1 to 1.5 days for an HP fan enough? worthwhile?

[rainboots]

I had a crazy idea. We are spring breaking near Pensacola. We depart there on 3/31. So I am contemplating then driving 7 hrs to Orlando so our HP obsessed DD9 can see WWOHP. We have another DD6, and she has seen some of the movies, and heard us talk about it all and enjoys that.

We would maybe have a few hours the evening of Fri 3/31 & the whole day of Sat 4/1. Right smack during spring break season.

Is just Saturday worth it, get the park to park 1 day ticket? Should we do single park tickets and do Friday night in one park, then Saturday in the other? 2 day park to park tickets will be out of our budget (so we could still pay for wands/food/souvenirs).

This is a crazy whim, but she would be so amazed & excited. She has read the whole series 7 times in the last year, she knows every spell, every charm, her bedroom is completely HP themed. To do WWOHP while she is this enthralled, would be so cool.

We won't get another opportunity for at least a year or two. We live in N MI & are driving.

Worth it? Opinions? Tips?

 

[damo]

You know you have to!

 

[kim31kim]

If you go be sure and get tickets to both parks so you can see all of the Harry Potter stuff and also ride the hogwarts express.

It will be fun. You should definitely do it!

 

[bchbetha]

Do it!
And maybe work together to save up the $ for park to parks. Maybe shovel for neighbors or something like that. It'll be a great goal to work towards.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

If it was me I would do the one day park to park ticket and devote the whole day, getting an early start. Rather than buying tickets for a few hours the night before I would stay at a resort on site so you get the one hour early admission into one of the parks, and be in line early. Whichever park is open early do the Harry Potter areas, then take the Hogwarts Express to the next park and do that one as early as possible before the lines get crazy.

Having the express pass for the other attractions is great for a one day stay as you can see so much more (HP Gringotts and Forbidden Journey do not have express pass), that would require you to stay at Royal Pacific (or Portofino or Hard Rock) to get express pass included. Price the hotels all out for your dates and see if it is in the budget, you would love the express pass! Good Luck

 

[bumbershoot]

Something is better than nothing.

Wizarding world is themed to the movies FYI. This mainly will be noticed in merchandise if she feels she is ravenclaw. (Movies went blue and silver rather than bronze, and went with a raven instead of the proper eagle)

Not sure why I mentioned it but it felt important lol.

 

[Canooknic]

Do it!!!!!
My boy's first went when they were 5 and enjoyed it, at 6 they loved it and now they are 8 and are soooo excited to go back - especially because when they were 6 they were still building the 2nd area!!

 

[phillymummer]

I would also suggest just getting one day park-to-park passes. If your only focus will be the HP areas, then you won't need express pass. Check out Cabana Bay or Sapphire Falls. They cost less than the other resorts (RPR, HRC, PBR) and you would get the 1-hour early entry to HP.

DO IT! It is so worth it for HP fans.

 

[nighttowll]

1 day park to park is fine if all you want to do are the HP sections. You can see both HP lands in one day even if you take your time or encounter long lines. The two sections aren't that large. You should be able to see and do most everything in both sections in 1/2 to 3/4 of a day depending on arrival time, operating hours, and crowds. And spending that much time to begin with assumes you are going to take time to really explore, shop, eat a meal, see the shows, play with the wands, etc. If all you want to do is ride the rides, that can be done easily in the first couple hours the park is open, especially if you have early entry.

If you plan on doing the coasters or other headliners in the rest of the park, book a 1 night stay to get the EP because if you devote half a day to HP, it will be hard to fit the rest of both parks in without the EP pass.

 

[macraven]

Buy p2p tickets so you can ride HE (train) from one park to the other in potterville

 

[22Tink]

Do it! We went last year and only had one day. We got there first thing in the morning before the crowds got too bad so the lines were very manageable. While we didn't get everything done, it was enough to do all the HP rides, wander through some shops, enjoy some butter beer and just take in the fantastic theming of WWOHP. It really is very well done!! As mentioned, definitely get the 2 park pass so you can take the Hogwarts Express between parks. Make sure you take the train both ways because it's different each way.

 

[Tasha228]

Yes, do it. She will LOVE it. We just got back. I'm not a huge HP fan myself but I was in awe of the detail and all the theming. They put a great deal of time, money, and effort into this and it is amazing! It was one of my favorite parts of the parks. Park to park tickets are a must as is riding Hogwart's express BOTH ways as the story changes in each direction. It is worth it! And 1 day is more than enough if that is the only area you hit. P.S. The butter beer is DELICIOUS!

 

[angshewas]

rainboots, your post almost made me cry. What a great parent to consider a 7-hr drive so your daughter can experience this! Do it! The Harry Potter areas are SO awesome, you reallyreallyreally won't regret it, and she will nevernevernever forget it.

 

[rainboots]

Oh my goodness! You all answered my questions and then some!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Now to get actual prices and convince DH. He wasn't opposed when I brought it up the first time.

It will have to be a complete surprise for the kids, act as though we are leaving FL, headed North, then stay overnight in Orlando, and wake up early to hit the parks. If they catch on in the car, we would have to tell. If we told them ahead of time, they would drive us completely nuts on our actual spring break!

 

[rainboots]

Ok, good and bad news.

Bad news: dh thinks it is going to be a test of everyone's patience after a week at the beach together to hit a packed theme park on a Saturday over Spring Break costing an additional $1000+.

Good news: he said he thinks he would rather take a trip when we aren't rushed and can take more than one day to see it all. Perhaps over summer or other school holidays (yes they would be packed, but we wouldn't be trying to see it all during the one day!). I never saw that coming!!!

 

[damo]

That's a good plan. Plan to stay at one of the deluxe hotels for unlimited express passes. It is invaluable during peak times.

 

[Tattylou]

I had a crazy idea. We are spring breaking near Pensacola. We depart there on 3/31. So I am contemplating then driving 7 hrs to Orlando so our HP obsessed DD9 can see WWOHP. We have another DD6, and she has seen some of the movies, and heard us talk about it all and enjoys that.

We would maybe have a few hours the evening of Fri 3/31 & the whole day of Sat 4/1. Right smack during spring break season.

Is just Saturday worth it, get the park to park 1 day ticket? Should we do single park tickets and do Friday night in one park, then Saturday in the other? 2 day park to park tickets will be out of our budget (so we could still pay for wands/food/souvenirs).

This is a crazy whim, but she would be so amazed & excited. She has read the whole series 7 times in the last year, she knows every spell, every charm, her bedroom is completely HP themed. To do WWOHP while she is this enthralled, would be so cool.

We won't get another opportunity for at least a year or two. We live in N MI & are driving.

Worth it? Opinions? Tips?

I'm doing the same exact thing for my 6 and 8 yrs old during Easter week. We are only staying about 2 hours away in St Petersburg in a beach condo...then I started to get the same idea you're having. So, we booked a night at Cabana Bay and are going to hang out there the 1st day- pools, bowling alley in hotel, Citywalk, etc and then we are getting a park to park and hitting WWOHP 1st thing the next morning for 1 day. Sooooo, you know I'm saying do it!!

 

[Pumpkin1172]

I did something similar just this past December with the dd who is 22. She was always promised a trip to Disney World as a little girl by us and her Grandparents. Earlier last year, the dh and I were gifted with a cruise. He didn't want to go, so we decided to take that I would take the DD and myself on the cruise. We would add on days so that we could do Disney World and Universal. We did one day in both parks. We had an absolute blast. Now I'm saving to take our ds ( 16 & 14 ). They want to go now that their sister got to go lol If dh doesn't want to go, we will leave him behind lol. But I want my boys and dh to experience Universal. The family as a whole are huge HP fans. It was truly an experience. Good luck planning another trip to do that!