2 Days at Universal: Harry Potter vs. Everything Else (Give me your opinion)

[kcm105]

Hey everyone. So my family (which is me, my husband, and our will-be-8-year-old son) are planning on taking 2 days out of our Disney trip next year to visit Universal. We will get passes for both parks on both days.

My thought - What if we did all Harry Potter (in both parks) during day 1, without Express Pass. Then, Day 2 we buy the Express Pass and try and do the rest of the non-HP stuff? I know we couldn't literally ride every other attraction, but we'd get through as much of both parks as possible.

What do you think? Can I fill and entire day with nothing but Harry Potter? Am I going to miss out on a ton of the other stuff if I only give that one day? Am I a total genius coming up with this plan (not likely)????

 

[bumbershoot]

Any consideration of moving over to one of the three Universal hotels that gives unlimited express pass from checkin to checkout?

One night's stay would give you that EP for both days and could cost less than buying UEP for just the one day.

We went for HP and fell in love with the whole place. Be prepared.

I personally could not spend a whole day in the wizarding worlds.

 

[damo]

I don't think HP fills a whole day either.

 

[macraven]

I do potter stuff in fragments of time

Do the ride, get bb ice cream and watch a show them do things outside of potter

Return hours later and hit potter things again

There is not enough there to spend the entire day for me but fine to do a number of hours there at a time

 

[pcstang]

Agree with Mac and Damo. Go, have fun and then ride RRR, Hulk, Kong etc...

 

[SharkyGoddess]

You can certainly spend a good chunk of one whole day in the potter parks, maybe if you took your time, did the rides more than once, shopped and watched the shows it could take a whole day, but IMO you'd still have time for the other areas of the parks too. Tidbit... the two main attractions in HW & DA do not have EP. As mentioned above, an over night at one of the 3 main resorts will get you express passes for both days (check in & check out), and that might save you some money, as well as gain you early entry to one of the parks on those days.

 

[bchbetha]

Staying onsite has lots of advantages so do consider it.
But, when are you traveling? We didn't have express passes (stayed at Cabana Bay) and did just fine. We'd gone with the idea that we could buy passes if really needed but it would have been a waste of money. Truthfully, the lines are actually pretty fun to wait through so we didn't mind.
We had 3 days and probably totaled a day's worth of time at HP but I'd want to be exploring the rest too. There's lots to do even without express pass.

 

[kohlby]

We've easily spent a full day in the HP areas spread out during a trip - but I can't imagine spending an entire day there in a row. Also, the HP areas are the hardest to walk around in. Crowds don't even have to be all that high and it can be hard to walk around sometimes. The rides can have reasonable waits - or even short waits- and walking around exploring can be hard in the crowds. For this reason, I'd focus on HP either in the mornings or evenings.

I would not rush out and get express pass for both days ahead of time though. (But if you're coming during a high crowd time, I would look into staying at a hotel with express included). You could do whatever you can get done the first day and then buy express for the second day if needed. If you do end up staying onside - take full advantage of early extra hour.

 

[Disneylover99]

I'm at Universal now for the very first time. I could totally fill my time with the two Harry Potter areas for a day.

But I'd rather stay at a Universal hotel than buy Express Pass.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

HP may not fill an entire day, but I do think you could get by with one day of EP and one day without, if you are unable to change your resort plans right now.

You could do HP and DA as well as some of the rides and shows that don't really need EP, and you could make good use of the morning or nighttime hours to do a few other things that will have shorter waits at night. You could do Camp Jurassic and the Jurassic Park Discovery Center on that day, too.

When we were there at the end of May in 2015, we did not need the EP for many things. The things we really needed it for were the water rides and Despicable Me (Hulk was not open, and we did not do RRR- you will probably need it for those, too). We saved a few minutes on some of the other attractions, but most of the lines were manageable without EP. It depends on the time of year you go.

I would probably miss the early hour more than anything. That was a big benefit of staying onsite- but you can do most things at both parks in two days without it.

Have a wonderful time!

 

[glocon]

If you were planning on getting the interactive wand and doing all the spells, I totally could see spending an entire day doing nothing but the two HP areas. There are quite a few shows, dozens of spells to cast and lots to look at. But I love all things Potter... so depends on what you want to do.

 

[kcm105]

Thanks everyone. We had already discussed the idea of staying at Universal for a day or two, but I just think it's a non-starter. The hassle of switching hotels isn't worth it to us. Plus, I am a real Disney person and it just wouldn't sit right with me to end my trip at Universal. I know that's not really rational, but it's how I feel!

We're going at the very beginning of June next year. So not the height of the season, but definitely a busy time.

Overall, I think it's still a decent plan. We'll probably do HP day 1, then fill in other time with rides without crazy long wait times. Then do EP for day 2. I'm not a HP maniac, but it is the primary reason I want to visit Universal, so having plenty of time to do what I want in those parts of the parks will be nice, without feeling the pressure to use an EP that I paid extra for. Plus, it will give me a chance to evaluate the need for an EP on day 2. I do like that I can wait until day of to purchase that!

Thanks again everyone. Very helpful!

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

The HP areas get really crowded in the late morning/early afternoon. If I were you, I'd start at HP both morning, stay until it gets crowded, then move back to HP in the evening.

 

[Gillbob316]

I don't think Harry Potter necessarily needs a whole day, but I think it easily can fill up a day if you let it.

Been going to the parks for a long time. Last trip was this past Feb, which was our first visit since they opened Diagon Alley, and only our second visit since Wizarding World opened overall. That said, we found in hindsight, post-trip, that we had spent the majority of our time in Wizarding World. We went for 3 full days, but you could call it about 3 1/2 to 4 days overall (did a little of the parks on arrival and leaving days)

We stayed onsite and had Express passes for the non-wizard attractions.

I don't think we spent any one whole day in Wizarding World, and we did a good basic run of the rest of Universal, but we basically hit everything else once, maybe twice for a few key rides, and then kept re-visiting Wizarding World much more frequently. The multitude of HP shops, snacks, restaurants and rides which were comparatively newer and less familiar to us, kept drawing us back in. Not to mention I bought a wand and wanted to hit all the interactive spots (but I mostly did that solo, so as not to drag the rest of my uninterested party around, haha)

We kind of ended the trip feeling we'd spent way longer in Wizarding World than we maybe should have, and way not long enough in the rest of the parks. We still gave the rest of the parks a good once over, don't get me wrong, but we didn't really soak them in as thoroughly as we had in past trips. Pre-Wizarding World.

And again, that was with 3 to 4 days, and express passes throughout.

Do I think you NEED a whole day for Potter? No. Do I think you need more than 1 day for everything else? Yes. It's two whole themeparks. Even with express, it's a lot.

Bare minimum, I'd book a Day for Universal, a Day for Islands, and a Day for Wizarding World. But that's just my opinion. If you're set on 2, I think you could probably squeeze a good amount in, but you wouldn't have nearly the time to dally in Wizarding World that I'd personally take to dally.

Potter-land is a hot spot. It's easy to get drawn into it and waste time there if you're into it. BUT if you're not someone who feels easily drawn in by Harry Potter, you might be able to stay out of the trap.

 

[bumbershoot]

Have you checked the prices for EP? Compared to one night's stay?

When we suggest booking a night for EP no one is necessarily saying you have to stay there. If it's the same cost or lower, it really makes no sense to buy the EP for one day when you could get it for two just by checking in to a hotel.

Also, commuting the two days means paying for parking for the themeparks two days vs paying for one night parking (with in/out privileges) at the hotel.

 

[kcm105]

Just checked the rate and it looks like $340 for one night at one of the 3 resorts that offer free EP. That's compared to $255 for one day of EP (for the 3 of us). Granted, it would be $510 for both days, which would make the hotel a bargain. But, if we're willing to just do one day, which I think we are, it saves basically $100.

Also, we won't have a car, so parking isn't a concern.

ETA - I only priced out the single use Pass, not the multi-use. Again, this might make it even more of a bargain to do the hotel, but I think we'll be perfectly alright with the single-use pass for like 90% of the rides, so it's not really worth the extra cost to ride a couple of rides twice.

 

[kcm105]

Alright, so now I'm rethinking this altogether. I remembered the hotel gets you in an hour earlier too. So do I have this right?? -

If I book just a single night at one of the 3 Universal Resorts with this perk, I can get the Unlimited EP for 2 days in the park, along with early admission both days??? If that's the case, the extra $100 might just be worth it! Can someone confirm I'm understanding this correctly???

 

[Gillbob316]

Just checked the rate and it looks like $340 for one night at one of the 3 resorts that offer free EP. That's compared to $255 for one day of EP (for the 3 of us). Granted, it would be $510 for both days, which would make the hotel a bargain. But, if we're willing to just do one day, which I think we are, it saves basically $100.

Also, we won't have a car, so parking isn't a concern.

ETA - I only priced out the single use Pass, not the multi-use. Again, this might make it even more of a bargain to do the hotel, but I think we'll be perfectly alright with the single-use pass for like 90% of the rides, so it's not really worth the extra cost to ride a couple of rides twice.

I don't know exactly when you're going, but assuming you're booking well in advance, I typically see rates at Royal Pacific Resort around $180 a room. $340 sounds very high to me if you're going next year. Are you certain you're not looking at suites? A standard room is usually less than $200 if you book well in advance, in my experience.

Then again, my family deliberately books at off-peak seasons, so it could all be a matter of when you're staying. *Shrug*

I'd say look at Royal Pacific, because you're only really doing this for the perks, and barring occasional fluke prices, Royal Pacific is pretty reliably the cheapest of 3. You're not likely to find cheaper rates at Hard Rock or Portifino (but then again, it happens on occasion)

PS. You understand correctly. For example, if you plan to go Saturday and Sunday, and book a room for Saturday night, the express and early entry will work on both Saturday and Sunday. Booking any given nights gets you passes both the day of (check-in), and the day after (check-out).

 

[Gillbob316]

I don't know exactly when you're going, but assuming you're booking well in advance, I typically see rates at Royal Pacific Resort around $180 a room. $340 sounds very high to me if you're going next year. Are you certain you're not looking at suites? A standard room is usually less than $200 if you book well in advance, in my experience.

Then again, my family deliberately books at off-peak seasons, so it could all be a matter of when you're staying. *Shrug*

I'd say look at Royal Pacific, because you're only really doing this for the perks, and barring occasional fluke prices, Royal Pacific is pretty reliably the cheapest of 3. You're not likely to find cheaper rates at Hard Rock or Portifino (but then again, it happens on occasion)

PS. You understand correctly. For example, if you plan to go Saturday and Sunday, and book a room for Saturday night, the express and early entry will work on both Saturday and Sunday. Booking any given nights gets you passes both the day of (check-in), and the day after (check-out).

I'll note however, hotel express passes don't work on Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, or The Hogwarts Express (still well worth it though, imo)

 

[kcm105]

I don't know exactly when you're going, but assuming you're booking well in advance, I typically see rates at Royal Pacific Resort around $180 a room. $340 sounds very high to me if you're going next year. Are you certain you're not looking at suites? A standard room is usually less than $200 if you book well in advance, in my experience.

I just double checked and it's definitely a standard room for that price. Also, I am aware the Harry Potter attractions don't take EP. It's the only reason I'm considering dividing up the days this way. Otherwise it would be an easy decision!