Oh the shopping you'll do at Islands of Adventure!
Savvy readers will catch our play on Seuss Landing ;)
It’s almost impossible to enter a theme park and leave without buying something to remember the great time you had there. The amazing rides! The fun time spent together! The four-hour queue lines under the sun! So beautiful.
Islands of Adventure is really good when it comes to shopping, especially if you are visiting the Wizarding World and see yourself surrounded by stores that actually exist in the books. Marvel Island also has a big assortment of interesting products for the comic aficionados inside of us, and expect to find a plethora of plastic dinosaurs and toys when entering the Jurassic Park stores.
So, what kind of stuff do you usually find at the stores? Honestly, almost everything. Keychains, magnets, mugs, t-shirts, hats, plush toys, novelty items and the list goes on and on.
We'll cover 5 main shopping experiences at Islands of Adventure:
- The Wizard World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade Village
- Marvel Island
- Seuss Landing
- Jurassic Park
- and some bonus Hidden Gems that most people pass over
Shopping at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade Village
It's no surprise that the Harry Potter area is the biggest star of the show when it comes to merchandising. There are a lot of things here designed especially for the fans. Talking hats? Check. Magic books? Check. Harry Potter chess sets? Check.
Of course, you will also find t-shirts that prove your allegiance to one of the four houses in Hogwarts – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Some wizards might not like muggles that much, but be certain that they will be very happy to take your muggle-dollars out of your hands. T-shirts cost anywhere from $25 to $40, while the mentioned chess set is $60 (however, the collectable version is $400). It’s also a good time to remind you that those prices vary a lot, especially with each passing year.
Now, what really, really sells bazillions of units at the Wizarding World are the magic wands and robes. The magic wands come in an almost infinite number of colors and shapes, and are divided into interactive and non-interactive. The main difference is that the interactive ones have a small sensor at the tip, which can be used to interact with many objects all over the Wizarding World in Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. For example, you can point it at a fountain, wave your hand in a specific way and make a statue spill out water.
The interactive wands cost $65, while the regular ones are $55 (at the time of publication). It’s not cheap being a wizard!
The robes are the same ones that students use in the movies, and they look super awesome. Not-so-awesome is the price tag of $145, but at least you can walk around the park wearing your brand-new robe, go on some rides with it and I bet it will make a very good Halloween costume. Again, you can choose which house is your favorite (pick Slytherin) and select one of the two available sizes – a small one for kids and one designed for an adult.
Just one thing to keep in mind: the stores inside the Wizarding World are very small, almost claustrophobic sometimes taking into consideration the thousands of guests that come in every day. Sometimes you will even need to wait in line outside before you are let in to spend your money.
Shopping at Marvel Island
Marvel Island has a lot of cool stuff for the fans of Captain America, The Hulk, Spider-Man and the rest of the gang. Expect to find t-shirts, backpacks, mugs and lots of toys and masks. My favorite part, however, is to just browse the huge number of action figures and comic books with amazing artworks. It's a comics nerd paradise!
The collectibles range from a simple Spider-Man bust that costs $90 to a 15 inches tall Deadpool statue that will set you back $700. Sometimes you can also find signed movie posters that cost up to $2000.
Shopping at Seuss Landing
You know another t-shirt design that you will see over and over again at the Universal theme parks? The red “The Thing #1” and “The Thing #2” tees sold near the Dr. Seuss rides. Families seem to really love them. "All the Books You Can Read" is probably the main store at Seuss Landing, featuring a huge collection of t-shirts, plush toys and, yes, books based on Dr. Seuss and characters like The Grinch. Right next to it there is the Snookers & Snookers Sweet Candy Cookers, with a biiiig selection of candies, cookies, cupcakes and more.
Shopping at Jurassic Park
The other park areas offer what you might expect. The Jurassic Park stores have the classic shirt with the movie logo, which you have probably seen everywhere since 1994.
Hidden Gem: Historic Families - Heraldry
Historic families - Heraldry is one of the most original stores in all theme parks, located in the Lost Continent. This is basically a place to buy replicas of swords, daggers and medieval weapons that look awesome. You can also buy keepsakes featuring the history of your family name, writing it down on mugs and banners to display in your home. This place is cool even if you just want to browse and take pictures. I’ve even found the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield from The Legend of Zelda one time here!
Free Gift Pickup and Hotel Delivery
It’s important to note that both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure offer free package pick-ups if you are a guest. You buy whatever you want and just need to ask during checkout that you want to make use of this service. Your products will be ready in up to three hours and sent to the Universal Studios Store located at Universal’s City Walk.
Things get even better if you are staying at one of Universal Orlando’s hotels. You can ask the cashier to deliver whatever you bought directly to your hotel free of charge, and your gifts will be there on the next day.
