The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

[FloraFauna]

Originally Posted by Lou Holtz

Hopefully this gets him to quit whining incessantly about his cup of coffee.

This made me laugh out loud

[Momw/aplan]

Originally Posted by QueenMary

Thanks for all the great advice. This really helps!

No problem! I love talking about it, in case you couldn't tell.

I hope you have a great time!

[bubba's mom]

Originally Posted by Momw/aplan

Also, don't forget to tell them you're staying on-site when you order at the restaurants--you get a discount! (And if you're not staying on-site, you can still get a discount if you're a AAA member, so bring your AAA card with you if you have one. These discounts also apply to merchandise in most of the gift shops, even in Wizarding World.)

What discount is this? I'm not aware of any discounts just for staying onsite?

There is AAA and AP discounts afaik.

[Momw/aplan]

Originally Posted by bubba's mom

What discount is this? I'm not aware of any discounts just for staying onsite?

There is AAA and AP discounts afaik.

You're right. My bad. We used the AAA discount the whole time, so I'd already forgotten some of the details of the rest.

The other discounts I was thinking of which we could have used had we not been AAA members were the coupon discounts I'd found on Orlando Dining http://www.orlandocoupons.com/direct...t.php?cat_id=1.

Most of the restaurants we were interested in had 20% off coupons available--the same as our AAA discount. We just decided to use AAA instead though once we learned about it, because that was easier than printing a coupon for each member of our party and then bringing them with us everywhere.

I'd found the coupon discounts pretty early on in my planning, and once I found out about AAA I decided to go with that instead and forgot all about the coupons. I got confused earlier and thought that the discount had come with our on-site package, but it didn't. I had to look back at all my old notes just to figure out what on earth I'd been remembering.

I blame it on baby-brain (even though my youngest is 7). The old memory just hasn't been quite right since then.

Sorry for any confusion this caused. And thanks for correcting me Bubba's Mom.

The priority seating with on-site is right though--I double checked just now to make sure.

[Dragontears]

Thanks for all the information here.

I have been lurking for weeks now, getting ideas for our trip in October. We will be in Orlando Oct 11-15. (Since we are driving - add four more days for travel. ) We will be at WDW for three days and US for two.

"We" = Me, DH, DD & DS (in Law- but just like my own)

DD married a blok from London, so this is his first for WDW and none of us has been to US.

I am a "planner" and you all have been a great help in figuring out IOA and it's "finer points".

Thanks all.

[sheldnw]

I see this thread isn't very active, so hopefully someone is out there to answer my question. We're spending 5 days at WDW the last week of January 2011 and one day at Universal soley to visit WWHP....So what day of the week is best to visit Harry? Are the crowds less now that it has been open for a while?

[tzuhouse]

We were there 10/13 and 10/15. The crowds were crazy. Maybe not as much as they were before, but as much of a Harry fan as I am, I left very disappointed. There was only 1 ride for my 8 year old to do. He did Forbidden Journey which we waited an hour for, and was terrified. I wouldn't have taken him on it had I paid attention to the posts ahead of time.

At one point we wanted to go into the store and buy a wand. There was a line just to get into Ollivanders, then you could barely move once inside and then there was a line to check out. This wasn't the line for the show. This was just to spend money. Same was true with Honeydukes.

Overall, we weren't impressed with Universal. We don't really go along with the Worldview that many have and we found a number of things at Universal that we found inappropriate for children even in places that we felt were safe, like the animal training show. I hope you have less of a crowd that we did and find it much more enjoyable.

Universal won't be getting any more money from us for a very long time. At least not the theme park. Buying movie tickets for November 19th, absolutely.

Mary

[iluvwdw4ever]

I need some help please!!!!! We willl be visiting WWoHP on December 17th and are completely clueless!!!! Will they be busy?? What time should we arrive?? How long should it take to see everything?? Do we need dining ressies??

Any help would be very much appreciated!!!!! And any tips and suggestions would help too!!!!

Thanks!!!!!

[SmallWorld71]

Originally Posted by sheldnw

I see this thread isn't very active, so hopefully someone is out there to answer my question. We're spending 5 days at WDW the last week of January 2011 and one day at Universal soley to visit WWHP....So what day of the week is best to visit Harry? Are the crowds less now that it has been open for a while?

Based on most reports I've seen, Sundays are the best and Fridays are the worst. Subject to change I'm sure. People are reporting that is has been very busy (as WDW reports are saying as well) , but I would think that the end of January would be quite manageable.

[sheldnw]

Originally Posted by SmallWorld71

Based on most reports I've seen, Sundays are the best and Fridays are the worst. Subject to change I'm sure. People are reporting that is has been very busy (as WDW reports are saying as well) , but I would think that the end of January would be quite manageable.

Thanks so much for your replies...We are huge fans of HP but it will have to be pretty amazing to match the Disney magic. I am crossing my fingers that it will calm down come January. We visited WDW the same week in 2008 and for the most part we did not need a touring plan, except for Toy Story Mania and a few other heavy hitters. I also hope IOA has some dry, kid-friendly attractions once we do the Forbidden Journey and the smaller of the two coasters. We're booking today!!

[mdb78]

Originally Posted by tzuhouse

Universal won't be getting any more money from us for a very long time. At least not the theme park. Buying movie tickets for November 19th, absolutely.

Mary

Warner Bros. makes the Harry Potter movies, so yeah, looks like Universal won't be getting any more money from you soon! lol

[mdb78]

Originally Posted by sheldnw

Thanks so much for your replies...We are huge fans of HP but it will have to be pretty amazing to match the Disney magic. I am crossing my fingers that it will calm down come January. We visited WDW the same week in 2008 and for the most part we did not need a touring plan, except for Toy Story Mania and a few other heavy hitters. I also hope IOA has some dry, kid-friendly attractions once we do the Forbidden Journey and the smaller of the two coasters. We're booking today!!

How old are your kids? I'm assuming they're young. IOA has Dr. Seuss land which is themed after the Dr. Seuss books. 4 rides, but in the One fish Two fish ride, there is a chance of getting wet.

[iluvwdw4ever]

Originally Posted by iluvwdw4ever

I need some help please!!!!! We willl be visiting WWoHP on December 17th and are completely clueless!!!! Will they be busy?? What time should we arrive?? How long should it take to see everything?? Do we need dining ressies??

Any help would be very much appreciated!!!!! And any tips and suggestions would help too!!!!

Thanks!!!!!

Can anyone help????

[Albytaps]

Originally Posted by iluvwdw4ever

I need some help please!!!!! We willl be visiting WWoHP on December 17th and are completely clueless!!!! Will they be busy?? What time should we arrive?? How long should it take to see everything?? Do we need dining ressies??

Any help would be very much appreciated!!!!! And any tips and suggestions would help too!!!!

Thanks!!!!!

Expect WWOHP to be busy. Get there at rope drop. You can see everything in about 3 hours if you get there at rope drop drop. Yes you need dining ressies for 3 Broomsticks.

If you are staying on site you'll be able to get into the park an hour before opening. If you want to see the 5 minute Ollivander's wand shop show, do that first thing then go to Forbidden Journey. You won't have problems with FOTH and DC. You will have problems with the shops. Have fun. Get the frozen Butterbeer.

[disneydusted]

iluvwdw4ever.... we were there in August, got there an hour before the rope drop, they had everyone going to HP stand in a line and they gave us tickets to present at the entry of HP to keep people from line jumping.
For the Forbidden Joureny...if you can do without anything big like a backpack you can skip the locker room otherwise you end up in a line to put your stuff in a locker (fanny packs seemed to be fine), take your camera! There are so many cool things to take pictures of!
I agree with Albytaps, get the frozen Butterbeer! So good!
We didn't have reservations for the Three Broomsticks and got in, great themeing in there too! They are very organized in helping you find a seat.
We rode the Dueling Dragons (I think that is the name), very intense ride!
There are lines to get into the stores so you will wait to get into them. Once you are in they are crowded but managable. We picked up some chocolate frogs at Honeydukes, took lots of pictures!
The crowds were beyond belief by the time we left, for sure go first thing in the morning.
At MCO there is a HP store so if you forget something or don't want to mess with the lines you can find a good assortment of things at the airport.
Have a great time!