From March 15 through April 30, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort are celebrating the inaugural Butterbeer Season in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
This celebration offers guests the chance to enjoy all things Butterbeer through the introduction of new treats at both resorts on top of the preexisting Butterbeer offerings, including a new Butterbeer-flavored ‘ice lolly’ soon to debut; new Butterbeer caramels available exclusively at Universal Orlando Resort; and most notably, the opening of Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream counter at Universal Studios Hollywood, which began serving guests on March 29.
Inside Universal was recently invited out to Universal Studios Hollywood to join in on the celebration of Butterbeer Season, where we were able to sample many of the offerings and take a closer look inside the all-new Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream counter in Hogsmeade.
Though Universal Studios Hollywood has offered hard-pack ice cream in a handful of flavors – including Butterbeer – in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter since 2018, Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream counter marks the introduction of soft serve ice cream options at last arriving in Hogsmeade.
Like the similarly named Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida, Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream counter at Universal Studios Hollywood offers a variety of delectable flavors for guests to choose from, though with some slight differences from its Orlando counterpart in the flavor selection.
In Hollywood, Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream counter serves 10 different flavors – Orange, Mint, Butterbeer, Banana, Vanilla, Pistachio, Toffee Apple, Granny Smith, Toffee Nut, and Chocolate – in a standard cup, waffle cone, or souvenir cup. Orlando’s Ice-Cream Parlour differs from Hollywood in additionally offering Strawberries & Cream, Orange Marmalade instead of Orange, and Toffee instead of Toffee Nut, though we are happy to note that all of the flavors found on both coasts are uniquely delightful.
Though the Butterbeer soft serve ice cream is undeniably tasty and rightfully popular, we also particularly enjoyed the Granny Smith flavor, which we found had a slightly tart taste that served as the perfect complement to the pure sweetness of Butterbeer when the two flavors are paired together.
Additionally, while Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley has had its own dedicated storefront since the opening of the land at Universal Studios Florida in 2014, Hollywood’s new Ice-Cream counter is located inside of Honeydukes, officially replacing the connected section of the store previously called Zonko’s Joke Shop, which sold a variety of products targeting guests with a knack for practical jokes like the Weasley twins.
While the Zonko’s theming remains on the storefront, a small window covered with newspapers on the Honeydukes side of the facade has a new sign hanging just above it advertising Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream, which is notably considered a part of Honeydukes rather than a separate store like its Orlando counterpart.
On top of the new offerings for Butterbeer Season at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter on both coasts, guests can also continue to enjoy some classic Butterbeer favorites, including cold, frozen, hot, and non-dairy Butterbeer as well as Butterbeer potted cream, Butterbeer fudge, and hard-pack Butterbeer ice cream. Throughout the remainder of Butterbeer season, cold and frozen Butterbeer may also be purchased in a collectible silver stein instead of the standard cup.
Be sure to drop by The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to check out both the new additions and limited-time offerings that have arrived for Butterbeer Season, running now through April 30 at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort.
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