Harry Potter, crowds in November

[sparkysfriends]

We will be in the Orlando area November 5 - 12 of this year. We will be getting 2 day passes to Universal/IOA and were wondering which days of the week would be least crowded to do Harry Potter. Also, do you think we will need to get Express Passes? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mesaboy2]

I expect crowds that week would be light. Still, Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday are typically best. I doubt you'll need Express, but you can always buy them once you're there if the lines are long--which again I doubt.

 

[sparkysfriends]

thanks, Mesaboy2. The week we will be traveling is commonly referred to as NJ week at theme parks, because schools in NJ are closed on Thursday and Friday of that week and some schools even have an additional day off that week as well. I know that at Disney they find it a bit more crowded that week than other October/Novemeber weeks (not counting Halloween and Thanksgiving). Do you think this will have any effect on the Harry Potter wait times on certain days? Also, what order do you suggest we do the HP attractions? We thought we would go first thing in the AM, but some people have recommended going later in the day. What do you suggest?

 

[Metro West]

thanks, Mesaboy2. The week we will be traveling is commonly referred to as NJ week at theme parks, because schools in NJ are closed on Thursday and Friday of that week and some schools even have an additional day off that week as well. I know that at Disney they find it a bit more crowded that week than other October/Novemeber weeks (not counting Halloween and Thanksgiving). Do you think this will have any effect on the Harry Potter wait times on certain days? Also, what order do you suggest we do the HP attractions? We thought we would go first thing in the AM, but some people have recommended going later in the day. What do you suggest?

Historically November is not that busy but during Jersey Week...the crowds do increase. Last year HP was busy throughout the month but if you get there early, you should be OK. I would avoid the weekends if possible.

 

[mesaboy2]

Also, what order do you suggest we do the HP attractions? We thought we would go first thing in the AM, but some people have recommended going later in the day. What do you suggest?

I don't know that order matters much, except for Ollivander's. I always recommend for those with early entry to go there first. If you don't have EE, then at least go there first to gauge the line to see if it's worth it to you. If you've never seen it, then maybe jump in if it's 45 mins or less. If you have seen it before, then you know how long a wait it's worth already. . It is a short and mildly amusing show, but long waits for it are unjustified, IMO.

I've had success touring WWoHP both early in the day and late in the day--an hour or two before park close. I managed to get in late three nights in a row over President's Day weekend and those were the most enjoyable times for my family. YMMV. As a rule, try to avoid it during the middle 6-8 hours of any park day as that is when it will be busiest.

 

[Tink2Day]

We were there for NJ week this past November.
It happened to be near record cold temperatures but we went to WWOHP on Sunday 11/7 and it wasn't really very crowded. We ventured in and out of WWOHP and the longest line was Flight of the Hippogriff. The single rider line on FJ was non-existent and the regular line had between 30-45 minutes posted but took more like 20 and that was the time it took to walk through the queue.
No lines for Dragon Challenge and I think 2 shows for Ollivanders...

WDW was much busier. We went on Saturday to MK and they had evening EMH but it was still not a horrendous wait. Monday afternoon for the MVMCP wasn't bad at all and even Epcot for F&W on a Friday night wasn't packed.

I don't know if the colder weather influenced it but Sunday at WWOHP worked for us, then left it and walked straight into Fantasmic. Just got very lucky I guess.