Golden Birthday Harry Potter Day Help - 4/11/22 - UPDATED!

[ceeceegee]

Does anyone know if the Hogwarts Express will run during Early Park Entry (since both parks have EPA)? It's not listed on the website, but an older Touring Plans article says that it will.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

Does anyone know if the Hogwarts Express will run during Early Park Entry (since both parks have EPA)? It's not listed on the website, but an older Touring Plans article says that it will.

We've stayed several times in the past 4 years and it's never run during Early Entry.

 

[ceeceegee]

Back from our trip! My thoughts:

• Dockside Suite 4/9 - 4/13: Loved the resort and the suite; walls are thin and noise travels but earplugs took care of that; busses were efficient and frequent; food court quick and decent even though very busy; wi-fi was terrible, but I wasn't there to work and sit on my phone so not a big deal; would definitely stay again!
• Spring Break/Easter Week Crowds: it was CROWDED - jam-packed sea of humanity crowded. WWoHP lands and CityWalk especially. But we knew that going in and made the best of it and took our time.
• Mobile Park Ticket - I thought it would be linked to our room key card, but it wasn't? Maybe that is just for Express Pass purposes? Anyway, Guest Services said it couldn't be linked and they cannot access them in the system at all to print so we had to screenshot to use it to get in and out of parks and use for lockers.
• Lockers - Really didn't like the locker situation; it was just so crowded and seemed to waste so much time as we always had to wait to scan the code, move around people to get to lockers, wait for scan again when we got done with ride; seemed to add more chaos to an already chaotic busy day. Not the end of the world of course, but we were not fans.
• Early Park Entry: was available at both parks the day we went (4/11). On bus from Dockside at 6:02am, 3rd group in our line at turnstiles; let into IOA at 6:50, off Hagrids (SO FUN!) at 7:40, Forbidden Journey next, then Hogwarts Express to US, in line for Gringott's at 8:50 and out at 9:45.
• Ollivanders: did this after Gringotts - in the small ceremony there were 3 kids with birthday buttons (including my niece); they picked the first kid they came across who was a 4 yr old boy who didn't seem to get it; to me would've been better to pick someone a little older, on her 11th and Golden birthday, but I'm biased lol; Note that in the shop you can choose character wands or have someone help choose a wand for you that comes in the cool Ollivanders boxes - that's what we did and she was happy with that experience; was an absolute madhouse and I wish they capped the number of people in the store at once
• Leaky Cauldron - they switched to mobile order only and you couldn't get in until you could prove you had placed an order; this caused a lot of confusion and clogging around the entrance as people hurried and placed an order. Was frustrating in the moment as we didn't know we'd need to do that so had to set it up in the app. Food was fine, 3 kinds of butterbeer (hot, frozen and pudding) was the highlight!
• Express Pass - did not have it and while it would have been nice for Hogwart's Express in the afternoon/evening, we wouldn't have used it otherwise so didn't miss it.
• Velocicoaster - Got to squeeze this in in the late afternoon - waited about 90 minutes but it went fast as line was constantly moving. Love the velociraptors and the hilarious pre-show. Not for the faint of heart but what a super fun rollercoaster!! Don't miss if you're a coaster person!

I stopped keeping track after lunch as we mostly did spells and shops and wandered around. Had plenty of time to do all of the WWoHP things we wanted to do and the Birthday girl had a blast and loved all of it and that's what matters most. Thank you to everyone that helped and that has posted on these boards!!

We did go over to Disney Springs on Sunday and I admit that I was sad we weren't doing more Disney things on this trip. Probably a combination of knowledge/comfort level and nostalgia, but there is just something different about it; feels more like "home". We'll definitely be back to Universal in the coming years though! Any more specific questions I can answer feel free to ask away.

 

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

Thanks for the update. I always like the feedback after the trip, how things went versus expectations and if the suggestions here were helpful. Things are always in flux, now moreso than ever so it's good to find out the latest.