Can’t miss queues? And other one day advice.

[WaterLinds]

Pulling my original question out of the Wizarding World thread and hoping for a few more eyes on it!

We’ve gone from tinkering with our plans to a complete overhaul (thank you, Universal, for allowing last minute planning unlike some parks!). My big kid and I are now planning a solo day to do Harry Potter pretty much exclusively—if we get time to venture elsewhere in the parks and do other stuff we will, but it won’t be a priority.

The plan is to have express pass, but we will not have early entry, as for one day I couldn’t justify a hotel room. It will be this week (now looking at Thursday March 14), which is peak spring break and busy.

Given that, I’m not sure if we will want to do both Gringotts and Forbidden Journey standby? I had planned to start in the Studios with Gringotts (like the plan in th wizarding world thread)), Diagon Alley, etc., and do IoA after, but by then the line for FJ is likely going to be huge. If we only do one ride standby, should it be FJ to see the full queue? Or should I convince my kid it’s worth the wait to see the details? (He balked at waiting a whole 15 minutes for the safari at AK this week, my mastery of FP has apparently spoiled him...)

I’m planning to buy our tickets from UT tomorrow, and then we’ll get up early and go on Thursday to try to make the most of it. We have early morning plans Friday so we won’t stay late (unless we switch to a different day!).

Anything else I should know about trying to do a one day trip? I suspect we’re going to be hooked and will come back for a longer trip, with an on-site stay, in the near future—we’ve mostly agreed that although this week has been fun, we’re done with Disney for a few years.

 

[macraven]

It’s going to be a busy park when you go so arrive as early as you can

Once you get past security check at city walk, you’ll have the park ticket turnstiles to go thru

Look at the park map online so you know where the rides are located

Since you want to take in all of both potter sections, take the HE train when you switch parks

 

[Monykalyn]

Take the Hogwarts express between the parks if park to park ticket.
Forbidden Journey Express queue does skip dungeons and green house, but will take you through the castle. If the line is long just plan the total queue next trip (see how easy it is to get up for another trip lol). Or do Forbidden Journey full queue early
and Express with Gringotts as you will see the bank and the amazing goblins.
Diagon alley is amazing! You will want to take some time to really explore this area and make sure to get into Knockturn alley.
If you have time with the Express-do Mummy and Spiderman-both kinda iconic rides at Universal.
Have a great time!

 

[bchbetha]

I wouldn't cut your park day short- you'll survive your Friday even if you burned the midnight oil the night before. They probably aren't open all that late anyway, Maximize park time and do an early lunch (like 11-11:30) to have a shorter line, snack all day and then eat dinner when the park closes.
FJ and Gringotts are the 2 I'd prioritize doing stand by.

get the app so you can see where the big lines are. Even though you'll have EPs, it'll help.

 

[WaterLinds]

I wouldn't cut your park day short- you'll survive your Friday even if you burned the midnight oil the night before. They probably aren't open all that late anyway, Maximize park time and do an early lunch (like 11-11:30) to have a shorter line, snack all day and then eat dinner when the park closes.
FJ and Gringotts are the 2 I'd prioritize doing stand by.

get the app so you can see where the big lines are. Even though you'll have EPs, it'll help.

We’re already 8 days into the trip and pretty exhausted (rest day right now), and two days ago we did the late night followed by early morning...we survived but it was touch and go! I think we’ll cut ourselves off at about 7 pm at universal, we will be there before park open and won’t be leaving the park all day, so I think that will feel like enough. Luckily it’s just me and big kid, so we can move more quickly between things to maximize our time—and he rebounds a bit better than the little one and grandma do!

We’re thinking we’ll do a late breakfast at one of the HP restaurants and then an early dinner somewhere to maximize time. I have the app ready to go, have been studying maps, and feel pretty organized, but its been 25 years since I last went to Universal so I definitely don’t know my way around!

Anyone have an opinion on which standby queue is best between FJ and Gringotts? We will try todo both standby but might only do one, so which should I prioritize?

 

[sandam1]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that with EP, you only miss the green house and front hall (statues) with Forbidden Journey and the EP line for Gringotts runs alongside the regular line. So I would probably vote for FJ if you must choose one, but it would totally depend on the wait time.

My suggestion would be to do Hogsmeade (i.e. Islands of Adventure) first. It is a much smaller area than Diagon Alley and can get crowded quickly. I know that means not going in the order of the books and, depending on your level of HP craziness, might not be tolerable. But I hate wading through crowds of people and can get claustrophobic in Hogsmeade.

Depending on how you feel and how long you can hold out, I highly recommend the Cinematic Spectacular on the Studios side (it is super cool) and the castle show in Islands is a nice touch. They aren't a huge time commitment (the castle show runs every 15 minutes or so and is only 5 minutes long; the spectacular you can show up pretty close to showtime and get a reasonable view) - unlike Disney.

Hope you have a good day!

 

[WaterLinds]

That helps, thanks! I don’t think my son will mind too much if we go a bit out of order.