First trip, Thanksgiving - need all your tips!

[wvasweetness]

We are adding on two days at Universal before going to Disney during Thanksgiving week. We’ve been to WDW many times, but this is our first Universal trip.

I know it will be busy the weekend before Thanksgiving, but it’s the only time we can go. It will be me + two boys - 9 and 14.

We want to prioritize HP, but I’m open to suggestions of what the prioritize, tips for a newbie, order of rides, food, shows, etc. Thanks!

 

[bchbetha]

#1 tip- stay onsite, preferably at Hard Rock, Portofino or Royal Pacific as those include Express Passes for everyone in your room. It ultimately works out way cheaper than buying Express Passes especially since 1 night = 2 days worth of EPs (good check in day-through check out day).
I would make lunch reservations each day so you can escape the crowds. Hit the HP restaurants for breakfast, mid-day snack or really early dinner because I assume they will be musts for the kids.
The Orlando Informer website has a really good (free) Harry potter itinerary.

 

[cfoxga]

We've been at Thanksgiving 3 times and it is great. As long as you plan to deal with the large crowds, you'll be fine. The Saturday before Thanksgiving was the lightest crowd-wise and it gets progressively worse during the week. Without EPs, plan on most rides being an hour wait after 10:30 am. Last year, we did a split stay at HRH and ESS. With EPs, we could sleep in and ride whatever we wanted in the mornings and evenings. Some afternoons, even the EP lines got too long, so we usually at a late lunch in CityWalk and went back to the room for a nap.

For our ESS days, we had to get up early every morning and hit the parks for EE. Once the lines started getting too long, we transitioned to non-ride activities.

The good news is that since you are planning now, you should be able to get APH rates at the hotels. Deluxe hotels should be about 40% below the Seasonal Rates, which can save quite a bit...

 

[RocketCityMama]

Also just fyi the Orlando Informer has a meetup on Nov 19 and 20, so parks will close at 7pm on Fri and 8pm on Sat for the private event.