Budget Related - is IoA worth it for one day?

[ntink]

We are heading to Disney world over spring break 2013. My girls (and DH & I) are huge Harry Potter fans and would love to see those attractions at IoA but I am having trouble thinking about spending $88 per person (family of 4) just to walk in the gates.

As you can see by my signature, we have been to Disney many times and have always had APs or 10 day non-expiration so the per day cost is much lower.

Nothing else at IoA really appeals to us but we have seen a lot of footage on the HP section and it looks incredible.

My DDs will be 11 and 15 at the time of the trip and I don't know how many more Orlando trips are in our future as I am sure future spring break trips will need to include college visits and a few other places I would like to visit as a family. This may be our only opportunity to do this as a family.

The $ amount is in my budget but it is hard to part with that much for just one day.

I did post something similar on the Universal board but would love to hear the opinion of the budget boarders.

TIA

 

[tajz90]

We never hit Disney without a visit to Universal! Disney is our favorite, but the rides are too good to pass up.

 

[Firefly09]

Just the Harry Potter portion was worth it for us, but there is so much to do there besides HP that I don't think you'll be disappointed with the money spent. We actually didn't get to see as much of the rest of IoA as we wanted and plan on going back to explore!

 

[SplashRider]

When I was a senior in high school, over spring break a few of my friends and I met up in Orlando to go to IoA for WWoHP one day (we were all in different parts of Florida for family vacations). Except for a quick ride on Jurassic Park, we spent the whole day in WWoHP and it was totally worth it. We're all huge HP fans, and since you said your family loves HP, I would say definitely go!

 

[CathrynRose]

Yes.

I happen to love IoA.

I'm a Disney fan, through and through, don't get me wrong, but Islands is a great park.

 

[LJSquishy]

My husband and I spent one day at the Universal parks and were done with both parks by 1pm. Harry Potter is WAAAAAAAAAAAY overrated. The HP area is much smaller than it looks, and folks seem to embellish how neat it actually is. There is only 1 really cool ride in that area, the others not so much. Was it fun? Yes, but we were expecting a huge area. The theming is really neat but really you only look around in the area for a few minutes before you're done. We did love the butterbeer. I liked the frozen butterbeer the best, and hubby liked the regular better. The pumpkin ale or pumpkin something....was gross!

Overall we felt like we wasted a lot of money to do the Universal parks. If the other attractions don't enthuse you like crazy when you read about what is in each of the parks, then don't do it. It definitely isn't worth the cost just for HP because it's pretty small.

 

[highwayg]

I totally agree with pp. Spent over 600.00 to go and wanted to leave by noon. NOTHING like Disney. We called it Six Flags on Steriods.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

IOA is definitely worth the price of admission, especially if you are HP fans. The area is themed beautifully, and while it is small, the attention to detail is astounding. I could spend all day just looking in the shop windows to see all the details that have been incorporated from the books. We have been a few times, but I am looking forward to our visit in January now that DD9 has finished the series - she will see it all with new eyes.

Some of the details - Moaning Myrtle talking in the bathrooms, shadows of house elves in Three Broomsticks, the ATM by Gringotts, the shop windows with the Monster Book of Monsters. There are several movie props displayed. Fans of the books can spend days enjoying the details, even without the rides. The PP is right about the butterbeer - the frozen is better. If the line at the carts is too long, you can order in the Hog's Head (and it is air-conditioned).

IOA has lots of great rides for all ages. DD9 loves Seuss Landing. Even though she stopped reading Dr. Seuss books years ago, the land is very well themed, and the rides are fun. Even DD13 enjoys going on the Seuss Landing rides, but she might not admit it.

If your kids are thrill-seekers, IOA has the best coasters in Orlando. DD13 is looking forward to Hulk and Dragon's Challenge this time - she wasn't quite brave enough last trip. IOA has great water rides, too - much better than the Disney counterparts.

My heart will always be with Disney, but we visit Universal almost as much and usually spend 3-4 days doing both parks. Our next trip will only be one day after a Disney cruise, but we will hit our favorites at both parks. We could easily spend two full days at IOA and a full day at the Studios and still not ride and see everything.

 

[DawnM]

Costco sells 3 day passes for $144 including tax. The 3 days do not have to be used consecutively, they expire Dec. of 2015. So, you could go one day this year, one day next year, and one the year after.

Dawn

 

[LilnStitchy]

I'm a big HP fan and I thought it was worth the price of admission. DH liked the roller coasters and dragged me to them. We were gone by early afternoon but had a blast. Now we're going with the kids so well be spending more time I the kiddie areas. I would be happy hanging out in HP world.

 

[2BigKIdz]

IOA is definitely worth the price of admission, especially if you are HP fans. The area is themed beautifully, and while it is small, the attention to detail is astounding. I could spend all day just looking in the shop windows to see all the details that have been incorporated from the books. We have been a few times, but I am looking forward to our visit in January now that DD9 has finished the series - she will see it all with new eyes.

Some of the details - Moaning Myrtle talking in the bathrooms, shadows of house elves in Three Broomsticks, the ATM by Gringotts, the shop windows with the Monster Book of Monsters. There are several movie props displayed. Fans of the books can spend days enjoying the details, even without the rides. The PP is right about the butterbeer - the frozen is better. If the line at the carts is too long, you can order in the Hog's Head (and it is air-conditioned).

IOA has lots of great rides for all ages. DD9 loves Seuss Landing. Even though she stopped reading Dr. Seuss books years ago, the land is very well themed, and the rides are fun. Even DD13 enjoys going on the Seuss Landing rides, but she might not admit it.

If your kids are thrill-seekers, IOA has the best coasters in Orlando. DD13 is looking forward to Hulk and Dragon's Challenge this time - she wasn't quite brave enough last trip. IOA has great water rides, too - much better than the Disney counterparts.

My heart will always be with Disney, but we visit Universal almost as much and usually spend 3-4 days doing both parks. Our next trip will only be one day after a Disney cruise, but we will hit our favorites at both parks. We could easily spend two full days at IOA and a full day at the Studios and still not ride and see everything.

I totally agree about IOA. The HP area is very small but if you are huge fans like we are it is just awesome to see the castle brought to life and the ride is really out of this world. They have other great rides as well (Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park to name a few) and a trip to Orlando is not complete for us without a trip to UO/IOA.

 

[Southernmiss]

We are heading to Disney world over spring break 2013. My girls (and DH & I) are huge Harry Potter fans and would love to see those attractions at IoA but I am having trouble thinking about spending $88 per person (family of 4) just to walk in the gates.

As you can see by my signature, we have been to Disney many times and have always had APs or 10 day non-expiration so the per day cost is much lower.

Nothing else at IoA really appeals to us but we have seen a lot of footage on the HP section and it looks incredible.

My DDs will be 11 and 15 at the time of the trip and I don't know how many more Orlando trips are in our future as I am sure future spring break trips will need to include college visits and a few other places I would like to visit as a family. This may be our only opportunity to do this as a family.

The $ amount is in my budget but it is hard to part with that much for just one day.

I did post something similar on the Universal board but would love to hear the opinion of the budget boarders.

TIA

We are all 6 HP fans. Went at Christmas last year and loved it. Universal has nice parks, they are not Disney in that they are more thrill oriented, but we love IOA.

The HP theming is great just like a previous poster said, not a big area, but lots of detail and plenty to do if you are HP fans.

I love Seussland. At Christmas they have a Grinch stage play. Kids are not into that, be we all enjoyed the show.

Kids were 17, 14, 12 and 10-did WWOHP on her bday.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I can't believe we are doing this but.....we are planning a non WDW vacation to do this We want to spend a night on site to do the fast pass thing at IOA and Universal, we want to do Sea World and we have not done that in years and we want to take little guy to Lego land while he is still little soooo we will bit the bullet and go to Orlando and not do WDW.....Well maybe just one day at MK!

 

[christygobar]

We love Universal and IoA too. Harry Potter was worth the admission! Definitely think it would be enjoyable for your family

 

[Ed J]

I can't believe we are doing this but.....we are planning a non WDW vacation to do this We want to spend a night on site to do the fast pass thing at IOA and Universal, we want to do Sea World and we have not done that in years and we want to take little guy to Lego land while he is still little soooo we will bit the bullet and go to Orlando and not do WDW.....Well maybe just one day at MK!

We did the trip your planing this summer sands Lego land. Aquatica arrival day, Seaworld the next, wet and wild, then 3 days on site that US/ IOA. We are Disney fans but this trip was so much fun. We didn't miss WDW at all.

OP if your gang are HP fans, read the books enjoy the series (not just saw one of the movies) the $$$ are worth spending, I can see people not being impressed, but little stuff like the the wand shop (to a fan) is just so cool.

If its hot the water rides wil make you IOA fans, if you like roller coasters IOA has some gems. Spiderman is the best ride Orlando has to offer IMO, so even if the other parts of the park don't seem to interest you, give them a shot, I've yet to hear anyone poopoo spidey.

 

[C-CMom]

Your "backstory" sounds a lot like ours (not quite as many Disney trips, but several) - we did go ahead and do the single day in early June. It was more $ "per day" than we typically do, but we were glad we did it. We spent extra on the Universal version of Fastpass, which was helpful, but perhaps not absolutely necessary at all times of the year. We also spent extra to stay at Doubletree Universal, which had a AAA package deal (much cheaper than the 3 main Universal hotels) for early entry to the park for an early Harry Potter hour and Three Broomsticks breakfast. Helpful, because those Forbidden Journey lines can get crazy. What turned out to be even nicer was the single rider line in the late afternoon - rode FJ several more times in a row with practically no wait at all. Nice.

The rest of IofA - some really good, some just OK. I prefer a good theme to an upside-down roller coaster or a thorough soaking, but we thought theming was decently done overall. Most not all as well-done as Disney, but some better IMHO (Forbidden Journey - Harry Potter). Really cool.
DH, a guy who does like Disney, quote after the first time on FJ --> "Wow. Disney's got nothing like that."

 

[dja14]

We're going to suck it up and spend it next year. We usually do longer trips every couple years so the price per day for the Disney tickets are cheaper too. Makes me feel better about the cost usually

BUT I think you if you or your kids are HP fans then it doesn't hurt so bad to think about spending it for just a day. My oldest is in the age group that grew up reading HP and he is so excited (and being a teen just doesn't get that excited about much ) He and his brother have already been searching out all the 'extra' things they want to look for. I expect we will easily spend half a day in the area, riding the rides but also looking in the shops and the area (and we are not big shoppers usually) It helps that my husband and I are fans too though I think

Not everyone is a fan though, and if you aren't then I can see so much not being near as enjoyable. A candy shop is just a candy shop unless it is magical and then I will pay a huge sum for a candy dish (I am ashamed to say ) and my non shopping boys will be willing to look w/o complaining too

Then the rest of the day the older 2 will go with husband to big coasters/rides and my daughter and I will either ride what she will ride or shop around.

I will say we did cut some other things out of our original plan to pay the difference (well moved them around to a maybe list) I just thought how many more vacations will my soon to be 16 yr old want to go on?

 

[pigletto]

As long as you don't go in expecting Disney and comparing every detail to Disney, Universal is a wonderful destination.
We started with a one day visit and took a shuttle over from Disney. Had enough fun that we decided to stay onsite the next time. Enjoyed that so much we bought annual passes and have been twice more.
Staying onsite is soooo worth it. Their hotels are beautiful and the early entry and front of the line privileges for onsite guests are fantastic.

I would recommend to anyone to check it out at least once

 

[Disneybuckeye]

My kids (early twenties) grew up with HP and we all love it. Last Christmas we spent well over $1000 to spend the night at RPR and bought one day two park hoppers for the five of us to do Universal (and buy food and souvenirs), Loved it. Worth every penny. Can't wait to do it again. Loved butterbear. Love my butterbear mug. Loved HP.

You have to go in with the mindset that you are open to something new and different. They are great parks, but different from Disney. We love Disney but had a fantastic timie at Universal.

 

[horseshowmom]

My kids (early twenties) grew up with HP and we all love it. Last Christmas we spent well over $1000 to spend the night at RPR and bought one day two park hoppers for the five of us to do Universal (and buy food and souvenirs), Loved it. Worth every penny. Can't wait to do it again. Loved butterbear. Love my butterbear mug. Loved HP.

You have to go in with the mindset that you are open to something new and different. They are great parks, but different from Disney. We love Disney but had a fantastic timie at Universal.

We went the Christmas before and had a wonderful time! The weather was pretty cool which went great with the HP theme.

My daughter also loves Harry Potter (even bought a wand at age 23 at the time). She also bought a scarf but got a plain one that she felt she could wear with other things (rather than one with the House insignia).

I love both Disney and Universal/IOA, but my daughter's favorite has been U/IoA since she was a teenager. We like being able to leave the parks and head into CityWalk for a movie and/or dinner (without having to use transportation). The hotels are excellent, and the parks aren't so spread out. We love the FOTL perk (get a room for one night but use the perk both days).

Both are great - just different!