1 day mostly for HP in January?

[NYCANC]

Hi everyone,

We will be in Disney in January after the holiday crowds leave.
I promised my DD (it will be her bday) that we can go to Universal for HP.
Originally, we were going to take 2 days at the end of the trip and switch over to a Universal hotel to have the onsite benefits- but we are very much Disney people and we did not want to end our vacation in Universal.
Plus, we really like ME.

My DH is really the only thrill rider in the family.
So I am thinking 1 day in Universal midweek in the 2nd week of January before the MLK holiday crowds.

If we are there at rope drop- and buy the unlimited express pass- can we do HP plus a few easier rides here and there in 1 day?

We looked at the VIP tour but then saw the unlimited access after the tour part is done, does not include HP rides. Which is crazy given how much they charge.

We would take Uber both ways and plan to spend the whole day there. My kids will be 9 and 11 at the time of the trip and they are used to going from rope drop to midnight most days. I realize in January the park hours will be shorter.

Thanks for the help!

 

[bchbetha]

You won't need express passes, imo.
I know you love Disney but Universal is pretty awesome. It isn't a let down to end a trip there...

 

[NYCANC]

You won't need express passes, imo.
I know you love Disney but Universal is pretty awesome. It isn't a let down to end a trip there...

Right now, I am planning one day there with an another open day in our schedule if we want to go back.

Just would love to have an idea if a mid weekday in January will be enough time to do HP and a few other rides?

I think I would still gets an unlimited express pass so my DH can ride any thrill ride he wants and not take too much time. Also, my kids can ride Minions, etc. easily and still have time for HP.

Thanks!

 

[bchbetha]

Honestly though, I would wait and buy passes in the park. You really might not need them and if you buy them ahead of time and everything is a short wait or walk on, you might kick yourself for spending the $. It's easy enough to just buy them in the park.

 

[denily]

I was very much like you when I started planning our trip. We are Disney people and I couldn't imagine ending our trip at Universal. However, after looking into the cost of express pass vs staying onsite, we decided to end our trip with one night at RPR. It really did make the most sense...
It sounds like you are set on getting the unlimited express pass, which is going to be ~$300-400 extra for all of you depending on your dates. If you are planning to do that, you could easily book a room at RPR for cheaper and still get all of the benefits.
Otherwise, I would give some consideration to the previous poster's suggestion of waiting until you get there to see if you really need it. You can always add it on and that's a lot of money to throw away if the parks aren't busy, especially considering your focus is HP which has limited EP rides anyway.
To answer your question about getting everything done, I think it's probably doable to get the HP things done in one day. I'm not sure you'll get to everything else in the park, so you should prioritize any of those must do's.
Also, you do have park to park tickets, right? You'll need those to go between the parks on Hogwarts Express

 

[wookiebeck]

If WWoHP is your priority for a one day visit, then the express pass, either bought or with hotel stay, gives you no greater advantage. The two main HP rides do not take the express pass, nor does Hogwarts Express. The dragon coasters do not have long lines even in the summer. The wand choosing show and other live entertainment do not require passes either. Hope this line of thought saves you some $$.

And like denily said above, make sure you get park-to-park tickets to cover both HP areas and ride the HE. That is the most important part of your plan.

 

[hdnwaters]

I'm going to plan one day mid-week in January. We did a mid-week in Sept 2015 and our longest wait was about 35 mins. We did buy the park to park pass. In September, we rode all the water rides but other than Jurassic Park you will prob want to stay away from Ripsaw Falls and Bilge Rats, if they are even in operation in Jan. We did both HP areas in one day and rode the Hogwarts Express (it was our longest wait). We don't ride anything that goes upside down, and from say 10-5 with an hour for lunch, we rode 10 rides that I can think of maybe more....with no problem. You will love Universal! We stayed on International Drive and took an Uber to Epcot, it was around $14.

 

[NYCANC]

Thanks everyone!
I have only been to Universal Hollywood many years ago.

Good idea about waiting on buying the Express Pass. So that is something I can add on to my tickets at the park? I was planning on buying the tickets on-line.

I was really looking at the Express Pass for my DH to ride the coasters.
Do the big coasters have single rider lines?

How long does the line typically get for the train?

We got in on the Play/Stay/Dine promotion so we are going to stay at Disney the entire time and just uber.

Thanks again!

 

[wookiebeck]

Once in the park, there will be signs pointing you to guest service areas where you can add the express pass to your ticket for a fee. That fee changes with the crowd levels and gets more expensive the more crowded it is.

Like I said before, the two HP coasters do not get crowded. I think the intensity keeps many from getting in line. Same with Dr. Doom's Fear Fall and Mummy. Spiderman and Transformers have longer lines because they are more family friendly. Rip Ride Rocket and Hulk do get lines because they are so cool! And I'm fairly certain they have single rider.

I have not seen the HE have lines more than 30 minutes in a long time. The queues are nice and you hardly notice the wait.