Can Someone Help me with a Celebration of Harry Potter?

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I am a huge HP fan...however, I have never been to the celebration. This year we have a Disney cruise that leave San Juan on Sun Jan 28. So we would fly to Orlando and then fly to San Juan, instead of just going straight to San Juan. Would it be worth going to the celebration on just Friday?

I've read that you can get autographs from the stars who show up. Can this be done Friday? Do you need a package to get those? If so, does the package need to be for the whole weekend?

Just wondering if it is worth going for just Friday. We have annual passes for Universal.

 

[lillypotters]

They haven't released the complete schedule of events (and probably won't until much closer to the actual weekend), but if I'm remembering right, last year most of the panels and demonstrations were held multiple times throughout the weekend, and the expo was open all three days, so most of the events offered should be available on Friday. I will say that last year some of the lines, especially for the expo, were pretty long, and I don't think you'd be able to do everything time wise. But you should have pretty much the full range of events to choose from.

I might be wrong on this, but I think the actual autograph sessions/meet and greets are limited to the premium packaged holders, and I believe you have to purchase three days on the package.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

The past two years, Friday has only been the Expo and a movie in the park, plus an evening event for people who have a vacation package. So no demos, meet & greets, autograph signings, nothing- even for people who booked packages.

I've never been but the expo does look pretty fun and it's included in regular park admission.

As far as the package, it's an all or nothing deal- if you book a vacation package it's for 3 nights, 3 days park to park tickets, etc. You can't do a package for just one day. But as I said, the expo is included in regular park admission, you would just have to wait in the general admission line to get in. Package holders have sort of an express line to enter the expo. Once in the expo, the lines are all the same, package or not.

IF there happen to be stars just walking around, you could potentially get an autograph. I'm not sure how likely that is. If they follow the same schedule pattern as previous years, there won't be any scheduled autograph sessions on Friday.

Hope this helps!