The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has all kinds of nooks and crannies to hide secrets and easter eggs. Every cluttered shelf and dark corner is a potential hiding spot for treasure waiting to be found. These spots have been used to their utmost potential in both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley to conceal nods to those who made the Wizarding World possible, to the books and movies, and what had come before. After reading, try to keep these Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter eggs in mind for your next visit to Universal Orlando. Maybe you’ll be able to spot them yourself!
1. Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter Eggs – Hog’s Head Fireplace Initials
The little pub nestled in the back of the Three Broomsticks holds a secret within. No, it isn’t the moving mounted hog head behind the bar (but that is still cool!). It’s on the opposite wall in the form of a fireplace. Depending on how dark it is, it can be tricky to see, but the frame of the giant fireplace has initials carved into it. Some of those initials belong to the team behind the creation of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, including the project coordinator.
2. The Vanishing Cabinet
With the addition of Diagon Alley also came the infamous dark wizard hang out, Knockturn Alley. One of the areas to visit in this dark corner of the world is Borgin and Burkes, complete with a familiar, triangular cabinet in the corner. If that wasn’t cool enough, if you stick your ear up to it, you’ll hear the little bird Draco used to test if it worked chirping. Putting your hand on the door, you’ll even be able to feel it fly around inside.
3. Alastor Moody’s Trunk
The Vanishing Cabinet isn’t the only secret Borgin and Burkes holds. On the opposite side of the shop you can hear quite the ruckus near your feet. If you follow it, you will find Mad-Eye Moody’s trunk that we see him trapped inside during Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) under a table of odds and ends. The banging and shouting seems to imply that someone else is trapped inside. While it may be one of the creepier Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter eggs, it’s a good one.
4. Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter Eggs – Jaws for Jaws
Before Diagon Alley came to Universal Studios Florida, the area was reserved for the attraction based on Jaws from 1975. The ride was actually quite beloved by visitors, so the creators of the Wizarding World paid homage to the opening day attraction. One way is through various shark jaws filled with teeth scattered around.
Take a peak in the big glass cabinet in Borgin and Burkes for one set and the other is in the window of Mr. Mullpepper’s Apothecary behind the shelves filled with jars.
5. The Hand of Glory from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
If you ever got scared of the dried out hand that grabs the young Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets be weary when entering Borgin and Burkes. There is a corner display housing this strange artifact and if you linger around long enough, it may just try to snatch you too!
6. The Cursed Opal Necklace
The opal necklace played a decent role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) as one of Draco Malfoy’s failed attempts to dispose of Dumbledore, but it made its first appearances in The Chamber of Secrets when Harry first goes to Borgin and Burkes and sees it for sale.
We can see it in the shop again in the Wizarding World. It is above the grabby Hand of Glory in the same cabinet, complete with the same warning Harry saw when he had first seen it.
7. A Parseltongue Speaking Snake
Close to Gringotts Wizarding Bank is a little shop known as the Magical Menagerie filled with merchandise themed after different magical creatures. However, if you next to the alley between it and the restrooms you’ll find quite a sizable snake in the window. At first, this may look like Nagini, Voldemort’s slithery companion, but it isn’t.
However, that doesn’t stop it from speaking Parseltongue to curious guests. But be weary telling people what you hear. Sometimes you may actually understand what the snake is saying and then you’ll get odd looks from your family after you try to explain that you heard it talk, and now they wonder if you’re the next heir of Slytherin. Not that we are speaking from experience or anything!
8. Eavesdropping the Daily Prophet
Walking through the main area of Diagon Alley, you should come across a door with a familiar sign above it for the famous wizard newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Going up the door and listening carefully, you’ll be able to hear reporters for the Prophet inside working away on their stories. This is, by far, one of my favorite Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter eggs!
9. Beverages of Beedle the Bard
“The Tales of Beedle the Bard” are an iconic piece of young witches and wizards’ nighttime routine. The stories get plenty of recognition in Diagon Alley in the form of a frequent show sharing the tales with other through the use of puppets and performance. However, there is another, more subtle method, too, in the form of two beverage locations.
First, there is The Hopping Pot which takes its name from the story of “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot”. The second is The Fountain of Fair Fortune which gets its name from the story of the same title.
10. A Familiar Owl in Kings Cross
Along with Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, the expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter added a bit of London to Universal Studios Florida. And with London came Kings Cross Station. You can board the Hogwarts Express and Travel to Hogsmeade here, but while you’re waiting for your train to arrive be sure to look around.
In the area you wait to board the train, a cart full of luggage ready to travel to the School for Witchcraft and Wizardry can be seen with a certain snowy owl in her cage. Hedwig will look around at the people passing by while her cage rests on the trunk of a certain wizard with the initials “HP.”
11. Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter Eggs – Gilderoy Lockhart’s Robes
If you ever wanted to get a closer look at a particularly pompous peacock of a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor you’re in luck! Next to other impressive robes such as those of Professor McGonagall you can find an outfit that unmistakably belongs to Gilderoy Lockhart in Madam Malkin’s Robes for all Occasion. I’ve heard that these Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter eggs are THE robes used in the movies, too.
12. A Mournful Voice in the Girl’s Bathroom
As any good theme park area should, Hogsmead in Islands of Adventure has restrooms, or “public conveniences” in this situation. In the girls’ bathroom, the familiar, woeful voice of Moaning Myrtle can be heard. Apparently she haunts more than just the Hogwarts’ second-floor girls’ bathroom.
13. Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter Eggs – A Monsterous Book
Connected to the Owl Post is Dervish and Banges, your go-to place for all things Quidditch in Hogsmeade. But there’s more than just snitches and quaffles stored here. In a cage there is a Monster Book of Monsters sleeping peacefully, but be careful standing there for too long it might just wake up.
14. Restrained Brooms
The fun thing about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is that there are details everywhere you look, even up! Doing just that in Dervish and Banges will result in the sight of three broomsticks tied to posts to stop them from flying about. These are the Nimbus 2000, Nimbus 2001, and the Firebolt; each owned by Harry.
15. Flesh Eating Slug Repellent
This specific pesticide was mentioned a couple of times by Hagrid during The Chamber of Secrets. Well, if you look around in the queue for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure you can spot quite a few cans of the stuff throughout. Hogwarts must have a really bad slug problem to put these Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter eggs in full view.
16. Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter Eggs – A Classic Rabbit Trick
During Half-Blood Prince, we get our first glimpse of the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes shop and see a fun trick with the storefront. A giant, mechanized statue resembling the twins stretches out of the front window, moving it’s face and arm to lift a hat revealing a rabbit hidden on its head.
As the camera enters the window, the hat lifts again and the rabbit is gone, like a classic magician’s trick. The same effect has been brought to life in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. So keep an eye on the giant Weasley before entering the jokes shop!
17. “Ask Harry”
With the help of Arthur Weasley, Hagrid has multiplied his flying motorcycle to allow guests to ride them as they venture through the grounds around the Forbidden Forest. We can see some of his work on the billboards that are used to visualize instructions for entering the ride while in the queue.
The boards are filled with notes, manuals, part packaging, and an intriguing sticky note with a drawing of a rubber ducky with “Ask Harry” written above it. If you know the question Arthur first asked Harry when they first met, then you know why this note is here.
18. Record References
Next to the entrance of Kings Cross is a facade for a record shop, records in the window and all! There are two little secrets to these displays if you know what you’re looking for. A record titled ““Here’s to Swimmin’ with Bow Legged Women” by “The Quint Trio” is another Jaws reference.
The line is said by the character Quint in the film, and the name also alludes to the other two of the film’s trip: Chief Brody and Matt Hooper. There is also a record for “Joe Sez No” which is a reference to the book series’ author J.K. Rowling who had complete veto power over any ideas from the creative team. Her refusal of different concepts became a running joke, and eventually a record.
19. Call to the Ministry
Right outside the record shop in London is a classic red phone that can be entered. On the rotary dial is a label, giving a number for the Ministry of Magic. “62442” or “Magic” in Phone words. Calling correctly will allow you to actually reach the Ministry by phone!
20. Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter Eggs – Shrunken Songs
In Knockturn Alley, there is a window full of shrunken heads that will sing for guests. They sing different songs each time, but one is “Show Me the Way to Go Home” by Julie London, a song sung by the main trio in Jaws.
21. An Unseen Carriage Puller
If a guest takes a ride to Hogsmeade via the Hogwarts Express, they’ll find an interesting carriage surrounded by trunks and luggage. The carriage will move by itself a little, revealing that it is being drawn by an unseen Thestral.
22. A Particular Robe in Quality Quidditch Supplies
In Quality Quidditch Supplies there are a few fun references from the books and movies related to Quidditch. However, there is one that is far trickier to place, a black Quidditch uniform in a display case near the back of the shop. There’s no label saying to whom this robe belonged to, but if you have ridden Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey you have seen it and may not even realize it. In the Gryffindor Common Room part of the queue, there are talking portraits that are discussing the ride in magical concepts.
One such portrait is that of a Gryffindor Quidditch player who torments the other, older wizards with his thrill seeking personality. If you look at him closely, you may notice that his Quidditch uniform is different to the ones we see Harry and the rest of the team wear during the films. This is the robe in Quality Quidditch Supplies! The mannequin displaying the uniform is even holding a Quaffle in the same hand as the portrait!
23. Wizarding World of Harry Potter Easter Eggs – Hermione’s Yule Ball Dress
In the window for a dress shop in Hogsmeade, a recognizable gown can be seen proudly on display. Hermione’s pink dress that she wore to the Yule Ball in Goblet of Fire can be viewed from the shop’s facade window. Though you can’t enter for a closer look here, Madam Malkin’s has replicas of the dress for sale.
24. A Mischievous Map in Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods
The exist gift shop for Forbidden Journey is Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods. All around different student belongings taken by the caretaker can be spotted including copies of The Quibbler and Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes product. But, one item stowed away in a cabinet is especially eye-catching. The Marauder’s Map can be found slightly open and active for passer by to take a peak. The map shows what a few recognizable names are doing throughout the castle.
25. An Intriguing Crate in Front of Hagrid’s Hut
Hagrid’s love for dragons is well-known among fans. After all, he did hatch one from an egg that he named Norbert in the first book and movie! With that in mind, be sure to take a good look at the front door to his hut while waiting to get on the Flight of the Hippogriff ride. There is a slightly singed crate labeled “Baby Norwegian Ridgeback”. The same type of dragon as little Norbert!
