Anyone go to Harry potter day you got off ship?

[lenshanem]

How long did it take you to get there and did you still have enough time for a day at Universal? Thanks!

 

[pillow]

You should check the opening times for Islands of Adventure. I think you will run into major crowds and VERY long lines if you try to do Harry Potter that day IF you don't get there right when the gates open. Even if you get there before opening time, all those folks who stayed on property are allowed in 1 hour early. By the time the "regular" folks get in, it is completely mobbed. When we were there over spring break, the lines for Forbidden Journey (castle ride) were HOURS long!

Would it be possible for you to spend 1 night at one of the Universal hotels the day you disembark? If you stay onsite, they give you a "front of the line" pass + you can get the HP World early entry. Upon disemarking, you could check into your hotel, get your front of line pass, and go over to Universal Studios. Save Islands of Adventure for the next day so that you can get there EARLY. That would be my suggestion. We were there for spring break and stayed at Royal Pacific for just 1 night - just so we could get HP early entry and the front of the line pass. Or if you don't want to pay for 2 park days, then just hang out at their pool the first day - nice pool and very relaxing. Note that you cannot use the front of line pass on the Forbidden Journey. Thats why you have to get there before the gates open so that you can ride it first thing. Otherwise, lines are aweful.

Good luck! We LOVED HP World!!

Jodie

 

[44disney]

We did this after getting off of the Magic on March 26th (family of four with 2 kids ages 11 and 14), which was during spring break. We got to IOA around 10:30, having checked into the Royal Pacific first to get our front of the line passes.

We went directly to the HP area and walked around, the kids got a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, then we rode the Forbidden Journey. I believe that the regular wait time was 2 1/2 hours but we waited in the single rider line and it was about 1/2 hour. The downside of not waiting in the regular line is that you don't see all of the neat things in the queuing area, but we took a castle tour later which takes you through most of the sights.

With our front of the line passes we then rode on most of the other rides (we would have been in long lines had we not had these passes), went back to the HP area to look at the shops -- this was around 3pm and we couldn't get into the area right away. We were given a piece of paper to come back at 3:30 (for crowd control). The HP area does get crowded but it was not unmanageable.

We then went to Universal for a few highlights (we had been there a few years ago), riding everything we liked. Our plan was to return to IOA for early entry the next day, but everyone was satisfied with what we already did so we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom on Sunday instead, before our late night flight home.

 

[KevinW]

We are planning to do this too. Get of the ship on sunday, check into RP and do the parks. I think it will be doable!

 

[pillow]

Be sure to check your rooms for signs of bed bugs before settling in. There have been several cases reported at Royal Pacific.

 

[Angelic Jennifer]

The lines for HP vary greatly according to the time of year you're there. We were able to go Thursday night and rode HP 3 times in less than an hour, right before park close. We probably could have squeezed another ride or two in, but my girls also wanted to ride a couple of other things while we were out there.

 

[mommywa]

We went the Fri before our cruise, got there around 10:30 am expecting huge crowds and walked right on to FJ. Our longest wait was for Olivander's (20min). I was shocked.
Went back after we got off the ship yesterday and was much more crowded, but not awful. The wait time for FJ was 60min around 3pm.
WWOHP was fun, but I don't think I will be going back. My DD14 doesn't want to go back either. I can't even explain it, just like Disney better!!!

 

[princesskenziesmom]

We are planning on going two days before our cruise and staying on site and do Universal the first 1/2 day,,and than on the day before the cruise using the FOTL pass and getting to Harry Potter world with the hour early and enjoying the day. We thought of going after the cruise but unless you are going to stay on site and stay an extra day to use the FOTL pass and early morning entrance I think its going to be a zoo. JMHO.

 

[mesaboy2]

It is very doable, but as a PP said your experience will vary greatly with the time of year and even the day of week that you are going. Are you on the June 7 Dream? I think I recognize your name....

Universal is roughly an hour drive from the port.

ETA: Looks like I'm on your same cruise. Yes, since we debark on a Sunday I think it is even more doable. I'm a frequent contributor on the Universal boards and we have noticed that Sundays tend to be a good day to go crowd-wise. However, that may be less true since the summer peak season will be on the upswing about then. Still, I'd go for it.

 

[shelleyr25]

Harry Potter Tip.....we were at Universal after our cruise in April and were able to ride Harry Potter over and over when we went in on the "single rider line"...as long as you are not with little kids and dont mind having a few strangers in between you and the rest of your party this was the way to go!!!! The "single rider line" is also available on most of the other big rides and we used it for those as well.

 

[Pete W.]

Be aware that Universal has been updating some of the opening times for June at Islands of Adventure to 8am for those not staying on-site, meaning on-site guests will be admitted at 7am for early entry to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As others have said, you may be facing extra-large crowds especially as the summer approaches. It's possible you'll arrive late morning and not even be allowed into WWoHP until late in the day, so the fact that Forbidden Journey has a single-rider line won't help you if you can't even gain access to that section of the park.