How long to do just Harry Potter?

[disneymom1980]

Was just wondering if someone can tell me how long it would take to see just the Harry Potter part of Universal Studios? We ended up having to make flight reservations that will get us to Orlando a day earlier than planned, but we will only have part of that day free, as we have MNSSHP that evening. My DD loves Harry Potter, so if we could see just that, we would be happy. We would also probably stay in a Universal Hotel the night before if that would make a difference. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I'm guessing you're going in October- that's one of the slower seasons, so I'd imagine you'd be able to see everything in the WWoHP in under 2 hours (most of that being taken up by waiting in line for Ollivander's and Forbidden Journey, neither of which take Express Pass although if you stay overnight on-site early entry will make the wait times much less). The area consists of three rides, a few small shops and The Three Broomsticks restaurant. If you have time, definitely check out the rest of Islands of Adventure. There are some really incredible rides and the themeing is magnificent!

 

[disneymom1980]

I'm guessing you're going in October- that's one of the slower seasons, so I'd imagine you'd be able to see everything in the WWoHP in under 2 hours (most of that being taken up by waiting in line for Ollivander's and Forbidden Journey, neither of which take Express Pass although if you stay overnight on-site early entry will make the wait times much less). The area consists of three rides, a few small shops and The Three Broomsticks restaurant. If you have time, definitely check out the rest of Islands of Adventure. There are some really incredible rides and the themeing is magnificent!

Sorry.....yes, we would be looking at October 29. We'd like to see some of the rest of the park, my older DD is a roller coaster fanatic, we just didn't know if we'd have time, and Harry Potter is what's most important to us. Thanks !

 

[mcraige]

We went last July, arrived right after the park opened, and left right after lunch. We rode Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff, and Dragon Challenge (twice). We also ate at Three Broomsticks and Shopped at Honeydukes and Olivanders. By the time we left, the streets were so crowded you could hardly move. However, the wait time for Dragon Challenge was never over 10 minutes. The wait for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was over 90 minutes, which took most of our time.

Keep in mind that, when that section of the park reaches capacity, they won't let anyone else in. As we were leaving, there was a long line of people waiting to enter.

 

[disneymom1980]

We went last July, arrived right after the park opened, and left right after lunch. We rode Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff, and Dragon Challenge (twice). We also ate at Three Broomsticks and Shopped at Honeydukes and Olivanders. By the time we left, the streets were so crowded you could hardly move. However, the wait time for Dragon Challenge was never over 10 minutes. The wait for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was over 90 minutes, which took most of our time.

Keep in mind that, when that section of the park reaches capacity, they won't let anyone else in. As we were leaving, there was a long line of people waiting to enter.

Do you think that might be an issue during October? I know it will be busier because it's a weekend though. I was hoping with the early entry due to staying at a Universal hotel we wouldn't have a problem getting in before it reached capacity.

 

[macraven]

Do you think that might be an issue during October? I know it will be busier because it's a weekend though. I was hoping with the early entry due to staying at a Universal hotel we wouldn't have a problem getting in before it reached capacity.

you won't have that issue going end of october.

by staying onsite, you can use the early entry an hour (8:00) prior to park opening at 9:00.
you can do all of parry hotter in that one hour.

you said oct 29th would be when you plan to do ioa.
that is a monday.
are you planning to book a room onsite for the 28 or 29th?

if you plan to book for the 28th, don't wait until the last minute.
sunday will have the hhn hard ticket event at the studios.
that won't effect you as no hhn event will be at ioa but hotel rooms can fill up for hhn nights.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Do you think that might be an issue during October? I know it will be busier because it's a weekend though. I was hoping with the early entry due to staying at a Universal hotel we wouldn't have a problem getting in before it reached capacity.

The Wizarding World hasn't reached capacity in a very long time. The last time I believe it happened was the week after Christmas when the entire park reached capacity. They used to have a return ticket system, but they do not implement that anymore due to Forbidden Journey's new extended queue.

 

[disneymom1980]

you won't have that issue going end of october.

by staying onsite, you can use the early entry an hour (8:00) prior to park opening at 9:00.
you can do all of parry hotter in that one hour.

you said oct 29th would be when you plan to do ioa.
that is a monday.
are you planning to book a room onsite for the 28 or 29th?

if you plan to book for the 28th, don't wait until the last minute.
sunday will have the hhn hard ticket event at the studios.
that won't effect you as no hhn event will be at ioa but hotel rooms can fill up for hhn nights.

I must have looked at the calendar wrong. We would actually do the park on the 28th, but would be booking the hotel for the night of the 27.

 

[macraven]

I must have looked at the calendar wrong. We would actually do the park on the 28th, but would be booking the hotel for the night of the 27.

looking at the hotel booking site, rooms are open for all 3 hotels for your date.

don't wait till the end of september to book though.

 

[disneymom1980]

looking at the hotel booking site, rooms are open for all 3 hotels for your date.

don't wait till the end of september to book though.

Thanks for the warning . I just have to decide if we can afford to spend the extra money to do this.

Does the Halloween party in the evening usually make for a busier park during the day?

 

[macraven]

Thanks for the warning . I just have to decide if we can afford to spend the extra money to do this.

Does the Halloween party in the evening usually make for a busier park during the day?

the studio side will get busy around 3ish.
this park closes at 5:00 that day.

ioa is fine.

saturday night stays onsite have a higher cost than during the weekdays.

 

[disneymom1980]

the studio side will get busy around 3ish.
this park closes at 5:00 that day.

ioa is fine.

saturday night stays onsite have a higher cost than during the weekdays.

Yeah, I figured. It's just the way it works out for us. We fly Southwest, and to get a better deal on our airline tickets, we had to fly a day other than Sunday (the day we were scheduled to arrive).

 

[AJA]

I know the onsite hotels can be really expensive without a discount but if you can swing it, it's so worth it. The amount of touring you can do in 4-5 hours is AMAZING with the express pass. The hotels really are beautiful and have a true deluxe feel.

If you have a HP fan you will not regret adding IOA to your Orlando trip.

 

[Andrea]

My best friend and I just got back 3 weeks ago from there. We had a blast. all i cared about was harry potter also. We went right to the dualing dragons and walked on got off the ride and went to the castle it was a 2 hour wait !!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT !!!! her and i skipped that and went and got in line for the single rider line and didnt wait longer then 5 mins !!!

Olivanders was over a 2 and half hour wait so we never did that

 

[disneymom1980]

My best friend and I just got back 3 weeks ago from there. We had a blast. all i cared about was harry potter also. We went right to the dualing dragons and walked on got off the ride and went to the castle it was a 2 hour wait !!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT !!!! her and i skipped that and went and got in line for the single rider line and didnt wait longer then 5 mins !!!

Olivanders was over a 2 and half hour wait so we never did that

WOW!!! I sure hope we don't encounter lines like that

 

[Metro West]

Was just wondering if someone can tell me how long it would take to see just the Harry Potter part of Universal Studios?

I'm sure you know by now that HP is not located in the Studios...it's at Islands of Adventure...different park entirely.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Last December (the 17th I believe, it was a Friday night) we stayed at RPH. There were 5 of us. Due to our late flight we arrived at the hotel about 7 and had a lovely dinner at Margaritaville after a pleasant walk over there. The next morning we entered IOA at 8am and did FJ twice, FOH, and Dragon Challenge all before 9am. We did the rest of IOA and pretty much all of US as we had park hoppers. We ate lunch at Three Broomsticks abd had not trouble getting back into the area even though it was reasonable crowded.

About 5ish we came back to WWOHP and kids did FJ single rider in about 20 minutes. We also waited less then 25 minutes for Olivanders which was much shorter than the line was in the morning. We also did some shopping. We left at 6pm and felt like we had pretty much done everything in both parks.

It was pretty pricey, but definitely worth it.

 

[lcasa]

This has been helpful for me as well - seems like the standard 'get there at rope drop' I'm used to from DL. But we'll be there right after Christmas - any other tips?
And for first 2 books and film only Potter-interested folks, is it worth the extra cost to go to IOA when I'll be premier at WDW?

 

[macraven]

This has been helpful for me as well - seems like the standard 'get there at rope drop' I'm used to from DL. But we'll be there right after Christmas - any other tips?
And for first 2 books and film only Potter-interested folks, is it worth the extra cost to go to IOA when I'll be premier at WDW?

do you mean you will be there that week after christmas up to new years?

that is a very busy time in the parks.