How Harry Potter Fans Can Save $37 to $160 (Or More) at Universal Orlando

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The Hogsmeade themed land of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal Orlando Resort’s Islands of Adventure park in 2010. It was joined by Diagon Alley, another Harry Potter land, which opened 4 years later at Universal Studios Florida, their park next door. The two lands brought theme park experiences up to a whole new level (and were undoubtedly a good portion of the reason why Disney introduced Pandora and Star Wars lands to WDW in recent years. Competition is AWESOME for theme park customers!).

One of the things you can do at the “Harry Potter lands” is purchase an interactive wand to “cast spells” and make things happen. By saying a specific phrase (i.e. “Descendo,” “Wingardium Leviosa,” etc.) and flicking your wand in a specified pattern in certain areas of the parks, you may be rewarded with a short “show” such as things in a storefront window moving or making shrunken heads sing a tune. Click here to see some examples on YouTube.

The interactive wands are a lot of fun. And I’m not just saying that…I own one (it’s made of birch, with a unicorn hair core, and yes, “the wand picked me” at Ollivanders). However, they’re not cheap. We’re talking $55 apiece. And if you have several kids who each want their own wand and don’t want to share, that can be a very expensive proposition (or a very loud crying scene).

Plus, once you get home, the wand can’t do anything; outside of the Wizarding World, it’s nothing more than a piece of resin painted to look like a wooden wand ;-). Which doesn’t mean that little kids (and even big kids) still don’t want to play with an interactive wand while they’re at Universal.

Welp, some entrepreneurs in south Florida have figured out a way to let your family cast those spells in the parks for a whole lot less money.

They started a company called Rent A Wand.

Rent A Wand allows you to rent a genuine interactive wand for the day. So instead of buying a wand for $55 and probably never using it again after you go home, you can rent one for just $18. And if you have more people who want wands for the day, the price gets cheaper and cheaper:

• 1 wand: $18 (cost to purchase at Universal: $55 = $37 savings)
• 2 wands: $17 each ($34 total. Purchase price @ Uni: $110 = $76 savings)
• 3 wands: $16 each ($48 total. Purchase price @ Uni: $165 = $117 savings)
• 4 or more wands: $15 each ($60+ total. Purchase price @ Uni: $220+ = $160+ savings)

Rent A Wand offers free delivery and pick up to/from most Orlando attraction area hotels, resorts and vacation homes. Or if you’re staying outside the 8 to 10-mile radius of Universal City Walk, they’ll work with you to meet them at a location for wand drop off/pick up, at no charge. They accept major credit cards for rentals.

BONUS DISCOUNT! If you rent an interactive wand (or wands) from Rent A Wand and use the discount code YMMV50, you’ll get 10% off your total order! (full disclosure: we get a small commission if you use this code, which helps pay the bills here at YMMV Central)

You can make a reservation for your wand(s) as far ahead of time as you’d like.

Rent A Wand can be reached via email (RentAWand@gmail.com) or text/phone (833) 444-9263. More information about their rentals can be found on their website.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary