best touring plan for early entry

[nymomof3]

hi we will be staying a rpr in july and we usally dont head to the parks till late afternoon after the sun goes down but i know we want to see wwohp we need to get there at 730 am. is it a total rush of the crowds going in and what is the best plan of attack as soon as we get to wwohp and what not to miss, also what kind of food is served at the three broomsticks and do you need reservations

 

[Badge]

Well, the park opens at 8am which means hotel guests can get in at 7am. I would suggest arriving at the park around 6:45am or so if you want to get there first thing.

Also, your going in July, the sun will not go down until almost 9pm, which is an hour before the park closes. The best thing to do while staying onsite is to arrive early and leave the parks around 11 or 12 to head back to the pools for a nice swim. Then around 4 head back to the parks. You will not have many lines to deal with because of the express pass your room key is. I however would not wait until after the sun goes down, becuase you will only get like an hour of park time

With HP opening THAT early, I can not see it being a big rush. You should have very few people people compared to the massive crowd that will arive when the park opens to everybody.

Check out the food sticky here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2681315

It has menus to every restaurant in the park (including 3 Broomsticks) thanks to Damo. You do not need reservations, but plan to not eat during the "normal" hours to avoid the crowds.

 

[nymomof3]

thanks for the info..in july the early entry changes to 7am? thanks for the heads up, we did not know that

 

[mesaboy2]

As for the touring plan, I recommend two things if you go during early entry.

- If you want to do it at all, go to Ollivander's first. That queue builds the quickest and is not fun to wait in. It is a 6-7 minute show that recreates the scene with Harry getting his wand from the first movie. It is mildly entertaining, but not worth an extended wait IMO. If you don't go there first, you will almost certainly have that extended wait.

- After O's, do FJ then anything else you want in WWoHP before leaving. You may have to wait to reenter the area on peak days.

For Three Broomsticks, you do not need ressies for lunch or dinner. Typically breakfast is arranged through a package of some kind, but there are occasional reports of people being able to walk in. There are also recent reports of on-site guests being able to book a breakfast at 3B through the hotel's concierge desk IIRC.

 

[Badge]

thanks for the info..in july the early entry changes to 7am? thanks for the heads up, we did not know that

Yes, early entry is always an hour before park opening and is only for IOA. The whole month of July IOA is open from 8am to 10pm. So, early entry will be 7am.

Studios will be open from 9am to 9pm the whole month as well, but no early entry or anything. There is really no reason to make it to this park at opening unless you want to ride Rip Ride Rockit a few times before the line starts to get big since this ride does not have Express access.

Also, if you are not morning people, you can easily see HP in the evening! My favorite way to see HP is when the sun is starting to set. Around 7 or 8 the HP area will really start to calm down giving you about 2-3 hours to see everything. If you are staying for more than 2 or 3 nights, I would skip that very early entry and just hit it at night. With the sun setting around 9pm, you will get around an hour of darkness to see all the nice lighting effects. If you are there three nights, I would do the first and third night at IOA to see HP and the 2nd night at Studios to see the Universal 360 show (assuming you are going after July 4 when the show starts and your Studios day is not on a Sat. when the show will not run due to the Summer Concert Series).

 

[czycropper]

I have to tell you that we went to WWoHP at dusk for the first time and it was such a great time to see your first view of it! You definitely get a great feel for it as it was in the books, as my DH says Hogsmeade is supposed to be a darker place. We got there around 8 (after having dinner Margaritaville) and the line for Olivander's was only 10 minutes so we did that and then just walked around and absorbed the "village" at night - loved looking into the store windows at night. Hogwarts at night is beyond description!

We didn't ride FJ until the next morning at early entry and we only had a 10 minute wait, if even that much.

Have a great time! We can't wait till next year for our second visit!

 

[drag n' fly]

Now this is what Im talkin about. It is not a holiday if I have to get up at 6am to be in line for rides. That and the time difference is brutal. Orlando 7am is 5am our time. Rousing two teenagers and an 8 year old at 5am is going to make for a cranky trip. It is great to know we can have a somewhat similar experience by going in the evenings. Thanks for the info. I always have early entry to fall back on if necessary.

Yes, early entry is always an hour before park opening and is only for IOA. The whole month of July IOA is open from 8am to 10pm. So, early entry will be 7am.

Studios will be open from 9am to 9pm the whole month as well, but no early entry or anything. There is really no reason to make it to this park at opening unless you want to ride Rip Ride Rockit a few times before the line starts to get big since this ride does not have Express access.

Also, if you are not morning people, you can easily see HP in the evening! My favorite way to see HP is when the sun is starting to set. Around 7 or 8 the HP area will really start to calm down giving you about 2-3 hours to see everything. If you are staying for more than 2 or 3 nights, I would skip that very early entry and just hit it at night. With the sun setting around 9pm, you will get around an hour of darkness to see all the nice lighting effects. If you are there three nights, I would do the first and third night at IOA to see HP and the 2nd night at Studios to see the Universal 360 show (assuming you are going after July 4 when the show starts and your Studios day is not on a Sat. when the show will not run due to the Summer Concert Series).

 

[OrlandoInformer]

Yes, early entry is always an hour before park opening and is only for IOA. The whole month of July IOA is open from 8am to 10pm. So, early entry will be 7am.

Studios will be open from 9am to 9pm the whole month as well, but no early entry or anything. There is really no reason to make it to this park at opening unless you want to ride Rip Ride Rockit a few times before the line starts to get big since this ride does not have Express access.

Also, if you are not morning people, you can easily see HP in the evening! My favorite way to see HP is when the sun is starting to set. Around 7 or 8 the HP area will really start to calm down giving you about 2-3 hours to see everything. If you are staying for more than 2 or 3 nights, I would skip that very early entry and just hit it at night. With the sun setting around 9pm, you will get around an hour of darkness to see all the nice lighting effects. If you are there three nights, I would do the first and third night at IOA to see HP and the 2nd night at Studios to see the Universal 360 show (assuming you are going after July 4 when the show starts and your Studios day is not on a Sat. when the show will not run due to the Summer Concert Series).

Good info here!

 

[nymomof3]

thanks for all the great responses

 

[AARCLUKSCH]

I will be there the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Do you think the evenings in WWOHP will be mild or CRAZY that Saturday? Deperately looking for opinions on this.....

 

[macraven]

probably busy.

you are going during a holiday, 4 day weekend period.

 

[mesaboy2]

I will be there the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Do you think the evenings in WWOHP will be mild or CRAZY that Saturday? Deperately looking for opinions on this.....

Oh yeah, much closer to CRAZY than mild. In general, Thanksgiving weekend is among the top 2 or 3 busiest times of year for a theme park.

 

[macraven]

Oh yeah, much closer to CRAZY than mild. In general, Thanksgiving weekend is among the top 2 or 3 busiest times of year for a theme park.

psst, i was gonna say that but didn't want to scare the new homie off.....

 

[mesaboy2]

psst, i was gonna say that but didn't want to scare the new homie off.....

Ooh, gotcha. Our secret.

AARCLUKSCH: I don't know what came over me. Thanksgiving weekend is a great time to go. See if you can get there the last week of December too. I hear nobody likes to go to theme parks then.

 

[AARCLUKSCH]

I figured it will be soooo crazy those two days. I have been to Disney several times that weekend. I'll definitely take advantage of the early entry since we're staying on property. I keep hearing that the WWOHP gets quieter in the evening. I would love to see it at night. Knowing how busy the park will be that weekend, I'm wondering if anyone still thinks the evening crowd will let up at all?????