to Universal again. It was my second time going down, so I knew what to expect, but the magic of the parks was just as amazing the second time around.
First tip, before you go: you *need* a park hopper pass if you want to do both Harry Potter parks in one day and ride the Hogwarts Express between Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade (which is where Hogwarts castle is).
YES, it is worth it.
There are THREE Universal Parks:
- Universal Studios (Diagon Alley)
- Universal’s Islands of Adventure (Hogsmeade and Hogwarts Castle)
- Universal’s Volcano Bay
And YES, 100% go around the holidays if you can. There are tons of Christmas decorations, holiday celebrations, parades, holiday treats around all the parks, and don’t even get me started about the Christmas lights show on Hogwarts castle. May start crying again it’s fine. More on that later.
First up: Universal Studios
Universal Studios is where you’ll find the rides for the Minions (I LOVE THEM), the Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show Ride (awesome), Shrek 4D (hilarious), the Transformers Ride (awesome), and the Simpsons. They also have a Macy’s Christmas parade which we loved!
And then. THE EPICNESS. Before you even get into Diagon Alley, you can visit the Knight Bus and see 12 Grimmauld Place. The magic is starting, get excited you guys. You’ll also pass King’s Cross Station – this is where you go to take the Hogwarts Express from Universal Studios to Universal’s Islands of Adventure (and Hogsmeade). But we’ll get there.
Enter: DIAGON ALLEY. Literally where dreams are made. You feel like you’re walking on to the set of the Harry Potter movies and no detail is spared. PLUS you’ve got all the holiday decorations on all the shops, christmas ornaments you can buy that are hogwarts themed, there are special holiday treats and drinks (hot Butterbeer!), and a special holiday music show from Celestina Warbeck and her Banshees.
Diagon Alley is where you’ll find the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts Ride (the inside looks exactly like the movie set – SO COOL), Weasley’s Wizard Wheeze’s (the joke shop), the fire-breathing dragon on top of Gringotts that goes off every 10 minutes, Ollivander’s Wand Shop, and Knockturn Alley + Borgin and Burkes. Merchandise galore in every shop you go in and if you’re like me, you’ll be tempted to buy every single little thing.
Pro Tip: You can also download the Universal App to see how long wait times are.
For food, you’ve got the Leaky Cauldron (that’s in London), Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor, a place where you can only buy Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice…and that’s about it.
The Leaky Cauldron
As I very quickly learned in Universal, there are not too many gluten-free options. It was definitely better this time around than when I went to the parks four years ago, so they at least had some gluten-free options besides just plain salads this time. I had a chicken BLT on a GF bun which came with a salad on the side. And it was actually pretty good! Not too many other options though. Honestly though, you come here to eat for the atmosphere of being in the Leaky Cauldron, not for the most amazing gluten-free meal you’ve ever had. For other options, it’s just pub fare. I promised I would also mention vegetarian options since my friend who I went with is Vegetarian, and there weren’t too many options for her either. She got a kids meal of macaroni & cheese with some fruit on the side.
Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor
Would it be a real visit to the wizarding world without going to Florean Fortescue’s?? No freaking way. Dying of happiness it’s fine. One day, I had soft-serve mint ice cream with chocolate chips (very, very creamy. Digestive enzymes highly recommended) and the next day I had the chocolate chili ice cream. Highly recommend the latter. If you’re going for soft serve, make sure you ask for a cup, not a cone, to make it gluten-free. And there are a few flavors that may have gluten in them (from cookies and things) so make sure you ask. Didn’t try the Butterbeer Ice cream but heard it was absolutely delicious if you’re into super sweet things. Still forever wondering how Harry had the stomach to eat a sundae every 30 minutes when we was staying at the Leaky Cauldron in Prisoner of Azkaban…
Drinks.
There are four different kinds of Butterbeer depending on the time of year you go: cold, hot, frozen, and Butterbeer Ice Cream! The most popular one in the colder months is hot Butterbeer. And yes, it’s gluten free! It’s also very, very sweet – like straight up butterscotch. I had cold pumpkin juice the last time I went, and I would probably prefer hot pumpkin juice to hot Butterbeer. But it’s probably Harry Potter fan heresy to say that so please don’t kick me off the island.
Speaking of islands, time to head to the second park, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, via the scarlet steam engine we all love…
The Hogwarts Express!
I actually cried the first (and second, and third) time I was waiting in line for the Hogwarts Express. It. Is. AMAZING. You truly feel like you’re smack dab in the movies. You get to disappear between platforms 9 and 10, then when you board the steam engine, you get to watch a movie (a different one depending on the direction you’re going in, either Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade or Hogsmeade back to London) to get more immersed in the experience. I won’t spoil it for you but it’s GREAT.
Islands of Adventure
Congrats, you’ve arrived in Hogsmeade and at Universal’s Islands of Adventure! If you thought Diagon Alley was cool, prepared to be wowed by Hogwarts Castle. Did I cry again? Maybe. Again, another reason why you NEED to go here during the holiday season – I mentioned this briefly above but there is a 7-minute long (duh, because seven is the most powerfully magical number) lights and projection show on Hogwarts castle paired with music from the HP soundtracks, and specifically the Christmas-themed songs from the movies. Get there early so you can watch – the first show is at 6, and you’ll be hard pressed to get a good spot if you try to go at 6. The shows run every 20 minutes.
Pro tip:
If you want to grab a good spot for the Hogwarts show, get yourself to Hogsmeade early (around 4 or 4:30pm) and do the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride (totally worth it, I LOVE this ride), then do the Flight of the Hippogriff ride if you have a little extra time (it’s only about a 60-second ride, so if the wait is too long, you can skip it) – and then plop yourself right in front of that ride to watch the Christmas lights show on Hogwarts and avoid the crowds!
The shops of Hogsmeade are decorated for the holidays, you can see the Frog Choir sing seasonal sings, and of course there are more special holiday drinks and treats.
The Three Broomsticks & the Hogs Head
This is the only place to eat in Hogsmeade. It’s pub fare again, but with more options than the Leaky Cauldron. It’s also attached to the Hogs Head (the bar) where you can get a few different craft beers that are Wizarding World-themed, and if you’re a gluten-free friend like me, you can get hard cider OR firewhisky + hard cider, which was pretty good! I’m not normally a huge fan of hard cider because it’s pretty sweet, but adding the firewhisky helped tamper that down (and definitely gave you a nice buzz, ha!)
One thing you’ll also notice pretty quickly in the parks is that there is definitely not an abundance of vegetables around. At the Three Broomsticks I had the chicken platter, which came with a huge hunk of rotisserie chicken, roast potatoes, and an ear of corn. I felt like the whole time I was here I basically ate chicken and potatoes, but hey, at least there was an option! For the vegetarian option, you ask? It was mac n cheese again.
Honeydukes
Definitely don’t forget to visit Honeydukes, the famous sweets shop in Hogsmeade. You’ll find everything from Chocolate Frogs, to U Know Poo (featured in my flourless holiday cookies recipe!), Peppermint Frogs, Sherbet Lemon (lemon drops), Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans – all these are gluten-free, though beware the every flavor beans. You never know if you’ll get a snot flavored one, or if the yellow and white one is popcorn or rotten egg. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Walking out of the Wizarding World towards the park entrance you’ll go through Jurassic World, the Lost Continent (including this hilarious fountain that roasts you as you stand in front of it), and Comic Book Land (and Marvel Paradise), and Seussland. We didn’t really do much else in this park aside from Hogsmeade and meander through Seussland. Last time we did the Hulk rollercoaster which was awesome, but this time the lines were SO long it wasn’t worth it!
Universal’s City Walk
This is the part of Universal with lots of restaurants and merchandise shops you walk through on your way to both Islands of Adventure and Universal Orlando. We only ate here one night for dinner, but there are plenty of options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks – including chain restaurants like Moe’s and Margaritaville to little cafés (or Starbucks) to grab a coffee..
Antojito’s
We tried to go here for dinner our first night in the park and it was completely booked, so we came back a little earlier the second night to wait for a table. They normally take reservations but apparently weren’t taking them that night? Unclear. But we got in either way and the food was amazing so we weren’t complaining!
Pro tip: you can make reservations for meals in the Universal app!
We LOVED this place. Super easy to be gluten-free and lots of vegetarian options too. First up: their margaritas and chips are awesome, which is basically how we judge all mexican restaurants. We shared the elote corn (AMAZING GET IT) and we all had different tacos – again, all amazing. A mariachi band came out and was playing Christmas + traditional songs, so the atmosphere was really fun!
Overall Universal was pretty standard with the GF options but let’s be honest, I wasn’t here for the food, but for the experience. That being said, they are very good at accommodating for different dietary needs! Want more info? Check out the Food Allergies at Universal website.
My Gluten-Free Finds at Universal:
- Butterbeer (all kinds – this does have dairy.)
- Butterbeer ice cream
- Pumpkin Juice
- Gillywater (it’s just water, ha!)
- Strongbow Cider at the Hog’s Head
- Rotisserie Chicken Platter at The Three Broomsticks
- GF Chicken Sandwich at the Leaky Cauldron
- Soft Serve at Florean Fortescue’s (ask for a cup!)
- Antojito’s (almost everything is gluten-free!)
Other Places to find GF Options at Universal:
- Hard Rock Café (City Walk) – burgers & salads
- Burger Digs (Jurassic Park) GF Chicken Sandwich
- Margaritaville (City Walk) has a whole GF menu (I’ve heard they also have a GF brownie sundae. Woah.)
- Bubba Gump’s (City Walk) – Texas Cajun Chicken Sandwich
- Mythos (Islands of Adventure) – lots of GF options!
I was there like a day after you left, we had so so so much fun! It was our first time visiting the Wizarding World and it was amazing.
In addition to all the butterbeer drinks (of course we sampled them all, as well as the ice cream), we found that there is butterbeer fudge at Honeydukes! It was tasty.
I’m not GF, but we had lunch one day at Mythos in IOA and there were a ton of GF options. I don’t recall a ton of vegetarian options, but GF was covered. The food we had there was pretty good, I’d definitely go back.
Ah that’s too funny! Whaaat I had no idea about the butterbeer fudge, must’ve missed that! And thanks for the recommendation on Mythos, I’ll add that to the list 🙂
You blog really helped me navigate gluten free options in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. I really appreciate your post! Thanks!
Awesome! I’m so glad – hope you had an amazing time!!
When you say gluten free do you also mean not processed on a line that has anything with wheat in it? I ask because we are about to take our Daughter- the biggest 9 year old Harry Potter fan alive and she wants to experience as much as she can and has to stay strictly gf.
Not in all cases. These are a great starting places, but I would double check wherever you go just to be safe! Disney and Universal are generally amazing about food allergies, celiac, etc., so they should be able to accommodate you. I have celiac so I also have to be strictly GF. Things may have also changed since I went in 2018!