UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT
A train window.
A boat ride.
The evening ahead.
Rob Urban on the imagination
between the destinations.
The journey
gets a story,
too.
A little more
than getting there.
There is something wonderfully generous about giving a train ride a different story in each direction.
The Hogwarts Express connects the London area of Universal Studios Florida with Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure. It gets people from one park to the other. Along the way, it also gives them an experience they can talk about when they arrive. Then it offers a different one on the return trip.
That extra thought is what I want to appreciate about Universal Orlando Resort. Imagination has been given a job in the spaces between the destinations: the journey, the approach, the evening after the park, the moment when someone is deciding where to look next.
A vacation contains a surprising amount of getting somewhere. The people who make those intervals worth remembering contribute more to our enjoyment than a list of attractions can show.
ON THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS
Somebody thought about
the way back.
Universal’s guide to the Hogwarts Express describes a different experience depending on the station where you board. The trip toward Hogwarts and the trip toward London have their own encounters and details. The stations themselves extend the fiction into the act of waiting.
I like the respect that shows for the return journey. A story usually gives an arrival its full attention. The trip back can feel like the part everyone assumes they already understand. Here, somebody has considered what there will be to discover the second time.
For a fan, the train also gives a familiar story a wonderfully ordinary action. You sit down. You look out a window. You travel somewhere. An imagined world begins to feel inhabitable when it has things you can do between its great dramatic moments.
And a train compartment is a social setting. People can watch one another notice something. The friend who recognizes a reference has someone beside them to tell. The relative who knows less about the story can enjoy their companion’s delight.
That is an underrated pleasure of traveling together. Sometimes the most interesting thing in the room is the person you came with, discovering that something they love has been made real enough to enter.
Arrive
by water.
The journey is part of the place.
There is another sort of journey on the resort’s waterways. Universal’s current transportation guide lists water-taxi connections from Portofino Bay, Sapphire Falls, Hard Rock Hotel and Royal Pacific to CityWalk, near the entrances to Studios and Islands.
A boat changes the texture of an arrival. The route becomes visible as a place. The hotel recedes. The destination comes into view. For a few minutes, the movement itself gives everyone something to look at.
I appreciate what this can do for the person who usually manages the trip. There is a particular relief in having a route someone else knows. You can remain a capable, responsible adult while also enjoying the novelty of sitting down and letting a boat take you toward the fun.
The transportation team is part of that experience. A beautifully imagined destination still relies on real people helping guests board, find their way and understand where they are going. Those interactions give the resort its human continuity.
The boats serve specific routes. Epic Universe has separate transportation arrangements. That geography is worth understanding before a visit, while leaving room to enjoy the journey once you are on it.
The story has a dinner reservation.
The imaginative work continues into dinner.
In a 2016 account of Toothsome Chocolate Emporium’s development, Universal Creative’s Ricardo Galbis described a project that began in 2013 with an interest in chocolate. Creative, entertainment and food-and-beverage teams worked together on a restaurant shaped by steampunk design.
The collaboration is the detail I admire. Chocolate was an invitation to build an entire setting: color, architecture, costume, food and a sense that this place had its own personality.
Those disciplines have different responsibilities. A restaurant needs to function as a restaurant. People have to find their table, order something they want and enjoy being there. Giving it a fictional life adds another kind of work. The room has to communicate an idea while supporting an ordinary meal.
When those efforts come together, the family does not have to formally begin another activity. Dinner already contains something to notice. A child can study a detail. Someone can point across the room. Conversation gets a little assistance from the surroundings.
That is a lovely ambition for the part of a vacation we might otherwise describe only as stopping to eat.
A place also has to find its evening voice.
Lighting design firm Lightswitch’s account of its CityWalk work describes theatrical lighting for stages, buildings and exterior structures, developed with Universal Creative and other design collaborators. Its project record, dated 2000, describes lighting integrated with architecture and coordinated through a central control system.
I find that older account revealing. It records a kind of authorship most visitors never have to think about. Somebody considered how separate parts of a large entertainment district would be seen together.
Light can help a place gather itself. A building becomes easier to read. An entrance announces itself. A stage draws a glance. The same area can take on another mood as the day changes.
The result may feel immediate to a guest, but it rests on choices among people who understand different parts of the environment. A lighting designer, an architect and an entertainment team all have something to contribute to the experience of an ordinary walk.
It is a good reminder to look for the collaborators behind a place we enjoy. We often remember a destination under one name. Many people’s judgment lives inside that memory.
A place finds
its evening voice.
Architecture.
Lighting.
Entertainment.
A shared point of view.
The minutes between.
The resort’s individual parks deserve their own attention. I write separately about Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure and Epic Universe. Each gives the imagination a different place to go.
Here, I am interested in what joins those larger experiences into a trip. The anticipation on the way. The person who helps you board. The dining room that keeps a conversation going. The light that makes the evening feel as though it has just begun.
These moments give people time to be together without having to manufacture an occasion every few minutes. The place offers a subject; the travelers bring their own affection, curiosity and running commentary.
I admire Universal Orlando for taking that wider canvas seriously. A memorable resort makes room for the parts of a holiday that never appear as a reservation. Those minutes belong to the guest as fully as the headline experiences do.
Somewhere on the return journey, there can still be something new to see.
If you enjoy looking at places this way, explore more Florida stories or meet Rob. I also welcome a conversation about the story you are trying to tell.
Rob Urban
Before you set out.
Which parks does the Hogwarts Express connect?
It connects Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure, between King’s Cross Station in the London area and Hogsmeade Station. It does not travel to Epic Universe.
What admission is needed for the Hogwarts Express?
Eligible Park-to-Park admission covering Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure is required. Check the current ticket terms and attraction availability for your visit.
Do water taxis serve every Universal Orlando hotel and park?
No. Universal lists water-taxi service from Portofino Bay, Sapphire Falls, Hard Rock Hotel and Royal Pacific to CityWalk. Other hotels and parks have different bus or walking arrangements. Use the current transportation guide for your route.