Early Entry Plan?

[kkendle]

Hello all...we are checking into HRH tomorrow evening for 3 nights. We have visited Universal several times so this is not our first visit although it will be my daughter's first visit since Diagon Alley opened. I just called and confirmed that early entry is for IOA so was wondering what the best plan would be. We would obviously prefer early entry to be US for Diagon Alley but will have to figure out something else.

So...for anyone who has been recently, is it better to line up early with everyone else to get into US for Diagon Alley first thing or is it better to head over to IOA and hope the Hogwarts Express is running early and will take us to US before the masses get there?

Last time I was there early entry was both parks so this wasn't an issue.

Thanks for your help!

 

[RMulieri]

If Diagon alley is critical to you,I wouldn't gamble on the Hogwarts express.Out of our 4 days at the park, it only managed to get us there one day at the same time as the front gate masses.The other days it 1) was having technical issues and wasn't working or 2) arrived at Kings cross only to see the front gate people were let in early and there were already a lot of people in line for gringotts

 

[kkendle]

If Diagon alley is critical to you,I wouldn't gamble on the Hogwarts express.Out of our 4 days at the park, it only managed to get us there one day at the same time as the front gate masses.The other days it 1) was having technical issues and wasn't working or 2) arrived at Kings cross only to see the front gate people were let in early and there were already a lot of people in line for gringotts

Thanks! How early do you think we need to get in line at US then? It opens at 9 am when we are there? Would 8 am be OK you think?

 

[CyndiLooWho]

I've not been in ages, but every resource I've used has said the gates frequently open 20 - 30 min before the official opening time, and recommends arriving about 45 min before listed opening times.

 

[macraven]

i have a friend in the parks and she said it was really crowded today when they were there.

could be spring break crowds are starting up.


kkendle, go early and be in the line for the ee.
it's easier when you are in the near front of that line than be at the rear of it when ee at 8 opens.
when they let everyone in, you'll be ahead of the onsite hotel crowds.

 

[kkendle]

i have a friend in the parks and she said it was really crowded today when they were there.

could be spring break crowds are starting up.


kkendle, go early and be in the line for the ee.
it's easier when you are in the near front of that line than be at the rear of it when ee at 8 opens.
when they let everyone in, you'll be ahead of the onsite hotel crowds.

Thanks....but we are wanting to go to Diagon Alley and Gringotts and EE is at IOA not US. So are you saying go to IOA for EE or US? I guess I am not following what you are saying.

 

[macraven]

Thanks....but we are wanting to go to Diagon Alley and Gringotts and EE is at IOA not US. So are you saying go to IOA for EE or US? I guess I am not following what you are saying.

since you stated you will be in the there for 3 days, i assumed you might enjoy spending the ee period at ioa.
do a few rides then get in line to take the train to DA.

if you are on one of the first trains that leave ioa for the studio side, you could be there about 9:00 at the studio side of potter.
get in line for HE about 8:30 (depending on how large the crowds will be at then)
i'm sure you would want to do the HE in both directions sometime during your vacation there.
you could knock that off on your first day by doing ee at ioa.


those at the main gates of the park, will be let in once it is 9:00 but you could have a head start on that crowd and already be at DA then.

just thought it might be a simple way to do HE once it opens without large crowds and then be able to do the rest of your time exploring and enjoying DA.

or you could keep your plans to just be at the studios gates 20 or more minutes before they open to the public.
most will head to DA at that time.

sometimes my suggestions might be off but this is what i did before when DA first opened and ioa was the ee park that day.

 

[kkendle]

since you stated you will be in the there for 3 days, i assumed you might enjoy spending the ee period at ioa.
do a few rides then get in line to take the train to DA.

if you are on one of the first trains that leave ioa for the studio side, you could be there about 9:00 at the studio side of potter.
get in line for HE about 8:30 (depending on how large the crowds will be at then)
i'm sure you would want to do the HE in both directions sometime during your vacation there.
you could knock that off on your first day by doing ee at ioa.


those at the main gates of the park, will be let in once it is 9:00 but you could have a head start on that crowd and already be at DA then.

just thought it might be a simple way to do HE once it opens without large crowds and then be able to do the rest of your time exploring and enjoying DA.

or you could keep your plans to just be at the studios gates 20 or more minutes before they open to the public.
most will head to DA at that time.

sometimes my suggestions might be off but this is what i did before when DA first opened and ioa was the ee park that day.

I see..thanks for clarifying. I think we may try what you said and see what happens. Someone posted above that they did the same and got to DA after the big crowds got there so wasn't great. It is a guess either way though. Even if we got to US early and were one of the first in line, everyone runs pat me anyway so probably wouldn't matter.

Thanks again.

 

[macraven]

glad to help
i try to share what i have done and experienced and hopefully, it will work out for you too.

one day i went in for EE at IOA around 8:20.
looked around at ioa at the shops then headed to get in line for HE.
my goal was to be inside DA asap and avoid excessive long lines for Gringotts.

it worked for me but others might have different experiences on different days.

sometimes my ideas blow up and i live with it.
i do stay for more days than some others so i have plenty of time to hit everything in the parks.

HE could be delayed on going to the studios if you are starting from ioa, but hope that doesn't happen for you when you are there.

 

[sharona]

If you're there for 3 days you can get in line early for regular opening at US on the 1st day then try the EE at IOA with 830 HE to US on another. Not sure the age of your kid(s) but you really only need to do the DA queue once - if they're old enough, then use the single rider entrance after that.

 

[kkendle]

If you're there for 3 days you can get in line early for regular opening at US on the 1st day then try the EE at IOA with 830 HE to US on another. Not sure the age of your kid(s) but you really only need to do the DA queue once - if they're old enough, then use the single rider entrance after that.

Yeah...I will probably end up doing both. My daughter is 17 so no problems with small kids.

 

[kkendle]

Just to update....we went to IOA yore early entry this morning. We were in line at 7:30 am. There were probably 30-40 people in front of us in every line. Went to forbidden journey and had maybe a 20 min wait. Got in line for hogwarts express right afterwards but there was a 20 min wait for that as well. Not sure what time it started running but well before 8:45. Got to diagon alley right before 9. I heard they let people into park around 8:30 today. Gringotts posted time was 30 min when we arrived and it was pretty accurate.

All in all I was ok with how it went for us. We may just forget ee tomorrow and get in line for us...not sure.

Just thought I would let everyone know how it went for us today.

 

[macraven]

thanks for the update kkendle!

there will be mornings that the TM's will let those lined up in early, before the official opening time.
if UO feels there will be crowds, they do alter the time to be let in.
this is not known to the public until the morning it happens as the decision is probably not known very long in advance.

TM's would be aware of it as the ones working would need to on the job

i've been there going to the park without ee and have gone in 15 to 20 minutes prior to the official opening time listed.

 

[Gena001]

Interesting questions & posts here. We are going to be @ WDW, but my DH isn't so into the mouse and we're contemplating a day @ Universal (maybe 2 if there is a deal?)...not sure if do US or IOA. Our last visit in 2010 we were only able to do one...the side /w Suess & Ripsaw (isn't that the coaster where you pick your song?). Now we have a 15 yr old DD & a 6 yr old DD. What would you do? And, you recommend staying on site? I guess that makes sense to get the most our of your day. We were thinking about coming in the middle of our WDW experience...

 

[macraven]

Interesting questions & posts here. We are going to be @ WDW, but my DH isn't so into the mouse and we're contemplating a day @ Universal (maybe 2 if there is a deal?)...not sure if do US or IOA. Our last visit in 2010 we were only able to do one...the side /w Suess & Ripsaw (isn't that the coaster where you pick your song?). Now we have a 15 yr old DD & a 6 yr old DD. What would you do? And, you recommend staying on site? I guess that makes sense to get the most our of your day. We were thinking about coming in the middle of our WDW experience...

RRR is in the studios.
this is the coaster where you pick your own song.

Seuss, ripsaw are in the IOA park
ripshaw is a water ride.

go to the UO website and you can see which other rides are in the parks.

if i read your countdown days correctly, you'll be in the orlando parks august.

if you are going anytime from august 1st thru the 20th, staying on site will be a good thing.
the deluxe hotels have a perk that all hotel guests are given free unlimited photo express passes.
it will help if you go in a busy time period.

 

[sharona]

Ideally you want to do both parks and be able to hop so you can ride the Hogwart's Express train between them. If you stay 1 night you would get the Express Pass for both check in and check out day and early entry for both days. Well worth it IMO, especially in summer when it's hot and lines may be really long.

If you only can do 1 park, I would choose US since it sounds like you went to IOA last time. Also, despite Seuss land being in IOA, my opinion is there are more "family" rides in US. Minion Mayhem, ET, Men in Black, Gringotts, Simpsons, Transformers, Shrek, the small coaster (Woody Woodpecker? Roadrunner?) the movie making tour (?)... and there are a few bigger coasters for your 15 year old - Rocket and Mummy (if your 6yo is a thrill seeker she may like this).