If you thought the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade was amazing, wait ‘til you see Diagon Alley. One of the greatest parts about it is that you’ll see new places, including Horizant Alley and Carkitt Market, which are two streets never revealed by author J.K. Rowling until this new attraction at Universal Orlando Resort was unveiled.

SnitchSeeker was one of many media invited to Orlando to check out the stunning Diagon Alley, which was well above and beyond all expectations, and that includes the images you might have had from reading the books and even watching the movies. Whatever you had in mind does not do the real thing justice at all.

You start off in 'London', or rather, facade buildings in London put together, most of which have some relationship to the Harry Potter series. Included among them are Grimmauld Place, including No. 12 with Kreacher lurking about, and naturally Kings Cross Station (which does in fact lead to the working Hogwarts Express). Then, of course, there is the Muggle side of The Leaky Cauldron, which you will notice if you're looking for it (or, as in the books, only wizards and witches should see it, but this time around it's visible to Muggles, as well). You’ll step in and around the brick walls, and voila, you find yourself in Diagon Alley.

That first street is what you will remember from the first movie, Sorcerer's Stone, as well as the addition of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes from Half-Blood Prince. When you look straight ahead, there at the end of the street, in all its gorgeous glory, is Gringotts Bank, along with the perched dragon actually blowing fire out of its mouth for a fair distance – which can be felt by those standing below it.

Head straight to the left of the brick entrance and you enter The Leaky Cauldron, which is more spacious than The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, and gives a greater variety of drinks and foods to patrons, both wizarding and Muggle alike.

Personally when it comes to food, however, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour is the place to go, especially in the hot Florida weather. Upon entering, we found Bonnie Wright getting a treat at the front counter, which was a bit surreal.

The first actual shop you see when entering Diagon Alley will be on your immediate right, and that's Quality Quidditch Supplies, which caters more to the Hogwarts Houses than actual Quidditch supplies. It's great that House merchandise isn't just Gryffindor or Slytherin, but at the same time, there should be more of a focus on Quidditch merchandise ... and that's not really there, aside from a Quaffle or two. House merchandise like this makes more sense in Filch's Emporium underneath Hogwarts Castle, if anything.

Attached to Quality Quidditch Supplies is Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, which is gorgeous, outside and in. The only surprising part is how small it is, but perhaps for safety reasons they didn't actually build several stories for it. The merchandise is wonderful, though having tried the Puking Pastilles, hopefully the rest of the items in the Skiving Snackboxes are not quite as ... disappointing. Otherwise, it's something near fantastic to see the actual Skiving Snackboxes available for purchase, and not just in the movies. And you can definitely imagine Fred and George conjuring up the shop from scratch. And Art Director Stuart Craig revealed that the giant Weasley brother moving statue outside of the shop is none other than Fred.

Walking along the main street of Diagon Alley, you come across a much larger version of Ollivander's wand shop, with an interactive experience like its Hogsmeade counterpart. Take an immediate right from Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, however, and you enter a new place unknown to Harry Potter fans - Carkitt Market. Here, a small stage has been erected to play a few live shows, including a puppet rendition of The Tale of the Three Brothers, as well as a live singing group fronted by Celestina Warbeck, which is rather riveting. All of Carkitt Market is covered by what people are referring to as the 'train to nowhere.' There's a railway above Carkitt Market and every few minutes the silhouette of a train billowing by can be seen, and the sounds of the train on its tracks can be heard. Around Carkitt Market are various storefront facades, including Grindelwalds and the Owl Post, but there is a money exchange shop not far from Gringotts, where guests can exchange their Muggle dollars for Wizarding cash (which is handed out as paper bills with the dollar amount in large numbers on the back).

Keep making your way toward the left and you'll find Scribbulus, where wizarding stationery is sold (and run by amusing employees who have no idea how Muggle contraptions work - it's great fun interacting with them, like actual Arthur Weasleys). Scribbulus is attached to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, which is of course the exit shop for the Gringotts ride. You'll find all sorts of Harry Potter and wizarding memorabilia here, and a LOT of the merchandise is brand-new and exclusive to Diagon Alley - you won't even find it in Hogsmeade!

Now, finally, to the left of Wiseacre's is Gringotts bank, which of course will look familiar to anyone who has seen the film series. This houses one of two attractions at Diagon Alley – Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. After you exit Gringotts through Wiseacre's, walk a bit right, past Florean Fortescue's and the quaint little Fountain of Fair Fortune pub - the only place in either park where you can get Butterbeer in goblets rather than mugs - and you will finally get to the dark and seedy area that is Knockturn Alley. There is only one shop here - the dark and sinister Borgin and Burkes - then the alley exits next to The Leaky Cauldron.

We saved the coolest tidbit for last, which are the interactive wand stations. They are really something special. You’ll notice wizards and witches roaming around Diagon and Knockturn Alley doing spells – that actually work. Guess what, so can guests!

Universal Orlando Resort created these new interactive wands, which will be sold in Diagon Alley starting in July. With the camera sensor wands, you can stand in front of the windows of several shops throughout both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade where there are little gold medallions on the ground that have spells written on them just like on Pottermore.com. You simply mimic the wand movement as you stand on the medallion, boom - you're casting a spell. There are over a dozen around the two villages. Honestly, having tried them at Hogsmeade without the world even knowing about them yet, you look a bit like a fool trying to do spells – but just watch everyone's faces when it actually works. Gold!