I made it to the end of the thread!
Wow, what a *lot* of information, I am so glad to have found this place and so so thankful that you guys are so generous with your help.
I did the same thing, lurking around here gathering all the intel I could before my first trip last summer. Smart planning in my opinion!
While reading through I've been trying to work out how I'm going to do things, I was hoping that one of you might cast your eye over my thoughts and let me know if it seems ok?
It's our first trip overseas and we're staying at Disney World in All Stars Music. I simply MUST visit Harry Potter world, so we are going to go to IOA (despite my husband not being pleased that it's sooo expensive for the day!)
As we don't drive we're going to need a cab. As there's 6 of us it's going to need to be a big one.
There will be me and my husband, plus an almost 2 year old and my other children aged 6, 8 and almost 10.
I think my older two children are both tall enough to ride FJ, though I am unsure whether it will be a bit too scary for them - any opinions?
They can probably handle it. I don't want to give away anything, but there are several times during the ride where scary things from the HP universe get pretty close--closer than any ride I've ever been on. You might want to send one adult through the single-rider queue first so they can judge. This single-rider queue rarely takes more than 10 minutes. If the adult says "okay", then everyone go through the main queue with your bags and use child-swap. I believe both the older children should be able to ride twice (once with each parent) using the swap, but I have only one child so I am not 100% sure.
We're aiming to get there as early as possible and make a day of it, do you have any idea what time we should leave our hotel?
The park opens at 9:00, but they may let you in around 8:45 or so--just depends. For Sundays (I recommend below), I would say leave around 7:30-7:45 or so, depending on if you need to purchase tickets once at Uni. Universal is about 15 miles or so from WDW. Traffic on Sunday should be light. If you go mid-week (another recommendation below), traffic will be heavy, but a good taxi-driver should be able to avoid the worst of it. If this is your choice, leave 15-20 minutes earlier or so
I am basing these times so that you get to the Uni gates around 8:00 or 8:15. Others, especially the locals, may have better advice here.
I'm thinking we head straight for Olivander's, then over to FJ. We'll go through the line and do the baby swap (swapping bags too, so we wont need to bother with lockers)
Yes, I always recommend Ollivander's before FJ. The queue only gets worse throughout the day, except for maybe the last hour or so before close. FJ fluctuates more, and the queue is far more interesting. For Ollivander's you're just waiting outside in the heat.
Remember that since you are staying off-site, that all on-site guests will have an hour jump-start on you. The queues for O's and FJ will almost certainly still have a 30-minute wait at least even if you enter Uni at the first possible moment.
You've probably read this already, but Ollivander's is a cute show and mildly entertaining. I would not personally wait more than 60 minutes for it at the outside, but since you're British and apparently a big fan, you may want to wait longer. Obviously up to you. All that said, I don't think the wait will go over 60 minutes for the time you are there.
I'm hoping to get lunch at the Three Broomsticks.
Would this be a place where it's ok for one adult to wait and the other adult walk around with children until a table is available? We wont get queue-jumping anger from other people for this would we?
No, they won't let you. They police this more than at any other theme-park restaurant I know of. You'll all get in queue to order, then all get in queue to pick up your food, all get your silverware/napkins/condiments/whatever, then a TM will seat you.
Then from here I plan to take the rest of the day as easy as possible, the Seuss bit sounds fun
It is!
We're holidaying from May 10th til May 24th. We're probably going to spend the first week at Disney, but I was hoping someone might be able to give me an idea of what date or day would be best for WWOHP?
I recommend Sunday May 15 or May 22. I have been several times on a Sunday and the crowds on this day have tended to be the lowest I've seen. You would probably also be fine during any mid-week days, May 17-19. That time of the year should not be crowded, but I still would not recommend Fridays, Saturdays, or Mondays--they tend to be the busiest in my opinion on any given week.
Thanks once more, you fantastic people!
sorry!
Really starting to feel like I need ot get my bum in gear now though, but also feeling quite overwhelmed.
