Asst. questions regarding the Harry Potter park...

[bunkman]

Hello everyone.
I'm bringing my wife to the Harry Potter park on November 9. She's a HUGE fan!

I am a recent subscriber to this forum, so perhaps this has been discussed already, but, my question is... is one day good enough to see everything and experience everything at Harry Potter, or is it best to get the two day pass and come back another day?

We're going to be visiting on a Tuesday and a Wednesday. We're hoping that the crowds won't be as bad on those days (Nov. 9-10). Your thoughs on that?

Also, again I'm sure I'll find all kinds of tips on this forum, but if you could give me one tip or tidbit of information in regard to the Harry Potter park, what would that be?

Can anyone tell me what the hours will be for the Harry Potter park at that time?

Finally, where's the best place to buy tickets for the park (any discounts out there)?

Thanks for your help everyone!

bunkman

 

[cassandrap83]

Yes, 1 day is definitely enough. A friend of mine (huge HP fan) & I did both Universal Studios & all of Islands of Adventure yesterday. We went through all of HP (all the rides plus the castle tour, the wand shop, honeydukes, & getting butterbeer) at a couple different points through the day.

My tidbit would be to buy the souvenir cup of Butterbeer b/c then you get cheap refills. Also, the small coaster is fun, but not even remotely worth more than a 15min wait.

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

YOU CAN DO IT! Get there early if you can. We got to the gate at 7 this summer and were on HP with only a 10 minute wait, regular line. I will say that it kinda sucks having to walk through the castle so quickly so go back when the line is a bit longer and really take it in. Also stay to the left when you enter the castle the right side line is for bag/lockers.

We did it in one day with a baby and grandparents!

Butterbeer! Pumpkin juice! AHHH! have fun!

 

[mdb78]

If you find yourself going quickly through the castle que (CM's rushing you through as some people have reported back) and if you don't want to ride the ride again, they do have a line that just lets you tour the castle. Just let the CM know and they'll direct to the castle tour line. Have fun!

 

[phamton]

I'm going to disagree. If you are a big Potter fan, you need a full day at Islands of Adventure alone. You can't do justice to both parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure) if you cram it all in on one day. It would be like going to Disneyworld and trying to do all 4 parks in 2 days. You would miss a lot. Even on non-peak times, I would recommend one day per park and a third day to re-do some of your favorites.

 

[Metro West]

I'm going to disagree. If you are a big Potter fan, you need a full day at Islands of Adventure alone. You can't do justice to both parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure) if you cram it all in on one day. It would be like going to Disneyworld and trying to do all 4 parks in 2 days. You would miss a lot. Even on non-peak times, I would recommend one day per park and a third day to re-do some of your favorites.

 

[Brandis]

From your question it sounds as if "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" is a theme park on its own. It's not, it's a new land in Universal's theme park "Islands of Adventure" and there is only one new ride "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" plus 2 older rides that were slightly refitted to match the Harry Potter theme.

Then there is a self-service restaurant and a bar and some shops. However, lots of the stores are for theming and atmosphere only, i.e. you can look at the windows, but they are not real shops, you can't enter them.

That's what disappointed my friends the most. When we walked into Hogsmeade the first time, they thought all those shops were real and could be visited and when they found out most where only set pieces, they were disappointed.

I think this could also be a problem for someone expecting a "Harry Potter park" and then finding it's "only" part of Islands of Adventure.

 

[myst13]

Just returned, my best advise is ride on single rider line instead of waiting 45 to 75 minute wait times. We never waited more than 10 minutes. If you want to see the Castle ask the attendant for the Castle walk through to take your time and get a few pictures. Even if you got there early the lines were backed up all the way to Honeyducks. The robes, wands and scarfs also were hot selling items that can also be found in the Univeral Store in front of the park. We also found no lines after 5-6pm if you want to eat at "Three Broomsticks The frozen butterbeer was addictive.

 

[damo]

Just returned, my best advise is ride on single rider line instead of waiting 45 to 75 minute wait times. We never waited more than 10 minutes. If you want to see the Castle ask the attendant for the Castle walk through to take your time and get a few pictures. Even if you got there early the lines were backed up all the way to Honeyducks. The robes, wands and scarfs also were hot selling items that can also be found in the Univeral Store in front of the park. We also found no lines after 5-6pm if you want to eat at "Three Broomsticks The frozen butterbeer was addictive.

What lines are backed up all the way to Honeydukes? If it was for FJ, that means that the ride was not operational yet and people weren't being let in but were still lining up.

 

[mroulier]

And pretty much walked right on to the FJ ride (this was Thursday, Oct. 7th).
By 10:15am, the shops were pretty well over-run and VERY hard to manuever, and the line for Ollivander's was wrapped around the corner and down the block! (Thank goodness they'd setup a kiosk/wagon that just sold wands! I was slightly disappointed that they are cast resin and not wood, but they did have some heft to them!)
We then went to Jurassic Park and there was NObody walking around there!
At 11:30 the wait for FJ was 30 mins.
By November the lines should be very small, but expect Hogsmeade to still be THE popular spot! (And that means shorter lines for all the rest of the park!)

The Harry Potter world is basically just a section of the Islands of Adventure Park, when the Park is open, Hogsmeade is open. And check Mousesavers for potential discount tickets (or AAA, if you're a member!).

 

[TDC Nala]

It's beautiful, but it's a very small section (not a park itself - a small part of a larger park). Three rides (a coaster, a kiddie coaster, and FJ), one restaurant (counter-service type), a bar (beer and non-alcoholic specialty beverages only), four or five actual stores, several "storefronts," one short indoor show (that can take upward of an hour to get into) and two outdoor performances. That's it. One day to see all of HP would be plenty. If you're talking about seeing the rest of the parks, you will need more time for that. You sound as if you are not interested in the rest of IOA or in the Studios park.

 

[Brit_Jude]

I hope that you make use of all the resources on this forum - read the sticky's at the top of the thread lists, read through the Harry Potter Crowd Report thread and the What did you buy at WWoHP thread. Also check out the threads on the US/IOA Trip Reports forum.

I agree that you should consider taking more time and exploring the other areas of both IoA and US. With the the two park passes you can pop back and soak up some more WWoHP later that day. Enjoy a nice meal at one of the other restaurants in the parks or at Citywalk as well as the Three Broomsticks.

You don't say where you are staying but my tip would be to complete the experience by staying at a hotel on site and get to IoA before the park opens to be one of the first into WWoHP.

For the hours check out the Universal Orlando website at: http://www.universalorlando.com/Resort_Information/theme_park_hours.aspx
Lots of other great info on the Official site.

Have a wonderful trip and you have a lucky wife

 

[myst13]

What lines are backed up all the way to Honeydukes? If it was for FJ, that means that the ride was not operational yet and people weren't being let in but were still lining up.

Actually it was the line to FJ around 10am with wait time of 75min. This was on Sunday. So maybe the ride was down for a little while??? We just returned from being there this weekend. We were staying on site at the Royal Pacific and was told they had several conventions and groups staying that weekend through midweek. We found the best time to ride FJ was in the evenings. Still was able to ride a few times using the single rider line and walk up with no wait many times.

 

[jessrose18]

Thanks for all the advice!!! We are also working our plans with two days. Our first day we will do HP and stay as long as we want/ then any IOA rides on the way out (never been to IOA) Then day 2 planning on hitting up IOA rides first thing in am, then hop to Universal (been there and only a handful of rides on our list). Can't wait.....anyone have the average amount of hours it takes to ride rides, visit shops, see everything at a leisurly pace in WWHP?? I was guessing 4-5 hours max?.....