Friday, Saturday, or Sunday for IOA/Harry Potter

[lkmom]

We will be there 2/4-2/6 and trying to decide of the 3 days when is best to got to IOA - specifically for the Harry Potter attractions. We will be staying onsite so will have early entry.

Is one of these days typically quieter than the others?

Thanks!

 

[mom2aandj]

we were there for Fri, Sat and Sun, October 22-24. Friday was by far the busiest and Sunday was much, much less busy.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Sundays are usually quieter.

 

[lornak]

we were there for Fri, Sat and Sun, October 22-24. Friday was by far the busiest and Sunday was much, much less busy.

We were there the exact same days!! And I totally agree--Sunday was MUCH less crowded. Have fun!

 

[lkmom]

Thanks for the info! I think we're going to plan to arrive on Friday night, go to Universal on Saturday, and then IOA on Sunday. We're most concerned about the crowds at IOA so am thinking if Sunday's are typically slow that will be the best for seeing the Harry Potter stuff.

Did you both do Harry Potter and if so am curious if you went to Forbidden Journey first or Olivanders and suggestions on what order to go to each? Also am curious what exactly is Olivanders? Is it just the store to buy the wands (because my son wants one) or is there more to it than that?

Thanks again!

 

[the Dark Marauder]

If you just want a wand, there is usually a cart selling wands either outside Ollivander's or outside Forbidden Journey. Ollivander's itself is a little show where the wandkeeper (who is not Ollivander, but his associate/assistant/business partner) picks a random person or two to have them test various wands to see which is the right one for them.

 

[momblanch]

We just returned today. I agree...Friday was, by far, the busiest day during our stay. Wed and Sun were the quietest. Early entry will help you immensely. Take advantage of it to check out Olivanders first thing if you are at all interested. It's a cute little wand "show" that takes about 5-10 mins and exits into a small wand shop. If you decide not to wait in line for the show, there are other places to buy wands other than Olivanders. Then go ride Forbidden Journey. During our stay we never waited longer than 15 mins to ride FJ (or any other ride for that matter), and rode several times. However, there WERE 60 min wait times posted for FJ, at times, on Fri.

 

[lkmom]

If you just want a wand, there is usually a cart selling wands either outside Ollivander's or outside Forbidden Journey. Ollivander's itself is a little show where the wandkeeper (who is not Ollivander, but his associate/assistant/business partner) picks a random person or two to have them test various wands to see which is the right one for them.

Thanks - is it worth it to see the show? I've read that older kids get picked so am guessing my 7 year-old would not - especially given he is pretty quiet.

 

[lkmom]

Ok - everyone commented on Friday being busiest and Sunday the best. What about Saturdays? I'm pretty sure now we are arriving Friday night. I'm thinking for our purposes we will want to spend more time at IOA and less at US and need to check into our timeshare sometime Sunday afternoon. I'm thinking Saturday for IOA and Sunday for US. Leave US around 2 or 3 to check-in to timeshare and relax before hitting the Disney parks starting Monday.

Feedback?

 

[lornak]

Well here's my experience from Oct----we did US on Saturday. We did not stay onsite so we couldn't get in early. They did let us through at about 8:45 and we got started right away. We were able to do:
Mummy
Simpson
MIB
T2
Shrek
in the first hour and 30 minutes! It was crazy! We then proceeded to do everything in the park (except disaster) as well as ride MIB three times through the single rider line. We were done by 2:00!!! I couldn't believe how much we saw and how small the crowds were. The only long wait we had was on JAWS and that is only because it had been closed down for a while. So, at least from my experience on Sat, 10/23, it was a great day to visit US!!