First timer for US/IoA, help me make the most of staying onsite please!

[coastgirl]

So we plan to arrive in Orlando on Feb 12. It will be late when we get there so have booked an airport hotel for that night. Plan on getting down to RPR as soon as we can drag ourselves on the morning of Feb 13, a Sunday.

Sundays are good?

With luck we can be at IoA by noon on Sunday. WWoHP is our main focus, and I won't be able to get the kids to wait! I've read lots that say late afternoons are good at WWoHP, is this still so? FoTL doesn't help us with an afternoon admission, but I will not be able to hold the kids back. Hopefully we will get to explore and gawk, and maybe do FJ and FotH. (Not sure at all about DD, as we are not coaster people.)

But maybe we should use the FotL to "fastpass" to other stuff at IoA that day too? I guess I need to review the rides list and see what appeals, and where FotL works. The thing is, if the waits are long, we'll just skip almost anything.

Monday morning and Tuesday morning we plan to get to IoA first thing to have more time at WW. I'm thinking Ollivander's is probably the best use of our early morning time?

How crowded is that first hour of on-site guests only? I know the morning Magic Hours at Disney are very good, but often was surprised at HOW MANY onsite guests there really were...I'm thinking the 3 Loew's hotels, big as they are, can't compete with Disney's onsite capacity, but then maybe more people take advantage because there's no real "fastpass" alternative.

With the FotL for Sunday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday, I can imagine we'd have plenty of time to do the other high-demand rides at US and IoA? As I've said, we're not big coaster people, and won't do things that aren't suitable for a 7 and 10 yo. (And we are conservative that way, the kids "spook" easily, wouldn't dream of doing something like The Mummy, and is it the Hulk or Spiderman that's supposed to be the really scary coaster?)

I was thinking we'd stay 3 nights at RPR, but really, the only reason we're staying is for the park benefit. (We are renting a villa and really looking forward to that.) I'm thinking 2 nights would be enough, given that we're set to take full advantage on the day we check in and the day we leave.

(We are getting the Orlando Flex Pass, so have park-to-park privileges and can come back anytime during our next 7-10 days if we want to explore more without the onsite guest perks.)

Thanks everyone!

 

[rie'smom]

There's a BIG difference between the EMH at Disney and the early morning hours at IOA because UNI has 3 hotels whereas Disney has 26 plus the Swan and Dolphin and I believe the Hilton on Hotel Resorts Blvd. That's not to say no crowd. Go to whatever you really want to see first and move on from there.

 

[diskids2]

My family and I were down in July and at that point, the lines for WWoHP would have been almost unmanageable even as an onsite guest. I'm not sure if this has changed in the last few months and/or if summer vs. week before President's day affects the crowd impact either. You might want to check the WWoHP crowd thread for more current info.

I'd go much earlier than 12 noon if at all possible on two days. Doing FJ and Ollivanders.

FOTL or whatever it is actually called was a huge huge huge stress and time saver for other rides. We saw and did everything, sometimes two and three times, in three days taking breaks in the middle of the day.

 

[stacy6552]

For us the early entry was the better perk of staying on site, over the express pass, which was good too. But to really take advantage, you need to get up and use the early entry. Even though everyone with early entry was in WWOHP, we had no waits and walked onto everything.

 

[coastgirl]

Thanks guys, that's really good feedback. We have a "jet lag advantage" at the start of our trip, as we are on Atlantic time and an hour ahead of Orlando...so a bit easier (I hope!) to drag ourselves out for the early opening!

 

[BuckeyeGuy28]

If your kids spook easily, you might want to warn them about the Harry Potter ride. It's pretty scary, it startled me a few times and that's never happened to me on a thrill ride before. It's got a huge dragon, spiders and dementors that not only pop out of nowhere but get really in your face. I know that's the main draw, and if you're that excited about it, it's easy to just close eyes and make it through, but just know it's more intense than the Mummy or the other rides you were worried about being frightening as far as content goes