Advice Please!!First time to US & IOA, WWOHP a must!

[Paula08048]

Hello,

We are Disney Lovers and have every aspect of that part of our vacation planned but this year we decided to spend 2 days at US & IOA. We are staying off property... That being said what is the best way for us to navagate IOA? WWOHP is a must for us! What time can we enter the park? We know we want to eat lunch at Hogsmead and enjoy some Butterbeer, but where is a nice place for dinner at the end of the day? Do we need to make reservations or at this point is it to late? We will be at US & IOA on 8/19 &8/20. I feel so lost not knowing what to do/plan Any help or suggestions would be great!! Thanks in advance!!

 

[anorman]

As off property guests, you should arrive at least 30-45 minutes before the parks open. The crowds at WWOHP are at the lowest they are going to be either first thing in the morning or during the last hour the park is open. That's not to say there will be no lineups but it should be more reasonable than in the middle of the day.

If you go first thing in the morning, head to Ollivanders first since the line for this one gets very long and is very slow moving. If you can live without the "wand show" at Ollivanders then skip it and go on to the Forbidden Journey at Hogwarts, then Flight of the Hippogriff, and finally Dragon Challenge. You can then wander about and take in the sights, do some shopping, get a butterbeer, and enjoy the ambiance of this spectacular world.

After you have had your fill, (which should be around 11 or 12) take in all the big rides like the Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park River Adventure, Popeye and Blutos Bilgerat Barges, Dudley Do-rights Ripsaw Falls (the lines can get quite long for these). Then see a couple of shows and some of the less popular attractions.

As for where to eat, the Three Broomsticks in WWOHP is worth checking out for the decor alone. Otherwise, Mythos, in the Lost Continent at IOA, has a wonderful reputation. It shouldn't be too late to make a ressie although the latest seating they take is 4:30 pm.

 

[damo]

You can probably get a later reservation. I'd just check the restaurant earlier that day to make one. 4:30 seems to be the latest online reservation that they make.

 

[Maytrix]

Do yourself a big favor - stay onsite the night of the 19th. That will give you express pass for both days and allow you to do everything once and everything you like multiple times.

Either way, I'd always go to Dragon Challenge first. Ride front row and do it 4 times swapping dragons each time. Then go to Forbidden Journey (skip Ollivander's or if you must, do that 2nd day first thing - seems like a big waste of time to me though..)..

Do the normal queue for Forbidden Journey at least once and then use single rider if you want to ride again. Then you can make your way counter-clockwise towards the front of the park, hitting all the rides along the way (We usually do water rides our 2nd day for the morning and then go back to hotel to change around noon).

Hit the Suess rides if you want. By now (if you stayed onsite) it should be lunch time. Have lunch at either park and then head to USF. Doesn't matter which way you start - pick up a schedule of the shows and try to fit them in - you can sometimes do Animal Actors and then Horror Makeup right after it - just gotta hustle..

You can get in most of the rides here and probably the shows too before the park closes (depending on closing time).

Day 2, do what you liked again and catch the few things you may have missed. Last Trip day two, we did Dragon Challenge (4 times at least), Forbidden Journey, Dudley's rip saw falls, jurassic park and then Bluto's barges (16 times!) and headed back to the hotel, changed and checked out and were back at the park between 1 and 2. Grabbed lunch at USF and rode everything we liked there multiple times.

 

[Paula08048]

Thank you so much everyone for all your tips and tricks! I will take all of them into consideration! I am starting to feel better now!

I can't wait for the next 12 days to fly by!!

 

[Seeker615]

If you can book an offsite package through Universal you can get into IOA early. We did a Harry Potter Package adn got breakfast at the Three Broomsticks and early admission to that area. Worked out great for us.

If you want to ride the Forbidden Journey do what we did. First time we did the single rider line because we could not wait to ride it. Then we did the castle tour and then later went through the whole line. Then throughout our 4 night stay we did the single rider line as needed.

 

[Akwafunk]

we prefer to stay onside, but the first time we did WWOHP we did not, and it was a holiday weekend in March? I think? The Sunday of the weekend, and we got there a rope drop... and we were able to do FJ several times (mostly single rider) and Olivanders. I'm amazed a how many park goers turn up at 11am. get there as early as your ticket allows and you'll be fine.

The dragon coasters are terrific, so if you're coaster people do do them. ice is smoother, if it comes down to a single ride.

 

[Planogirl]

we prefer to stay onside, but the first time we did WWOHP we did not, and it was a holiday weekend in March? I think? The Sunday of the weekend, and we got there a rope drop... and we were able to do FJ several times (mostly single rider) and Olivanders. I'm amazed a how many park goers turn up at 11am. get there as early as your ticket allows and you'll be fine.

This has been our experience in both Universal parks. WWoHP is busy early but nothing like the craziness you see later!

We usually stay offsite and I can't stress how important it is to get to the park early. You might be able to see WWoHP not as crowded later in the day too but we found it sometimes very busy all day and sometimes not. I prefer to visit the big attractions early and then we can revisit later on.

 

[Paula08048]

Staying onsite is not an option for us at this time but we will make sure we are waiting for them to open first thing! My daughters are really looking forward to WWOHP so I know they will be up bright and early to get ready for the day! We will have to do Olivanders for sure so I will make sure we do that first.... then off to ride and explore for the rest of the day!