A complete novice...

[Bellerella]

My daughter will be turning 9 in a couple weeks, and I was thinking of surprising her with tickets to WWoHP... I know absolutely NOTHING about Universal, having never been before, and this was the first place I thought to come and see if anyone could help! She love all things HP... we are currently reading book 6 together, and I'm hoping we can be done with 7 before we go. She is very tall for her age- 58 inches, and fearless... so I have no ride worries with her.

I've browsed a couple threads here and am a bit overwhelmed. Ok, scratch that... extremely overwhelmed!

Would anyone (or lots of anyones...lol!) be so kind as to really break it down for me? In your opinion, what's the best way to do this?

When is the best (least crowded, and least expensive would be nice) time to go? We will have to fly down, (live in NY), so does Universal have a transportation service a la the Magical Express? Where is the best place to stay? Should we rent a car? How do we "attack" this, to get her (and me of course, lol) the best experience we could get.

Any and all tips/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much in advance

 

[damo]

The best time to go is in non-vacation time. So beginning of May, September, October, November until Thanksgiving, beginning of December, mid January, early Feb.

I recommend staying onsite. It gives you the best experience. There is no free transportation from the airport. I would just take a cab or town car and just stay onsite once you get there. No need to go anywhere.

I would book a three day vacation.

 

[SmallWorld71]

The best time to go is in non-vacation time. So beginning of May, September, October, November until Thanksgiving, beginning of December, mid January, early Feb.

I recommend staying onsite. It gives you the best experience. There is no free transportation from the airport. I would just take a cab or town car and just stay onsite once you get there. No need to go anywhere.

I would book a three day vacation.

I agree. If you can't go during the school year, we found 2nd half of August to be fine as far as crowds (we stayed onsite for the Front of the Line Access). It's hot as Hades of course.

 

[Metro West]

The best time to go is in non-vacation time. So beginning of May, September, October, November until Thanksgiving, beginning of December, mid January, early Feb.

I recommend staying onsite. It gives you the best experience. There is no free transportation from the airport. I would just take a cab or town car and just stay onsite once you get there. No need to go anywhere.

I would book a three day vacation.

All good advice.

 

[damo]

I agree. If you can't go during the school year, we found 2nd half of August to be fine as far as crowds (we stayed onsite for the Front of the Line Access). It's hot as Hades of course.

We went the last week of August the past few years and it certainly is hot as Hades. You really need to go back to the hotel for those afternoon hours.

Since the crowds are lower then, the parks aren't open as long, so spending time at your hotel during the day may not be the best thing if you are trying to spend lots of time in the parks.

Going when the temp is lower is such more enjoyable.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Going when the temp is lower is such more enjoyable.

Unless you ride the water rides. BRRRRRRR!