1 day/2 parks - start at Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley?

[♥ Mandi ♥]

Hi guys! Looking for some help for our first Universal visit for my HP obsessed sons!

My boys are young (8 and 5), my oldest is tall enough for the 48" rides but my 5 year old won't be - that being said, best strategy to begin a Wizarding World-centric trip in 1 day? We would also like to visit the Jurassic Park/Marvel areas of IoA and explore UoA as well. We will be utilizing AAP since someone in our party has a qualifying disability.
My boys definitely want to do Ollivanders and we want to fit all of the HP rides in - should we start at IoA taking Hagrid's into consideration and trying to ride that first or will it not matter much if we have the AAP?
I don't think they'd care too much about the "true to the books" aspect of needing to start in Diagon first... will they be underwhelmed with Diagon if we start in Hogsmeade first?
We've never been before and HP is our main focus, closely followed by Jurassic Park for my 5 year old!

 

[georgina]

Hi guys! Looking for some help for our first Universal visit for my HP obsessed sons!

My boys are young (8 and 5), my oldest is tall enough for the 48" rides but my 5 year old won't be - that being said, best strategy to begin a Wizarding World-centric trip in 1 day? We would also like to visit the Jurassic Park/Marvel areas of IoA and explore UoA as well. We will be utilizing AAP since someone in our party has a qualifying disability.
My boys definitely want to do Ollivanders and we want to fit all of the HP rides in - should we start at IoA taking Hagrid's into consideration and trying to ride that first or will it not matter much if we have the AAP?
I don't think they'd care too much about the "true to the books" aspect of needing to start in Diagon first... will they be underwhelmed with Diagon if we start in Hogsmeade first?
We've never been before and HP is our main focus, closely followed by Jurassic Park for my 5 year old!

I have no idea how AAP works so no help there. Will you have early entry? If not, I would start at the park that does not have early entry, since others will have already been at the early park for an hour before you get in. In my experience, the Hagrid's wait time goes up fast in the morning, but can get more reasonable early afternoon. Diagon Alley has a lot of cool stuff too, I don't think they will be underwhelmed (there's a fire breathing dragon on top of the bank!)

 

[♥ Mandi ♥]

I have no idea how AAP works so no help there. Will you have early entry? If not, I would start at the park that does not have early entry, since others will have already been at the early park for an hour before you get in. In my experience, the Hagrid's wait time goes up fast in the morning, but can get more reasonable early afternoon. Diagon Alley has a lot of cool stuff too, I don't think they will be underwhelmed (there's a fire breathing dragon on top of the bank!)

Thanks so much! We are staying at WDW so won't have early entry - I am not sure which park will have it on this day (a Saturday morning), I don't see park hours loaded for April yet, unless I'm looking at the wrong place

 

[ajsamett]

IOA almost always has early entry. During peak times, sometimes both parks do. I probably recommend doing US first then IOA unless IOA doesn't have EE going that morning. Because of the popularity of Hagrids and VelociCoaster, EE at US is usually pretty empty, especially if both parks are doing it. Do make sure to take the train both ways though!

 

[SPSRAS]

I would 100% start in Diagon Alley. The Ollivanders there is much better and the magic wand experiences there are better too. Also fun to go to visit the goblin and change money. And you have the fire breathing dragon. I think Hogsmeade is slightly underwhelming aside from FB....Doing Hagrids first takes a lot away from the magic- its a rush and sea of people and no time to take in the details. I think waiting in line later in the day is a much better option - unless you are right at the front the wait times will be high immediately anyway.

 

[♥ Mandi ♥]

I would 100% start in Diagon Alley. The Ollivanders there is much better and the magic wand experiences there are better too. Also fun to go to visit the goblin and change money. And you have the fire breathing dragon. I think Hogsmeade is slightly underwhelming aside from FB....Doing Hagrids first takes a lot away from the magic- its a rush and sea of people and no time to take in the details. I think waiting in line later in the day is a much better option - unless you are right at the front the wait times will be high immediately anyway.

Thanks so much! We’re gonna start in Diagon Alley for sure.

 

[christophfam]

A Saturday in April for your first visit? Any chance you can do a weekday? HP areas are always crowded but it can be hard to move on Saturdays.

 

[♥ Mandi ♥]

A Saturday in April for your first visit? Any chance you can do a weekday? HP areas are always crowded but it can be hard to move on Saturdays.

We can totally move the date to during the week we’d just have to swap a Disney day; I’m thinking the only Disney park we’d consider on a Saturday is Animal Kingdom, so I supposed I could swap our AK day to a Saturday and Universal to a Tuesday.

 

[Timandalicia]

Hi guys! Looking for some help for our first Universal visit for my HP obsessed sons!

My boys are young (8 and 5), my oldest is tall enough for the 48" rides but my 5 year old won't be - that being said, best strategy to begin a Wizarding World-centric trip in 1 day? We would also like to visit the Jurassic Park/Marvel areas of IoA and explore UoA as well. We will be utilizing AAP since someone in our party has a qualifying disability.
My boys definitely want to do Ollivanders and we want to fit all of the HP rides in - should we start at IoA taking Hagrid's into consideration and trying to ride that first or will it not matter much if we have the AAP?
I don't think they'd care too much about the "true to the books" aspect of needing to start in Diagon first... will they be underwhelmed with Diagon if we start in Hogsmeade first?
We've never been before and HP is our main focus, closely followed by Jurassic Park for my 5 year old!

Gotta start in the alley. The experience is really an unfolding of a sequence of events. It’s not my opinion, it’s science.