One Day...Harry Potter...All advice

[poohteacher]

I'm taking my two daughters for a one day excursion to see all things Harry Potter at Universal. If we see anything else in the parks, great, but not essential.
We have visited Hogsmeade, but it was several years ago. My younger one was too small to do much and Diagon Alley wasn't even there.

I am looking for any and all advice on how to tour, what to see, and what to eat. (We're definitely getting frozen butter beer ). We'd love to do dinner in the three broomsticks. Can you make reservations? If not, what's the best plan for eating there?

We're staying at the Hard Rock so we can take advantage of early entry.

To top it off, we have only two weeks before we're there. Can any of you help?

Thanks!

 

[damo]

I would start at whatever park has early entry. In two weeks, it might just be one park. Do everything you can and want and then take the train over to the other park. You can have lunch at one Harry Potter restaurant (or breakfast) and dinner in the other. You can't make reservations as they are quick service.

I would just play it by ear!

 

[flateacher]

I agree - go to whichever park has early entry - walk around there, soak everything in, eat lunch. Then take the train over to the other park and repeat. Depending on the times/park you will either want to do Gringotts first (at Universal) if that park has early entry OR Forbidden Journey (at Islands) if that park has early entry. After riding - get them wands at Olivander's (beware they are $50 each) but interactive and the girls can do spells around the different Harry Potter areas which they will love! (new since you have been there) Some suggest getting them in Diagon Alley because the line is shorter and there are more rooms to see the "show" - where the wand picks the wizard. Take the girls to see the show. Do not buy the wands off the carts... just my opinion.

We love to eat at the Three Broomsticks - we were just there and there wasn't a wait. Although we eat early. You can just walk up and into the line and order! Same with the Leaky Cauldron.

Nice thing is you don't really need a plan - and still see everything you want.

 

[poohteacher]

Thanks for the advice. I'm glad Three Broomsticks is counter service. It takes the pressure off of trying to time things exactly.

The spells sound like fun. Is it a little like what you do in Epcot with Agent P?

 

[PurpleKomodo]

We loved the interactive wands! And we are adults! There were so many locations that you could make cool things happen. We did not have early entry, but we did pretty much exactly what you are doing. We used the app and started at the park with the lowest line for the headliner (which happened to be Gringotts). My only main advise would be to travel without stuff if possible. The locker situation is annoying to say the least. The areas are very crowded! If you can avoid that, do so. Also, we ate at 3 broomsticks and the wait was not bad (even at 12:30) and it was pretty good. It looked just like the movies too! We were able to finish all the things we wanted to do by 3:30 and tried to hit the big roller coasters (but they shut down due to lightning in the area .) It was really fun and we left feeling like we got to see all the Harry Potter stuff, without having to rush at all.

 

[jtopicz1]

*Start with the park with early entry
*Do Olivander's at Diagon since there are more show rooms and hardly ever a line.
*Do the Forbidden Journey and Gringots when first arriving or after dinner. Lines are longest mid day.

 

[flateacher]

The spells sound like fun. Is it a little like what you do in Epcot with Agent P?

Hmm... no it is more like the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom if anything - except not using cards - using a wand.

 

[Peaseblossom]

I haven't tried this before, so can't vouch for it, but this trip, we're going to try going later in the day. I think the atmosphere in Diagon Alley would be pretty cool after the sun goes down. But I'm counting on crowds dying down to try that trick.

The universal app is showing lines at 25-35 minutes for the HP rides at this time of night in high season. The Minions craze seems to be taking some of the pressure off HP, because it's consistently got a much longer wait.

I'm looking forward to the stationary shop in Diagon Alley. It's the the kind of souvenir that I would actually use everyday and enjoy the memories. Unlike my son's wand, which was cool at the time but has since just collected dust.

 

[andrewilley]

I'm guessing the advice is reversed when coming from off-site, i.e. do the NON early-entry park first. I believe (although it seems almost impossible to find out for sure on the web!) that for next week only IoA has early entry, so Diagon Alley should be first for us on Sunday 23 Aug. Does anyone else at all get early admission for the non EE park of the day, or can we be assured that getting to Universal early will give us the best access for Gringotts we can hope for?

Andre

 

[damo]

I'm guessing the advice is reversed when coming from off-site, i.e. do the NON early-entry park first. I believe (although it seems almost impossible to find out for sure on the web!) that for next week only IoA has early entry, so Diagon Alley should be first for us on Sunday 23 Aug. Does anyone else at all get early admission for the non EE park of the day, or can we be assured that getting to Universal early will give us the best access for Gringotts we can hope for?

Andre

You just have to remember that the people that have early admission at IOA can hop the Hogwarts Express over to Diagon and can possibly be there before you. Sometimes they let them in a little early.

 

[andrewilley]

You just have to remember that the people that have early admission at IOA can hop the Hogwarts Express over to Diagon and can possibly be there before you. Sometimes they let them in a little early.

I did wonder about that, but just have to take our chances I guess. I understand they sometimes let people in before the official 9am at the gates too. Any other advice for a smooth day at the two parks, and the best route to Gringotts or is it a safely controlled walk to the ride?

Andre

 

[Jellybass]

Andre, it's funny, you were my "guiding light" for our trip to POFQ recently and now we are both trodding at the Darkside at the same time, we get there next Wednesday until the 26th.

 

[damo]

I did wonder about that, but just have to take our chances I guess. I understand they sometimes let people in before the official 9am at the gates too. Any other advice for a smooth day at the two parks, and the best route to Gringotts or is it a safely controlled walk to the ride?

Andre

I find Universal way easier than WDW. The lines don't seem to be nearly as long. Make use of the single rider lines if your kids are old enough. Do Ollivanders at Diagon and not at Hogsmeade.

There are a few different ways you can go to Diagon. You can either turn right at the Boulangerie and go past Simpsons, or turn right and then turn left just past Mel's. Or you can go straight and head towards Mummy. Personally, from a visual point, I would turn right and head toward Simpsons to get full view.

To get a lay of the land, you can go to google maps and actually walk through Universal and IOA. You'll get a better lay of the land. However, in the map, Jaws is still there....so replace Jaws by Diagon.

 

[johde]

I'm guessing the advice is reversed when coming from off-site, i.e. do the NON early-entry park first. I believe (although it seems almost impossible to find out for sure on the web!) that for next week only IoA has early entry, so Diagon Alley should be first for us on Sunday 23 Aug. Does anyone else at all get early admission for the non EE park of the day, or can we be assured that getting to Universal early will give us the best access for Gringotts we can hope for?

Andre

For offsite, if Minion Mayhem at USF or Pteranodon Flyers at IOA is on your "must do" list, I'd do one of them first. Minion Mayhem's line grows quicker than the HP lines and stays long most of the day. Pteranodon Flyers is similar but it has a weird height restriction. The Height restriction is 36" but if your over 56" you can't ride unless you are accompanying a child 36"-56" tall.