Do I REALLY want to run to WWOHP first?

[alohamom]

OK, I have been planning for a while and since we are staying offsite my "plan" was to go as early as possible and then rush to WWOHP first, then do the rest of IOA afterward. The purpose of the 1 day Universal IOA trip is primarily the WWOHP however we do want to spend the whole day in the park. I seem to be seeing on these boards and others that WW tends to die down a bit in the late afternoon. Should I head there first, do FJ and Ollivanders, leave the area to experience the rest of IOA and then head back to WW after that? We are going on a Thursday so I am thinking the crowds wont be as bad as a weekend-feedback anyone?

 

[RMulieri]

You simply can't count on it dying down later in the day.Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't.If you want to be absolutely sure you get to see WWoHP I would go their first thing.

 

[stacynak]

Your scenario is almost identical to ours.... We're offsite & we are planning to go on Thursday. I have been wondering the same things, so I can't wait to read others' advice.

 

[ducky_love]

Do the things that will make or break your day first thing. I've never been there when WWOHP hasn't died down at night.. but it could happen. If missing Ollivanders will ruin your day then wait in the line.

Here is how I did it when my family was in town- they only had one day. I'm not saying it is the best way.. just the way I did it.

-Got there at rope drop. Stopped in the store at the front of the park. I told them they had just about everything HP related there and this was the ONLY time all day they would get to shop without people everywhere around them. They looked at everything and sort of knew what they would want later in the day when it was a zoo and they'd miss things.

-After shopping they were allowing non-resort guests to walk through Suess. Walked that way. While everyone was dashing to FJ we walked all the stores, got pictures in Hogshead, picture with the train, ect.

-Walked back to FJ and it had an hour wait. They are big enough fans that they wanted to wait through the full line to see the things that are missed on the Castle Tour.

-After FJ the crowds were NUTS. We exited through Jurassic and explored IOA and US until 6:30pm. (park closed at 9pm)

- Headed back to WWOHP for the rest of the night. Took pics in the Dragon Challenge line, pics of castle in light and dark, watched the school chiors, drank butterbeer, ect. The later it got the less busy it was. By 7:30pm we were able to get into Ollivanders with a 10 minute wait. We stayed until closing then shopped and picked up everything they had picked out earlier in the day.

 

[alohamom]

Thanks for the posts guys, Ducky Love, I really like the idea of touring the shops first and then riding FJ. I think one reason is I kinda have it set in my mind there will be a line up for it no matter what, so if it is 10 minutes or 2 hours it really doesnt matter as we are doing it either way. Another reason to go with this plan is that I do want to be able to savour all the details of the castle, I know I can go back through as well but I am trying tothink positive! Thanks again, I will be planning till that morning...

 

[MermaidMom]

I think early is always better. We saw a wait to get into WWoHP from when we left at 10:30 until about 3:00. At that time, we walked back in. Dragon Challenge wasn't much of a wait because it had been down but I'm not sure about FJ or Ollivanders.

This was last week, so spring break level crowds...We arrived at the parks around 8:30 (staying offsite) and they started letting folks through the gates about 8:40. We were held inside for another 5 minutes or so but then they opened the way through the SuperHero Island. That may have been the long way around but we took it. We were in line for FJ by 8:50. I think we waited about 40 minutes for the ride. I don't know if those folks walked faster than us or if they were onsite guests. We spent about 1 1/2 hours in WWoHP. When we left around 10:30 we were warned that we couldn't come back in. I saw them giving return time tickets until after 2:30. When we tried again around 3:00 we were allowed back in with no wait.

It wasn't all that crazy in the morning. I think it was worth being there for rope drop (I always think that). People were pretty civilized when they started moving. I was less stressed making that walk than I was for Toy Story Mania a couple years ago.

Good luck and have a great time!

 

[tinydancer09]

I would not recommend waiting. Our plan was to get there at early opening (on site) stay for a while ride the rides a couple times then come back later in the day.

What really happened is that we did everything we wanted except shopping in the morning then decided we can run back through that night and ride FJ and the Dueling Dragons again at night.... However that whole "Dying down" thing didnt work. The park closed at 8 so we headed over there around 6 I believe it was. I stood in line for 30 minutes to buy a chocolate frog, left Owl's Post because you couldnt move, and stood in line for FJ for over an hour.

We were happy to even be able to ride again but I wouldn't bet on it. Do like we did, do everything you want to do in the morning, and if it dies down at night great! But if not, dont bother. There are plenty of the other sections of the park that were completely dead that night.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I think it really depends on what time the park closes. At Christmas, we wanted to do a Grinch breakfast, and we knew we wouldn't be able to hug old-Grinchy-poo and beat the crowds to HP. We did all of IoA and all of Universal before returning to HP at about 4:30. It took us an hour to get into the area at that point, and we stayed in the HP area until about 10:45. The crowds were noticeably lighter later in the evening. When we got in about 5:30, FJ had a 90 minute wait; at about 10:00, it was 20 minutes (which is the majority of the time it takes you to walk the castle - we hardly waited at all).

 

[lake queen]

In March we did it both ways.

On Fri. March 11
Went thru gates at 9:00-(stayed off site)
Walked thru Suess and to FJ- Posted wait time 45 min.
Then did Dragon Challenge- wait time 45 min.

On Sunday March 13
First did Hulk and Spiderman,
Then headed back to FJ- had a wait time of 60 min.

Later that night we went back to HP at 5:00
Rode Dragon Challenge X2 (walk on both times)
Got a Butterbeer inside 3 broom sticks- no wait,
Shopped in all shops- no lines or waits
Ollivanders- 5 min. wait
And ended the night riding FJ again with a 30 min. wait.

So Sunday night was an excellent night to go. Friday night it did not clear out We rode FJ that night before closing and still had a 75 min. wait.

Good luck, Its hard to tell what you will get. I would check back at nights, but not plan on the crowds thinning. Then if it does, it will be a bonus!

 

[alohamom]

thanks so much for all the great advice-sometimes the planning is almost as much fun as the doing!!!!

 

[TIGGERGUY]

OK, I have been planning for a while and since we are staying offsite my "plan" was to go as early as possible and then rush to WWOHP first, then do the rest of IOA afterward. The purpose of the 1 day Universal IOA trip is primarily the WWOHP however we do want to spend the whole day in the park. I seem to be seeing on these boards and others that WW tends to die down a bit in the late afternoon. Should I head there first, do FJ and Ollivanders, leave the area to experience the rest of IOA and then head back to WW after that? We are going on a Thursday so I am thinking the crowds wont be as bad as a weekend-feedback anyone?

We always make WWOHP our last stop at night. Latest trip was last week during spring break. Got to HP about a half hour before park closing. Did FOTH three times with no wait and almost no wait for FJ. This plan has never failed us, but we have been many times so we mainly go back there for those two rides.

 

[nytimez]

I'd also vote for end of the day -- just don't go at the very, very end. I'd say 3 hours before park closing would give you plenty time to do everything even if the lines are long, and do everything multiple times if they're short.

 

[esox]

You guys have really gotten me thinking! I am taking DD8 to WWOHP on May 23. I originally thought I would go to the park at rope drop. Now I am wondering if I should wait until the afternoon/evening. Maybe head to the park around 3:00 pm or so. We are really only interested in WWOHP. I keep hearing how wonderful the town looks during the evening...

Do you think the evening of Sunday, May 23 would be a good day to hit up the park in the evening??? Or should we head over at rope drop?

 

[glocon]

The whole park is full of great rides for an 8 year old! Definitely go at rope drop and spend the whole day there. And go back to the WWoHP in the evening. SOOOO worth it! You definitely should not miss the Spiderman ride, even if she is not into superheros- its just a great ride. And the Hulk is awsome also. And don't miss the Jurassic Park River Adventure, and the Jurassic Park play area, and the Jurassic Park Observatory. And Ripsaw Falls is fun too (is it open again?). And Suess Land is pretty good too, (even if it is for babies!). I would for sure recommend staying the whole day even if Harry Potter is your main reason for going. Don't rip yourselves off- enjoy the whole enchilada!

 

[Wendaeh]

Idid just as you suggested -- we did NOT run to WWoHP first thing -- instead we rode all the other rides with minimal wait times - only to hear as we got off of JP that FJ had broken down -- we could see the lines in there. We left the park and went to US, then out to dinner and came back at 7:30pm (Sunday evening). Wait times posted for FoH and DD was mins - we walked on. FJ was posted 45 mins, but only 17 including castle tour. No line at 3 Broomsticks for butterbeer or to get into Honeydukes. Minimal line for Ollivander's. Best of luck to you!

 

[keishashadow]

Do I REALLY want to run to WWOHP first?

not unless dementors are hot on your heels

i vote for a few hours pre closing time, we made the mistake of visiting shortly after noon thinking crowds would've dispersed, never again.

 

[ky07]

Do I REALLY want to run to WWOHP first?

not unless dementors are hot on your heels

i vote for a few hours pre closing time, we made the mistake of visiting shortly after noon thinking crowds would've dispersed, never again.

 

[Planogirl]

We went early in the morning and then back at night and the line for FJ was long both times. I'm not sure if one is better than the other. One thing we ALWAYS saw was long lines for Ollivanders no matter what time it was. It's nice to hear that the lines might be manageable later in the day. The good thing about waiting at night is that it is cooler too. Much of the Ollivanders line is out in the hot sun or at least it was.

I say go both early and late but we liked seeing it twice.