Harry Potter...Help

[daystar91]

My family and sister family are planning a vacation together we are staying on Disney property but want to go to Universal one day. Looking at tickets we are going to Harry Potter attractions so what do we purchase? My sister said there is four Harry Potter parks but I only see two. How many is there?

 

[damo]

There are no Harry Potter parks.

There is a Harry Potter section (like Fantasyland, Adventureland, etc.) in each of the two Universal parks. Islands of Adventure contains Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and Universal has Diagon Alley and Gringotts.

You will need a one day, two park ticket to see both areas.

 

[daystar91]

Lol....Thank you for clearing that up...I was so confused...And then my sister is like no there are four parks...

 

[daystar91]

So if you had to make a choice between the two and not purchase for both parks which one would you recommend?

 

[agavegirl1]

So if you had to make a choice between the two and not purchase for both parks which one would you recommend?

I wouldn't be able to choose. One attraction, the Hogwarts Express Train, goes between both parks and is a different story each way. The attraction itself requires the park-to-park ticket.

Diagon Alley is the newest area and is located in Universal Studios. Hogsmeade is located in Islands of Adventure. There are unique offerings in each area and I would suggest seeing both.

 

[damo]

So if you had to make a choice between the two and not purchase for both parks which one would you recommend?

I would do Universal Studios with Diagon Alley. It is amazing!

 

[August2010]

Universal Studios IMO is better. Diagon Alley is pretty cool. If you only pick one I'd recommend this one.

 

[daystar91]

I have heard a lot about butter beer, where do we find it?

 

[bumbershoot]

In Diagon Alley (Studios) or Hogsmeade (Islands of Adventure).


I can't imagine only doing one. I'd get the park to park (= "hopper").

Of course, I'd also leave Disney for a night and go stay at at deluxe at Universal and do TWO days (park to park) and make sure I was there early enough the first day to get Early Entrance that day and the next, and get the included Unlimited Express pass which would allow us to go on Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff and almost everything else that isn't Harry Potter in the two parks easily.

So I'm obviously biased.

 

[damo]

I have heard a lot about butter beer, where do we find it?

If you are doing Diagon Alley, you can get it at the Leaky Cauldron or the counter in Carkitt Market.

If you are doing Hogsmeade, you can get it at the Three Broomsticks, Hogshead or the cart over by Hogwarts.

 

[daystar91]

Thank you all. I'm sure before we go I will be back..

 

[damo]

There are other cool drinks too. We really enjoyed the Fishy Green Ale. It isn't alcoholic. It has very fun blueberry exploding "fish eggs" in the bottom.

 

[DLW8]

There are other cool drinks too. We really enjoyed the Fishy Green Ale. It isn't alcoholic. It has very fun blueberry exploding "fish eggs" in the bottom.

This sounds cool, we are heading there for one day after our cruise and I may have to put this on the list!

 

[iheartglaciers]

If you HAVE to only visit one, I'd do Diagon Alley in Universal Sudios. But, I'd really recommend getting a park hopper and doing both sections. If you only visit one park, you can't do the Hogwarts train ride that goes between Diagon Alley in Universal and Hogsmede in Islands of Adventure.

If you're a big Harry Potter fan, the train is pretty awesome. Plus Hogwarts is in Hogsmede and it's amazing.

I've been twice with a one-day park hopper and I thought it was enough time to see both Harry Potter sections and a bunch of rides in the non-HP sections. But it depends on crowd level and how much interest you have in thrill rides.

 

[twins4disney]

So glad I found this thread. We have a trip planned 12/20-12/28 staying at WDW. My daughter would love to see Harry Potter at both of the Universal parks. I'm contemplating taking out one day of our WDW trip and surprise her. If I bought the one day park to park, would that be enough time to do the Harry Potter attractions along with other areas? As I type this I realize how impossible that sounds
If o do this would it be better at the end of our trip or in the beginning?

 

[damo]

If you do it before Christmas, it is definitely doable. If you wait until after Christmas, then it will be a lot more difficult and a lot less enjoyable.

 

[EvilQueenLiz]

If I bought the one day park to park, would that be enough time to do the Harry Potter attractions along with other areas? As I type this I realize how impossible that sounds
If o do this would it be better at the end of our trip or in the beginning?

1 day is so hard to pull off if you want to fully enjoy everything. However, as long as you ignore the rest of the parks then you could at least experience both sections. If it's slow then after you see WWHP then you can try to take in the other things. It really just depends on the person and how immersed they want to be. We spent 3 days at Universal and each day we spent at least 4-5 hours in WWHP.

The question of when to tack it on depends on how it works into your schedule or, if your daughter is a huge HP nerd like me, how much she'll fall in love with it. I chose to do Universal at the end of my WDW trip to save the best for last!

 

[iheartglaciers]

So glad I found this thread. We have a trip planned 12/20-12/28 staying at WDW. My daughter would love to see Harry Potter at both of the Universal parks. I'm contemplating taking out one day of our WDW trip and surprise her. If I bought the one day park to park, would that be enough time to do the Harry Potter attractions along with other areas? As I type this I realize how impossible that sounds If o do this would it be better at the end of our trip or in the beginning?

It depends how much of the rest of the park you want to do. For me, I'm a big HP fan and was only interested in a few of the non-HP rides. I got there at rope drop and had enough time to do both HP sections and see the rest of the park in one day. But in not a thrill ride person so a lot of the rides at Universal don't interest me.

The HP parts are amazing and if your daughter is a big fan she'll love it!

 

[marinahendrix]

Is there a way to buy a one-day one-park ticket and upgrade it to a two-park ticket later in the day if you find time to go to both parks? My boyfriend is the big HP fan and I would like to surprise him with a day at Universal but I'm not sure if he would rather stroll around one park or commando around both and I don't want to waste money if we end up at only one. Tia!

 

[nanceliz]

I would like to know about buying a second day park to park before you leave the park for the day also. I'm on the fence on getting 1 or 2 day tickets.
Help us out guys