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Hogwarts Express - King's Cross Station

Hogwarts Express - King's Cross Station

An Attraction in Universal Studios Florida

Last updated: December 18, 2024

This attraction is scheduled to be closed temporarily from
Tuesday, January 28, 2025, to Saturday, February 1, 2025.
At a Glance

Part of the genius of creating Diagon Alley at USF is that it is connected to Hogsmeade at IOA by the Hogwarts Express, just as in the novels and films. The counterpart to the Hogsmeade Station in IOA is Universal Studios' King's Cross station, a landmark London train depot that has been recreated a few doors down from Diagon Alley's hidden entrance. (It's important to note that King's Cross has a separate entrance and exit from Diagon Alley; you cannot go directly between them without crossing through the London Waterfront.)

The passage to platform 9¾, from which Hogwarts students depart on their way to school, is concealed from Muggles by a seemingly solid brick wall, which you'll witness guests ahead of you dematerializing through. [Spoiler: the "Pepper's Ghost" effect creates a clever but congestion-prone photo op, but you only experience a dark corridor with wooshing sound effects when crossing over yourself.]

Once on the platform, you'll pass a pile of luggage (including an owl cage with animatronic Hedwig) before being assigned to one of the 3 train cars' 7 compartments. The train itself looks exactingly authentic to the n-th degree from the billowing steam to the brass fixtures and upholstery in your 8-passenger private cabin. Along your one-way Hogwarts Express journey, you'll see moving images projected beyond the windows of the car rather than the park’s backstage ares, with the streets of London and Scottish countryside rolling past outside your window. The screen isn't 3-D, but it's slightly curved to conceal the edges and create a convincing illusion of depth. Even more impressive is the frosted glass doors you enter through, which turn out to be amazing screens that makes it seem like someone is standing on the other side. You experience a different presentation coming and going, and in addition to pastoral scenery there are surprises appearances by secondary characters (Fred and George Weasley, Hagrid), and threats en route (bone-chilling Dementors, licorice spiders) augmented by vibration and sound effects in the cars.

Note that, as in Escape from Gringotts, the lead actors did not reprise their roles to the ride's detriment, as this Middleton, Delaware reader reports:

Ron sounds like Ron & Harry is decent but Hermione sounds like they grabbed a worker's relative and put her in a sound booth. I wish they would change it already.

Hogwarts Express isn't an adrenaline rush in the same way that Gringotts is, but for those invested in the Potter lore it may be even more emotionally thrilling. And unlike most Potter attractions, it can be experienced by the whole family, regardless of size.

Current Standby Wait Time
Guest Overall Rating
Our Overall Rating
Preschool
Grade School
Teens
Young Adults
Over 30
Seniors
Location
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida
Duration
5 min
Child Swap?
No
Minimum Height
None
Queues
  • Standby
Accessibility
  • Must Transfer From Wheelchair/ECV

Touring Tips

When To Go
Immediately after park opening.
Loading Speed
Moderate
Early Park Admission?
No
Wait per 100 People Ahead
7 min

Universal was somehow surprised by a survey that showed guests considered the Hogwarts Express an attraction rather than merely transportation connecting the two parks. This “revelation” threw the creative team into a tizzy about how they could increase the capacity of the train—a task made all the more difficult because the stations and track were already under construction.

There’s a capacity-versus-authenticity issue front and center with the Hogwarts Express—and if you know J. K. Rowling’s reputation for perfectionism where adaptations of her books are concerned, you know the sticky wicket this presented for Universal. The train cars from the films and novels are divided into private compartments that seat eight, but replicating those compartments means fewer seats and longer loading times (and longer queues, too).

As a result, not everyone in one or the other park will be able to experience the train, because its carrying capacity is relatively small and the track can accommodate only two trains, each moving in a different direction and passing one another in the middle of the journey. This leaves Universal with a few crowd-mitigating options.

  • First, because using the train for a one-way trip involves park-hopping, one-way passengers will need a valid Park-to-Park ticket. Disembarking passengers must enter the second park and, if desired, queue again for their return trip. There are ticket booths to upgrade your one-park pass at the station entrance.
  • Second, Universal Express is ironically unavailable for the Hogwarts Express, at least for the time being.
  • Third, if the line becomes too long Universal could limit you to only one one-way ride per day. If you wish to take a same-day return trip, you could be relegated to a secondary queue that promises to be exponentially slower than the already glacial standby queue. (Thankfully, this has only been enforced a couple of times.)

At the other end, the Hogsmeade Village station lies within the footprint of the Dragon Challenge roller coaster and provides pedestrian access to Hogsmeade and IOA’s Lost Continent themed area. On days of low-to-average attendance, disembarking guests will be allowed directly into Hogsmeade, less than a minute’s walk away. On days of heavy attendance, they’ll be directed to the bridge between The Lost Continent and Jurassic Park, where they’ll have to either queue to enter Hogsmeade or obtain a free timed-entry ticket to visit The Wizarding World at a specified time.

Despite all these challenges, the Hogwarts Express managed to move one million riders in its first month of operation, surprising everyone with its operational efficiency. As a result, lines rarely exceed 15 minutes in the morning and evening, although the queue may swell to an hour in mid-afternoon.

Guests exiting in Hogsmeade have a chance to take a photo with the locomotive before it backs out for its next run. Guests departing from Hogsmeade should pose with the static train outside the station before they queue up.

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Wait Times

Here's roughly how many minutes you'll wait for Hogwarts Express - King's Cross Station at each Universal Studios Florida Crowd Level.

1
15 to 28
2
15 to 30
3
15 to 35
4
15 to 38
5
15 to 42
6
15 to 45
7
15 to 48
8
17 to 54
9
24 to 64
10
33 to 80
Hourly View
Thursday,
Dec 4, 2014
View another date
Wait Times for
Hogwarts Express -
King's Cross Station
Thursday,
December 4, 2014

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