First time going to Universal

[Kurby]

so we have decided to take one day from our disney world trip next Christmas to go to see Harry Potter

I know we will need a park hopper to see both parks and ride the train but that’s all I know

Is one day enough if we hit the park when it opens and leave when it closes?

I saw tonight that there is some kind of light who projected into the castle. Is there a time table for these events?

Is there anything else we would have time for or should we just stick with HP?

 

[bchbetha]

If you’ve been to Disney before, try and give Universal a better go than 1 day. You’ll really get to appreciate it vs rushing to see it all. There are so many other awesome parts to the parks. Truly, 2 days with Park to park is ideal.

 

[Kurby]

I would go longer but we are going with my 2 brothers who haven’t been to Disney so they want to see those parks and have a few other things they want to do too so our actual park days are limited.

We won’t be doing anything else in the parks except HP

 

[DisTXMom]

Just came back from split Disney/Universal stay. I would do Universal/Diagon alley first when it opens since IoA will have had early admission for onsite guest (check the calendar but this is likely the case). If you are doing Olivander's, prioritize that, then Gringotts. The rest of Diagon Alley is shops/exploring. I'd then hop over to IOA for Hogsmead and Foebidden Journey. We preferred Three Broomsticks over Leaky Cauldron but they were both good for a meal.

I think you can do HP in a day, it will just be very full. The Hogwarts castle show is currently nightly every 20 minutes from dusk to park close- subject to change. It was cool, but it's short (6 minutes I think) and I wouldn't plan my evening around it.

Good luck!

 

[Metro West]

If you are going between Christmas and New Years you will have a very hard time enjoying yourselves since HP is the most popular part of both parks as well as the train. You must purchase Express Passes which will be at a premium...w/o them forget seeing anything. Just make sure you think long and hard about this...you'll being spending a lot of money and won't get to enjoy too much in a single day.

 

[maverik85]

I agree. If you are going right at Christmas I'd recommend either skipping Universal until you can get back and have more time at a slower period or try to work in a second day somehow. If you're jsut going down during the season, like the beginning of December it shouldn't be too bad.

If you only care about HP stuff it will probably be doable but jsut be expecting very heavy crowds, especailly in those sections. Outside of that I'd say DisTXMom's advice is pretty good to follow. Do Diagon Alley first then ride the train over to Hogsmeade. I'd jsut make sure to ride the train back to Diagon Alley if you have time. Stay and watch the show on the Hogwarts castle then ride back to Diagon Alley. The train ride is different in each direction so get to experience both. Plus Diagon Alley looks great at night and probably even more magical with the Christmas lights and
decor.

Also, if you have time I'd check out some of the other attractions too. Primarily Spider-Man/Transformers. They are very fun and exciting rides and different from anything Disney has. Both are the same ride system so i you only have time for one that's ok. They are both differetn from each other but get to at least expereince the ride in one manner. I'd probably recommend Spider-Man (unless your family is big Transformers fans). This woudl allow you to hit Diagon Alley early and then ride the train over to Hogsmeade adn check it out. then if you have time to kill before th evening shows can walk through Suess Landing, which is decked out well for the holidays(Grinchmas), and over to the Marvel area where the Spider-Man ride is. Then can come back to Hogsmeade for the light show on the castle and othr stuff.

For food you're probably good with etiher Three Broomsticks or Leaky Cauldron, both are great but I would avoid the typical lunch/dinner times. If going to be there the whole day maybe do lunch at Leaky Cauldron before heading over to Hogsmeade, then do dinner at Three Broomsticks in teh evening. I'd also recommend either a late mroning/afternoon snack (if skipping lunch at LC) or evening treat before leaving from Florian Fortescue's ice cream shop. They are really good and have a variety of unique flavors.