Best Day/Time for IOA Harry Potter

[kimberlybonilla]

Hello:
My family and I are traveling to Orlando June 10-16. We have purchased 1-day tickets to IOA and are flexible with which day to go (Monday-Saturday). What day would you recommend? And when to hit Harry Potter? My sister is a HUGE fan, so it is a must. We have 2 little kids (4 and 7) and 1 baby with us, as well as my older parents.

Any suggestions appreciated!
Thanks,
Kimberly

 

[macraven]

weekdays are better crowd wise than the weekends.
do avoid saturdays.

take advantage of the child swap program.

 

[jjas]

We are going to be there this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. I was hoping to avoid paying for the park to park option.

The parks are open until 8 on Saturday but only 6 on Sunday. Would you do IOA on Saturday to take advantage of the extra 2 hours or avoid it on a Saturday?

Thanks!

 

[damo]

We are going to be there this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. I was hoping to avoid paying for the park to park option.

The parks are open until 8 on Saturday but only 6 on Sunday. Would you do IOA on Saturday to take advantage of the extra 2 hours or avoid it on a Saturday?

Thanks!

Sunday is much less busy.

 

[lions1995]

I recall reading somewhere that Tuesdays were generally the least crowded. My family went the tuesday after thanksgiving this past year. We were at the front gate by 8:30 and by 8:45 they left us inn. I would highly suggest getting to the turstiles by 8:30 and heading straigh to the Wizarding World. If both Olivanders and FJ interest you, you may have to decide which one to do first. We did FJ two times by 9:15. By then Olivanders was an hour long wait. I could not see standing in line for an hour for what appears to be a simple show.

I have also seen comments that WWOHP is less crowded an hour before park closes.

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[mesaboy2]

I recall reading somewhere that Tuesdays were generally the least crowded. My family went the tuesday after thanksgiving this past year. We were at the front gate by 8:30 and by 8:45 they left us inn. I would highly suggest getting to the turstiles by 8:30 and heading straigh to the Wizarding World. If both Olivanders and FJ interest you, you may have to decide which one to do first. We did FJ two times by 9:15. By then Olivanders was an hour long wait. I could not see standing in line for an hour for what appears to be a simple show.

I have also seen comments that WWOHP is less crowded an hour before park closes.

Good luck and have fun!!

Say it with me: Ollivanders first. Ollivander's first. Ollivander's first. Your experience illustrates why.

Sunday is almost always less busy than Saturday.

 

[macraven]

saturday, nope
sunday, yes

 

[Sco]

I don’t know if this is normal but we were there on Tuesday Feb. 7th Staying at Disney, we opted for the bus service. The ride from POR was only about 25 minutes. We had purchased tickets to get into IOA at 8 but only HP area was open. There was almost no one there. We walked onto all the rides and there was no line at the wand place until we were leaving the HP area. I was actually the only one on the car for the HP ride in the castle. (sorry if I am getting the names wrong, not a HP fan).

We left after an hour and things were really picking up. There was a steady stream of people we were walking against going to the HP area. If you can get in early, I would think it is worth it. That has been my only time at Universal, so again, not sure that is normal, just my experience.

 

[lions1995]

Ollivanders first. Ollivander's first. Ollivander's first.

Yes, If it is that important to you, then it is best to do it first. My familty had already watched it on you tube, and even though my wife is a mjor HP fan, we all voted it a yawn. So it was not really on our list of to dos.

 

[JessLCH]

We just got back from 4 days/ 3 nights at Universal ( which was way too long, 2-3 days are plenty). We stayed onsite at Royal Pacific and took advantage of early entry 2 mornings for light crowds at WWoHP. But we also went back to WWoHP a couple times in the evenings about an hour before park closing and lines were very short.

 

[disneygrandma]

How do you purchase tickets to get in to WWOHP early? How much more do they cost?

Thanks!

 

[macraven]

How do you purchase tickets to get in to WWOHP early? How much more do they cost?

Thanks!

you don't need tickets to enter parry hotter section.

you need a park ticket to IOA.
PH is part of IOA.

to do the one hour entry prior to park opening, stay on site or book a package thru UO vacations for offsite.

 

[disneygrandma]

Yes, I realize that HP doesn't require a special tkt, that it's included with the IOA tkt. I also understand that early entry is a perk to staying onsite. However, Sco mentioned they stayed at Disney's POR, but had purchased tkts to allow early entry in to IOA. That's the tkt I'm inquiring about.

Thanks.

 

[Metro West]

Yes, I realize that HP doesn't require a special tkt, that it's included with the IOA tkt. I also understand that early entry is a perk to staying onsite. However, Sco mentioned they stayed at Disney's POR, but had purchased tkts to allow early entry in to IOA. That's the tkt I'm inquiring about.

Thanks.

The tickets you're talking about are the ones through Dreams Unlimited with the round trip transfers. Early entry is not offered on those but people have been getting that perk. If you purchase the tickets, don't be surprised if you aren't allowed in early. There's no guarantee.

Here's the link:

http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/universal/#