Coming back to WWoHP in the aft worked like a charm!

[alohamom]

Well, after much deliberation we decided to split our WWoHP visit between the am and aft. We went directly to Hogsmede to get the feel for the place as well as see how long the lines were and get a Butterbeer. The line for FJ was a posted 25 minute wait and was probably that if not a few minutes more. Rode FJ and then got a Butter beer, but we went to the opposite side of the cart as someone had told my husband that there are two sides of serving to the cart and to see if they are both open before lining up. That was genius as we were paid and gone before many other people. Rode the Flight of the Hippogryph. Walked around a bit, saw the Olivanders line was waaay too long, did the post office and got our cards stamped (but didnt realize you could put your own stamps on rather than the 14 dollar ones so took them out of the park with us to mail)Went in and out of the shops.As we had never been to this park and it had already been about 2 hours, we left and did the rest of IofA. The park was closing that day at 7 and they had a special private event happening so we knew we would be cleared out on time, we headed back to HP. Rode Dueling Dragons, Fj again, spent time wandering the shops, the line for Olivanders was non-exsistant, literally there were 4 people ahead of us and we waited all of 3 minutes. They let us in after about 8 more people showed and to our delight my son was chsen for the wand-it was probably the highlight of our whole trip, the wandshop guy was incredible and my 11 year old son was totally spellbound, pardon the pun! Then we ate at the 3 broomsticks and headed out-we did do much in that little bit of time!May not work for everyone but it sure worked for us...

 

[tink20]

Well, after much deliberation we decided to split our WWoHP visit between the am and aft. We went directly to Hogsmede to get the feel for the place as well as see how long the lines were and get a Butterbeer. The line for FJ was a posted 25 minute wait and was probably that if not a few minutes more. Rode FJ and then got a Butter beer, but we went to the opposite side of the cart as someone had told my husband that there are two sides of serving to the cart and to see if they are both open before lining up. That was genius as we were paid and gone before many other people. Rode the Flight of the Hippogryph. Walked around a bit, saw the Olivanders line was waaay too long, did the post office and got our cards stamped (but didnt realize you could put your own stamps on rather than the 14 dollar ones so took them out of the park with us to mail)Went in and out of the shops.As we had never been to this park and it had already been about 2 hours, we left and did the rest of IofA. The park was closing that day at 7 and they had a special private event happening so we knew we would be cleared out on time, we headed back to HP. Rode Dueling Dragons, Fj again, spent time wandering the shops, the line for Olivanders was non-exsistant, literally there were 4 people ahead of us and we waited all of 3 minutes. They let us in after about 8 more people showed and to our delight my son was chsen for the wand-it was probably the highlight of our whole trip, the wandshop guy was incredible and my 11 year old son was totally spellbound, pardon the pun! Then we ate at the 3 broomsticks and headed out-we did do much in that little bit of time!May not work for everyone but it sure worked for us...

Thanks I may bring some postcard stamps from home, I only need to mail 3 postcards so really don't want to buy a whole book, How much are the post cards and do you have to pay for them to stamp the card?

Also, what day were you there?

 

[LSUBabe]

What time did you head back to WWoHP in the PM?

 

[alohamom]

The postcards were $1.00 each and it was free to have them stamped and to send them there. We were there on Thursday May 12th and we headed back to the Hogsmede area about 4:30/5:00 but again, there was a special event happening si I may have waited a bit longer if I thought there was a chance to linger in the 3 Broomsticks after hours as some other posts have mentioned.

 

[alohamom]

Oh, an another consideration for the stamps were that we are from Canada and we would have had to buy a lot to make sufficient postage. It was 14.95 to buy the commemorative stamps there in the park but I am not sure how many were in the pack, I would like to say 10 but maybe someone else knows.

 

[nhrenee]

Good plan! Dd and I did something similar last August and it worked out great. We would return in the evening around 6pm (the park was open until 8).

 

[Stitches]

Well, after much deliberation we decided to split our WWoHP visit between the am and aft. We went directly to Hogsmede to get the feel for the place as well as see how long the lines were and get a Butterbeer. The line for FJ was a posted 25 minute wait and was probably that if not a few minutes more. Rode FJ and then got a Butter beer, but we went to the opposite side of the cart as someone had told my husband that there are two sides of serving to the cart and to see if they are both open before lining up. That was genius as we were paid and gone before many other people. Rode the Flight of the Hippogryph. Walked around a bit, saw the Olivanders line was waaay too long, did the post office and got our cards stamped (but didnt realize you could put your own stamps on rather than the 14 dollar ones so took them out of the park with us to mail)Went in and out of the shops.As we had never been to this park and it had already been about 2 hours, we left and did the rest of IofA. The park was closing that day at 7 and they had a special private event happening so we knew we would be cleared out on time, we headed back to HP. Rode Dueling Dragons, Fj again, spent time wandering the shops, the line for Olivanders was non-exsistant, literally there were 4 people ahead of us and we waited all of 3 minutes. They let us in after about 8 more people showed and to our delight my son was chsen for the wand-it was probably the highlight of our whole trip, the wandshop guy was incredible and my 11 year old son was totally spellbound, pardon the pun! Then we ate at the 3 broomsticks and headed out-we did do much in that little bit of time!May not work for everyone but it sure worked for us...

What is the postcard thing?
And what is the wand thing? I'm new to Universal, if that isn't obvious.

 

[alohamom]

They have set up an "Owl Post" so you can send a postcard stamped with a "Hogsmede" postmark. Ollivanders is a wand shop where an actor plays a small performance to a small group of people at a time and it is similar to the scene in the first movie where Harry's wand chooses him. One person from the crowd is chosen to participate in the performance - search this thread and you will find lots of info/opinions/tips

 

[damo]

Oh, an another consideration for the stamps were that we are from Canada and we would have had to buy a lot to make sufficient postage. It was 14.95 to buy the commemorative stamps there in the park but I am not sure how many were in the pack, I would like to say 10 but maybe someone else knows.

Mhm. There are ten.

 

[left210]

What are the commemorative stamps? Do they have HP on them or something?