DH has a seminar at the Universal onsite Royal Pacific resort, and we'll be staying there for three nights Sunday Nov. 13th - Wednesday Nov. 15th. DH knows that DS and I love Orlando and theme parks, so invited us to tag along. And all he had to do was twist our tiny fingers. Orlando in November is great, and freebie onsite Universal accommodations are had to pass up.
DS and I have been to Universal/IOA plenty of times in the past, but being that we are onsite decided to do one park hopper day there again, mostly too because DS (21) would love to show his dad the Harry Potter theming. DH doesn't care for theme parks or crowds, but is a huge fan of the Harry Potter books (He is an avid reader and is so impressed with how well these are written and has read each book at least twice). He as seen all the movies too and thought they were pretty decent, definitely not as good as the books though. Also DH FYI thought it sounded like a really stupid idea to build a theme park area about books best left to the individual imagination, but will go to the parks with a park hopper one evening to please DS who would love to show him all the stuff. If crowds aren't too crazy too, I think I can count on him to make the best of this to please DS.
Anyway, the day that I picked for a Universal/IOA day is Monday Nov. 14th. DH will not join us till 4:30 p.m. or so (We will meet him in the room. His seminar activities don't end till 4 p.m.) That night too IOA is only open till 6 p.m., but Universal is open till 9. DS and I will do Gringotts and Forbidden Journey as early as we can before crowds at opening. We'll take advantage of any early entry and then of course for other stuff we have those onsite stay fastpasses, so we'll be all set. DH isn't into coasters etc. so perfect for us to get this stuff out of the way earlier in the day.
Please critique my plan for the evening, and let me know what you think crowds will be like in the Harry Potter areas. I am hoping with it being later in the day, with it being a week day while school is in session and not Thanksgiving week like the following week, etc., and the fact that Diagon Alley has been open for some times now that crowds might not be too bad and this might be tolerable for DH, but let me know your thoughts.
THE PLAN
-- I thought DH might be a big kick out of the train that goes to Hogworts Castle, so I thought we would do the train over from IOA first thing. DS and I think it's pretty cool.
-- Once over, I thought we would do a castle tour. Am I correct that there is a separate line for this and that it in all likelihood isn't as long as the line for Forbidden Journey?
-- Next thought we'd take the train back to Universal and eat at the Leaky Cauldron. This has food we'd all like I thought, would be relatively quick, and my opinion last time was it was pretty darn good for theme park fare.
--Then for the balance of the evening I thought we would just explore Diagon Alley for an hour or so and hope the place isn't mobbed. (DS has one of those interactive wands from a previous trip too and we are planning to have him bring that along.)
I welcome your thoughts/opinions.
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Superfluous Side Notes: Other things we'll be doing
DS and I are coming a day early -- visiting my nephew age 22 who lives in Orlando and seeing his new house on Saturday, staying at the Residence Inn at SeaWorld Saturday night and doing the SeaWorld Park and Dine with Shamu on Sunday the 13th (my nephew will come along also), and then DS and I will be meeting up with DH that evening to check into the Royal Pacific hotel. We will have a rental car. DH will take a cab which he is fine with and his company will pay for. Also, DH is very happy to miss SeaWorld.
And on Tuesday the 15th, DS and I will hit the Magic Kingdom for rope drop and head back to Royal Pacific to have dinner with DH after he gets out of his seminar. DH is even happier to miss the MK and Disney in it's entirety.
DS and I though love all the theme parks. And as much as we like Universal and IOA and all the impressive Harry Potter theming we are even bigger fans of SeaWorld and Disney.
DS and I have been to Universal/IOA plenty of times in the past, but being that we are onsite decided to do one park hopper day there again, mostly too because DS (21) would love to show his dad the Harry Potter theming. DH doesn't care for theme parks or crowds, but is a huge fan of the Harry Potter books (He is an avid reader and is so impressed with how well these are written and has read each book at least twice). He as seen all the movies too and thought they were pretty decent, definitely not as good as the books though. Also DH FYI thought it sounded like a really stupid idea to build a theme park area about books best left to the individual imagination, but will go to the parks with a park hopper one evening to please DS who would love to show him all the stuff. If crowds aren't too crazy too, I think I can count on him to make the best of this to please DS.
Anyway, the day that I picked for a Universal/IOA day is Monday Nov. 14th. DH will not join us till 4:30 p.m. or so (We will meet him in the room. His seminar activities don't end till 4 p.m.) That night too IOA is only open till 6 p.m., but Universal is open till 9. DS and I will do Gringotts and Forbidden Journey as early as we can before crowds at opening. We'll take advantage of any early entry and then of course for other stuff we have those onsite stay fastpasses, so we'll be all set. DH isn't into coasters etc. so perfect for us to get this stuff out of the way earlier in the day.
Please critique my plan for the evening, and let me know what you think crowds will be like in the Harry Potter areas. I am hoping with it being later in the day, with it being a week day while school is in session and not Thanksgiving week like the following week, etc., and the fact that Diagon Alley has been open for some times now that crowds might not be too bad and this might be tolerable for DH, but let me know your thoughts.
THE PLAN
-- I thought DH might be a big kick out of the train that goes to Hogworts Castle, so I thought we would do the train over from IOA first thing. DS and I think it's pretty cool.
-- Once over, I thought we would do a castle tour. Am I correct that there is a separate line for this and that it in all likelihood isn't as long as the line for Forbidden Journey?
-- Next thought we'd take the train back to Universal and eat at the Leaky Cauldron. This has food we'd all like I thought, would be relatively quick, and my opinion last time was it was pretty darn good for theme park fare.
--Then for the balance of the evening I thought we would just explore Diagon Alley for an hour or so and hope the place isn't mobbed. (DS has one of those interactive wands from a previous trip too and we are planning to have him bring that along.)
I welcome your thoughts/opinions.
********************************************
Superfluous Side Notes: Other things we'll be doing
DS and I are coming a day early -- visiting my nephew age 22 who lives in Orlando and seeing his new house on Saturday, staying at the Residence Inn at SeaWorld Saturday night and doing the SeaWorld Park and Dine with Shamu on Sunday the 13th (my nephew will come along also), and then DS and I will be meeting up with DH that evening to check into the Royal Pacific hotel. We will have a rental car. DH will take a cab which he is fine with and his company will pay for. Also, DH is very happy to miss SeaWorld.
And on Tuesday the 15th, DS and I will hit the Magic Kingdom for rope drop and head back to Royal Pacific to have dinner with DH after he gets out of his seminar. DH is even happier to miss the MK and Disney in it's entirety.
DS and I though love all the theme parks. And as much as we like Universal and IOA and all the impressive Harry Potter theming we are even bigger fans of SeaWorld and Disney.
