I Need Help With Planning Universal & HHN

[famsen]

Here's the thing; at the end of September we are staying at WDW for 8 nights as we are DVC members. We have been to WDW dozens of times so now we are ready to go back to Universal since we haven't been there in about ten years. My daughter is now 23 years old and is really looking forward to seeing all the Harry Potter things as am I. DH and I don't really do big roller coasters or anything too crazy but we liked things like E.T. and Earthquake(don't know if it still exists), King Kong, etc. We also are for sure doing HHN.

I need advice on what kind of tickets to get and how to plan this. I am thinking I will want to do this is two days. I am going to do one day strictly for HHN. I know if I spend the entire day at Universal/IOA and then stay until midnight to the end of HHN, I will be a crabby, exhausted mess. I want to do HHN on the night of Sept. 30th. So I think the second day at Universal/IOA would probably be Friday Oct. 1st or Saturday October 2nd. We leave for home Oct.3rd.

Here's my quandary; Since the only thing I know we really MUST to do at IOA is Harry potter and the more tame things DH and I do are at Universal. what's the best ticket option also taking into consideration we are going to do a night at HHN only? Is there a lot more I would be interested in doing at IOA that doesn't involve extreme thrill rides?

I am taking into the consideration that we are staying at WDW not anywhere near Universal so we will not be able to take our afternoon breaks by going back to our room and cooling down. This is going to be an all day commitment and I want to make sure we don't get so pooped out.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

What I would suggest is a 2 day 2 park ticket ... you could easily do IOA (HP & others in IOA that you like) then head over to US to do the rides/shows you like there in 1 day.

However, why do I suggest a 2 park 2 day ticket if you could do 2 parks in 1 day?? For HHN, I would suggest doing the Stay and Scream so that you have a head start over the main crowd coming into the park for the event. You can head over to US after lunch on your HHN, do a few more rides/shows, and then as you are are already in the park, head to the S&S holding area (usually Finnegans is one) and have a bite to eat while they clear out the park. Once they clear the park of daytime guests they will release the S&S guests into the park, and you will have the opportunity to do a couple HHN houses before they even open the main gates.

If you choose just to wait and come to the park just for HHN, you will need to be at the main gates by 5:00 pm at the latest. You will need to go through the metal detectors before they even let you get to the turnstiles to wait. Lines can get quite long, so really the S&S is your best option - especially since you are only going to HHN one night.

 

[famsen]

Thanks for the advice. I didn't consider the Stay and Scream thing but with what you just said about the holding area and the crowds, that makes sense to spend a few hours before HHN at US.

 

[Metro West]

What I would suggest is a 2 day 2 park ticket ... you could easily do IOA (HP & others in IOA that you like) then head over to US to do the rides/shows you like there in 1 day.

However, why do I suggest a 2 park 2 day ticket if you could do 2 parks in 1 day?? For HHN, I would suggest doing the Stay and Scream so that you have a head start over the main crowd coming into the park for the event. You can head over to US after lunch on your HHN, do a few more rides/shows, and then as you are are already in the park, head to the S&S holding area (usually Finnegans is one) and have a bite to eat while they clear out the park. Once they clear the park of daytime guests they will release the S&S guests into the park, and you will have the opportunity to do a couple HHN houses before they even open the main gates.

If you choose just to wait and come to the park just for HHN, you will need to be at the main gates by 5:00 pm at the latest. You will need to go through the metal detectors before they even let you get to the turnstiles to wait. Lines can get quite long, so really the S&S is your best option - especially since you are only going to HHN one night.