The Hogwarts Express soft-opened to the public on July 1, 2014, before officially opening seven days later along with the rest of the Diagon Alley expansion.

As a result, Woodbury proposed building Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida and then connecting the two Harry Potter-themed lands.

[6] At the end of the year, the resort announced the Jaws: The Ride would close on January 2, 2012, to make way for Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.

[4] In May 2013, Universal Orlando announced the expansion of Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Diagon Alley, along with the Hogwarts Express train, to be located on the former site of the Jaws attraction.

[17] The resort announced in June 2014 that the Diagon Alley expansion, including the Hogwarts Express, would officially open to the public on July 8, 2014.

[1] Hogwarts Express is a single-track elevated cable railway running over the backlot between the two theme parks, with a two-track passing loop at the midpoint.

CWA Constructions designed both the exterior and interior of the trains to make them look as similar as possible to the Hogwarts Express seen in the Harry Potter film franchise.

[30][31][38] The London Symphony Orchestra recorded the music played throughout the journey at Abbey Road Studios on March 25, 2014.

[35] Theme park guests may use the Hogwarts Express to travel between Hogsmeade and King's Cross in London, close to Diagon Alley.

They then enter a queue which takes them farther into the station building, under a split-flap departure board, and past London-related advertisements, several stacks of suitcases and a shop selling British brands of food and drink.

[29][31] As the train departs King's Cross, the video sequence in the compartments starts with Hedwig the owl flying alongside while passing through the outskirts of London.

At the same time Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger pass along the corridor side of the coach looking for food.

The car crashes soon after and the train leaves the forest, passing by Hogwarts once again before arriving at Hogsmeade Station with Hagrid greeting passengers.

[29][31] Passengers then disembark from the train, walk down a ramp past the front of the Hogwarts Express and follow a path leading to Hogsmeade.

[30] As the train departs towards King's Cross, the video sequence in the compartments begins with Hagrid waving goodbye outside of the window.

Shadows of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger can also been seen walking down the train corridor, looking for an empty compartment.

The Hogwarts Express then enters a tunnel, after which riders find themselves in the middle of a storm and pass Malfoy Manor.

As a licorice spider crawls up the compartment door, Harry eats it (to Ron's horror) and the trio continue to walk on down the corridor.

Examples included the separation of the Wizarding and Muggle worlds; how Universal made the audience the performers (in the part of the King's Cross queue where guests walk through the wall leading to Platform 9+3⁄4).

He also found it awkward that the Hogwarts Express reverses into Platform 9+3⁄4 at King's Cross—although in Hogsmeade the train arrives facing forwards.

By making it an inter-park ride and requiring a two-park ticket to board it, Universal will surely help up-sell a lot more customers to higher-priced passes, encourage multi-day visits, increase demand for its on-property hotels, and drive business at its CityWalk dining/shopping/entertainment district".

According to vice president of AECOM's economics, Brian Sands, the attendance increase at the Studios was likely due to the Diagon Alley expansion.