Hogwart's Express

[snoopboop]

But, if you are already buying a 2 day ticket for 1 day in each park, that's not really true. You will already have access to each park - just not on the same day....

Well, of course it's true! It's getting you access to another whole theme park for that day. In fact, upgrading a multi-day ticket gets you an even better deal, because then you'll have access to both parks for all days of the ticket.

I understand that the Hogwarts Express may be the key decision-making factor for many people, but ultimately it is simply inaccurate to argue that all you get for the upgrade price is access to the HE. You quite literally gain access to an entire theme park for that upgrade fee. Whether you happen to have a ticket for that park on another day doesn't negate that fact.

 

[slbgnb]

Well, of course it's true! It's getting you access to another whole theme park for that day. In fact, upgrading a multi-day ticket gets you an even better deal, because then you'll have access to both parks for all days of the ticket.

I understand that the Hogwarts Express may be the key decision-making factor for many people, but ultimately it is simply inaccurate to argue that all you get for the upgrade price is access to the HE. You quite literally gain access to an entire theme park for that upgrade fee. Whether you happen to have a ticket for that park on another day doesn't negate that fact.

Well - yes, that's true. But, I'm just referring to this particular situation. For ME personally - and only me - I don't feel the need to hop back and forth between the 2 parks. I really have no desire to do that. I'm quite content to do 1 park 1 day and the other park the other day. So, if I bought the upgrade, it would only be for HE. And, I would ride HE 1 way 1 day - and the other way the other day - but then stay in whatever park I ride it to the rest of the day. So, I guess I look at it costing $45 each to ride HE each way. But, yes...in theory...the $45 does buy you access to another theme park.

 

[snoopboop]

But, if you are already buying a 2 day ticket for 1 day in each park, that's not really true. You will already have access to each park - just not on the same day....

The fact that you have access to the other park on another day does not, in any way, negate the fact that upgrading allows you access to a second full park on the day of the upgrade.

 

[snoopboop]

Well - yes, that's true. But, I'm just referring to this particular situation. For ME personally - and only me - I don't feel the need to hop back and forth between the 2 parks. I really have no desire to do that. I'm quite content to do 1 park 1 day and the other park the other day. So, if I bought the upgrade, it would only be for HE. And, I would ride HE 1 way 1 day - and the other way the other day - but then stay in whatever park I ride it to the rest of the day. So, I guess I look at it costing $45 each to ride HE each way. But, yes...in theory...the $45 does buy you access to another theme park.

And I think we're officially going in circles. For me, I can't wrap my head around the idea of "having no desire" to travel between the two parks. To me, they really seem to sort of exist as two halves of the SAME park, and I can't imagine NOT freely moving between them throughout the day, just as I freely move among the islands at IOA, for example. Freeing oneself from the idea that there's no value in having access to both parks is key, I think, to appreciating the value of the park-to-park upgrade.

I won't be surprised, at all, if Universal phases out single-park access altogether in the not-too-distant future.

 

[Robo56]

I am here with my grandchildren right now. We have traveled between both parks on Hogwarts Express everyday multiple times. We love it. It's absolutely part of the Potter experience.

A teenage girl on Hogwarts Express today was in tears when she said this was her last day at Universal. She said she loved the train and had grown up reading the Potter books.




Even those who can not reason the cost now. Will have to come back sometime and experience boarding at platform 9 3/4 and ride the Hogwarts Express.

 

[slbgnb]

I am here with my grandchildren right now. We have traveled between both parks on Hogwarts Express everyday multiple times. We love it. It's absolutely part of the Potter experience.

Just when I had decided against the purchase!!!!

 

[Otto Tieleman]

Little Mermaid has a musical show at DHS and a dark ride at MK. You need access to both parks to enjoy both rides. As an extra Universal did build the Hogwarts Express. It adds enormous and is unique in the world because it's both a ride and a transportation method. Sure it's a money grab if you only want to escape WDW for Potter but you do yourself a disservice if you not ride the excellent Spiderman ride, visit Jurassic Park and do all the other fun stuff (many) former imagineers where able to build there.

 

[Bluer101]

I cannot do just one park in one day.

Taking HE when the wait time is reasonable is wonderful.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Quick heads-up to all the Harry Potter fans following this thread - it's "Harry Potter Weekend" on Freeform!

 

[DisBuckMan]

Little Mermaid has a musical show at DHS and a dark ride at MK. You need access to both parks to enjoy both rides. As an extra Universal did build the Hogwarts Express. It adds enormous and is unique in the world because it's both a ride and a transportation method. Sure it's a money grab if you only want to escape WDW for Potter but you do yourself a disservice if you not ride the excellent Spiderman ride, visit Jurassic Park and do all the other fun stuff (many) former imagineers where able to build there.

Agree with this. As a not-real-big Harry Potter fan, I am very "meh" about the Hogwarts Express as a ride. I view it as simply a means of transferring from park to park while letting the feet cool down a little. I can see how people who are really into HP would really love the ride, it just does nothing for me. That said, I think FJ is the best ride in all of Orlando, and Gringott's is excellent, as well. One doesn't have to be a big HP fan to enjoy the heck out of those two rides.

 

[hamilkm]

We just got back. We really enjoyed HE, but I was glad I got the park to park tickets because we honestly couldn't find enough for us to do in IOA to fill an entire day and were ready to head back to US to re-ride all our favorites from that park. I'm sure that will change once hulk re opens and Kong opens, but we really dislike water rides, and being all older teens/adults we were done in IOA by 1 pm and were ready to re ride Gringotts and the Mummy!

 

[gotomu212]

We just got back and I cannot imagine not having park-to-park. We love Universal but depending on your family and the crowds you really can run out of rides in just one park per day. We use the hopper to go back and forth constantly and we mixed and matched rides and restaurants and would skip around when one area got too crowded. With 2 days. Think you'll end up with some downtime and think shoot I wish we could reride x or y from yesterday. From my perspective unless the money was a real hardship I'd bite the bullet and add it on.