HELP--with HP areas at both parks!

[k1koala]

I can't really find an answer to this. I am looking for advice to doing the HP areas of both parks WITHOUT early admission. We will have the express pass bc figured this would help in summer when crowds are at highest, since it doesn't include HP rides. We chose this over the cost of a throw away room just for early entrance.
So what would be our best approach to these areas with the crowds not getting in early??
Should we head there first thing? or just later after lunch?
Should be just try one park each day? but then whats the point of he park-2-park pass for Hogwarts Express?

We have never been, so any help/tips/hints would be very helpful!
Thank you!

 

[tortilla24]

It really depends. Do you plan on spending 2 days in HP areas only or would you like to explore the other parts of the park? It also depends when exactly you go.

I went in mid-June last year and we did the ENTIRE 2 parks in 2 days (including HP areas and downtime at the pool). We stayed at RPR so we had early admission and EP. To be honest, we didn't take much advantage of early admission because my group was super slow to wake up . Now I will say, we didn't get to spend nearly as much time as I would've liked in the HP areas. We did not explore every nook and cranny nor did we ride the Hogwarts Express in an attempt to save some $ on tickets. But we rode every ride in each area, ate food there, went to Olivander's, etc.

If HP areas are your only goal, I'd say keep the park-to-park for Hogwarts Express alone. I hear it's terrific and I wouldn't think twice about buying it next time I go. Crowds weren't terrible when I was there and if you're going later in the summer, it could possibly be much worse but I'm not sure. First thing we did when we got in the park was head towards HP land and got in line for the major attraction (Forbidden Journey/Gringotts). Yes, we waited about 80ish minutes for each attraction - it was sort of inevitable and we just went into it understanding that.

Also, if you're solely doing HP, I wouldn't really even bother with EP at all. You can only use it on Flight of the Hippogriff (a kiddie coaster) and Dragon Challenge (a looping coaster). Unless you think riding those all day long will appeal to you, it's probably not worth the price increase of EP. However both parks have terrific rides outside of HP that are worth using EP on if you plan on riding them.

My advice would be to go to Forbidden Journey/Gringotts first thing when you can (preferably at whichever park IS NOT doing early admission that day) and wait it out in the line. Go check out the time for Hogwarts Express - if it's short, take it! If not, do everything else in that area and wait until the line dies down a bit. Make sure to ride it both ways as the scenes are different.

Enjoy!

 

[wagman67]

How many people will you have? I ask because of your interest in EPs. Are you only staying 1 night and in the parks 2 days?

What days are you looking at?

If you want EPs and you have 2 or more people, you may be better off booking a night at a deluxe hotel...which gives you two important things...early admission both days...and Unlimited EPs for both days.

2 people for two days will cost roughly $400 (unless you buy combos, then a bit less)...a 1 night stay at RPR will run in the mid-$300 range...sounds like a lot until you realize that you are actually saving money (if you plan on getting EPs, anyway)...and for every additional person you have, it will cost roughly $200 in EPs, without staying the night.

 

[bumbershoot]

We will have the express pass bc figured this would help in summer when crowds are at highest, since it doesn't include HP rides.

Hippogriff and dragon challenge use EP. An onsite deluxe hotel gives you EP and early entrance so maybe put that in the table again?

 

[TheConsciousness]

As others have mentioned before (but I've not seen in this thread yet): head to the HP areas first thing as you enter the parks. They continually fill up throughout the day.

 

[havoc315]

I can't really find an answer to this. I am looking for advice to doing the HP areas of both parks WITHOUT early admission. We will have the express pass bc figured this would help in summer when crowds are at highest, since it doesn't include HP rides. We chose this over the cost of a throw away room just for early entrance.
So what would be our best approach to these areas with the crowds not getting in early??
Should we head there first thing? or just later after lunch?
Should be just try one park each day? but then whats the point of he park-2-park pass for Hogwarts Express?

We have never been, so any help/tips/hints would be very helpful!
Thank you!

Why not get the throwaway room at the premium hotels, so that it includes express pass AND early admission?
I suspect that likely would have been cheaper than buying early admission.

Anyway.... we were there last July 4th weekend. And during the last hour in the park, the HP rides had manageable lines --- under 30 minutes.
Plus it really is gorgeous at night.

So my advice would be to hit up those areas at night.

In terms of the part-2-park -- The Hogwarts Express train is one of the best rides at Universal. It's really just as impression at the 2 main HP rides. So just riding it is great.

How many nights are you staying?

If staying more than 1 night, what I would do:
1 evening -- start out in Daigon Alley -- See all the shops and entertainment. Do everything except Gringotts. Then about an hour before close, ride the train over to Hogsmeade, and ride Forbidden Journey.
Next night, do the opposite -- Go see everything that Hogsmeade.... then ride the train to Daigon Alley, and ride Gringotts about 30 minutes before park close.

The other value of park2park -- You'll have Volcano bay to cool off in the summer. And water rides at Islands of Adventure. I like to start the morning at Universal.... then as the heat builds up, go ride 1 of the wet rides at Islands of Adventure before taking a mid afternoon break.

 

[gotomu212]

Just adding that the hotels come with unlimited EP so you can ride favorite rides multiple times. They do sell an unlimited EP but it's a lot more and most people are buying the park EP which only allows express entry once per ride. Just to keep that in mind when considering the value.

I've found HP areas to become less crowded around dinner and later in the areas. We try to avoid the area midday. Hopping from park to park is super easy with either Hogwarts express or walking through main gates so there's a real value in being able to skip back and forth using wait time calculators if one park gets more crowded than the other.

 

[macraven]

i have been at potterville when gringotts or forbidden journey has gone down.

sometimes it has been at the end of the park day, about 2 or 1 hours out from closing.
last october it went down while i was in line at 4:30 and did not come back up for 2 hours.

last sunday it stopped running when i was minutes to the boarding area in the afternoon.
a 45 minute wait and the ride restarted after the test runs.


used to tell peeps to go early in the morning or near the end of the park day.
but, can't say that anymore as it can go down at any time.....

op, to be on the safe side, go when you get to the parks and wait out that ride line.
or use the single rider user line and you will get on quicker.

if you don't mind being your group broken up, this is a sure way to avoid long waits in the regular stand by lines.

the p2p tickets are a good thing.
if rides are down in one section, use the HE to travel to the other potter park.
but, if money is the issue, you can do both parks on separate days.

only the hard core potter fans will prefer to go on HE for the experience (a $55 cost for p2p ticket)
it would compete their mission and be a part of what they read in the books or saw in the movies.

totally immersed in potter when you do HE.